Prisoners in Gohardasht juvenile hall go on hunger strike in protest to systematic attacks by prison guards

Human Rights and Democracy Activists in Iran

On Tuesday January 26, from about 5pm prison guards stormed the cells in juvenile hall number 12. These forces made a human tunnel and forced prisoners to pass through while beating them in the face and head with batons from both sides. Sixteen prisoners who sustained injuries in their faces and heads were taken to the prison medical clinic. Some of the young men who were injured were Mojtaba Asadi, Reza Mehraban, Behzad Cheraghi, Manouchehr Baba Khani, Mohammad-Reza Garshasi and Mehdi Mohammad Javanmardi. The beatings lasted for 2 hours.
The young men in hall 12 in ward 4 of Gohardasht Prison went on a hunger strike from last night in protest to the attacks and beatings and refuse to take the prison food. They have announced that they will continue their hunger strike until the attacks are stopped.
In the past two weeks, prison guards have attacked juvenile cells 9 times. These attacks are usually between 12 to 1 am. Prison guards take the prisoners in the severe cold and sometime under the rain to the prison yard and order them to take their clothes off. They then violently beat them for prolonged periods.
These guards have also confiscated the television set that these young men bought with their own money from the prison store and also some of their other personal belongings. These attacks are carried out under the supervision of Kermani and Faraji the deputy heads of intelligence under the orders of intelligence agency interrogators and Ali Haj Kazem, the head of Gohardasht Prison