According to the human rights organization Amnesty International, children who took part in protests in Iran are being subjected to cruel methods of torture. Methods of torture used by the Revolutionary Guards, paramilitary Basij, police and other security forces once morest detained children as young as 12 include beatings, flogging, electric shocks, rape and other sexualised violence, Amnesty International said in a broadcast.
For example, it is reported that several boys were forced to stand in a row with adult inmates with their legs apart and were given electric shocks in the genital area. “Iranian officials have taken children from their families and subjected them to unimaginable cruelty,” said Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty’s Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, calling for their release. “This violence once morest children reveals a deliberate strategy to suppress the vibrant spirit of the country’s youth and prevent them from demanding freedom and human rights.”
Iranian authorities have admitted that more than 22,000 people have been arrested in connection with the protests, according to Amnesty International. Amnesty International estimates that thousands of children may have been among those arrested. Like adults, they were initially taken – often blindfolded – to detention centers run by the Revolutionary Guards, the Ministry of Intelligence, the Public Security Police, the investigative unit of the Iranian Police (Agahi) or the paramilitary Basij. After days or weeks of solitary confinement or enforced disappearance, they were transferred to recognized prisons.
Plainclothes agents also abducted children from the streets during or following protests, took them to unofficial locations such as warehouses, where they tortured them before dumping them in remote locations, the NGO said. These kidnappings were carried out without due process and were used to punish, intimidate and discourage children from taking part in the protests.
Most of the children arrested in the past six months have apparently been released, sometimes on bail, pending investigations or a trial. “Many were only released following signing letters of ‘repentance’ and promising to refrain from ‘political activities’ and attend pro-government rallies,” it said.
Many of the children had been beaten; other methods of torture include flogging, the administration of electric shocks, the forced administration of unknown pills and holding the children’s heads under water. “State officials have also used rape and other sexualized violence, including electric shocks to the genitals, genital touching and threats of rape, as a weapon once morest detained children to break their will, humiliate and punish them,” Amnesty said.
The detention is often under “inhuman” conditions. Amnesty reported extreme overcrowding, inadequate access to toilets and washing facilities, lack of adequate food and drinking water, extreme cold and prolonged solitary confinement. Children have also been denied adequate medical care, including for injuries sustained as a result of torture, Amnesty said.
In Iran, people – and above all many girls and women – have been demanding more rights for months. The protests were sparked by the death of young Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini. She was arrested by the vice squad in September for allegedly not wearing her headscarf properly. Activists allege that Amini was mistreated by the police. The security forces are taking massive action once morest the associated protests.
( SERVICE : Amnesty International has documented the cases of seven children in detail at: www.amnesty.at )
