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Concerns Over the Treatment of Political Detainees Continue in Iran After An Activist On Hunger Strike Led to Hospitalization 

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By Alma Hodzic || Edited by Francesca Rapisarda

Iranian voices and international supporters urge the government to uphold basic human rights and ensure fair and transparent legal proceedings after the Women, Life and Freedom Uprising.

Concerns have been raised by International human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, over the treatment of political detainees in Iran. They urge the government to uphold basic human rights and ensure fair and transparent legal proceedings. 

A report released by Amnesty International in 2022 further exposed the severity of what innocent individuals endured by Iranian security forces throughout the span of Women, Life and Freedom uprising.  

A year later, Iranian activist Bahareh Hedayat began a 13-day hunger strike while incarcerated in Tehran’s Evin prison to protest for Javad Rouhi, executed for “crimes that are punishable by death in the Islamic Republic of Iran.” He was one of the main contributors in the Mahsa Amini uprising by the Women, Life, and Freedom Movement.  

Hedayat was transferred to a hospital and was returned to prison later in the evening.  

She was “grappling with severe weakness and heart palpitations,” Hedayat’s lawyer, Zahra  Minuei said on X. Hedeyat lost eight kilograms within ten days of the hunger strike.  

Rouhi’s family had pleaded with Hedayat to end her hunger strike, but she refused.  

A petition was also signed and published on Shargh Daily by a group of Iranian cinematographers, journalists, civil activists and families of protesters, who allegedly were murdered by the Islamic Republic, for Hedeyat to end her hunger strike. This petition is no longer available online due to it being removed.  

“Iranian society and justice-seeking families need to have your body, so your free and strong spirit can keep up the fight on the path of justice,” the petition reads. “You have given years of your life and youth to fight against oppression for a free Iran. We are worried about your dear life as we are worried about Iran, but we also have hope for the future of Iran.”  

Hedayat sent a letter to the Iran International expressing her reasonings for the hunger strike in which there has not been a response from officials. 

She is current serving a four-year and eigth-month sentence for taking part in protests after a Ukrainian airliner was shot down by the Islamic Republic Guard Corps in January 2020, killing 176 people. 

In September 2023, Iran’s parliament approved a bill to create stricter hijab penalties for women that are refusing to wear the mandatory headscarf, along with individuals supporting them. The bill introduced new frameworks for women, regarding dress code.  

The death of Iranian student Mahsa Amini in September 2022 and countless other lives triggered an uprise, demonstration happened all over the world to protest the unjust treatment and oppression of innocents by the Islamic Republic.