Ismail Bakhshi's Account of Torture and Detention; "The Minister of Intelligence Must Be Accountable"

Ismail Bakhshi, a labor activist whose reports of torture during detention have been published, has detailed the conditions of his detention, revealing that his conversations with his family were monitored and calling for a public accountability from the Minister of Intelligence of the Islamic Republic in a televised debate. Mr. Bakhshi, who is a representative of the Haft Tappeh sugarcane workers, was arrested on November 27 during the protests of the workers of this company and was held for nearly a month in the custody of the Ministry of Intelligence. During his detention, reports emerged of "severe physical and psychological pressures" on this labor activist, with labor sources reporting that he was beaten and tortured. Although later the head of the judiciary in Shush denied the reports of torture and his transfer to the hospital, he has now stated in his first comments since his release that in the early days of his detention, he was subjected to "torture and beatings to the point of death" without any reason or explanation. He mentioned that as a result, he was unable to move for 72 hours in his cell, and the pain was so severe that even sleeping was agonizing. He added that even weeks after his release, he still feels pain in his broken ribs, kidneys, left ear, and testicles. In another part of his report on his detention, shared on his Instagram page, Mr. Bakhshi stated that his "torturers" referred to themselves as "the unknown soldiers of Imam Zaman" but subjected him and Ms. Gholian to various forms of sexual insults and beatings, noting that for him, "psychological torture was worse than physical torture." He referred to Sepideh Gholian, a civil activist who was arrested alongside Mr. Bakhshi during the protests and was released at the end of December after posting a bail of 500 million tomans. Mr. Bakhshi further questioned Mahmoud Alavi as the "Minister of Intelligence and a religious cleric," asking what the ethical, human rights, and Islamic stance on the torture of a detainee is, and whether it is permissible, and to what extent. He emphasized that more important than the physical and psychological torture was the issue of "monitoring his phone conversations" with his family by the intelligence apparatus, with his interrogator stating that they had been monitoring his calls for a long time and saying, "We know everything about you, even how many times your wife has argued with you because of your activism." He asked the Minister of Intelligence of Hassan Rouhani's government whether it is ethically, human rights-wise, and Islamically permissible to monitor the most private conversations of individuals, and by what right the intelligence agency should "monitor" his and his dear wife's private phone conversations. In conclusion, Mr. Bakhshi called for Mahmoud Alavi to respond to these issues in a televised debate. According to the lawyer of this labor activist, Mr. Bakhshi is currently facing charges such as "disturbing public order," "gathering and colluding against national security," and "participating in forming a group aimed at undermining security," with a case opened against him in Branch 12 of the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor's Office in Ahvaz. Meanwhile, Hossein Raeisi, a lawyer in Canada, stated regarding the torture of Ismail Bakhshi in prison that no officer, regardless of rank or position, whether police or security officer, has the right to physically confront a suspect. He added that the immunity of officers in torturing prisoners is a characteristic of fascist systems that easily allow inhumane treatment of prisoners before a court ruling. He further noted that this sense of immunity stems from the hegemony of power and the weakness of the judiciary. When the judiciary cannot perform its duties properly, police and security forces resort to torture.