Denial of Medical Care and Inhumane Treatment of a Sick Prisoner
2-October-2025
Category: Prisoners
2 October 2025
News category: Prisoners
Breathing in Confinement – Denial of medical treatment and violation of the rights of political prisoner Seyed Abolhassan Montazer in Ghezel Hesar Prison, Karaj.
According to Breathing in Confinement, the news outlet of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, Seyed Abolhassan Montazer, a 66-year-old political prisoner held in Ghezel Hesar Prison, is in a life-threatening critical condition due to the deliberate obstruction by prison authorities of his access to essential medical services.
Medical tests have shown that Mr. Montazer’s blood platelet level has dropped to the dangerously low count of 38,000. Despite this, he was kept for 24 hours in Imam Ali Hospital in Karaj, handcuffed to a chair, and his vital treatments were intentionally delayed. This neglect led to a severe deterioration of his health, including continuous bleeding (nasal, subcutaneous, and gastrointestinal), rectal bleeding, decreased consciousness, and acute hallucinations.
Although the treating physician ordered the immediate transfusion of 10 units of platelets and two essential medications, only 5 units were administered, and even that was with a three-day delay. In addition, prison and hospital authorities refused to provide the necessary life-saving medications, estimated at 15 million tomans. Even during his hospitalization, his leg remained shackled, and he was prevented from undergoing specialised tests outside the hospital.
While his blood condition and other illnesses remain critical, Mr. Montazer was returned to prison in a state of “incomplete treatment” and deprived of access to specialised medical care.
Seyed Abolhassan Montazer is one of the veteran political prisoners who was first arrested in 1978 by the Shah’s SAVAK in Mashhad and sentenced to six months in prison. He was also among the political prisoners of the 1980s and has repeatedly been arrested and tortured in recent years. His most recent arrest was on 22 December 2023, when he was charged with baghi (armed rebellion) through alleged collaboration with the Mojahedin Organisation and sentenced to death.
In addition to his blood disorder, Mr. Montazer suffers from numerous other illnesses including heart and lung disease, kidney stones, arthritis, gastrointestinal bleeding, and urinary tract disorders. He had previously undergone open-heart surgery, but following his latest arrest, the surgical stitches were reopened as a result of beatings by security agents, leaving his chest fractured. Due to these injuries, part of his lung now protrudes abnormally through his chest wall when breathing.
The denial of access to specialised medical care for this political prisoner is a blatant violation of fundamental human rights, including the right to life, the right to health, and the prohibition of torture and inhumane treatment. These actions are in direct contravention of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s international obligations, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Mandela Rules).