Gohardasht Prison () is a prison in Gohardasht, a town in the northern outskirt of

Karaj Karaj (; ) is a List of cities in Iran by province, city in the Central District (Karaj County), Central District of Karaj County, Alborz province, Alborz province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. Earl ...

, approximately 20 km (2 miles) west of

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

. Sometimes spelled Gohar Dasht Prison, it is also known as ''"Rajai Shahr"'', ''Rajaishahr'', ''Raja’i Shahr'', ''Reja’i Shahr'', ''Rajayi Shahr'', ''Rajaee Shahr'', ''Rajaei Shahr'' or ''"Rajaï Shahr Prison"'', etc. and sometimes as Karadj or Karaj prison (but Qezel Hesar prison is also near Karaj). In

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it is listed as "Rajai-Shahr Prison, Karaj, Tehran, Iran". Political prisoners and prisoners of conscience tend to be sent to Ward 12 of Rajai Shahr. Rajai Shahr is regarded as one of Iran's harshest prisons because of its many reported cases of torture, rape and murder.

IRGC The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), also known as the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, is a multi-service primary branch of the Iranian Armed Forces. It was officially established by Ruhollah Khomeini as a military branch in May 1979 i ...

has solitary confinement cells in Rajai Shahr Prison. In the immediate aftermath of the

Islamic Revolution The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Im ...

, there were many systematic executions and interrogation of former members of the overthrown

monarchy A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, reigns as head of state for the rest of their life, or until abdication. The extent of the authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutio ...

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

. During the 1980s, members of the liberal

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

and socialist groups (mostly university students) and supporters of The People's Mujahedin of Iran who opposed the theocratic regime were imprisoned and many of them were executed. Mass executions of political prisoners, in particular in Gohardasht and in Evin, took place during the 1988 executions of Iranian political prisoners. Imprisoned student activist Majid Tavakoli was transferred to Gohardasht Prison in August 2010. In June 2012, the organization ''Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran'' raised a serious concern with EU Parliament representatives on the situation of political prisoners in Rajaee Shahr: ailing political prisoners are deprived from urgent medical attention, putting their life at risk. On September 13, 2015, Iranian union activist Shahrokh Zamani died while imprisoned here.

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spoke out against the prison's practice of blinding prisoners in

eye for an eye "An eye for an eye" (, ) is a commandment found in the Book of Exodus 21:23–27 expressing the principle of reciprocal justice measure for measure. The earliest known use of the principle appears in the Code of Hammurabi, which predates the wr ...

justice in 2015.
In October 2016, political prisoners protest against violations of their basic rights, causing various harms and health challenges and leading to their slow death. The quality of food has decreased recently to the point that many of the prisoners are suffering from malnutrition. On 7 October 2017, Gholam Reza Ziaei replaced Mr. Mardani as director of Gohardasht Prison.Director of Rajaii prison is changed
ISNA-7 Oct. 2017

References

{{coord, 35.8681, N, 50.9789, E, source:wikidata-and-enwiki-cat-tree_region:IR, display=title Prisons in Iran Human rights abuses in Iran Buildings and structures in Tehran province

See also

References