US sanctions brother of Iranian Gen. Soleimani for prison conditions
“Today’s designations highlight our continued support for the Iranian people and demonstrate our commitment to hold the Government of Iran responsible for its continued repression of its own citizens,” said John E. Smith, the director of the US Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). “We will continue to identify, call out, and sanction those who are responsible for serious human rights abuses in Iran.”
The OFAC statement claimed Iranian officials oversaw the beatings of more than 30 prisoners in April 2014 at Evin Prison.
“[D]ozens of security guards and senior prison officials attacked and severely beat political prisoners being held in Ward 350. The attack lasted several hours and over 30 prisoners were wounded or injured,” the statement reads.
“Some of the prisoners were placed in solitary confinement afterward and did not receive medical treatment, despite their injuries,” it added.
April 17, 2014, has been called “Black Thursday” by local activists.
The wife of prisoner of conscience Mohammad Sadiq Kabudvand, a Kurdish journalist serving an 11-year prison term, told the international rights organization Amnesty International that her husband was kicked and punched by guards so badly that he lost consciousness.
“The authorities have displayed a chilling and inhumane attitude to those injured due to beatings. Many were denied proper medical attention in a blatant violation of international law. Any prisoner who is sick or has been injured must be provided with the medical treatment they need,” said Said Boumedouha, the deputy director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Programme in 2014.
At that time, Sohrab Soleimani was the head of the Tehran Prisons organization, and the US alleges its sanctions are for “having acted for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly.”
Evin Prison has been known for its jailing of people deemed to be political dissidents, including those believed to have ties various Kurdish political parties such as the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (PDKI).
Additionally journalists and businessmen with western connections have been imprisoned for alleged espionage.
Sohrab Soleimani currently still holds a leadership position within the State Prisons Organization.
US citizens or entities such as banks are forbidden from doing business with those who the US Treasury has sanctioned economically.