Conclusion

The inmates of the Women’s Ward at Evin Prison have been placed behind bars for beliefs and activities that are protected under Iranian and international law, and following judicial proceedings that violated Iranian and international guarantees of due process. Inside the ward they endure inhumane conditions that violate Iranian and international law, as well as the rules detailed in Iran’s State Prison Procedures. These conditions include an unhygienic medical infirmary lacking supplies and specialists, the denial of proper medical care and timely transfer to hospitals, inadequate nutrition, insufficient heat, humiliating and at times abusive behavior by guards, and the limitation or denial of telephone calls, family visitation rights (including with the young children of inmates), and furlough privileges.

The Iranian Judiciary, headed by Sadegh Amoli Larijani, has explicit authority over prisoners in the Islamic Republic. As such it should be held accountable for these violations and must take responsibility for addressing them. These testimonies indi- cate that of cials have been made aware of the violations occurring in the Women’s Ward. The Judiciary must take the lead in immediately investigating the conditions detailed in this report, improving them, ensuring that such violations are not contin- ued, and instituting formal mechanisms whereby conditions can be monitored and violations formally reported. It is the Campaign’s hope that this report will facilitate and prompt the immediate and thorough investigation into the incarceration of these women and the conditions they endure.

It is incumbent upon President Hassan Rouhani, as chief enforcer of Iran’s constitution, United Nations forums that address human rights in all its Member States, and all individual Member States in their bilateral relations with Iran, to directly ad- dress the plight of these women. All parties should urge the Judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran to conduct an immediate judicial review of the cases of all the inmates of Evin’s Women’s Ward, and, while this review is underway, to immediately bring the standards of incarceration in the ward up to the those required by Iranian and international law. Civil society and independent media in Iran can and should play a vital role in observing, monitoring, and reviewing this urgently needed corrective.