Tortures by the CIA, Tortures by the Islamic Republic

The recent report by the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee regarding the use of extremely violent and inhumane interrogation techniques on detainees and the application of torture has, as expected, received widespread attention globally. The negative reactions were so significant that the White House spokesperson stated, "It has tarnished America's image," and "The President of the United States is concerned that this report has undermined America's moral credibility worldwide." The Senate report on CIA torture was also widely reflected in the far-right media in Iran. Various legal and legitimate platforms of hardliners in the Islamic Republic, indifferent to what has transpired in Iran over the years, targeted the United States and elaborated on human rights violations there. This all occurred while, for nearly 35 years, torture and mistreatment of political and ideological detainees and civil activists have been ongoing in the Islamic Republic. If the Senate report on the CIA pertains to the torture of terrorism suspects—mostly non-American citizens—the tortures occurring in the Islamic Republic, unfortunately, primarily target Iranian citizens. A review of what has happened in the Islamic Republic regarding torture and violent and inhumane treatment of detainees cannot even be summarized in a list format. Thus, we pass over the atrocities of the 1980s (the tunnel of terror in the history of the Islamic Republic) and even the 1990s and the mid-2000s. Below, only a few witnesses who have experienced torture after the 2009 presidential election are mentioned. Notably, victims and witnesses have detailed the tortures inflicted by the regime's security institutions in letters to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, the highest political authority in the system. Abdullah Momeni, a political activist and student activist who was among those arrested after the 2009 election, wrote in a letter in August 2010 to the top figure of the political system: "You may not know that apart from Kahrizak, in the Evin detention center, a prisoner not only lacks minimum rights but also faces severe psychological and physical pressures aimed at character assassination and forced confessions." A senior member of the Office for Strengthening Unity referred to "insults and curses, beatings under fists and kicks," stating: "During 86 days in solitary confinement, I never saw the sky, and during seven months of detention in security wards, I was only granted outdoor access six times." In addition to solitary confinement, he refers to "frequent sleeplessness due to several-hour interrogation sessions, standing on one leg, and beatings and repeated slaps" that "sometimes caused me to lose consciousness during interrogation." Momeni also writes: "Several times, the interrogator squeezed my throat to the point of suffocation, causing me to fall unconscious, and for days, it was painful to eat or drink due to severe pain in my throat." He mentions "beatings and vulgar and disgraceful insults" and that "the interrogators repeatedly insulted my deceased mother, a devout woman and mother of a martyr, in the worst possible way, as well as my devoted wife, sisters, and even my martyr brother..." Momeni also refers to another appalling act of violence: "Dunking my head in a toilet"; "so that the filth from the toilet entered my mouth and throat, leading to suffocation." Hamzeh Karami, a former government official in the Islamic Republic, is another significant witness of the torture inflicted on political detainees. Karami, who was also forced to make false confessions due to inflicted violence, revealed the inhumane treatment against him in a letter to the Attorney General in August 2010. He mentions his 138 days of solitary confinement and interrogations "from the very beginning with beatings, slaps, punches, and kicks," stating: "I lost consciousness fifteen times during or after interrogations." Karami, who has held various significant positions in the Islamic Republic, enumerates some of the psychological and physical pressures inflicted on him as follows: - Threats of execution, rape, use of bottles, detention of wife and daughter - Being kept standing for hours - Beatings, slapping, backhanding, kicking, and punches to the stomach and other body parts, "to the extent that I suffered bleeding in two instances, which continued for several days." - "One of the interrogators repeatedly squeezed my throat to the point of unconsciousness and tortured me with punches and kicks." - Dunking my head in a toilet - Receiving vulgar and disgraceful insults - "Humiliating me in front of my children and wife, suggesting that if they knew what a corrupt father or husband they had, they would not live with him for a day!" - "They forced confessions and filmed them." - Denial of medical care for several months, "while I have a heart condition." Mehdi Mahmoudian, a political activist and civil rights advocate monitoring human rights conditions in Iran, is another detainee after the 2009 election. In a letter he wrote to the Supreme Leader in September 2010, he provided "a report on the torture and savage behaviors of security forces with political prisoners and the dire conditions of prisoners he has personally felt in three prisons and one detention center." He refers to the atrocities inflicted on ordinary prisoners and the miserable conditions imposed on them (including that "a young man was raped