Ramazan Ahmad Kamal, a political Kurdish political prisoner from Kobane who was transferred to Qazvin’s Central Prison last September without the completion of his treatment course from Rajai Shahr prison in Karaj, has been deprived of follow-up treatment in the prison. As a result, his health has been critical during the past few days due to suffering from postoperative infection in his arm.

According to the Kurdistan Human Rights Network, this political prisoner underwent another operation in March last year to remove a bullet from his arm following a hunger strike and pressures of Human Rights Organizations after several unsuccessful operations over the past few years. Hospital physicians stated that he needed a minimum of 10 physiotherapy sessions to complete the course of post-operation treatment and asked the authorities of Rajai Shahr prison to allow him attend these sessions at one of Tehran hospitals. However, Mohammad Mardani (head of Rajai Shahr prison) ordered to transfer this political prisoner back to the Central Prison of Qazvin on Sept 25, 2016, while he had not received adequate medical care.

In recent days, the sores in the arm of this political prisoner has been inflamed again due to incomplete follow-up medical care and the prison authorities have not responded to his requests for follow-up treatment. Moreover, one of prison authorities has told him that “the terrorists do not have the right to medical care in prison”.

In response to his request for medical care, “Torabi” (head of Qazvin prison) told this political prisoner that Qazvin Central Prison did not have sufficient funds for medical care and he should have completed his treatment In Tehran before being transferred to Qazvin.

Authorities of Qazvin Prison have deprived this political prisoner of the right to visit and contact with his family. Moreover, his family cannot travel to Iran and since they have lost their home during ISIL attacks in Kobani city in Syria.

Ramazan Ahmad Kamal was arrested in 2008 along with three other members of PKK who said that they had entered the Iranian territory mistakenly. The Kurdish prisoner was sentenced to death by Khoy Islamic Revolutionary Court on charge of membership in the PKK but the supreme court reduced the sentence to 10 years in prison. Since his arrest in 2008, this political prisoner has gone on hunger strike six times so far in protest to lack of medical care. In the last few months, he has been transferred to hospital several times but the hospital authorities have denied him of a bed and proper medical care. In June 2015, this Kurdish prisoner from Kobane was beaten during his transfer to the hospital and passed out.

In order to attract the attention of the public and human rights institutions to the difficult situation of this political prisoner, he wrote an open letter to Dr Ahmad Shahid (UN Special Rapporteur) in January 2015. In his letter, this political prisoner had introduced himself while explaining his need for urgent medical care while emphasizing that he had gone into coma once after being beaten with a baton by prison authorities.

In this letter, he also mentions that he endured severe bleeding from his nose and ears in addition to sustaining bruises as a result of this assault. Ramazan Ahmad Kamal has lodged a complaint to Tehran’s Prosecutor’s Office of the Prosecutor with regards to the aforementioned incident.

During the past 8 years in prison, this prisoner’s arm has been operated twice in the prison and now his arm is paralysed. Qazvin Prosecutor ordered the prison authorities to allow him follow-up medical care after he went on several hunger strikes. But he was beaten up by the Rajai Shahr prison authorities.