Police Forces and the Deaths of Individuals; How Are the Deaths Justified?

News related to the violence of the Islamic Republic's police, which is a centralized organization under the supervision of the Supreme Leader (unlike federal governments and democratic societies where the police chief is elected by the mayor and regulations are approved by the city council), never becomes the main news. Persian-language media abroad also pay little attention to police violence within the country and are more focused on the United States. In this article, I will present and analyze a few instances of violence by the centralized police organization of the Islamic Republic, which operates under the orders of a non-elected official and based on Sharia law and Islamist ideology, against ordinary individuals. Allegation: Participation in the Chaharshanbe Suri Festival. Mohsen Maleki, a 26-year-old citizen and worker from Isfahan, who was arrested in connection with the Chaharshanbe Suri festival, died ambiguously in the detention center of Police Station 16 in Isfahan. His family claims that there are signs of beating on his body. According to Parvaneh Shirani, Maleki's mother, he had no specific illness and was arrested by the police on Tuesday, March 17, 2015, and transferred to the detention center of this police station. Ms. Shirani says, "We visited Mohsen on Tuesday, and he was fine, but on Wednesday morning, we were informed of his death." Maleki's family claims that the police and the Khorshid Hospital, where he likely died, have refused to provide them with relevant documents and medical reports. Mohsen Maleki was required to report to the police station every year before Chaharshanbe Suri due to a previous arrest in 2010. Because he failed to do this in 2014, he was arrested in the street by the police. Government officials and police have remained silent regarding this suspicious death. Maleki's family claims that there are visible signs of beating and injury on his body. (HRANA, April 1, 2015) Handcuffing and Taking Individuals is Not Arrest. Officers from Police Station 12 in Zahedan, without stating a reason, handcuffed and arrested Haj Niaz Mohammad Rakhshani, one of the elders of Zahedan, while visiting his shop. Nasrollah Rakhshani, the son of the aforementioned, says: "The officers were looking for two thieves who climbed over my father's shop wall; instead of arresting the thieves, they arrested my father." After the arrest of this citizen, his family went to the police station but faced indifference from the officers. According to family members, they were not only denied visitation but were also not allowed to deliver medications to him. They were told that they could not allow him to take his pills before a case was filed. After returning to the police station, the family encountered the lifeless body of this citizen. The police claimed, "We had presented him as a trusted person and did not arrest him." (Kordpa, May 11, 2016) Why Was He Running? This is the official narrative from state media regarding the killing of a 20-year-old young man by police: "[In Bahman 1394] in the central part of Dezful County, a 20-year-old young man opened fire at a wedding ceremony and was pursued by police on Saturday night. The young suspect, while fleeing from the police, fired at the police forces, who subsequently shot the delinquent boy in the leg, but he still resisted against the police with a group of local criminals. Eventually, the injured boy was taken to the hospital and died there due to severe injury and bleeding. After the death of the delinquent young man, about 50 people, mostly criminals and malicious individuals, attacked the police station in Imam City, causing significant damage to public property. According to the political and social deputy of the Dezful special governorate, 20 of the attackers have been arrested, and the rest are being pursued judicially and police-wise." (Young Journalists Club, February 1, 2016) The reporter, by labeling the deceased as a delinquent and those who were upset by his death, has issued a condemnation from the outset. The report does not clarify why this young man was pursued and why a group of people were so dissatisfied with his killing that they attacked the police station. Furthermore, the narrative of his family and friends is absent from this report. As mentioned, Persian-language media abroad also do not fulfill their responsibilities in these matters. The police are not responsible for the lives of their detainees. The social deputy of the Isfahan police command told the IMNA reporter: "In executing this plan [the Calm Plan or the program for arresting addicts], a 26-year-old married young man was arrested while buying and selling drugs, and one gram of crystal and two grams of heroin were discovered from him... This addicted young man was transferred to Police Station 16 in Isfahan, but there he expressed distress and stated that he was not feeling well; therefore, our officers contacted the emergency services, and he was transferred to Khorshid Hospital after being examined by emergency medical technicians... This 26-year-old young man was treated in the hospital from 5 PM until 2 AM the next day; when he saw his physical condition worsening, around 10 PM, he admitted that he had swallowed drugs, so he was quickly transferred to the ICU, but despite many efforts to improve him, he lost his life around 2 AM on Wednesday... The deceased's body was handed over to the forensic medicine for necessary investigations and determination of the cause of death, and after the necessary actions, the body was handed over to his family for burial... After this incident, some opponents mischievously contacted the family of the deceased from foreign networks, and the mother of the deceased, who was grieving and shocked, made statements based on what those individuals suggested to her, which were published on social media... After the publication of these false statements, we also spoke with the mother of the addicted young man and presented the forensic report to her and her mother, who stated that she had not seen her child's body, and fortunately, the necessary clarification was made, and now there is no specific issue... According to the forensic report, it has been clearly established that there were no signs of beating on the deceased's body... This 26-year-old had four previous records, and he was not detained before his death, and as soon as he entered the police station, he expressed distress, and 80% of the incidents occurred in the hospital." (IMNA, April 3, 2015) In this police officer's report, four noteworthy points can be observed. First, to justify the death of the detainee, only his addiction is mentioned to make his killing appear normal to the public. To reinforce this implication, it is also mentioned that he had a criminal record so that no one doubts that he deserved to die. The second point is attributing any doubt about the circumstances of his death to enemies. Anyone in Iran who raises questions or criticisms about the behavior of