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Iran official acknowledges torture of election protesters

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] Iran's Prosecutor General Ghorban Ali Dorri Najafabadi acknowledged Saturday that some protesters arrested in the aftermath of the disputed presidential election were tortured. He went on to say that the protesters should not have been taken to the Kahrizak detention center, where several protesters died while incarcerated. Following the disclosure of the use of torture, the warden of the Kahrizak detention center was arrested Sunday. The center was closed on Wednesday by the order of Iran's Supreme National Security Council following the Council's review of the prison's handling of election protesters. Iran has been experiencing turmoil in Tehran and elsewhere since President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won the election in June. In early July, Human Rights Watch reported that some arrested protesters were beaten, deprived of sleep, and threatened with torture in an effort to force false confessions. The same week, opposition leaders called for the release of those detained for their alleged involvement in the protests. The request was brought jointly by candidates Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi along with former president Mohammad Khatami, who also called for an immediate stop to the allegedly baseless arrests of dissidents. The country's Guardian Council of the Constitution recently certified the contested results, officially sanctioning the re-election of Ahmadinejad. Human rights groups have viewed the arrests as political repression, saying that Iranian forces are using the protests to "engage in what appears to be a major purge of reform-oriented individuals."

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on August 09, 2009 (boomark / email).