Qarchak Prison Report: Hell for Women and Children in Iran

Introduction

Qarchak Prison in Varamin (Tehran province) has become one of the darkest symbols of systematic human rights violations in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Originally designed as a poultry farm, the facility has been transformed into an inhumane detention centre for women prisoners, including political prisoners. The conditions in this prison not only violate international principles such as the Bangkok Rules and the Nelson Mandela Rules but also disregard the most basic principles of human dignity.

At Qarchak, women are confined in extremely cramped spaces with inadequate ventilation and lighting. They endure unsanitary drinking water, poor-quality food, lack of adequate healthcare services, and degrading, gender-based treatment as part of their daily suffering. Qarchak is not only a prison filled with violence and abuse but also, due to severe overcrowding and lack of basic facilities, many prisoners are deprived even of sleeping space, forced to sleep on the floor.

The prison is also a glaring symbol of violations against women and mothers. Mothers whose children stay with them in this hazardous and polluted environment until the age of two when they are taken into state care. Often, these mothers have no means to find out about their children’s fate. Undocumented children born in this prison are caught in a cycle of deprivation and injustice from the moment they are born.

IHRNGO Director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam stated: “Qarchak Prison is a symbol of the blatant denial of humanity and human dignity. The continued operation of such facilities is a stain on the conscience of the world. Today, more than ever, we must call on the international community not to remain silent in the face of such widespread human rights violations.”

By publishing this report, IHRNGO reiterates its demand for the immediate closure of Qarchak Prison and the transfer of all prisoners to facilities that meet minimum international standards. The existence of such places, especially in the 21st century, is a stark reminder that justice and human dignity are still sacrificed in many parts of the world.

We call on the international community, human rights organisations, and all conscientious individuals to take action to close down Qarchak Prison. This should not merely be seen as a domestic issue; it is a test for the international community to unite in defending human dignity and rights. The closure of Qarchak Prison is a necessary step toward securing prisoners’ rights and a symbol of global commitment to justice and humanity.

Acknowledgement

We are indebted to the female political prisoners exiled to Qarchak Prison as punishment, who chose to be the voice of some of the most marginalised and vulnerable women serving time for ordinary crimes in Iran. The courageous women who shed light on the dark realities of Qarchak Prison ask Iran’s civil society and the international community to fight for the humane treatment of prisoners convicted of ordinary crimes and the permanent closure of Qarchak Prison. No civil or political activist should be in any prison, especially in a hellhole like Qarchak Prison.

History of Qarchak Prison

The facility now known as Qarchak Prison, which houses female inmates, was originally built to meet the standards of a poultry farm. Over time, its purpose shifted, first reused as a men’s addiction rehabilitation centre. When authorities decided to use the facility to detain female prisoners, no significant structural changes were made. Consequently, there are no windows and when the iron gates to the open-air areas are closed, inmates are left staring at walls.

Mojgan Inanlou, a filmmaker, writer, and documentarian who was arrested for supporting the “Woman, Life, Freedom” nationwide uprising, was detained at Qarchak for a period and shared her experience with Iran Human Rights. She said: "Behind them was an iron gate which opened at 7 a.m. and was locked at 5 p.m. The only access to fresh air was when that iron gate was open. When it was closed, there were two small holes the size of lentils on the gate. I would look at the sky through those holes. I waited for sunrise while everyone else was asleep. I would keep watching until the sun rose. Later, a line would form behind me. I always reserved my spot at 4 a.m. At 7 a.m., a police officer, two soldiers, and one woman would arrive through a door at the end of the yard, known as the shop door. They would unlock the latch, walk away, and lock the outer door behind them so we could open the inner door."

The wards are essentially large industrial sheds designed to house poultry. Each hall has a capacity of fewer than 100 people, but they typically house over 150 inmates. At times, this number has reached as high as 600, leaving prisoners with no space to sleep, even on the floor. On average, between 1,500 and 2,000 women are held in Qarchak Prison throughout most of the year.

Due to its unsanitary conditions, lack of resources, and severe punitive measures, Qarchak Prison has become notorious as an exile destination to punish female political prisoners and civil activists.

