Former detainees and international organisations have detailed allegations of rape, torture and psychological abuse inside Iranian prisons, describing a system of intimidation used against political prisoners, protesters and other detainees.
The claims, reported by international media and rights groups, point to the use of sexual violence, beatings, threats and forced confessions by Iranian security forces and members of the Revolutionary Guards over several decades.
According to a report cited by the Daily Mail, former prisoners have described abuse during interrogations, including threats of rape, physical assaults and psychological pressure intended to break detainees and force televised confessions.
One former detainee, identified by the pseudonym Mina, told The Australian that interrogators beat her on the head with a Koran until her nose bled. She also alleged that officials sexually assaulted her and threatened to bring her 12-year-old son into the interrogation room to rape her unless she confessed on television.
Amnesty International has reported that children aged between 12 and 14 were among those subjected to rape, electric shocks and other forms of torture during anti-government protests in Iran. The organisation says sexual violence has been used to humiliate detainees and instil fear.
Another former detainee, who spent five years in Iranian detention centres around a decade ago, told the Daily Mail she could hear women screaming as they were allegedly raped and tortured.
“You hear people screaming, crying and begging,” she said. “Sometimes you imagine the voices belong to members of your own family. They want you to hear all of it and they want you to break.”
Allegations spanning decades
Other accounts date back to the 1980s, including testimony from former political prisoners who have described systematic violence against women in Iranian prisons.
In one memoir, a former detainee recalled being taken for interrogation with other women and ordered to receive 60 lashes. She said the women were forced to lie across metal beds and were whipped on the soles of their feet.
The Daily Mail also referred to testimony recorded by former political prisoner and researcher Iraj Mesdaghi about a 14-year-old boy allegedly abused by Mohammad Mehragin, a notorious interrogator known as the “Butcher of Evin”.
According to the account, the boy was ordered to rape a naked girl in a detention room. When he refused, the interrogator allegedly tied him to a table and raped him, before telling him he was now ready for a television interview.
The report also included allegations involving two nurses from Tehran’s Rajaei Heart Center, who were said to have been raped and tortured by security agents after treating injured protesters. One of the women reportedly suffered severe internal injuries and was forced to sign a false statement about what had happened to her.
UN inquiry confirms sexual violence cases
The Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran has also documented cases of sexual violence linked to the 2022 protests that followed the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody.
Its findings included cases of gang rape, forced nudity and sexual abuse of people arrested during the demonstrations.
The report also referred to the case of environmentalist Niloufar Bayani, who according to Radio Liberty underwent more than 1,200 hours of interrogation. She alleged that she was threatened with rape and death, forced to imitate animal sounds and pressured into degrading sexual acts.
IranWire has also reported the case of a 22-year-old woman named Afsaneh, who was sent to a psychiatric hospital after interrogation in 2022 and later died by suicide. According to the report, she told fellow prisoners after returning to jail that she had been badly beaten and raped repeatedly.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi has also alleged abuse inside Evin prison. In a letter to the BBC from prison, she said female detainees were tied by their hands and feet inside transfer vehicles and sexually abused by male security officers.
Source: protothema.gr
