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One month after deadly Israeli air strikes targeted a prominent Iranian prison during the conflict between the two nations, former inmates report enduring dire and inhumane conditions following their relocation to other facilities.
Despite assurances from authorities, some individuals transferred from Evin Prison in Tehran claim to continue facing significant challenges, including overcrowded cells, insufficient beds and air conditioning, limited sanitation facilities, and pest infestations.
The BBC has obtained accounts from family members of prisoners relocated from Evin, who have requested anonymity due to concerns for their safety and the well-being of the prisoners.
Israel’s strike on Evin Prison occurred on June 23. According to Iranian authorities, the attack resulted in 80 fatalities, encompassing five prisoners, 41 prison staff members, and 13 military conscripts.
The prison housed thousands of individuals, including prominent political dissidents, human rights advocates, journalists, dual and foreign nationals, as well as members of religious and ethnic minorities.
Following the attack, all inmates were subsequently transferred to other prison facilities.
Verified videos and satellite imagery corroborate damage to several structures within the prison complex, including the medical clinic, visitor center, prosecutor’s office, and an administrative building.
In the aftermath of the attack, the Israeli military characterized the prison as “a symbol of oppression for the Iranian people,” asserting that the strikes were conducted in a “precise manner to mitigate harm to civilians” incarcerated there.
Iran has denounced the attack as a “war crime.”
The Israeli military also stated that Evin Prison was utilized for “intelligence operations against Israel, including counter-espionage,” but declined to provide further evidence when requested.
Amnesty International issued a statement on Tuesday, asserting that an in-depth investigation concluded that the attack constituted “a serious violation of international humanitarian law and must be criminally investigated as war crimes.”
“Under international humanitarian law, a prison or place of detention is presumed a civilian object, and there is no credible evidence in this case that Evin prison constituted a lawful military objective,” the organization added.
Through family members, a political prisoner transferred to the Greater Tehran Central Penitentiary, also known as Fashafouyeh Prison, conveyed reports from fellow inmates that conditions there were inhumane even prior to the arrival of Evin detainees.
He reported that the prison’s remote and hazardous location outside the capital has prevented his wife from visiting him since his transfer.
In contrast to Evin, situated in an accessible residential area in northern Tehran, Fashafouyeh is located 20 miles (32km) south of Tehran in a desert environment with limited infrastructure, according to family members.
The prisoner informed his family that many inmates continue to sleep on the floor in overcrowded cells without air conditioning, despite repeated assurances from authorities that the situation would improve.
A BBC-verified video recorded inside the prison depicts a cell overcrowded with prisoners lying on beds and the floor.
The prisoner’s family reported that during a visit by a group affiliated with the authorities to film a video intended to portray favorable conditions, inmates began chanting “death to the dictator,” a common protest slogan directed at Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, disrupting the filming.
Families of inmates at Fashafouyeh report that political prisoners are now housed in the same cells as individuals accused or convicted of violent crimes, a tactic that rights groups assert is employed by Iran to intimidate political prisoners and is in violation of United Nations standards for the treatment of prisoners.
Another political detainee transferred to Fashafouyeh described conditions in his cell to his family as unbearable due to unsanitary conditions, including the presence of bedbugs and cockroaches, noting that the prison lacks basic amenities compared to Evin.
Human Rights Watch has previously accused Iranian authorities of employing threats of torture and indefinite imprisonment, along with lengthy interrogations and denial of medical care for detainees. Iran has denied these reports.
While Evin has long faced criticism from human rights organizations regarding alleged torture and threats, prisoners have informed the BBC that conditions at Fashafouyeh have been “underreported.”
Prominent Iranian journalist Mehdi Mahmoodian, also transferred from Evin to Fashafouyeh, stated in a letter published on his Instagram page that due to the non-political status of the prisoners held there, they had been “long forgotten” and subjected to “years of humiliation, neglect, and oppression” because “they have no voice.”
Fariba Kamalabadi, a 62-year-old Baha’i detainee transferred from Evin to Qarchak Prison, south of the capital, stated that she “would rather have died in the attack than be transferred to such a prison.”
Iran’s Baha’i minority has long faced systematic discrimination and persecution, including denial of constitutional recognition and fundamental rights such as education, public employment, and religious freedom, as the Islamic Republic does not recognize Baha’i as a religion.
“Fariba is living in Qarchak in an overcrowded cell, where the cramped conditions require inmates to take turns eating meals at the table before returning to their beds due to the limited space,” reported her daughter, Alhan Taefi, who resides in the UK.
“Some of the approximately 60 prisoners transferred from Evin with her are elderly women who do not receive adequate medical care. The cell is infested with flies. Her son-in-law and grandchildren, ages six and nine, were permitted to visit her at Evin but have not yet been granted visitation rights, as they are not considered immediate family.”
The BBC has contacted the Iranian embassy in London for comment on the conditions of prisoners transferred from Evin.
In the month since the strikes, the BBC has verified the deaths of seven civilians related to the attack on Evin, including a five-year-old boy, a doctor, and a painter.
Family members of Mehrangiz Imenpour, 61, a painter and mother of two who lived near the prison complex, told the BBC that she was “caught in the tragedy” of the attack.
A family member stated that she left home to use an ATM and was walking on a street adjacent to the prison’s visitor center when Israel struck the complex. She was killed by the impact of the explosion.
Her children are devastated, a relative recounted to the BBC.
“When two states engage in a conflict, people are the ones who pay the price. Both states are guilty, both are responsible, and both must be held to account,” the relative said.
Additional reporting by Shayan Sardarizadeh, BBC Verify
It was initially unclear if the couple had been caught up in the bombing of Evin Prison in Tehran.
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