They refuse to take proper COVID mitigation measures while shoving broken bottles up the anuses of political detainees, which has terrible implications for public health.
New York, February 23 – Progressive activists in Europe and the US voiced their shock and revulsion today upon learning that staff at the Islamic Republic’s various incarceration facilities have left their faces exposed while subjecting prisoners to physical and psychological torment.
Personnel from Amnesty International, Médecins Sans Frontières, and other rights groups expressed horror Wednesday at reports of the torture taking place at Evin Prison and similar locations in Iran, specifically that prison staff failed to don regular surgical or cloth masks, let alone proper KN95 masks or similar, as they raped, beat, burned, and deprived inmates of sleep and food for prolonged periods – despite the known risks of spreading the SARS-CoV-2 pathogen.
“I’m just stunned,” admitted MSF mission coordinator Sy DeFecht. “If these reports are true – and they come from credible sources, so they probably are – then this represent the height of irresponsibility on the part of Iranian authorities. Iran suffered greatly from COVID; this would mean they refuse to take proper mitigation measures while shoving broken bottles up the anuses of political detainees, which has terrible implications for public health.”
“Think how easily the unmasked guards could spread the pathogen to other guards, for example,” added Amnesty volunteer programs director Nojooz Nonooz. “It’s not like in the US or parts of Eastern Europe, where there’s a culture of defying authority, and prison administration can’t force those guards to adhere to basic COVID safety protocols. In Iran that’s just not the case. It’s both disappointing and frightening that such a cavalier approach persists. Even the robust N95 and KN95 masks won’t get in the way of administering repeated blows to someone else’s midsection with a truncheon, or dunking their head in ice-cold water until the ears get frostbitten. It’s inexcusable from both a management and epidemiological perspective.”
MSF and Amnesty officials voiced similar frustration at their relative inability to influence local actors to change the lackadaisical policy apparently in place. “We don’t take the harsh tone with Iran, or most other offenders, that we do with Israel for even the most questionable allegations,” acknowledged Amnesty MENA Region Director Eva Braun. “That allows us a little more of a listening ear in some regimes. But our reach in Iran remains limited. We face a disturbing dilemma: which value do we prioritize, the virtue that our progressive movement has attached to mask-wearing under all circumstances, or our desire to punish? How does that desire to punish manifest when the recipient of the punishment isn’t Israel – is that even a thing?”
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