Human Rights Watch (HRW) is calling on the Iranian government to immediately release political prisoner Behrooz Javid-Tehrani and provide him with access to adequate medical care.
Javid-Tehrani, 29, is a human rights activist who was first arrested during nationwide student protests in 1999. He has been in continuous detention since 2005.
In a statement, HRW says Javid-Tehrani is now on a 3-week-old hunger strike, HRW says, in the “doghouse” section of the infamous Gohar Dasht prison in Karaj city, north of Tehran. His hands and feet are cuffed.
HRW said Javid-Tehrani suffers from health problems -- including the loss of 50 percent of his eyesight -- caused by prolonged torture and has long been denied access to a lawyer.
“Behrooz Javid-Tehrani, who is critically ill, is in prison for his peaceful political dissent and his human rights advocacy,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “He should never have been imprisoned in the first place and he should be released at once or he will likely die in prison.”
Javid-Tehrani, 29, is a human rights activist who was first arrested during nationwide student protests in 1999. He has been in continuous detention since 2005.
In a statement, HRW says Javid-Tehrani is now on a 3-week-old hunger strike, HRW says, in the “doghouse” section of the infamous Gohar Dasht prison in Karaj city, north of Tehran. His hands and feet are cuffed.
HRW said Javid-Tehrani suffers from health problems -- including the loss of 50 percent of his eyesight -- caused by prolonged torture and has long been denied access to a lawyer.
“Behrooz Javid-Tehrani, who is critically ill, is in prison for his peaceful political dissent and his human rights advocacy,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “He should never have been imprisoned in the first place and he should be released at once or he will likely die in prison.”