Breathing in Confinement

Political Prisoner Somayeh Rashidi Dies Following Deliberate Negligence by Prison Authorities

25-September-2025

Category: Prisoners

25 September 2025
News group: Prisoners –

Breathing in Confinement – Political prisoner Somayeh Rashidi died due to the denial of medical services and deprivation of treatment.

According to Breathing in Confinement, the news outlet of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, Ms Rashidi, who suffered from epilepsy and severe headaches, experienced repeated seizures after prison officials and infirmary staff failed to transfer her to hospital in a timely manner and prescribed sedatives instead of the specialist medication she required. Despite her deteriorating condition, medical staff and prison authorities labelled her a “malingerer” and refused to send her urgently to medical facilities. Her eventual, delayed transfer led to a severe drop in her level of consciousness, and after roughly ten days in a deep coma at Mofatteh Hospital in Varamin, she passed away.

This deliberate negligence is a clear instance of “neglect of a prisoner’s health,” which not only constitutes a blatant violation of the Prison Organisation’s regulations, but also directly contravenes Iran’s international human-rights obligations regarding the treatment of prisoners, in particular the Nelson Mandela Rules (the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners).

Under the Prison Organisation’s regulations, full responsibility for safeguarding prisoners’ lives and their physical and mental health rests with the prison authorities. Failure to discharge this duty renders the responsible officials directly accountable for Ms Rashidi’s death.

Denying a prisoner access to appropriate medical care constitutes inhuman treatment under international law and amounts to torture or other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.