By Jubin Katiraie
As more news comes out about the crackdown on the Iranian uprising, we’re hearing of horrific crimes against humanity being committed, including deaths under torture.
At least 1,000 protesters, including several children, were murdered by the Iranian authorities since November 15, while 4,000 were injured and 12,000 were arrested. Many wounded people were taken from hospitals by Iranian security forces and intelligence officers
The fate of the imprisoned remains largely unknown, but there are several reports of protesters being tortured in Shiraz, Tehran, and Karaj. Here are just some examples.
Hamid Sheikhani, 35, was arrested on November 17 in Mahshahr County, Khuzestan. His family heard no news until November 23, when they were asked to collect his body from prison. The father-of-one was healthy when he was arrested, according to local reports, so his death raises serious concerns about his treatment.
Also on November 17, 30-year-old Kaveh Veisani was arrested in Sanandaj. His dead body, which showed signs of torture, was found in the city’s suburbs on December 15. He had a toddler and his wife was pregnant.
While 17-year-old Arvin Ranin was arrested by the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) forces in Marivan and was reportedly tortured to death. His family had to pay to have his body returned.
Halimeh Samiri was arrested during the protests in Abadan. She was tortured to death by the IRGC, who later threw her lifeless body outside her father’s residence.
These protests began on November 15 after the government tripled the price of fuel overnight, but the quickly spread to nearly 200 cities and took on a political nature, calling for regime change.
Supreme Leader Khamenei dismissed the protesters as “hooligans” in a televised speech and the regime mobilized all its forces against the November Iran protests, opening fire indiscriminately on any gathering of over 10 people.
Several senior Iranian authorities have made harsh threats against protesters in the past few days including the sentencing protest leaders to “capital punishment”.
At the same time, the arrests have continued in various parts of the country. The state-run news agencies have reported that over 1,000 arrests were made on November 30 and December 1 alone and in just seven Iranian provinces. This works out at:
- 400 in Alborz Province
- 31 in Hormozgan
- 70 in East Azerbaijan
- 50 in Tehran
- 240 in Kermanshah
- 97 in Fardis of Karaj
- 25 in Kurdistan
- 32 in Isfahan
- 26 in Najafabad and Yazdanshahr
