Rooz Online, today, August 3,
in English,
in Persian: تعداد کشته ها ممکن است تا 365 نفر باشد
A few days after the closure of the Kahrizak detention facility for “sub-standard” conditions, speculations continue about the closure of this facility. Everyday, new dimensions are revealed about the secret conditions of this horrific facility, where many individuals arrested after protesting the election results were beaten and tortured to death.
In this connection, a senior advisor to Mir-Hossein Mousavi, Alireza Beheshti, said yesterday in an interview with the official website of the minority faction in the Majlis that the number and fate of those detained in Kahrizak remain unknown. Beheshti said, “Based on some information that we have received (and still remain unsure about their reliability), a large number of individuals held at the Kahrizak facility were transported to Isfahan two days prior to the facility’s closure.”
Noting that his source of information is “remarks by the families of detainees,” Ayatollah Beheshti’s son commented on the number of recent detainees: “About 1700 names have been gathered, but that does not certainly include everyone; nor do we know how many of those who are detained are alive.”
Also announcing that there are “no exact statistics” of the number of those killed during protests and while in detention, Behesthi said, “I heard the number 365, but if we announce a figure now that is higher than the actual number, we would be accused of waging psychological warfare.”
Mir-Hossein Mousavi’s senior advisor said, “We have information that some of the people who were previously arrested as thugs and violent criminals are now used to guard the detainees.”
Alireza Beheshti also said about those who carry out interrogations are various jails such as the Kahrizak facility, “Other than thugs, some of them belong to various government institutions. Some belong to the Basij. Some are plain-clothed officers that cannot be counted as members of the Basij. Some belong to the Passdaran Revolutionary Guards Corps’ intelligence unit.”
Khatami’s Reaction
Two days before the remarks of Mir-Hossein Mousavi’s special representative at the joint reformist committee to investigate detainee conditions, former Iranian president Seyyed Mohammad Khatami blasted the government and reacted to the Kahrizak facility’s closure.
The reformist former president blasted government authorities’ statements regarding the closure of the Kahrizak facility due to sub-standard conditions, asking, “What does sub-standard mean? Does it mean, for instance, that its air ventilations did not work, or that the washrooms were dirty? No! Crimes have been committed; lives have been lost, and behaviors have been conducted against dear men, women and the youth. If such things transpire at foreign prisons, everyone would be enraged. These issues must be addressed today.”
Seyyed Mohammad Khatami also demanded legal action against those who arrested, tortured and murdered the detainees, noting, “The perpetrators of such behaviors and actions must legally tried, and the rights and reputations that have been violated must be restored.”
February 21, 2010, disponible from archive
