| Submit your comments on this article |
| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Speaker urges inquiry into jail rape claims in Iran |
| 2009-08-11 |
| [Iran Press TV Latest] As reports emerge that Iran's post-vote detainees were raped while in custody, Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani calls for investigations into the allegations. Larijani said Monday that "a special Majlis (Parliament) committee had carried out investigations into the situation in [Iranian] jails and the treatment of detainees and it should also look into whether 'jail rape' allegations are true or false," Tabnak reported. The call for investigations comes as opposition figure Mehdi Karroubi wrote a letter to Head of the Assembly of Experts Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani on July 29, informing him that a number of detainees had claimed that several women and men, arrested over the course of post-vote demonstrations, were 'sexually assaulted' by their jailers. "A number of detainees have said that some female detainees have been raped savagely," Karroubi said in the letter. "Young boys held in detention have also been savagely raped," he said, adding that they were suffering from depression and serious physical injuries after the alleged attacks. Karroubi went on to say that senior officials in the country had informed him of the appalling behavior taking place in Iranian jails, adding that if true, this would be a catastrophe for the Islamic Republic. The grim revelations surfaced after the Leader of the Islamic Revolution ordered officials to shut down a "non-standard" prison in July amid reports of the mistreatment of detainees who protested against the result of the disputed presidential vote. Later on, the Iranian police force contended that violations of detainee rights along with dereliction of duty have been evident at the notorious detention center, Kahrizak, in southeastern Tehran. The deaths of at least three people in custody also prompted Iranian authorities to jail the head of the Kahrizak detention center. People were put in prisons after the disputed presidential vote in June provoked mass protests with supporters of defeated presidential candidates Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Karroubi taking to the streets to express dissatisfaction at President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election with a massive margin. At least 30 people were killed, hundreds of others injured and nearly 3,000 people arrested in the country in the aftermath of the election. About 200 of 3,000 opposition activists, protesters and journalists arrested over the course of the unrest in Iran are still being held in detention, who face mass trials on charges of plotting to topple the government through a "velvet coup." |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 Jail cheif under fire, now this - sounds like they're beginning to eat their own which is just ducky. Start offering their own supporters up as sacrifices and the loyalty goes out the window. |
| Posted by: Phoque Speaking for Boskone5602 2009-08-11 16:47 |