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Iranian prison guards in riot gear beat prisoners and used tear gas, firearms and pepper spray during raids inside the Qarchak women’s prison, east of Tehran, family members of the prisoners held at the facility reported.

This raid, taking place Thursday night, involved units equipped with pepper spray and tear gas attacking Hall 1 and 2 where prisoners convicted of drugs charges are held.

Reacting to an article published in the Iran official daily newspaper describing the situation of political prisoners as favorable, young political prisoners, Saba Kord Afshari and Yasamin Aryani, sent an open letter from notorious Evin Prison, revealing tough prison conditions.

On 17 January, 2019, the official Iran daily newspaper claimed that “The security (political) convicts have no problems and are in the best situation in terms of phone calls, family visits and using medical facilities.”

 Iranian authorities have deliberately deprived prisoner of conscience Majid Asadi of the special medical care he requires.

Majid Asadi, having been sentenced to six years in prison in 2017 for his peaceful human rights activities, suffers from multiple diseases including ulcers, duodenal ulcer, liver cyst, waist disk, and spinal rheumatism.

With the public outcry over torture in Iran’s detention centres, Farangis Mazloumi mother of political prisoner Soheil Arabi recounts her experience of daily torture saying she is being tortured every day and every night.

Iranian labour protest leader, Esmail Bakhshi was arrested for the second time, state media reported Monday.

Bakhshi “was arrested last night in cooperation with security and law enforcement forces,” Mansour Mohammadi, the prosecutor general of Dezful, in Khuzestan province, told the judiciary’s news website Mizan Online.

Bakhsi who is a labour leader at Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane complex workers in Shush, in the oil-rich province of Khuzestan, southwest Iran, was arrested on November 20, 2018, during demonstrations by workers demanding unpaid wages.

Iranian security authorities arrested two other Christian converts, Farzad Behzadizadeh and Abdolah Yosefi Sheikh Robat in Ahvaz on 2 December, 2018, the same day as two Christian sisters Shima and Shokoufeh Zanganeh were arrested.

A court in Ahvaz, Iran granted the two Christian converts conditional release on a heavy bail of 1 Billion Tomans (Approximately $100,000 USD). Despite the financial hardships the majority of Iranians face these days under international sanctions the family of these Christian converts provided the bail, but every time they go to the court to submit the bail to release their loved ones, court officials tell them “the judge is not in today”!

Human rights organisation Amnesty International has published a report entitled “Blood-soaked secrets: Why Iran’s 1988 prison massacres are ongoing crimes against humanity”. The report highlights that the Iranian dictatorship, by denying the families of the victims the right to bury their loved ones is prolonging the abuse. Furthermore, those that are looking for justice are being harassed and intimidated and many have been arrested and detained by Iranian authorities.

To make matters worse, various sites where many victims were buried have been destroyed by Iranian authorities that are trying to get rid of evidence of their crime.

The following is an overview of human rights violations in Iran on December 5th, 2018 based on the information compiled and verified by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRNA).  Human Rights Violation