The Islamic Association of Iranian Physicians has urged the head of Iran’s judiciary to allow independent doctors to examine and treat political prisoners outside the prisons.
The Kaleme opposition website reports that in a letter addressed to Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani, the association expressed concern about the physical conditions of opposition leaders MirHosein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, who have been under house arrest since February of 2011.
The announcement reminds the judiciary that it is responsible for the health of all political prisoners and warns that any delay in their treatment could lead to “irreversible effects.”
“The passing of Ahmad Ghabel and the lack of attention to his early symptoms in prison, which led to a delayed diagnosis, once more brings the case of misgivings and faults in terms of prisoner treatment to the foreground,” the physicians’ association writes. “The unjust death of Hoda Saber, which was caused due to delays in treatment of his heart attack, is another example of this sad neglect.”
Ahmad Ghabel was a jailed religious scholar who died last week at the age of 55, following complications from a brain tumour.
Hoda Saber, a nationalist-religious activist, died after a 10-day hunger strike in June of 2010. His family claims his death was caused by a two-hour delay in his transfer to the hospital after the onset of his heart attack.
The statement goes on to name Behzad Nabavi, Mostafa Tajzadeh and many other political prisoners suffering from various ailments in prison and in need of immediate care.
Meanwhile, a group of Iranian women’s activists has called on the Tehran Prosecutor to express grave concern regarding the health of Nasrin Sotoudeh, the jailed Iranian lawyer who is on a hunger strike to protest the violation of her rights as a prisoner.