Prison Conditions

In an interview with IHRNGO, one former prisoner reported an infestation of pests, including cockroaches, which attack food whenever possible. According to prisoner accounts, the facility is not only overrun by these pests but also frequented by rats, salamanders, lizards, water bugs, and even venomous tarantulas.

The prison’s water is undrinkable and, if not boiled and filtered, can cause various gastrointestinal and kidney diseases. Political prisoners who were temporarily exiled to this prison report that the water is unsuitable even for showering. One political prisoner, detained at Qarchak during the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests told Iran Human Rights that bathing with the mineral-laden water caused her to develop severe eczema, requiring nearly a year of treatment after her release.

Narges Mohammadi, human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and Aliyeh Motalebzadeh, journalist and civil activist, were exiled to this prison on 20 July 2022. In a joint letter, they described the conditions: "The severe and oppressive heat, the contaminated, undrinkable water, which was unsuitable for even showering, the warehouse-like structure without natural light or airflow, the decayed sewage system, and inadequate living infrastructure represent only a fraction of the relentless suffering inflicted on every woman in this prison."

There is no water purification system in the prison. Women who wish to drink safe water must purchase bottled water at exorbitant prices from the prison shop, which many prisoners cannot afford. Even the low-quality tap water is subject to intermittent cuts during the hot season. Due to overcrowding, many inmates do not have access to beds and are forced to sleep on the floor.

Women who struggle with substance use disorder and inmates with contagious diseases, including HIV and Hepatitis B, are not separated from the rest of the population. Some of these individuals, serving long sentences, reportedly extort other inmates by threatening to infect them using blood-contaminated needles.

Additionally, due to frequent water outages, prison authorities turn off evaporative coolers in the wards, exacerbating the sweltering heat during summer. This unbearable heat significantly heightens psychological stress amongst the prisoners, causing minor disputes to escalate into severe conflicts.

Sanitation 

Each ward in Qarchak Prison, with an average of 150 inmates, has a maximum of three or four toilets, which are reported to be in deplorable sanitary conditions. As aforementioned, the prison building was originally designed as a poultry farm and lacks a sewage system suitable for human habitation.

Mojgan Keshavarz, a women’s rights activist who was imprisoned in Qarchak, told Iran IHRNGO: "Sometimes the prison’s sewage overflows into the yard and gradually covers the entire floor of the outdoor area, preventing women from going outside for fresh air. The stench fills the prison, especially at night, making the conditions unbearable for inmates." 

She added: "The sewage flooding into the wards attracts swarms of insects, and the toxic smell causes respiratory issues for the women confined in those wards."

The prison's phone booths are located in the outdoor area, forcing inmates to wade through sewage to make calls. Another political prisoner noted that a few phones were temporarily installed indoors, but they were removed for unknown reasons. In both extreme heat and cold, inmates must wait in long lines to have a few minutes of phone time with their families.

The sanitation issue is not confined to prisoner facilities. There are no toilets for visitors, despite the prison’s remote location far from the city, posing yet another problem.

Mojgan Inanlou recounted that during her detention, a ward designed for 30 people housed 175 prisoners, with only four toilets. One toilet was reserved for the ward representative (head prisoner in each ward) and no one else was allowed to use it. Another toilet had a broken flush, leaving just two functional toilets for 175 people.

She added: "There were also four shower stalls, but the water pressure was so low that if the toilet faucets were turned on, the water would be cut off in the showers."

Menstrual Hygiene 

Sanitary pads are considered a paid commodity for women in Qarchak Prison. This means that even inmates who have been abandoned by their families and have no financial resources must purchase sanitary pads from the prison shop. Women can request a small, free quota of pads through the prison’s social worker, but it is an insufficient amount to meet the women’s hygiene needs.

If prisoners experience irregular periods or prolonged bleeding, they must submit additional requests for extra supplies—an often challenging process, particularly on weekends.

Healthcare 

Each day, only a limited number of prisoners from each ward are allowed medical visits, usually no more than five per ward. Visits from ophthalmologists and dentists are rare. While tooth extractions are provided free of charge, all other dental services must be paid for by the prisoners themselves. Additionally, if a prisoner requires prescription glasses, she must pay for it herself.

