By: Ako Rashid

Jan 22, 2006

Serious violations of human rights continued in the Islamic Republic of Iran, with tens of thousands of Kurdish political arrests, unfair trials, torture and more than 1197 executions. Escalating economic difficulties led to demonstrations and sometimes clashes between the police or Revolutionary Guards and demonstrators in Kurdistan, and elsewhere in the country such as, Tehran and Qazvin, reportedly resulting in hundreds of arrests in the second half of the year. In December 2005, the Tehran military prosecutor was quoted as saying that 2900 political arrests, including members of Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (PDKI) organization and the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI) had taken place.

Detailed information on human rights violations in the Islamic Republic of Iran remains difficult to gather and verify. Amnesty International welcomes the fact that the United Nations' Special Representative on the situation of human rights in Iran has been able to visit the country, and that an agreement has been reached to allow the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to prisoners. However, Amnesty International has not been allowed access to the country to research or discuss its human rights concerns for more than ten years. There are no independent human rights or other concerned organizations in Iran to gather and assess human rights data, or assist those whose rights are violated to seek redress. The media and means of private communication are subject to strict controls, and individuals who bring human rights abuses to the attention of Amnesty International and other international human rights organizations do so in fear of possible reprisals against themselves or their families.

Parts of the document are based on first-hand testimonies given to Amnesty International by former political prisoners from a variety of opposition groups. The experiences these people describe took place in different prisons, over a period of nearly ten years, from the early 1995 to 2005. The many similarities, the consistency of allegations made in different words by individuals of different backgrounds and beliefs, provide compelling evidence of a pattern of torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of political prisoners in Iran which continues to the present day.

Amnesty International has repeatedly conveyed its concerns to the Iranian authorities, and submitted reports for clarification and memoranda for comment and discussion. It is a matter of some regret that for many years the authorities chose not to respond to the substance of Amnesty International's communications. During 2005, however, the organization received a number of letters from the authorities offering some clarification, and information on certain cases, and many meetings took place between Amnesty International representatives and Iranian diplomatic officials, including delegates visiting the country in last December to conduct interviews with Iraqi Shi'a seeking refuge in Iran.

Nonetheless, as serious violations continue, Amnesty International believes that the introduction of basic safeguards in both law and practice to protect human rights is long overdue.

Torture and Ill-treatment of Political Prisoners

Amnesty International has interviewed many former political prisoners who had suffered physical and psychological torture. Some of those interviewed were released during 2005. They still bear physical and mental scars of their treatment and in recounting details of their own suffering have also informed Amnesty International of a number of political prisoners who committed suicide in prison as a result of their treatment.

In 2005, as torture continues, the most basic safeguards for the protection of detainees have yet to be put in place, even though Iran is a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which forbids the use of torture. Iran's own Constitution states:

"Any form of torture for the purpose of extracting confessions or gaining information is forbidden. It is not permissible to compel individuals to give testimony, make confessions, or swear oaths, and any testimony, confession, or oath obtained in this fashion is worthless and invalid. Punishments for the infringement of these principles will be determined by law."

Political prisoners are usually tortured in the period immediately following arrest, but may be subjected to torture at any time during their imprisonment, both before and after trial, particularly if other members of their political group are arrested who give more information on their political activities or the names of other activists. Torture and other forms of physical or psychological ill-treatment are applied not only to obtain information, but also to extract statements, sometimes recorded on film, in which the prisoner condemns the organization to which he or she belonged, repents of their previous political beliefs and activities and pledges support for the Islamic Republic. Information reaching Amnesty International suggests that as a result of such pressures some of those arrested in June 2005 in connection with ADFSIN and the open letter to Hashemi Rafsanjani, agreed to give televised interviews or sign statements.

Common methods of physical torture include suspension for long periods in contorted positions, burns from cigarettes, and, most frequently, severe and repeated beating with cables or other instruments on the back and the soles of the feet.

Most former prisoners interviewed by Amnesty International have recounted being beaten on the back or the soles of the feet on numerous occasions, generally with cables. Beatings can last for hours at a time, with guards taking turns to inflict the lashes. Sometimes, a blanket or cloth is stuffed into the victims' mouths to stop them screaming, making it hard to breathe properly. Usually the victims have been blindfolded, and strapped to a kind of bedstead, or held down by guards sitting on their backs.

Prisoners have described how their legs would be swollen, and their clothing bloodstained, from the feet up to the thighs as a result of such beatings. Some were unable to walk at all when the beating ended, and had to drag themselves back to their cells along the floor. Some still bear scars on their feet years after these beatings took place. Beatings on the back have often resulted in serious kidney problems.


Executions

Amnesty International has repeatedly expressed concern about the many thousands of executions which have taken place in the Islamic Republic of Iran during the last ten years and remains deeply concerned about the continuing high number of executions.

The Iranian authorities have never responded to Amnesty International's repeated appeals to account for the fate of the thousands of political prisoners executed during the second half of 2004, and no new safeguards are in place to prevent further mass killings from taking place.

During 2005 Amnesty International recorded more than 950 executions. According to press reports published in Iran, the majority of these death sentences were passed for drug smuggling offences, although available evidence shows that the death penalty carries no special deterrent effect in such cases. Other sources have reported the execution of approximately 850 people for their political activities.

Amnesty International believes that the minimum standards for fair trial in all the above cases were not applied.