Reports on handing over policing duties to prisoners in Greater Tehran Prison; Concern about compliance with regulations and the safety of prisoners.
- Based on the information received, a number of general crimes prisoners were transferred to the place where political prisoners are kept in the large prison in Tehran and they were involved in the internal order department of the hall under the title "Regulations". Although the participation of prisoners in some of the management and service matters of the prison has a history and is stipulated in the regulations in a certain framework, it is forbidden to assign the prisoners guarding and policing duties according to the management regulations of the prisons organization. At the same time, informed sources reported the occurrence of violent encounters and threats against several prisoners, among them, we can mention the report of the beating of Seyed Mehdi Hosseini, one of the arrests of the demonstrations of January 1404.
According to the Harana News Agency, the news arm of the Iran Human Rights Activists Group, based on the information received, the officials of the Greater Tehran Prison transferred a number of general criminal prisoners to the place where political prisoners are held and entrusted them with the responsibility of maintaining the internal order of the hall.
According to sources in the know, these people, known as "orders" in the prison environment, intervene in several matters related to monitoring the behavior and movements of other inmates. However, the exact details of the powers delegated to them and the limits of the prison staff's monitoring of their independent functioning were not made clear to Harana.
Using the ability of prisoners to participate in the internal affairs of the prison, including service and cultural activities and forwarding the requests of other prisoners to the authorities, is a long-standing practice in Iranian prisons. However, the current regulations distinguish between such participation and the delegation of administrative and disciplinary powers.