Despite claiming budget constraints when it comes to providing essential medications, the authorities are notably generous in prescribing and distributing sleeping pills. A prison psychiatrist, after a single consultation where an prisoner reports having suicidal thoughts or insomnia, often prescribes a large quantity of sedatives and tranquilisers to ensure the prisoner sleeps and reduces the "burden" on the guards.

Mojgan Inanlou described the situation: "There was a cart full of medicine. They’d bring it into the ward and announce, ‘Anyone who wants tranquilisers, come and take them!’ Clonazepam was handed out in abundance. There was no regulation. The prison had a clinic, but to be taken there, the entire ward had to scream and bang on the iron doors. A teenage girl suffered from a fever so severe that she burned with heat every night. All we could do was sponge her down. The clinic was closed on Thursdays and Fridays. From Wednesday when she fell ill until Saturday when we could take her to the clinic, the entire room had caught her illness. There was no acetaminophen, but there were as many tranquilisers as one could desire."

Such cases were not only ignored but prison authorities actively prevented any information leaking outside the prison. Inanlou recounted a lice infestation in the ward: "The head inmate said, ‘Anyone who calls and says there’s lice in the ward will have their phone access cut off, and they’ll be sent to solitary confinement!’"

In most cases when the doctor prescribes that a sick prisoner requires hospital treatment, the head of the clinic simply declares it "unnecessary" and denies the transfer.

According to a political prisoner, in several instances where inmates working in the kitchen or tea room suffered severe burns from boiling water, the prison authorities refused to transfer them to a hospital. Instead, they were sent back to their wards with painkillers and burn ointments.

The prison clinic is unequipped to conduct most tests, and when prisoners are referred to external medical facilities, they must cover all treatment and transportation costs themselves—an expense that many inmates cannot afford.

Qarchak Prison, which houses over 2,000 women, only has two wheelchairs, both of which are broken.

Food Quality

Mojgan Inanlou described the food situation: "I'm not exaggerating—the food quality was so appalling and the portions so meager that when the food pot was brought in, the first thing the ward representative would say was, ‘How am I supposed to divide this tiny amount amongst so many people?’ And they were all young women and girls. Those of us who were older decided not to eat the prison food and to buy food from the prison shop so that the younger ones could have more. We bought food from the shop—canned chicken and frozen pasta. We had no way to heat them. One night, for dinner, they served one egg and half a tomato."

Another political prisoner, who wished to remain anonymous said: "We were not allowed to use stoves. Some prisoners bought rice cookers with their own money so they could cook not only rice but also boil potatoes or eggs. But after a while, for no clear reason, the authorities came and confiscated all the rice cookers prisoners had purchased. It turned out they had taken them to the administrative unit for their own use."

Separation of Charges

In Qarchak Prison, the division based on separation of charges is not adequate in properly protecting women from violent crime prisoners. Wards 1 to 8 are general wards.

Wards 1 and 2 are typically designated for prisoners convicted of drug-related charges. Ward 3 is where women accused of drug or theft charges are remanded. After their charges are formally filed, drug offenders are transferred to Wards 1 or 2, and those accused of theft are moved to Ward 4.

Ward 5 is used for foreign nationals, most of whom are Afghan citizens. Ward 6 holds women convicted of financial crimes, fraud, and prisoners with sentences of less than 25 years. Ward 7 is reserved for “dangerous criminals”, including those convicted of murder, corruption and prostitution, kidnapping, acid attacks, armed robbery, and specific crimes such as human trafficking. Ward 8, which is relatively new, was temporarily used for political prisoners but is now primarily occupied by other prisoners, with most political prisoners transferred to Ward 7.

Ward 9 is for solitary confinement. It consists of four suites, which are sections of a larger hall partitioned into separate spaces. Each of these rooms has its own bathroom and toilet. Solitary confinement is primarily used for death row prisoners awaiting execution or those being punished.

Wards 10 and 11 are referred to as Counselling Wards 1 and 2. Counselling Ward 1, formerly known as the Mothers' Ward, houses pregnant women and mothers. Counselling Ward 2, previously used for financial offenders, is now mainly used for elderly or ill inmates.

