No Rape and Sexual Assualts in Islamic Republic

- Karroubi has accepted that he fabricated the evidence

Saeeda Pour-Aghaie is still alive, she just ran away from home.

Regime’s own special committee has investigated the story about Saeeda Pour-Aghaie, and concluded that Karroubi was not telling the truth. Karroubi has, after friendly conversation about this case with the committee, accepted that he had made up the whole story to promote his own political agenda.

From the English translation of the report by Iranian Leftists, September 13

“Further investigations about this woman revealed that:

Her father was not a martyr […] and also Ms. S. P. was not the only child of the family […].

This girl had had problems with her mother, and since 2007, she had run away from home 6 times, […] a few times she had been arrested by the police, along with another boy and girl, she was imprisoned and then sent back to her mother, […]

Her mother knows nothing about the claims of Mr. Karoubi and Mr. Mousavi, and what their sites have stated, and she says that she doesn’t know whether her daughter has run away like last times, or if she has been arrested.

The known fact so far is that Ms. S. P. is missing, […] and the claims made by Mr. Karoubi and his connections are not at all true.

[…] [Saeeda’s mother:] When we held the memorial in Gholhak Mosque, I was surprised when the speaker announced that Mr. Mir Hossein Mousavi was there, and then they informed me that Mr. Mousavi wanted to come to my house and sympathize, but I refused. From one day before the memorial to a few days after the memorial, some people who claimed to be representatives of Mr. Mousavi, called my house and talked about matters that I did not know of, and I denied.

[…] After gaining this information, we set a meeting with Mr. Karoubi at 2:00 pm on September 7, 2009 in the office of the attorney general, to further discuss the results of our inspections.

At the beginning of the meeting, before talking about the results, we asked Mr. Karoubi: “During this time, have you found any new information about your previously-stated claims?”

Mr. Karoubi answered: “it seems that Ms. S. P. was not the daughter of a martyr and this assumption was a mistake. A woman contacted me, along with another person, and she told me that she was the sister of Ms. S. P. and that their father was not a martyr, but he had passed a few years back. She wanted information on how her sister had died. I (Karoubi) told her that I did not have information on the details of her death, and I had only heard about it. She asked me to give her the address of her house, and I asked: “How can you not know where you own sister lives?” she answered: “We had serious problems with our father’s wife and I never went to their house and I don’t know where they live.”

I (Karoubi) contacted my people and told them about this woman, and how she claimed that their father was not a martyr, and my connections told me that she was right.

We asked Mr. Karoubi: “Who was responsible for investigating her case?”

Mr. Karoubi answered: “Mr. Maghiseh said that her father was not a martyr, and he said that apparently the girl is still alive and she had called home.”

We had a long, friendly conversation about this case and the details of the inspections, and Mr. Karoubi accepted that his claims about Ms. S. P. were completely wrong and were only created for political advantages.”

Full story

Raped and beaten

for daring to question President Ahmadinejad’s election

From Times online, September 11

Times online has published several accounts of rape and torture in Iran prisons since the election protests and the following arrests began in mid June.

In this editorial Martin Fletcher and a special correspondent in Tehran tells the story of Ardeshir (not his real name), a young engineering student, who […] “was locked up, beaten and raped multiple times for daring to protest against President Ahmadinejad’s disputed re-election.”

A psychologist said that the young man “has extreme feelings of self-hatred resulting from a sense that he will never be clean again, and from shame over the repeated rapes.”

“A hospital report confirms he suffered anal damage.” […]

Ardeshir “was no political activist but took to the streets on June 20 to protest at the election. He and his friends were attacked by Basij, the Islamic volunteer militia, and separated.

As the violence increased [he] headed to a metro station but was seized by plain-clothed police and thrown into a windowless van containing 14 other bruised and bloodied demonstrators.

They were driven to an apartment building 90 minutes away that was clearly an unofficial detention centre. Ardeshir believes that 60 to 70 detainees were held there.

The new arrivals were ordered to strip to their underwear and stand in lines. Two Basiji “rubbed our genital areas with their batons, calling us ‘scum’ and saying ‘Ah, yes, the balls of the foot soldiers of the heretic Mousavi’,” Ardeshir recalled. “They then promised that we would confess to trying to overthrow the divine regime.”

The next day two Basiji took a 17-year-old schoolboy from the cell that Ardeshir was in. “Ten minutes later we heard him screaming and crying. It then went suddenly silent,” Ardeshir said.

“A couple of minutes later two Basiji grabbed me ... I felt faint and wanted to cry when faced with a scene I had never before in my life imagined ... The boy, completely naked, was seemingly unconscious on the mat, his face in a pile of vomit and with blood around his rectum.

“A Basiji called Mahmoud said, ‘Take a good look. That will happen to you if you resist, you faggot lover of Mousavi’.

“The Basiji then said: ‘Now you.’ “They threw me on my back on the ground. Mahmoud then urinated on my face, saying that this would teach me not to oppose the divine wishes of the Great Leader of the Revolution. ‘We have been sent to re-educate you, you spoilt Western piece of shit,’ he said.

