Iran protester was beaten and raped, says friend

Arrested, beaten and raped: an Iran protester's tale

Afshin, a shopkeeper from south-west Iran, alleges that one of his friends was beaten and repeatedly raped after being arrested at an opposition rally after last month's disputed election. He gave this account to Esfandiar Poorgiv, a journalist and academic. It is published here as part of the Guardian's project to trace those killed and detained during the unrest. The Guardian has been unable to independently verify the account

He came to my shop around 10.30am. You could tell straight away that he had just been released. His face was bruised all over. His teeth were broken and he could hardly open his eyes.

He was not even into politics. He was just an ordinary 18-year-old in the last year of school. Before the election he came to me and asked how he should vote. He looks up to me. His father is an Ahmadinejad supporter.

He had gone home directly after his release, but his father did not let him in. He didn't mention he had been raped. At first, he didn't tell me either. It was the doctor who first noticed it and told me.

When he came to my shop he collapsed in a chair. He said he had nowhere to go and asked if he could stay with me. I called a friend of mine who is a doctor to come home and see him. Then I brought him home.

His shoulder blades and arms were wounded. There were some slashes on the face. No bone fractures, but he was bruised all over the body. I wanted to take some photos but he did not let me. The doctor said only four of his teeth were intact, the rest were broken. You could hardly understand what he said.

Then the doctor told me what had happened. He had suffered rupture of the rectum and the doctor feared colonic bleeding. He suggested we take him to the hospital immediately.

They registered him under a false name and with somebody else's insurance. The nurses were crying. Two of them asked what sort of beast had beaten him up like that. He was a broken man. He told us not to waste our money on him, and that he would kill himself.

He was arrested in Shiraz on 15 June, the Monday after the election. Some sturdy young men made a human shield around the demonstrators. He was among them. He said he managed to hit some of the anti-riot police. But then they caught him and beat him up.

"I was kept in a van till evening that day and then transferred to a solitary cell where I was kept for two days," he said. "Then I was repeatedly interrogated, beaten and hung from a ceiling. They call it chicken kebab. They tie your hands and feet together and hang you from the ceiling, turning you around and beating you with cables.

"They gave us warm water to drink and one meal a day. Repeated smacking was a regular punishment. In interrogations, they kept on asking if I was instructed from abroad. I believed I was going to be sent from the detention centre to prison. But they sent me to where they called Roughnecks' Room. There were some other youths of my age in there. I asked a guard why I am not sent to prison and the reply was: 'You have to be our guest for a while.'

"I refused to confess during interrogations. They said: 'Ask your friends what we'll do to you if you don't co-operate.' Others in the room were also arrested on 15 June. I was tempted to confess at this point but I didn't. On the third and fourth day, they beat me up again. They insisted we were instructed from abroad. I kept on saying we were only protesting for our votes.

"It was on Saturday or Sunday that they raped me for the first time. There were three or four huge guys we had not seen before. They came to me and tore my clothes. I tried to resist but two of them laid me on the floor and the third did it. It was done in front of four other detainees.

"My cell mates, especially the older one, tried to console me. They said nobody loses his dignity through such an act. They did it to two other cell mates in the next days. Then it became a routine. We were so weak and beaten up that could not do anything.

"Then the interrogations started again. They said: 'If you don't come to your senses we will send you to Adel Abad [another prison in Shiraz] to the pederasts' section so that you receive such treatment every day.' I was so weak I did not know what to say. Then they asked for my contacts. I told them I had no contacts and I was informed about the demonstrations through the internet.

"The same routine was continued till this morning when I was released. In the last week, there was no interrogation, no beating. Only rape and solitary confinement."

This is what he recounted. But he couldn't articulate quite like this. He was in much physical and mental pain as he talked. I asked him to tell his story in the hope of making a difference to those still detained.

• Esfandiar Poorgiv is a pseudonym.

Student Event of the night basij attack to dormitory beaten
we hope he stays alive and he is in coma

another proof of crime of Iranian Regime

A pregnant woman killed by shot .
In this picture you can see the dead baby with (shot) hole in back

Iranian regime’s State Security Forces are suppressing Tehran residents in Park Laleh (central Tehran). A number of people have been wounded in sever crackdown by plain clothes.

“They are beating up people everywhere, drivers are blowing horns of their vehicle to protest the brutal repression” one eyewitness said.

In Tajrish square (northern Tehran) and nearby streets anti-riot units are stationed every few meters on both sides of the streets. They stop and check every passerby.

Thousands of Tehran residents poured into streets on Sunday chanting “Death to The Dictator” Demonstrators jammed Shariati Street in north of capital at 9:30 p.m. (local time).