The quarantine area in Qarchak is extremely small, often forcing dozens of inmates to live in cramped conditions.

Children in Qarchak Prison

Qarchak Prison does not just house women; children up to the age of two also live there with their imprisoned mothers. These children endure the harsh conditions of the prison, and, having not seen any men during their time there, often become frightened when encountering men after leaving prison.

Hamed Farmand, founder and director of the Children of Prisoners International (CPI) organization, told IHRNGO: "These children, during the most vulnerable phase of their development—the early months of life when their immune systems are still underdeveloped—are exposed to unsanitary environments, overcrowding, and a lack of sufficient food and clean water. During this critical period of growth, they are deprived of education tailored to their physical, cognitive, emotional, and psychological needs. They are children subjected to physical, psychological, and even sexual harm, in direct violation of their fundamental rights."

According to Article 523 of the Islamic Republic’s Code of Criminal Procedure, the mandatory age for a child to remain with their incarcerated mother is set at two years. After this age, the executive regulations of the Prison Organisation allow children to remain in prison up to the age of six, depending on the decision of the prison classification council (Clause A, Article 158, approved May 18, 2021).

Hamed Farmand, also a board member of the Global Initiative on Children with Incarcerated Parents and a member of the International Network of Children’s Care in Prisons, stated: "In Qarchak Prison, we’ve observed children staying up to the age of four. The law permits children over two to stay, and the prison has a history of keeping children over two years old."

In May 2021, Soghra Khodadadi, the director of Qarchak Prison, stated: "While the law limits children’s presence in prison to the age of two, this separation distances mothers from their children during critical developmental years, which are essential for shaping personality and upbringing. In such cases, the prison director may decide that children can stay in prison until school age. In my opinion, a child can remain until the age of seven, provided the mother’s conditions are favourable. However, currently, no child in the prison has reached this age, and the oldest child is four years old."

Mojgan Keshavarz stated: "Some women were pregnant at the time of their arrest, and their babies were born in prison. These newborns would stay with their mothers until the age of two (if the mother was not released). After that, the child would be handed over to the welfare system or, if there were family members, to them. The number of children and newborns varied, sometimes reaching 27 to 30. The ward for pregnant women and mothers usually housed up to 50 women, most of whom were mothers with children, along with around 10 pregnant women. Ward 8 was designated for mothers and included a large hallway with three small rooms."

Hamed Farmand also emphasised: "Transferring children to the welfare system is itself a bitter process. Mothers are often threatened with the removal of their child at the age of two. Many women have spoken about the severe stress they experience as their child approaches this age. Even though children over two years old remain in many prisons, the lack of clear regulations makes this a tool to exert pressure on mothers. Once a child is taken by the welfare system, the mother typically has no means to track the child’s fate after her release. Furthermore, in most cases, the mother-child relationship is severed. The prison system feels no obligation to maintain this bond. Social workers have shared heartbreaking accounts of women reuniting with children who no longer recognised them."

Aid That Does Not Reach the Children

In the mothers’ ward, there are no recreational or educational facilities for children. A small slide and swing are installed in the yard, but the limited options make play repetitive and boring for the children, leading to restlessness and frustration. Around 2017 and 2018, a "room" equipped with some toys existed, but it was later repurposed for other uses.

During the summer, power and water outages often result in the cooling systems being turned off in the wards, making the heat unbearable, especially for the vulnerable children. Mojgan Keshavarz remembers: "The air conditioning in the mothers’ ward was broken. During the early days of summer, several young children suffered from heat exhaustion."

In many cases, prison authorities and the warden prevent charitable donations, such as clothing and food, from reaching incarcerated mothers and their children.”

