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Report: Iranian authorities ignore prisons' pleas for help in fighting COVID-19

Amnesty International obtained letters from prisons in Iran to the Health Ministry about a lack of adequate supplies in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.

Iranians, wearing protective face masks, ride their motorcycles in the capital Tehran on July 22, 2020, during the COVID-19 epidemic. - The Islamic republic has been battling a resurgence of the virus, with official figures showing a rise in both new infections and deaths since a two-month low in May. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) (Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)
Iranians, wearing protective face masks, ride their motorcycles in the capital Tehran during the coronavirus pandemic, Iran, July 22, 2020. — ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images

A leading human rights organization said July 31 that the Iranian authorities are ignoring cries for help on the bleak coronavirus situation in the country’s prisons.

Amnesty International obtained letters from senior officials in the Islamic Republic’s Prisons Organization. The human rights organization said in a press release that the Prisons Organization wrote four letters between March and July to the Ministry of Health reporting “shortages of protective equipment, disinfectant products, and essential medical devices.” The latest letter the organization obtained, dated July 5, indicates that the pleas had not been answered by that point.

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