Detained activists on hunger strike collapse in Iranian prison

Kouhyar Goudarzi - Majid Tavakoli

Kouhyar Goudarzi and Majid Tavakoli, two Iranian political prisoners were transferred to the hospital days after they started a hunger strike.

Mother of Goudarzi told Zamaneh that her son passed out in prison due to the effects of prolonged hunger and was consequently transferred to the hospital.

She reported: “Today when I went to visit Kouhyar, the officials told me that he cannot be visited because he has been transferred to solitary confinement but one of the prisoners informed me through a phone call that he has been taken to Evin Prison infirmary.”

Majid Tavakoli’s brother also told Radio Zamaneh that they have received a call from a friend of Majid’s in Prison telling them that Majid had lost his speech and was taken to the infirmary.

Kouhyar Goudarzi is a member of the Human Rights Reporters Committee and was arrested last December. He reportedly started a hunger strike on May 20 in protest to his transference to solitary confinement.

Majid Tavakoli, another prominent student activist was also arrested last December during the student protests and started a hunger strike to protest being kept in solitary confinement.

Tavakoli was returned to solitary confinement four days ago for protesting against “the sub-standard conditions of the prison and the illegal restrictions enforced against prisoners rights.”

His brother told Radio Zamaneh that throughout his six months in prison, they have only been allowed to see him twice for about ten minutes each time.

Majid Tavakoli’s mother has also announced that until his son is transferred to the general section of the prison and given access to a doctor, medicine, phone, a lawyer and his family, she too will stay on a hunger strike.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Shirin Ebadi has specifically called on UN Special Rapporteurs on arbitrary arrests in Iran to probe into the situation of Majid Tavakoli because according to the Iranian court attorney, the efforts of his family and friends to inquire about his situation have been thwarted.

Another human rights activist, Hossein Ronaqi Maleki (Babak Khorramdin) has also started a hunger strike in protest to his “bad physical condition and lack of attention to his legal file.”

This political prisoner, who has been in prison since last December, suffers from renal difficulties and reportedly prison officials refuse to provide adequate services for his medical needs.