A Political Prisoner's Account of 'Psychological and Physical Torture' in Ahvaz

A political prisoner sentenced to life imprisonment, currently held in Sheiban prison in Ahvaz, has revealed details of his 'torture' in the cyber police detention center. The Hengaw website reported on Wednesday, January 26, through a 'reliable source close to political prisoners in Sheiban prison,' that Mokhtar Albooshokeh, an Arab political prisoner serving his life sentence in Sheiban prison, was recently transferred from this prison to the cyber police detention center in Ahvaz, where he was subjected to 'inhumane' 'torture.' According to the report, Mokhtar Albooshokeh, a 38-year-old from Ahvaz, stated that he was taken from Sheiban prison to the cyber police detention center on December 15 of this year and was 'tortured for 12 days' there. He described the transfer to the cyber police detention center and 'seeing the streets' after enduring '14 years in prison' as 'a special sightseeing tour,' but mentioned that although 'initially a feeling of joy blossomed within me,' as soon as 'we exited the prison, the person in front turned back and punched me hard in the face.' Mr. Albooshokeh stated that the officer, while cursing at this political prisoner, asked his colleague to put handcuffs and a blindfold on him, saying he 'never imagined such a level of torture and punishment' after spending 14 years in prison. This political prisoner also mentioned that he faced a life sentence 'for a crime he did not commit,' stating that in the cyber police detention center, officers 'punched me hard in the lower abdomen,' and when he pleaded, 'I have severe hernia, please don't hit me,' the officer next to him, while 'sneering,' said, 'Well, that's better! You have a hernia! I'll do something to you that will make you forget about the hernia,' and then 'hit me with all his strength in the lower abdomen.' Mokhtar Albooshokeh also stated that 'a few days later in a detention center that I later learned belonged to the cyber police in Ahvaz, I was severely tortured,' emphasizing that he was repeatedly subjected to 'vulgar sexual insults against my mother, sister, and family' during the transfer and in the detention center. This political prisoner also mentioned that during 'torture and psychological abuse,' he lost consciousness due to 'the severity of the punches and kicks' and 'regained consciousness on a hospital bed while handcuffed and shackled to the bed,' and the officers, ignoring the doctor's insistence for him to be hospitalized and undergo urgent surgery, dragged him back to the torture chamber 'with handcuffs from behind and a blindfold.' Mr. Albooshokeh emphasized that the reason for this action was that they had seen his phone number in the personal phone of another detainee, stating, 'I have been their prisoner for fourteen years!' The Hengaw website reported that 'the prison medical staff confirmed the signs of torture on Mokhtar Albooshokeh's body,' and 'the provincial forensic medical commission' approved an urgent one-month medical leave for his treatment and hernia surgery, but intelligence agencies prevented his medical leave. According to this report, prison medical staff warned about 'severe inflammation and obstruction of urinary tracts' in Mr. Albooshokeh, stating that 'without treatment, there is a serious risk to his health.' Mokhtar Albooshokeh was one of the founders and active members of the 'Al-Hewar' institute, arrested by an intelligence agency of the Islamic Republic in Ramshir, Khuzestan province, on March 2, 2011, and transferred to prison in late September 2011. This political prisoner was sentenced to death in July 2012 by Branch 2 of the Revolutionary Court of Ahvaz on charges including 'waging war against God and corruption on earth' based on 'forced confessions obtained under torture,' but Branch 23 of the Supreme Court of the Islamic Republic changed his death sentence to life imprisonment on January 10 of the same year. The U.S. State Department has repeatedly condemned the ongoing and systematic violations of the rights of Iranian citizens by the Islamic Republic. Pressure on political prisoners by judicial and intelligence officials of the Islamic Republic, including through the violation of the right to treatment, has been reported multiple times. Reports also mention the suicide attempt of Khaled Pirzadeh in Evin prison in protest against the violation of the right to treatment. Among them is Fatemeh Sepahri, a political prisoner opposed to the Islamic Republic in Vakilabad prison in Mashhad, who, despite multiple illnesses and undergoing several surgeries, remains in prison, and specialists have confirmed that her pain has intensified due to 'psychological pressure and stress' from the prison environment. Furthermore, the violation of the right to treatment in the prisons of the Islamic Republic is not limited to political prisoners; according to one of the latest reports, a common crime prisoner lost his life due to the negligence of prison medical staff in Qarchak women's prison in Varamin. The Evin prison authorities are refusing to release Raheleh Rahimipour. Khaled Pirzadeh, a political prisoner, stated: 'I have no medicine; I am bedridden from pain.' The Professional Writers' Association of Spain has called for the immediate release of Mahvash Sabet. Warnings have been issued regarding 'systematic abuse of prisoners' in the prisons of Karaj and Mashhad. Exclusive: Forced 'waiver of treatment consent forms' are being obtained from prisoners in Qezel Hesar.