In an open letter, 81 former Iranian political prisoners ask the UN special envoy for human rights in Iran, Javid Rahman, to act to ensure the release of people detained in Iran for political reasons in the face of the worldwide coronavirus epidemic .

Iran is one of the countries most affected by the pandemic and prisons provide the ideal environment for the spread of the virus. 

The former prisoners wrote: "The struggle to save human life from an invisible and invasive enemy embraces our world globally and has changed the order of priorities.

The protection of life, hand in hand with individual and collective responsibility is the most important priority. But in Iran we are witnessing the following scenario: ignoring the new international crisis situation that has arisen and in a more irresponsible way than ever, the Iranian regime's army and security institutions leave political prisoners at the mercy of the COVID pandemic -19 keeping them in prisons without the minimum protection measures." 

The letter quoted lawyer and human rights activist Nasrin Sotoodeh who said: "The same military and surveillance bodies that with their aggressive methods have thrown the country into chaos, despite the current situation of extreme danger, persevere in not freeing prisoners. It is a national necessity that a large number of prisons in the country, including the women's ward of Evin prison, be closed. Furthermore, it is a national need for the government to return to internationally recognized communication standards for the possibilities of science and technology to be used against the virus."

The letter ended by saying: "Needless to say, it would be a great help for the protection of the lives of political prisoners in Iran and for the containment of the coronavirus pandemic if the UN Human Rights Commission invites the Islamic Republic regime to release political prisoners immediately and unconditionally and to put an end to the repressive measures that the regime in Iran applies with the utmost harshness."

Mohammad Azadgar | Nasser Azarafrooz | Bagher Ebrahimzadeh | Mehdi Ebrahimzadeh | Fereydoon Ahmadi | Yusof Ardelan| Mohammad Azimi | Reza Akrami | Hesam Emam | Ali Barzooni | Yadolah Baladi | Amir Hossein Behboodi | Sima Behmanesh | Maryam Poortangestani | Hassan Poorjaneki | Ahmad Poormandi | Ali Poornaghavi | Mehdi Jabbari | Hassan Jafari | Atefeh Jafari | Reza Joshani | Mohammad Haddadpoor | Mohsen Hormatippor | Esmail Khatai | Ahmad Khorsand | Behrooz Khaligh | Ahmad Khoshbakht | Roghiyeh Daneshgari | Majid Daryabeygi | Akbar Doostar | Gholam Doostar | Siyavosh Dehghan | Nasser Rahmaninejad | Farahmand Rokni (Akhavi) | Salamat Ranjbar | Hossein Sazvar | Ali Sattari | Jamal Sajadi | Faraj Sarkoohi | Kiyoomars Soltanabadi | Hedayat Soltanzadeh | Akbar Soori | Akbar Seyf | Bahram Hosseini-Shokrani | Majid Abdolrahimpoor | Nader Ossare | Reza Azimzadegan | Reza Allamehzadeh | Fatemeh Gharavi | Ali Toloo | Mehdi Fatapoor | Asghar Fattahi | Masood Fathi |Hassan Fakhari | Vajihe Ghassemi |Bagher Gholyani | Parviz Ghelitchkhani | Sharam Ghanbari | Mehdi Kazemi | Esfandyar Karimi | Behzad Karimi | Hassan Golshahi | Ali Larimi | Ahmad Mohammadi | Zargham Mahmudi | Morteza Mohit | Manootchehr Mokhtari | Ezat Mossalnejad | Behrooz Mottalebzadeh | Amir Mambini |Mohammad Reza Mahjooriyan | Asharf Mirhashemi | Nahid Nazemi | Hamid Naimi | Zohre Naimi |Davood Navaniyan | Parviz Navidi | Iraj Vahedipoor | Parvin Vahedipoor