Cell phone communications were cut off by the government preventing the protesters from spreading the news.

• On the 16th day of the Iranian people’s nationwide uprising, on Sunday evening, thousands of youths protested in Shariati Street in Tehran. Suppressive forces attacked the protestors with batons, tear gas, pepper spray, and water cannons in attempt to arrest them or force them to disperse.

The very high level of tear gas used has left a white cloud over the area. Suppressive forces have also blocked off many roads leading to Shariati Street and besieged the people there. However, people are continuing to clash with agents of the Revolutionary Guards. Clashes are continuing at 9 p.m. local time in Shariati and Mirdamad streets and in the vicinity.

>>>Mohammad Mostafaei, a lawyer fighting for the rights of the minors convicted to capital punishment was arrested. Mohammad Mostafaei is fighting for the rights of the
children, who have commited crimes and are mostly before reaching the legal age,
and are mostly sentenced to death. Currently Mohammad is representing 25 cases.

>>> Mohammad Mostafaei, un avvocato che lotta per i diritti dei minori
condannati alla pena capitale, è stato arrestato. Mohammad Mostafaei lotta per i diritti dei bambini, che hanno commesso reati e sono per la maggior parte minorenni e sono per lo più condannati a morte.
Attualmente Mohammad rappresenta 25 casi.



>>>During the last days the follow-up of the families and friends of these arrested students to determine the status of these students has failed.
the authorities do not answer to specific health questions, regarding these students.

Names of some of the students arrested in Hamedan during recent 2 weeks include:

Amin Nazari (member of the Central Council Tahkime Vahdat))

Siavash Hatam (Secretary of Islamic Association of Students of Hamedan)

Reza Jafarian (Political Secretary)

Pooya Sharifian (union secretary)

Mehdi Mosafer (secretary of social and cultural)

Hojjat Bakhtiari (Central Council member)

Mostafa M. Zadeh

Mohammad Sayyadi

After the arrest of these activists, they were beaten by security forces and than delivered to the information-gattering body og Hamedan-City.
They are thrown in solitary confinement and have suffered severly.

Right Now @ Tehran

• On Parkway right now people are beeping their horns, and basij has responded by smashing their windscreens and slashing their tires
• People had announced that they will form a human chain from Tajrish sq to Railway Today
• The cellphones are down in Valieasr street and surronding area.
• Police and plain clothes forces are settled across the Valiasr street to disallow the protesters to make a human-chain.
• Daneshju Park is full of Basij and special gaurds and militia forces are being organized in the park for dealing with the possible protest or human chain.
• Students of Science and Technology university put a photo of martyr Kianoosh Asa on the university's academic staff board..
• Office of the Islamic Association of Sistan and Baluchestan University set on fire by anonymous people.
• Alleis which are leading to Valieasr street are full of armed forces and Basij cyclists.
• There's some conflicts and militia forces are trying not to let people make the human chain.
  
• At Mellat park,Valieasr Sq,Vanak Sq and Valieasr street pedestrian way,people have took each other's hands and trying to make a human chain.
• Ayatollah Jannati,gaurdian council incharge person confirmed the election result.
  
• Important news: PersianKiwi is not arrested, but he does not have access to internet.

  
  

In the past few days,we have been attacked by Police and we had to move to new places to live and start out activities. Thanks for all your concerns and emails.I guess we'll be back to the normal situation in couple of hours...

Saeed Valadbaygi
. . .

>>>In addition, tear 240 and 209 and 2A of the infamous Evin prison, public section of this prison is used to place woman in. These are woman who are arrested in the
recent Tehran protests .

Considering that this facility is only considered to detain a limited numbers of female prisoners, and the with extensive wave of recent arrests of many women and Lack of space in this section
has indeed increased pressure on female prisoners

According to the latest received news, about sixty women detained in tear 3 are transfered to, female methadone patients section. The lack of capacity has resulted in alarge number of women newly transferred, sleep on the cprridors of the tears, with only in one blanket. Nothing alse.

These so called hallways (corridors) are only used in the 60´s and due to improper maintenance and lack of personal hygiene facilities, are suitable for women prisoners.

Ms. Maryam Ameri and Ms. Moghadam are among these prisoners. Women in this section include also, Bita Samimi Zad and Frynaz Miryan. Two active members of the protesting-student-body.
They were kept in these horrible conditions untill two days ago and were transfered to solitary confinement without any reason.
Another notable issue in this facility, is the large number of the women prisoners who are injured durring the latest protests.

Please note that the above mentioned statistics is only a tiny part of arrested women in recent days. In many other tears of the Evin prison, there are no information leaked, due to the highest level of security.