When Iran Human Rights asked Hamed Farmand about whether these restrictions were imposed to prevent potential drug smuggling, he responded: "I don’t think it’s related to drug smuggling. There are numerous ways to evaluate and prevent that. The denial of aid, including clothing and food, has also been reported in other prisons. I suspect two reasons for this:

1. Items that could degrade, like toys and clothing, are often kept for official inspections. A former Qarchak prisoner told me that new clothes were worn on the children for visits, only to be taken off with tears afterward. Toys were stored in a warehouse to keep them from being damaged and were occasionally given to children for short periods.
2. Regarding food, the only explanation that comes to mind is that it’s used as a tool of control over prisoners, alongside a general disregard for children’s rights. Imprisoned mothers are often controlled through their children. I’ve heard from multiple former prisoners that mothers with children are specifically threatened. As a result, they are compelled to ‘behave well.’ This pressure is applied through various means, including the restriction of food for children."

Undocumented Children: Mothers Threatened with Having Their Children Taken into State Care

Speaking about the situation of children in prison, Mojgan Keshavarz said: "I was in the mother and child ward myself, and 80% of the children didn’t have fathers. A charitable individual came to the prison and helped register the children under their mothers’ names to get birth certificates for them."

Hamed Farmand elaborated: "The issue of children without birth certificates happens in nearly all prisons where children are born. Many of these children are either born out of wedlock (resulting from either consensual relationships or rape) or have absent fathers due to reasons such as addiction, incarceration, or execution. Iranian law leaves these children undocumented, and no one follows up on their situation. In prison, birth certificates aren’t required, and mothers lack the means to pursue them. About four years ago, news surfaced that children in Qarchak had received birth certificates for the first time. While this news officially acknowledged that children didn’t have birth certificates until then, I doubt the continuity of such efforts even if they happened once as a charitable initiative."

Some children born in prison remain without birth certificates due to discriminatory laws that prevent mothers from registering their children. Although state news agency ILNA announced in December 2021 that "for the first time, children in prison received birth certificates," there is little evidence to support this claim.

The mother of a child named Gandom, in a 2021 interview with filmmaker Maryam Ebrahimvand, stated: "Gandom only has a vaccination card. I can’t even get her a birth certificate."

Mother and Child Ward: Unsanitary and Unhygienic

According to Mojgan Keshavarz, Ward 8 is one of the most poorly ventilated and polluted wards in Qarchak Prison, as it is situated significantly lower than the other wards, accessible by descending 10 to 12 steps into the yard. The location leaves the ward perpetually damp, with a persistent smell of mildew and sewage.

Previously, Atena Daemi, a human rights activist who was also exiled to Qarchak, commented on the mother and child ward: "Ward 8 is designated for mothers, pregnant women, or women living with their children in prison. For a while, it was converted into a ward for political prisoners, but after they were transferred to Evin Prison, it returned to housing mothers. The only difference in this ward was that it was slightly more food or contained slightly more meat because of the children. However, most of the food was left uneaten, perhaps because many prisoners in this ward were undergoing drug withdrawal and lacked an appetite."

Some of the children born in this ward are addicted at birth or experience withdrawal symptoms because their mothers were using and nursed them before or after entering prison. These children endure the harrowing process of withdrawal alongside their mothers without access to specialised care.

Mojgan Keshavarz said: "The prison authorities provided a meal plan for the mothers, and one of the inmates was designated as the children’s cook to prepare meals according to the plan. Meals included porridge, haleem, mashed potatoes, soup, eggs, and tomato rice. These meals were typically for the children’s lunch, with occasional dinners similar to those of other prisoners, such as boiled eggs and potatoes. However, the portions were very small and insufficient, serving breastfeeding mothers, pregnant women, and children alike. The food for the children was of poor quality and inadequate, and they lacked access to fruit."

Despite these issues, Hamed Farmand emphasised: "Qarchak is one of the few prisons where children’s meals are somewhat separate from adult meals for part of the day. In most prisons, there’s no distinction between the food provided to prisoners and that given to children." This indicates that the nutritional situation for children in many Iranian prisons may be even worse.

Mojgan Keshavarz added: "Most of the mothers in this ward were accused of theft or drug-related offences and had no family support to help them. These women couldn’t afford to buy items from the prison shop, leaving their children constantly hungry and crying. There was a shortage of formula milk, which most mothers couldn’t afford, and the prison provided only a minimal quota. Instead of formula, they were given long-life milk in small cartons, which was unsuitable and unhealthy for infants and young children."