“They took off my underwear and made me go around on all fours. Then Mahmoud said it was time for my punishment. I was still on all fours when he began to rape me. As he penetrated me I cried out and felt as if I would throw up. He told me that if I didn’t stop screaming he would stick his baton up me.

“When he was done, another Basiji came up and raped me. At this point I felt that I was not me. I seemed to have shut down and separated from my body. All I could think of was when it was going to end, and why these people who claim to be the most religious in our society can do such things?”

Every other day Basiji would choose detainees from the cell to rape. “The third time they dragged me from the cell, I momentarily escaped their grip and ran to a corner. I screamed, ‘You say you are Muslim. How can you rape and humiliate us in this way?’. They laughed and said they had religious sanction from the Leader [Ayatollah Khamenei] to do so because we had gone against his word.

“Three guys then dragged me from the corner. I was shoved against the wall, face first. Two guys spread my legs and once again I was raped by them. I just cried and prayed for God to take my life. After the third man finished Mahmoud said, ‘This is for insubordination. I warned you. I then felt a large object shoved up my rectum. I think I lost consciousness because the next thing I knew I was back in the cell. […]

“They also liked to take several of us out at the same time and forced us to ride each other, doggy-style, whilst naked. They laughed and took pictures with their mobile phones. They would watch this for ten minutes and then proceed to rape.” […]

After being beaten and raped again by two Basiji Ardeshir finally signed the “confession” which said that opposition leaders and the foreign media had encouraged him to engage in anti-regime activities, and was released.

“He’s a broken boy,” his father told The Times. “I just pray that we can put him back together, although I know he will never be the same gregarious, optimistic, sensitive boy we brought up. How could this so-called Islamic regime do this?”

Iran Panel: Rape Charges Are False

Quotes from an article by Nazila Fathi

- in New York Times, September 12, 2009:

“An Iranian judicial committee rejected accusations put forward by the opposition that its supporters had been raped at detention centers, calling them baseless, and ruled that documents presented as evidence of rapes and other abuse were fabricated, Fars news agency reported Saturday.” […]

“The rape accusations have been especially embarrassing for the country’s religious leadership, which only reluctantly admitted that there had been some other “violations” at one detention center. That admission came after many former prisoners came forward to say they had been tortured, and after conservatives, whose loyalty the government needs, joined a chorus of criticism against the treatment of detainees.” […]

“The judicial committee’s ruling came just one day after Ayatollah Khamenei issued a warning to opposition leaders, saying the government would not tolerate “lies and rumors,” and would give a “harsh response” to those who challenged its principles.” […]

Full story

Karoubi's Letter to the Head of Iran's Judiciary

- written after his office was attacked and sealed

From Revolutionary Road (Facebook page) - posted September 12:

Karroubi on his meetings with the judiciary committee:

“[I also said] know this, that if in my investigations I conclude that any of these allegations are false, I will step forward and right this wrong. In this regard, my further investigations had proven the falsity of some of the previous statements I had made about Saeedeh Pouraghayi, which I corrected.

[…] our meeting with the committee came to a good end.”

[The day after Karroubi’s meeting with the committee, his office was attacked and searched, and office documents, personal letters and writings, bills and private papers and even charity money were confiscated. Also the office Etermad Melli, Karroubi’s political party, was shut down and sealed and documents confiscated.]

Karroubi continues:

“I am left wondering: did these events occur on Tuesday as a result of my meeting on Monday? I am left baffled not by what they have done to Karoubi, but that they think that Karoubi, the son of Ahmad, is going to leave the field and choose to remain silent? Now I know why some friends and advisers insisted that I give all the evidence for rape and torture as it had been retold to me by the victims, on a CD and to keep a copy in a safe place. Because the machine of terror is still at work and who knows, some of the witnesses may now take back their claims out of fear.

[…] after such terror, fear and threats, is it even possible to attend to the terror and atrocity that occurred after the election? You are left to answer this question but know that Mehdi Karoubi still insists on reclaiming the rights of the oppressed. Such old, overused tactics may work to silence some, but they will not work on Mehdi Karoubi”

[Karroubi’s letter is dated September 10, 2009]

Full story

72 dead protesters

On September 4 Norooz news site published

- a list of martyrs that had been identified so far

The list has been compiled by the committee set up by Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi to investigate the deaths and arrests in the unrest following the fraudulent election.

The list has been translated by homylafayette, who has done a great job adding photos, footage, and additional information in order to, as he says, elevate the individual victims beyond statistics. The blogpost will be updated when more information becomes available.

All these young beatiful people!

Mousavi’s 11th Statement

The Green Path of Hope

Full translation posted Saturday, September 5 in the blog Khordaad88

Some excerpts:

The introduction speaks about the “systematic violations, fraud and the bitter events” that have caused “a widening rift between the people and the ruling establishment”, but also about the “need to defend the essence of the Islamic Republic”.

“In the midst of our own state ... there are individuals who know that the only way they can remain in power is by creating crises and catastrophes and keeping away from any attempt to solve the problems - problems that they themselves have created.”

