MEK: Thousands of Protesters in Iran Are Under Torture and ill-Treatment
Iran Protests: Thousands of Protesters in Iran Are Under Torture
Over 12,000 people have been arrested during the Iran protests of November 2019. The prisoners are under severe conditions. According to reports received by Iran’s main opposition group, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI, Mujahedin-e-Khalq or MEK), the interrogators and torturers have transferred many of the wounded out of hospitals to prison and put them under torture.
Many of the detainees, including those in Shiraz, are being pressured to take part in televised “confessions” and speak out against the uprising and the Iranian Resistance.
On December 28, 2019, the state-run daily Etemad interviewed Helale Mousavian, one of the regime’s Judiciary lawyers, who observed the condition of the detainees and their families.
“The main problem is that the detainees can only hire the lawyers who are approved by the head of the Judiciary and even if they do, those lawyers have been ordered not to intervene in the cases, and they don’t even have the right to read the culprits files,” Mousavian said, adding:
“The mother of one of the detainees said that her son once called her and as soon as he wanted to tell her about the place that he was kept, he was stopped by the authorities… many prisoners don’t even know the place of detention.”
“The detainees are in the age range of 18 to 30 years old. There are also many detainees under 18 years of age, and most are 13 to 15 years old.”
Amnesty International has also called for those arbitrarily arrested to be released. The London based organization has put out a petition demanding that the detainees be released.
“As part of a violent and deadly crackdown, Iran’s authorities have been arbitrarily arresting thousands of protesters who are now at risk of torture and other ill-treatment. Sign the petition and call for those arbitrarily arrested to be released. Act now,” Amnesty International Tweeted.
Also, on December 29, 2019, the MEK released the names of 14 more victims of the Iran protests, bringing the number of victims identified to 615. The MEK has confirmed that more than 1500 protesters were killed by the regime’s security force
Meanwhile, the clerical regime, fearing the international and domestic consequences of committing crimes against humanity, is continuing its efforts to conceal the actual number of victims, the wounded and those arrested.