It is important to note that since 2020, political prisoners are no longer housed in the mother and child ward, resulting in less recent information. Unfortunately, this lack of transparency and information likely means conditions have deteriorated further.

Hamed Farmand, citing a former political prisoner, noted that when political prisoners were transferred in the winter of 2020 to a ward previously used for mothers and children, they observed that the bathrooms had recently been renovated. Older prisoners told them that the bathroom facilities previously resembled "makeshift desert toilets."

Child Abuse 

Mojgan Keshavarz says: “The children were very hurt because some mothers were in pain as they were struggling with substance use disorder and also because of being away from their loved ones, the prison conditions and the inability to take care of the children (especially the twins), meant they were mentally disturbed and took out their frustrations on the children, they beat and abused the children.”

Hamed Farmand points to two other cases: the sale or even pre-sale of children in prison by mothers who were mostly struggling with substance abuse disorder and the sexual abuse (physical or verbal) of children in prison.

In a study published in February 2022, Children of Imprisoned Parents International (COIPI) documented sexual abuse against male children in Qarchak Prison.

“They [the inmates] paid no attention to the little girls. But when it came to the little boys, they would get naked in front of them, they took them to the bathhouse with them, played with their genitals, attached clothespins or things like that to their genitals, and forced the children to touch their bodies. Women other than the mothers forced their breasts into the children’s mouths, taught the children sexual words and asked them to repeat them, or made sexually-charged phone calls in the presence of the children.”

Also, regarding the girls, a social worker told COIPI: “Traces of cigarette burns can be clearly observed on the eight-year-old girl’s hands, feet and genitals. Her mother inflicted them when she noticed the child was touching her genitals.”

Former political prisoner Mojgan Keshavarz remembers: “When the children were close to two years old, they would want to go outside, they would cry because when they went to the health centre and saw a car, they would be curious about what it was and they wanted to ride in it.”

According to Mojgan, due to extreme poverty, some women even deliberately commit crimes during pregnancy so that they would be imprisoned and have their deliveries paid for by the government. Many of these children are sold after their mothers are released or separated from them at the age of two.

Healthcare and Children's Illnesses

If a child in the ward contracts a contagious disease, it spreads rapidly. Children live in a confined space where hygiene is poorly maintained. The state of the toilet facilities is also highly inadequate.

Mojgan Keshavarz said: “When the prison's hot water was cut off, these children would get sick and suffer from stomach pains. Mothers constantly protested, saying, ‘We bathe our children in cold water, and they’ve fallen ill because there are no adequate facilities to keep them warm.’ The response to these complaints was, ‘This is a public place, and anything can happen,’ or, ‘Doesn’t your water heater at home sometimes break down?’”

A paediatrician visits the children from outside the prison once a week. Children whose mothers consume methadone are often unwell due to breastfeeding and suffer from coughs and body pain caused by their mother’s substance use.

In recent years, as political activists exiled to Qarchak have reported on prison conditions to some extent, philanthropists have begun to assist by providing limited aid, such as warm clothing for the children. However, this does not meet the needs of the mothers and their children. Due to the lack of clothing, mothers are forced to rely on other prisoners for help.

Another issue is the medical waste from the clinic, which is unfortunately not stored in closed rooms or storage facilities. Instead, it is left under the stairs and in open spaces near the clinic, areas frequented by infants, children, pregnant women, and others, exposing them to visual and respiratory contamination. Prisoners must pass by this contaminated, blood-stained waste to enter the nurse’s office.

Recommendations:

1. Qarchak Prison must be closed immediately, and all prisoners relocated to facilities that meet human and international standards.
2. The living conditions of women and children must be improved and their rights upheld in accordance with international laws, including the Bangkok and Nelson Mandela Rules.
3. Independent human rights teams must regularly inspect the conditions of prisoners in Iran and provide transparent reports.
4. Immediately end the policy of exiling political prisoner to inhuman facilities like Qarchak.
5. Officials at Qarchak Prison and relevant authorities must be held accountable for human rights violations and prosecuted through appropriate judicial measures.