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The Women’s Ward Report

May 27, 2025

Urgent Appeal from Evin Prison: Imprisoned Scholar Mahvash Seydal Exposes Iran’s Denial of Medical Care to Women Political Prisoners

Systematic Denial of Medical Care in Iran: A Slow and Silent Execution May 27, 2025 — From ...

April 3, 2017

Supporters Mark One-Year Anniversary of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s Imprisonment in Iran

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s colleagues stand around her empty desk at the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s office in ...

June 10, 2016

Appendix 2

IRAN’S STATE PRISONS AND SECURITY AND CORRECTIVE MEASURES ORGANIZATION Numerous articles pertaining to the treatment of prisoners in the Procedures of Iran’s State Prisons and Security and Corrective Measures Organization, which operates under the authority of Iran’s Judiciary, con rm the violations regularly committed against the ...

June 10, 2016

Appendix 1

APPENDIX 1.1: CONSTITUTION OF THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN Iran’s constitution contains numerous guarantees that are directly relevant to political prisoners. The following excerpts from selected articles con rm the unlawful imprisonment of the women at Evin’s Women’s Ward for their peaceful expression of dissent or ...

June 10, 2016

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 ...

June 10, 2016

Accountability

The UN’s Basic Principles for the Treatment of Prisoners states, “Except for those limitations that are demonstrably necessitated by the fact of incarceration, all prisoners shall retain the human rights and fundamental freedoms set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” It is clear from ...

June 10, 2016

Furlough

Denial of furlough (temporary leave granted to most in- mates in the Islamic Republic’s prison system for medical reasons or for special familial events) is another tool used to punish political prisoners, and this includes the inmates of the Women’s Ward at Evin. While furlough ...

June 10, 2016

Family Visitation and Telephone Calls

The behavior consistently cited by the inmates as the most distressing of all was the denial or limitation of visits and telephone communications with family. This is in keeping with the Islamic Republic’s punitive treatment of political prisoners throughout the country’s prisons. As a number of ...

June 10, 2016

Treatment by Guards

A number of the women in the ward reported abusive behavior on the part of female prison guards, which included verbal abuse, rough handling, and inappropriate and unnecessary physical contact that the inmates felt was aimed at humiliating them. One prisoner reported: The guards have ...

June 10, 2016

The Infirmary

Violations regarding the standards of medical care provided by the prison infirmary were consistent and per- haps the most serious of the abuses reported by the inmates of the Women’s Ward, as such violations have the potential, in the cases of inmates who are severely ...

June 10, 2016

Heating

Evin Prison is situated in northern Tehran, where in the winter months, the temperature averages 4° Celsius (39° Fahrenheit), and frequently drops be- low freezing. As such, sufficient heat in the Women’s Ward is a necessity. One prisoner revealed the lack of heat in the ward: ...

June 10, 2016

Nutrition

The food at Evin’s Women’s Ward is consistently described by inmates as insufficient and unhealthy. The prison rations in particular are inadequate, with the availability of even basic staples necessary for health fluctuating. For example, meat and dairy were often not provided as part of ...

June 10, 2016

The Ward

Located in northwestern Tehran, at the foot of the Alborz Mountains, Evin Prison itself dates from 1972. It was a prison under the former Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, where opponents of his rule were kept. The prison was far smaller at that time, ...

June 10, 2016

The Prisoners*

All of the inmates held at the Women’s Ward in Evin are political prisoners and prisoners of conscience. They have been put behind bars for holding and ex- pressing views or beliefs, or participating in peaceful activities, with which the government of the Islamic Republic ...

June 10, 2016

Methodology

This International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran report draws upon the testimony and eyewitness accounts of political prisoners of Evin’s Women’s Ward, as well as their family members, and firsthand testimony in letters from prisoners obtained exclusively by the Campaign. Former inmates and family ...

June 10, 2016

Introduction

Twenty five women are known to be held in Evin Prison’s Women’s Ward as of this writing. Most are young, many are mothers. They are all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience—behind bars for expressing views, holding beliefs, or participating in activities with which the ...

June 10, 2016

Recommendations

TO THE GOVERNMENT OF THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN: 1. Undertake the immediate judicial review of the cases of all ...

June 10, 2016

Executive Summary

This report by the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran seeks to shine a spotlight on the inmates of the Women’s Ward at Iran’s Evin Prison. It is based on testimonies and eyewitness accounts by prisoners in the ward, which were confirmed by recently ...

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