Two Members of Parliament Report Unsuccessful Request to Visit Detention Centers

Two members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly have reported that the request from parliamentarians to visit Evin Prison has been unsuccessful. In this regard, Ali Motahari stated that the parliamentary board is considering the formation of a 'fact-finding committee' to visit detention centers. Following reports of the deaths of several detainees from recent protests, which were accompanied by warnings from representatives about the possibility of a 'second Kahrizak', a group of parliamentarians requested to visit Evin Prison. In this context, Fatemeh Saeedi, a representative from Tehran and vice president of the Citizens' Rights faction, stated on Wednesday, January 10, that 'given the recent unrest and wave of arrests, as well as the surrounding controversies', a request to visit Evin Prison has been submitted to the judiciary, and we hope that action will be taken to implement it as soon as possible. However, on Sunday, January 14, Ali Motahari, the vice president of the Iranian parliament, told the official parliament news agency, House of the Nation, that the representatives' request to visit Evin Prison has not reached any conclusion. The ILNA news agency also reported that Mr. Motahari added that the formation of a 'fact-finding committee' for visiting detention centers depends on the opinion of the parliamentary board and this matter will be reviewed. Mahmoud Sadeghi, a Tehran representative, reported on Sunday that more than 40 members of the legislative branch, in a letter to the Speaker of the Parliament, requested the formation of an independent group to investigate the causes of death of several detainees from recent protests in prisons. In the letter to Ali Larijani, these representatives pointed out that 'the relevant authorities' have declared the cause of death of Sina Ghanbari and Vahid Heydari as 'suicide', stating that 'some relatives and eyewitnesses question this claim'. Mr. Sadeghi explained to Etemad Online that 'in the text of the letter we wrote to Mr. Larijani today, we mentioned that according to unconfirmed reports, a larger number of detainees have died, which is why an investigation is necessary'. While some human rights sources report the deaths of three to five detainees in detention centers, official authorities have only acknowledged the 'suicide' deaths of two individuals during this period, claiming that these two were not related to the recent protests. In this regard, Ali Motahari has also told reporters that 'we have been informed that one person has committed suicide in Tehran and two others in the provinces'. The vice president of the Iranian parliament added that 'it was decided that a report on the causes of the suicides would be presented to the parliament, but we have not yet received any report'. On Sunday, the vice president of the parliamentary judicial commission also told ILNA that they are 'still negotiating with officials regarding the circumstances of the deaths or suicides of several detainees, but we have not yet received any new news'. Mohammad Kazemi also stated that both the assembly of representatives from Tehran province and the Citizens' Rights faction of the parliament have requested visits to prisons to 'address the latest status of detainees from the protests and recent unrest', but no response has yet been given to the parliamentarians' request for prison visits, and this commission is 'following up' on the status of detainees 'every day'. As Mahmoud Sadeghi previously announced, 3,700 individuals have been arrested in the recent protests, although judicial officials have recently stated that many of the detainees have been released. In this context, the spokesperson for the Iranian judiciary announced in his press conference on Sunday that currently 465 individuals remain in custody, and the total number of detainees in Tehran has decreased to 55. Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei also added that 25 individuals were killed during the nationwide protests in January of this year.