A/HRC/28/70
21 October 2014 at the Bar Association in Tehran to protest the ruling, and in protest of the
general state of legal representation in Iran. She was arrested and detained for a few hours
on 25 October and again on 10 December 2014.34 Ms. Sotoudeh was originally sentenced to
six years in prison on charges of spreading “propaganda against the system” and “acting
against national security” in September 2010 and was released without formal pardon or
furlough on 18 September 2013.
38.
In September 2010 Ms. Sotoudeh was charged and sentenced to six years in prison
for spreading “propaganda against the system” and “acting against national security.” She
was released without formal pardon or furlough on 18 September 2013. Allegedly, under
pressure from intelligence agencies, on October 18 2014, Branch 2 of the Lawyers
Disciplinary Court at the Iranian Bar Association sentenced Ms. Sotoudeh to a three-year
ban from practicing law. On 21 October 2014 Ms. Sotoudeh began a sit-in in protest of her
sentence and the general state of the Iranian legal profession. She was arrested and detained
for a few hours on both 25 October 2014 and 10 December 2014.35
E.
Detention conditions and treatment of prisoners
Inadequate segregation and access to medical treatment: Urumia, Minab Evin, Tabriz
Rajae’i Shahr, Karoun, Dezfoul, Yasouj, and Evin Prisons
39.
Ward 8 of Evin Prison is reportedly overcrowded and prisoners allegedly suffer
from unsanitary conditions and poor nutrition. The maximum prisoner capacity for Ward 8
is 500, but at least 800 individuals are reportedly detained there. The lack of space forces
many prisoners to sleep on the floor and in the hallways.
40.
Many prisoners are reportedly deprived of their right to receive proper medical
treatment in medical clinics and hospitals outside the prison despite urgently needing
medical care. In 2013 the Supreme Leader endorsed Eid Al-Fetr (“Amnesty Pledge”) which
was drafted by the Head of the Judiciary. The Pledge stated that the remaining sentences of
prisoners diagnosed by the Medical Examiner Office’s Commission as suffering from
serious chronic diseases would be pardoned.36 However, despite the Pledge, many prisoners
diagnosed as suffering from serious chronic diseases remain incarcerated.
41.
In November 2014, prisoners at Minab (Hormozgan Province) and Urmia (West
Azerbaijan Province) Prisons embarked on hunger strikes, calling for immediate access to
medical care, and for the separation of prisoners by crimes committed. Prisoners were also
reportedly protesting alleged threats to expedite the implementation of the execution
sentences of several protesters — including the death sentence of convicted juvenile
offender Mr. Saman Nasim — as well as threats of “prison-in-exile” transfers and
sentences, threats to add new charges to case files, and threats to arrest family members.37
42.
On 20 November 2014, at least 24 Kurdish prisoners in Ward 12 of Urmia Central
Prison (in the West Azerbaijan Province) reportedly began a hunger strike protesting the
insufficient segregation of prisoners that committed civil crimes from those that committed
violent ones. Reportedly, prisoners who participated in the hunger strike were summoned to
34
35
36
37
32
http://www.pen-international.org/newsitems/iran-prominent-human-rights-lawyer-nasrin-sotoudeharrested/.
http://www.pen-international.org/newsitems/iran-prominent-human-rights-lawyer-nasrin-sotoudeharrested/.
http://isna.ir/fa/news/92051709891.
http://www.amnesty.org/en/for-media/press-releases/iran-alleged-juvenile-offender-among-10hunger-strikers-threatened-immediat.
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