Last month The Jerusalem Post reported that Amnesty urged Iran’s judicial chief Ebrahim Raisi to release all political prisoners and human rights defenders held in its vast penal system, writing in a letter that he “immediately and unconditionally release all prisoners of conscience, including human rights defenders and those detained for peacefully taking part in the November 2019 and January 2020 protests.”Amnesty also pressed Raisi “to urgently consider releasing other prisoners – especially pre-trial detainees and those who may be more at risk from the virus – and take necessary measures to protect the health of all prisoners, including equal access to testing.”The letter stated the human rights organization is “concerned that hundreds of prisoners of conscience remain jailed, including human rights defenders, peaceful protesters and others detained solely for peacefully expressing their rights to freedom of expression, association and/or assembly. They should not be in detention in the first place. More generally, I am also concerned about the health of all prisoners in Iran.”We have learned that around 36 prisoners in #Iran are feared to have been killed by security forces after use of lethal force to control protests over #COVID19 safety fears. It is abhorrent that Iran's authorities have again resorted to killing people to silence their concerns.
— Amnesty International (@amnesty) April 9, 2020
Iran murdered 36 prisoners over coronavirus protest
Amnesty urged the head of the Iranian judiciary to release all political prisoners and human rights defenders held in its vast penal system in late March.
