Earlier this week, Iran’s judiciary officially closed the infamous Rajaei Shahr prison, formerly Gohardasht, in Karaj, Alborz province. While officials argue that the decision of the closure and evacuation of the prison is based on plans for improving the welfare of the citizens living in its neighboring areas, human rights activists strongly believe that the IR’s main goal is to erase the remaining records of the human rights violations that have taken place in the prison since its inception. In the 1980s, mass executions of political prisoners carried out by the Islamic Republic took place in the Gohardasht and Evin prisons. This location is the same site of crimes committed by Hamid Noury, the former Iranian judiciary who was found guilty in Sweden for his role in the 1988 executions of Iranian political prisoners. The prisoners from Rajaei Shahr have been transferred to Qezel Hesar, the country’s largest prison, which as recent sources have revealed, is also due for closure.
Our cartoon is “Human Rights Violations” by Palestinian-Dutch cartoonist Mo Qasem. Source: CartoonMovement.
