New Report from the Detention Follow-up Committee on 'Severe Beatings' in Prisons

The Detention Follow-up Committee for the recent protests has reported on the severe beating of Sina Ghanbari and the bruising of his body, as well as the severe beating of several other detainees from the recent protests and the distribution of methadone pills among prisoners by the officials of Evin Prison. Following the protests in December across about 100 cities in Iran, a number of former political prisoners and human rights activists formed a committee called the Detention Follow-up Committee for December 96. This committee previously reported on January 7 about the death of Sina Ghanbari in Evin Prison, a report that received widespread attention and prompted several members of parliament to call for an investigation. Now, the Detention Follow-up Committee for December 96 has published another report regarding the death of Sina Ghanbari and the treatment of other detainees. According to the website Kalemeh and based on writings by Mahdi Mahmoudian, a member of this committee, between January 9 and January 12, nearly 400 detainees from the recent protests in Tehran were transferred to the quarantine section of Evin Prison. Most of these individuals were arrested by police officers on the streets and were transferred to Evin Prison after several hours of detention in police stations and the formation of preliminary cases. According to this committee, most detainees report 'abusive language and inappropriate behavior of the officers' during their arrest in police detention centers, and some detainees were 'severely beaten' during this time. The Detention Follow-up Committee for December 96 also reported, citing two 'eyewitnesses', that Sina Ghanbari was interrogated two days before his death and 'after his arrest, he told his cellmates that they had done a spring cleaning (beaten him) to the extent that some parts of his body were severely bruised.' According to this report, the body of Sina Ghanbari was found on the morning of January 15, with 'a garbage bag tied around his neck, on the floor of the bathroom in the quarantine section of Evin Prison by prisoners assigned to cleaning duties.' The Detention Follow-up Committee for December 96 stated that 'it cannot confirm whether it was even possible for Sina Ghanbari to commit suicide with a garbage bag as a noose and hang himself in that location.' Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, the Attorney General of the country, stated that Sina Ghanbari, who died in Evin Prison, was 'an addict' and had committed suicide. Officials from the Central Province Police made similar claims regarding Vahid Jafari, who died in Arak Prison. However, lawyer Mohammad Najafi denied these claims by the Central Province Police. A few days after his remarks, he was arrested on January 25 in front of his home. Recently, there were also reports about the 'arrest of Shahab Abtahi Zadeh, a 20-year-old from Arak, and then the release of his body in front of his father's house' circulating on social media. Nonetheless, in this case, Ghasem Abdollahi, the Chief Justice of the Central Province, stated that the death of this individual 'is not related to the recent unrest and that this person died due to drug injection.' However, Ali Motahari, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, called on January 21 for an investigation into the deaths of individuals who 'are said to have committed suicide in recent events in the country's prisons.' Previously, Nasrin Sotoudeh, a lawyer, had called for an independent committee to investigate these claims. According to Ms. Sotoudeh, 'a number of detained protesters have told her via phone calls from Evin Prison that security officials advised them before meeting with a judicial official in prison to request methadone to expedite their release during the meeting.' In this regard, Mahmoud Sadeghi, a member of parliament from Tehran, tweeted on January 26, 'One of the prisoners who recently died in prison told his family that prisoners were forced to take pills that made them feel ill.' This claim has been denied by the prison organization. Meanwhile, the Detention Follow-up Committee for December 96 stated that out of about 400 individuals detained in these protests, 'more than 150 have officially requested drugs related to addiction that, according to prison regulations, should be provided to prisoners after examination and approval by a doctor.' According to this committee, however, the officials of the quarantine section of Evin Prison 'have provided a large number of methadone pills to the detainees, so that some detainees who have no history of addiction have used these pills as a sedative or for similar purposes.' The public relations department of the prison organization previously described Mahmoud Sadeghi's claim about the 'forced feeding of medication' to detainees as 'baseless' and a case of 'spreading falsehoods and disturbing public opinion,' promising that those who raised it would be 'legally pursued in the Tehran Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor's Office as soon as possible.' In response to this threat from the prison organization, this member of parliament tweeted, asking the organization to 'allow visits to prisons in response to the repeated requests of representatives of the people instead of threatening with punishment.' In the meantime, Allahyar Malekshahi, the head of the Judicial Commission of Parliament, announced on Sunday that six members of this commission have been selected to visit Evin Prison, and this visit will take place on Sunday, February 27. However, some former political prisoners and human rights activists, including Emadeddin Baghi and Hassan Asadi Zeyd Abadi, have deemed this visit ineffective. Recently, there have also been reports about the killing of Saro Ghahramani and Kianoush Zandi in Sanandaj, but Islamic Republic officials have accused Saro Ghahramani of being a member of armed Kurdish opposition groups. They have not commented on Kianoush Zandi. In this context, the governor of Sanandaj also stated that Saro Ghahramani was 'affiliated with terrorist groups,' a claim that has been denied by Mr. Ghahramani's relatives. Eisa Saharkhiz, a journalist, also tweeted quoting the father of Maryam (Forouzan) Jafarpoor, stating that this 27-year-old engineer was 'arrested during the protests' and 'her body was handed over to the family after an autopsy.' Aside from these names, regarding the ambiguity surrounding their deaths during the protests, according to statistics from Iranian television and statements from members of parliament, 25 individuals have been killed in these protests.