rulers and coercive powers is considered an opponent. The third point is that he specifies that before the burial of the detainee, his mother had not seen him. It is evident that, like many such cases, the deceased was quickly buried by the police, the IRGC, or the judiciary to eliminate evidence. And fourth, as in other cases, the detention of the detainee is generally denied. He was mentally ill. The head of Police Station 127 in Narmak regarding the death of one of the detainees in Meydan 90 Narmak says: "On June 17, following public calls regarding a fight and creating fear and terror in Meydan 90 Narmak, one of the 110 officers was immediately dispatched to the scene, and upon his arrival, two 30-year-old young men told him that an individual named 'Y.D.' was acting abnormally (drunk) and after yelling and beating us, he intended to take our motorcycle to create trouble for one of the local women (he intended to forcibly put that woman on the motorcycle); after we resisted, he went into a supermarket and threw a glass bottle at us and the people... The officer present at the scene quickly attempted to arrest the individual, who was later found to have four previous records of immoral acts, harassment of women, and purchasing stolen goods... His brother, named 'N.D.' [Nader Dastanpour], who entered the fray after the initial conflict from his home nearby and fought with the officer, injuring him and fleeing into the house... Meanwhile, the officer present at the scene immediately requested backup from Police Station 127, and since both suspects were hiding in the house, a judicial order was obtained to enter the house, and after the officers entered, both suspects were arrested in an abnormal and drunk state and transferred to the police station... The people present at the scene, by signing a declaration, demanded action against these disruptors of public security and order... After transferring both brothers to the police station, an officer noticed that 'N.D.' was acting abnormally and unbalanced, so he quickly contacted emergency services, and the emergency personnel, after arriving and examining him, stated that he had no problem and did not need to be transferred to the hospital. Meanwhile, the father of the suspect stated that his son had a history of mental illness and had also attempted self-harm and had been hospitalized in a psychiatric hospital a week prior... After the arrest of the suspects and their transfer to forensic medicine, it was revealed that both had been drinking, and according to forensic documents, the alcohol level in 'N.D.' was 171 mg, and the alcohol level in his brother was 46 mg. Additionally, during their arrest, quantities of drugs were discovered from their home, which, according to their father, belonged to 'N.D.'... Given the judicial order for the detention of the suspects in the police station, the night watch officer at 12:50 AM noticed unusual movements from 'N.D.' and after summoning his father, he was asked to provide him with medication if he had taken any, but his father stated that he was not taking any medication. All of these matters are also recorded in the mentioned reports... The next day, for the handling of the suspects' case, both brothers were transferred to the judicial authority, and after a judicial order and extension of their 24-hour detention, it was decided that 'N.D.' would be transferred to forensic medicine for psychiatric examinations on Saturday... At 7:20 PM, while both suspects were resting in the observation area, 'N.D.'s brother noticed that he was not breathing, and at that moment, the watch officer, who was monitoring the suspects with surveillance cameras, noticed their movements and contacted emergency services. Meanwhile, one of the officers with first aid experience performed the necessary resuscitation actions, but after the emergency personnel arrived, they announced that he had died... According to existing visual evidence (surveillance cameras in the police station), both suspects had no problems before their rest and even engaged in physical activities... After this incident, a case was opened in police inspection and judicial authority, and his body was transferred to forensic medicine to determine the cause of death, but given his alcohol level and drug use (according to his father's statement), further investigations to determine the exact cause of his death are ongoing." (Tasnim, July 9, 2016) The family of Nader Dastanpour, in detailing the incident, rejected the claims of the head of Police Station 127 in Narmak, stating that the beating occurred in their home at 1 PM on June 27, and his death in custody was at 6 PM the next day, June 28. The failure to name the deceased is not for the sake of preserving individuals' dignity (which has no value in the Islamic Republic) but to prevent identification and transformation into a face and memory among the people. After killing, they express condolences. The public relations of the police in Bushehr province, in its fourth statement since the unrest in the city of Nakhl Taqi in Bushehr province, ultimately expresses condolences for the "death" (and not murder) of one of the citizens of this region, as if they were close friends and relatives of the deceased. The statement reads: "Considering that the death of the late Khalil Bagheri, a resident of Nakhl Taqi, in the incident of conflict on July 6, 2016, was in no way the desire of the police, we express our deep regret over this incident and extend our condolences to the honorable family, relatives, and all the noble and decent people of Nakhl Taqi and Assaluyeh." In this statement, there is no reference to the cause of his death. The prosecutor of Bushehr, in response to the events in Nakhl Taqi, states that no contraband has been discovered, and the police officer is in the custody of the judiciary. (Khaleej Fars, July 19, 2016) Allegation: Participation in a Party. According to the head of public security police in Razavi Khorasan province, "A young girl who attempted to escape during the arrest of guests at a party fell from the sixth floor of an apartment in Mashhad and lost her life instantly... Several residents of a residential complex in the vicinity of Hashemieh Boulevard in Mashhad had previously expressed dissatisfaction with the arrival of suspicious individuals to an apartment and the holding of mixed parties accompanied by loud noises... Special operations teams of the public security police discreetly monitored the location, and last Thursday night, when several young girls and boys were holding a mixed party in this apartment, the place was inspected with the coordination of the judicial authority... In this operation, four young men and four young women were arrested, and unfortunately, one of the young women, upon learning of the police's presence, attempted to escape and fell from the balcony of the sixth floor of the building... In this incident, the young woman, who had suffered severe head injuries, lost her life instantly... By order of the judicial authority, the investigation is ongoing.