Hamza Sawari, an Arab political prisoner serving a life sentence since 2005 on security-related charges, was returned to the general ward of Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj on August 4, 2025, after spending a period in solitary confinement. This transfer followed a violent raid by security forces on Ward 4 of the prison on July 30, 2025, during which he was taken to solitary confinement.

Hamza Sawari was arrested in 2005 at the age of 16 (a minor) on charges of “moharebeh” (waging war against God) and “acting against national security”, and was initially sentenced to death. After the execution of his two brothers, Mohammad Ali and Jafar Sawari, the charge of “corruption on earth” was dropped from his case and his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.

In 2005, cities across Ahwaz witnessed a popular uprising after a leaked document from the office of then-Iranian President Mohammad Khatami revealed a state plan for demographic change in Ahwaz—displacing two-thirds of the Arab population in the province and replacing them with Iranian settlers. During this uprising, at least 150,000 Ahwazi citizens were arrested, dozens were executed, and dozens of detainees remain forcibly disappeared to this day.

During his time in solitary confinement, Hamza was denied phone contact with his family as well as medical treatment and medication, raising serious concerns about his physical and mental health. Sawari suffers from several medical conditions, including varicocele (following a failed surgery), a Baker’s cyst behind his right knee, arthritis, chronic stomach pain, pleural inflammation, a herniated disc in his back, and spinal problems. In the winter of 2024, his health deteriorated severely. After seven days of hospitalization and undergoing surgery in a Tehran hospital, his condition did not improve significantly. He remains in urgent need of continuous medical care and medications that must be provided from outside the prison, but being deprived of proper treatment—especially during his time in solitary—has put his life at serious risk.

Hamza Sawari had previously joined other political prisoners in a hunger strike to protest the recent crackdown in Ghezel Hesar Prison.

His family and human rights organizations are calling for urgent intervention to address his health condition and to guarantee the rights of political prisoners in this facility.

Hussain Hazbavi