“A different approach” would be to believe “in the plurality and diversity of beliefs existent in the great, ancient and pious family which is Iran”. […] “The responsibility of those who claim to be religious is to create an atmosphere appropriate for growth and blossoming of humanity towards higher aims and progress,” towards a “peaceful “coexistence of tastes and attitudes, social layers, tribes, religions and beliefs that live in this great land”.

“Contrary to what the state propaganda machines project ... We want to preserve the Islamic Republic ... to revive the ethical identity of the ruling system ... a restoration of those forgotten objectives (the vision of the Islamic revolution).”

[In the current regime] “Islam itself is oppressed.” [The leaders] “call their own [personal] tastes and expediency, Islamic Text. ... They go as far that lying becomes an inseparable attribute of State Media and the ugliest immoralities (torturing and killing prisoners and other shameful acts which the pen hesitates to write) are considered signs of commitment to the Prophet’s [Muhammad] religion. [The prophet] who was elected to enhance moral virtues.”

They “are opposed to the people” and “throw the children of the revolution in prison to satisfy their illusions.”

(Follows a lenghty elaboration on the visions of the Green Path of Hope, which is not a political party but a social movement.)

(Finishes with 9 demands that must be met to solve the current crisis.)

“If a political faction whose delusion of power is founded on opposing the [will of] the public and their just rights has a desire to solve this crisis, the least they can do at this stage to achieve this [desire] is as follows:

• Form a truth finding commission and arbitration that is acceptable to all stakeholders in the tenth presidential election and investigate the crimes and fraud that were carried out and punish all wrongdoers.
• A revision of the election laws such that conditions are formed for fair and just elections which people can trust
• Identify and punish the parties involved in the atrocities that occurred in the aftermath of the election against the people in all police, military and media institutions.
• Attend to those who have suffered in the aftermath of the election, and the families of the victims. The release of all political activists and people who were arrested over the election, and put an end to their trial, redeem their dignity and put an end to the threats and harassments that they are still subject to, [harassments like] coercing them into giving up their rights and take back their complaints.
• Enforce article 168 of the constitution to define political crime, and try the political crimes in the presence of a jury.
• Guarantee the freedom of press, changing the biased behavior of National TV, removing restrictions imposed on political parties and groups, allowing different perspectives to be presented in the media, especially national TV. Reforming the national TV constitution such that it can be held accountable for its illegal actions.
• Put the created capacities to action in light of a reading from the 44th article of the constitution to create private television and radio.
• Guarantee the fundamental rights of people, the freedom to assembly and rallies by enforcing the 27th article of the constitution.
• Legislate a ban on the interference of military officials in political affairs and prevent intervention of military forces in economic activities.

Read the full text here

Minou

Another story about rape and torture (English subtitles)

Shajarian: Lay down your gun

@mousavi1388 Shajarian joins the Green Movement with a new masterpiece called put down the guns: http://bit.ly/s3rJi #iranElection

English translation of the lyrics posted here.

Saeeda Pour-Aghaie

- raped and killed in detention

Green Brief #63, August 30:

21. Saeeda Pour-Aghaie, a young girl, was raped and killed in detention. Confirmed reports say Saeeda was arrested by Basijis, from her home, for chanting Allaho Akbar from her rooftop. She was taken into detention, raped and then killed. Her body was burnt, except for her legs from her knees downwards, with a strong acid, to hide the evidence of her brutal ordeal.

Twenty days after her initial arrest, her mother was taken to the morgue and her body was identified. Her mother was not allowed to take her body for burial. She was later buried in the 302 section of Beheshte Zahra, in secret, without her family's knowledge.

Her family has been put under extreme pressure, to say the cause of Saeeda's death, was the result of complications arising from a kidney infection.

A picture of Saeeda and a full report in Farsi: http://www.mowjcamp.com/article/id/24124

22. At least two reliable sources, claim they have received reports, that unmarked graves in Beheshte Zahra's 302 section, are the graves of women, who have been raped and then killed, after being arrested for protesting. This could not be confirmed by other sources at this time.

Read more about Saeeda Pour-Aghaie on homylafayette’s blog

Amir Javadifar

- was beaten to death 24 years old

Amir was arrested on July 9. He was brought to the police station where he was beaten so badly that he was later taken to hospital. His family was informed. He had jaw, nose, facial and arm injuries. A head scan showed no brain injury, but his family wanted a second opinion. The police agreed and they took him to Laleh hospital where he was checked and released to the police the next morning.
The police brought him back to the police station. Next he was moved to the Intel police station and then to an unknown location. Those arrested on July 9 were moved either to Evin or to Kahrizak. Their familiers were told to check back in ten days. Amir's family went back to Evin but his name was

not on the list of Evin or Kahrizak prisoners.
From July 9 to July 28 Amir's family was being told by court that his interrogation was almost finished. On July 29 they were told to go to Kahrizak morgue, where they identified his body. Amir's body had been moved to the morgue four days after his arrest, cause of death unknown. It was kept at Kahrizak morgue for weeks, while the family was given false info.

Source: @persianbanoo on Twitter, August 31

Read more about Amir at Iranbodycount

Edit, Sept 14:

@iranproxy: Amir Javadifar Tribute on today his birthday: http://bit.ly/flmG3 -please RT in memory of Amir #iranelection