Families of Iranian political prisoners fearful of bombs, illness and secret executions

As Israeli and US bombs continue to pummel Iran, the friends and families of political prisoners in the Islamic Republic have grown increasingly fearful for their safety.

There have been reports of bombs falling around the many facilities housing political prisoners, including the notorious Evin prison in Tehran, which are often close to military installations and Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) bases.

On top of the damage caused by the air strikes and the consequent depletion of food, water and healthcare for prisoners, some are also concerned about what the authorities might do to their jailed relatives under the fog of war.

The family of Jaber and Mokhtar Alboshoka last heard from the two brothers, who have been in jail since 2011, around three days before Israel and the US launched their attack on Iran.

The two belong to Iran’s Ahwazi Arab minority and were campaigners for cultural and linguistic rights in the majority-Persian country.

Both are serving life sentences after their previous death sentences were commuted following international pressure - but now their relatives fear their lives could be in danger again.

'[Our biggest fear is that] the regime will use the war as an opportunity to carry out executions without letting families know'

- Kamil, relative of political prisoners

"Our biggest fear is that the regime will ignore prisoners inside the prison, leaving them to suffer from hunger or thirst or lack of medical care,” their cousin Kamil, who is currently based in London, told Middle East Eye.

“Or the regime will use the war as an opportunity to carry out executions without letting families know.”

Kamil also said that Sheiban prison, where Jaber is held - Mokhtar having been recently transferred to Arak - is near an IRGC base and is at “great risk” of harm from air strikes. 

He cited the 1988 mass executions during the Iran-Iraq war, when the Islamic Republic killed thousands of mostly leftist prisoners, claiming they were collaborating with Saddam Hussein’s government.

While Kamil said he would be happy to see the Islamic Republic overthrown, at present he and his family are mainly focused on the plight of the prisoners.

"My cousins, both of them, are really suffering from health conditions, and the regime repeatedly refused to transfer them to the hospitals for proper treatment. One of them needs an operation,” he said.

'Constantly worrying'

The number of political prisoners in Iran is hard to determine, not least with this number swelling as a result of the mass arrest of anti-government demonstrators over the past few months.

Last year saw a wave of executions that Human Rights Watch described as unseen since the 1988 killings, while the civilian death toll from the US-Israel bombardment has already reached 1,097.

In the midst of all this, the families of political prisoners are desperate for them not to be forgotten.

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The Narges Mohammedi Foundation, an organisation founded in support of the prominent jailed rights campaigner, told MEE they had “very limited” access to Mohammedi and that they were “constantly worrying” for her health.

The organisation said they also received reports from families of prisoners in Qezel-Hesar prison, 20 km northwest Tehran, and Lakan Prison in Rasht on the Caspian Sea coast, saying they were experiencing food shortages, closure of internal stores and diminished access to medical care. 

They added that prisons were “protected civilian objects” and that targeting them constituted a war crime.

In a statement put out by the organisation, Mohammedi's daughter Kiana Rahmani pleaded with the world to not allow her mother, who is held in Zanjan prison, and other prisoners to slip through the cracks.

"My heart is breaking for my mom and every soul held behind the walls of prisons in Iran. They are trapped between the cruelty of a brutal regime and the terrifying thunder of explosions outside their cells,” she said. 

“We cannot allow political prisoners, especially those in the crushing silence of solitary confinement, to be forgotten.”

Illness and anxiety

One Ahwazi former prisoner, who did not want to be identified as his brother is still detained in Sheiban prison, told MEE the war was making him fearful on a number of fronts.

He said conditions in the prison were harsh when he was jailed there between 2011 and 2012, and that was before the prisoner numbers swelled following the crackdown on anti-government protests earlier this year, pushing the normally 2,000-capacity facility to twice its limit.

'The main issue is that most prisoners are living in fear, anxiety, and complete isolation from the outside world'

- Free Women of Eastern Kurdistan

A source affiliated with his Karon Human Rights Organisation said an air strike hit an arms depot near Sheiban prison, causing several windows inside the penitentiary to break. 

They were unable to determine if there had been any injuries.

“Currently, in the prison, different types of prisoners are mixed together: the people who are political detainees, people who are detained for normal crimes, or antisocial behaviour or drugs,” he said.

He added that he received reports of influenza spreading around the prison, where there is only one doctor to treat as many as 4,000 prisoners.

"The situation of war is the real danger to the lives of the political prisoners and my brother," he told MEE.

In light of both the air strikes and the health situation, he said there were a number of options for the authorities, including releasing prisoners on a temporary basis with electronic monitoring or house arrest.

“But the regime refuses these solutions,” he said.

A 'free Iran'?

Minority groups in Iran have often faced the brunt of the Islamic Republic's wrath during times of instability and many have been jailed for alleged separatist ambitions, both real and fabricated by the authorities.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump have both sought to exploit their grievances.

The former referenced the Ahwazis in a speech last week, imploring them to rise up and create a "free Iran" with other minority groups, while it was reported on Tuesday that Trump was in discussion with Kurdish opposition groups to launch an armed incursion into Iranian Kurdistan.

But the damaging consequences of previous US campaigns, particularly in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, and the possible retribution from the Islamic Republic should they fail have split much of the opposition.

Iranian-Kurdish women’s group Free Women of Eastern Kurdistan (KJAR), whose member Verisheh Moradi was imprisoned for "armed rebellion" over her support for the Woman, Life, Freedom demonstrations that broke out in 2022, said the risk of death to political prisoners is “very high”.

Moradi, who until recently faced the death penalty, was a signatory to a letter condemning Israel’s previous attack on Iran last June, claiming the ultimate goal of the US and Israel was a “weak and submissive” Middle East.

KJAR also said it was sceptical of the prospect of the US and Israel bringing freedom to their prisoners, or democracy to their people.

“In many cities, the security atmosphere has become even more intense and restrictive, and the overall situation appears to be worsening. Therefore, unless these developments lead to a structural political change, the prospects for a transition toward democracy remain unlikely,” a spokesperson for the group told MEE.

“The main issue is that most prisoners are living in fear, anxiety and complete isolation from the outside world.”