seven times in one night... and citizens under your command are rented out for two hundred and fifty thousand tomans" and severe beatings of prisoners with chains and batons), and regarding political prisoners, he writes: "I will not mention the atrocities of Kahrizak detention center and the martyrdom of my brothers there, nor will I discuss the atrocities that occurred on the streets and alleys against the people, and I will only limit myself to stating the crimes committed by the security and police institutions of your government against prisoners." Mahmoudian points to strange instances (including the brief evidence below) regarding political prisoners: - "Almost all those who have been interrogated, including myself, have repeatedly faced the most vulgar insults, sexual and familial slurs, and moral accusations, especially in Ward 2A, which is overseen by the IRGC." - "At least ten prisoners testify that during interrogations, they were forced to undress or stand in their underwear for hours." - "In Ward 2A, detainees are tortured with electric shocks (shocking their genitals and other sensitive areas)." - "Dozens of prisoners in Ward 2A of Evin have been beaten repeatedly with cables and batons." - "In Ward 209, detainees are punished by being left outside in the cold winter nights in only their underwear for hours, including myself, who was left for over six hours in the middle of January in the open air in only my underwear." - "Sudden blows with objects like files to the head and face, punches to the throat, slaps, kicks, prolonged and excessive squats, laying detainees on their backs in the interrogation room, and..." The testimony of 41 political prisoners regarding the torture of Sattar Beheshti, a blogger worker, is also notable. After Beheshti's death, these prisoners published a message stating that "during the hours Sattar Beheshti was in this ward, they saw signs of torture and beatings on his body." These political prisoners wrote in their testimony: "He was hung from the ceiling at the security police station and simultaneously beaten. Then the police tied his hands and feet to a chair and beat him again. At times, they handcuffed his hands in a way that caused him to be beaten, and at other times, they threw him to the ground and inflicted severe blows to his head and neck with their boots, while during these tortures, the ugliest vulgar insults were hurled at him, and they repeatedly threatened to kill him." The letter also stated: "When Sattar was brought to Ward 350, signs of torture were evident all over his body, and he was in a completely painful and injured condition. His face was injured, his head was swollen, his wrists were bruised, and signs of hanging from the ceiling were visible on his wrists. There were signs of blows and bruises on parts of his body, including around his neck, stomach, and waist." The story of "several thousand nights and days" of torture in the Islamic Republic is a harrowing tale. What has been briefly listed above only includes the testimonies of a number of writers who are now free after serving their sentences. Not only have none of the security and intelligence institutions of the Islamic Republic (especially the Ministry of Intelligence and the IRGC Intelligence Organization) provided explanations regarding torture and mistreatment in prisons and detention centers, but none of the responsible legal institutions in the Islamic Republic (especially the Parliament, Judiciary, Article 90 Commission, and the National Inspection Organization, and the Office of the President) have pursued the catastrophic events. While far-right platforms in the Islamic Republic inform about CIA tortures, they remain silent regarding the atrocities occurring in Iran's security detention centers and prisons. Obama expressed hope that the Senate report could help America abandon these methods. However, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic has remained silent in the face of all letters and reports. The Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee stated that what is in the CIA torture report is a black mark on American values and history. However, no responsible official in the Islamic Republic has referred to what has occurred over the past 35 years as a black mark on the culture, civilization, and history of Iran, nor has anyone apologized. Zahra Rahnavard, who has now been under illegal house arrest for over 1400 days along with her husband Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, and who is a prominent witness of the mistreatment of critics and political opponents in the Islamic Republic, stated in an important remark that what occurred in the 1980s: "are black marks that cannot be whitened with Zamzam water and Kawthar." The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights stated in a statement that according to the anti-torture convention, even a state of war does not justify the application of torture. He emphasizes that "this convention does not allow anyone to escape responsibility; neither torturers, nor decision-makers, nor government officials who have approved or issued orders in this regard." The list of individuals in the Islamic Republic who must answer for the mistreatment of prisoners and the torture of political and ideological detainees is extensive. The passage of time does not erase this case but rather makes it heavier for the perpetrators, initiators, executors, and informants due to their evasion of responsibility and lack of accountability.