Reports of Prison Abuse and Deaths Anger Iranians (Including Some Prominent Conservatives)

[Turborama]

Source: NYT

Some prisoners say they watched fellow detainees being beaten to death by guards in overcrowded, stinking holding pens. Others say they had their fingernails ripped off or were forced to lick filthy toilet bowls.

The accounts of prison abuse in Iran’s postelection crackdown — relayed by relatives and on opposition Web sites — have set off growing outrage among Iranians, including some prominent conservatives. More bruised corpses have been returned to families in recent days, and some hospital officials have told human rights workers that they have seen evidence that well over 100 protesters have died since the vote.

=snip=

There were signs that widespread public anger persists, even beyond those who took to the streets crying fraud after Mr. Ahmadinejad’s landslide victory last month. Several conservatives have said the abuse suggests a troubling lack of accountability, and they have hinted at a link with Mr. Ahmadinejad’s recent willingness to defy even the venerated Ayatollah Khamenei.

“Why did things have to go so far as to require the personal intervention of the supreme leader?” said Ali Mottahari, a conservative Parliament member. “If we are satisfied just to close one detention center, these people will continue to do what they have done elsewhere and nothing will change.” Although the government has played down the scale of the prison abuses, some detainees’ relatives have come forward recently to confirm them, mostly to opposition-linked Web sites that have provided credible information in the past, including roozonline.com and gooya.com.

Some deaths have been further documented with photographs or videotapes. Hospital officials have described receiving bodies of those killed in protests, with the total far in excess of 20, the government’s initial figure. It is difficult to confirm such reports independently, given the restrictions on reporting in Iran.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/30/world/middleeast/30iran.html?_r=1&hpw

---

Has anyone got a link to a story that covers "Ahmadinejad’s recent willingness to defy even the venerated Ayatollah Khamenei". I've been out of the loop for a bit and missed that one....

[Soylent Brice]

i found this:

http://warincontext.org/2009/07/29/iran-hard-liners-warn-ahmadinejad-he-could-be-deposed/

[Turborama]

2. Thanks, man

That LA Times article it links to is very interesting, I was totally unaware that Ahmadinejad is getting attacked from his own side as well.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iran29-2009jul29,0,484157.story

[Soylent Brice]

1. delete: dupe

[formercia]

3. A related story:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=103&topic_id=467236&mesg_id=467236

[Soylent Brice]

4. thanks!

i gave you a kick.

[Turborama]

5. Thank-you!

That's a very in depth and intriguing review of what's going on. I'd have rec'd it if I'd caught it in time but it seems like there's a bit of Iran fatigue going on here these days, so it probably wouldn't have made much difference, anyway.

[formercia]

6. I post it anyway

for those who care. :hi:

[Turborama]

7. Likewise

:hi: