The prisons and torture chambers of the clerical regime of Iran

Based on reliable information received from inside Iran, the clerical regime's henchmen held protesters in temporary and secret detention centers of the Ministry of Intelligence, IRGC, and the State Security Forces (SSF) before transferring them to the known prisons.

The name of a number of these temporary torture chambers has been exposed, such as Gisha, Islamshahr Security Police, Niloufar Security Police, and Shahriar Security Police. The protesters have been severely tortured in these temporary secrete detention centers before they are transferred to known prisons such as Gohardasht, Evin, and Greater Tehran (Fashafuyeh).

The IRGC intelligence division's underground prison in Shiraz (known as Ebrat) is a notorious torture chamber where hundreds of protesters are tortured, in addition to torturing and harassing the detainees of the uprisings.

About Gisha Security Police

1.   After the arrest, of a protester with the initials A-M he first is severely beaten with a shocker and a baton by the "Niloufar Security Police." Then they tied his hands to a chair from behind and severely beat him. They laid his hands on his back and tied them behind his back and stood on his chest with their feet. He was threatened with rape and told that if you do not confess and do not write what we want, we will torture you even more. Amnesty International recent document on the Iranian regime's horrific torture provided a vivid sketch of the way young protester are being tortured.   

The prisoner was later transferred to the "Gisha Security Police base." He was forcefully kept in a crumpled position for hours under a small table. He was punched, kicked, and beaten with batons. This is routine torture in Gisha security police over political detainees. These tortures were repeated many times, to obtain false confessions. When the prisoner refused, the torture began by flogging him with a cable.  Amin Naseri, the head of the regime's "Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor's Office," personally tortured the prisoner with a shocker before taking him to court and told him that "if you do not confess, we will sentence you to 10 times execution."

2.  At Gisha Security Police detention center, another detainee with the initials K-J was tied to a radiator and beaten with a water pipe. While the prisoner was totally stripped of his clothes, his wrists were chained to his ankles, and he was tortured for hours being flogged with a cable, punched, and beaten using batons. After a few days, he was transferred to the IRGC's Intelligence division detention center. The detainee witnessed many protesters being tortured with shockers. He also witnessed several young protesters being raped in Gisha Security Police.

3.  A detainee with the initial Sh-N was tortured in the Gisha Security Police with punches, kicks, and batons while wearing metal shackles. The interrogator kicked the metal shackle so hard that his bone broke.  Ten months later, his leg is still in a cast.

4.  A detained protester with the initial J-B was arrested by Gisha security police. They tied his hands behind his back and hung him from a lifter, and at the same time, tortured him with a shocker and a baton. Gisha Security Police, like Shapur Prosecutor's Bureau, is a notorious center of detention and torture.

About Shahriar Security Police detention center

5.  A protester with the initials A-M was tortured in the Shahriar Security Police Center. He was beaten with a hosepipe filled with small bullets to the head, face, and other parts of his body. He received at least 50 blows on the soles of his feed with this painful whip. Protesters initialed with F-M and S-M were also tortured in Shahriar security police center with the same method. H-R and M-A were arrested by the Eslamshahr security police and tortured for hours in the same way, while he was blindfolded.

About IRGC intelligence detention centers

6.  A protester with the initials M-A was arrested by the IRGC Intelligence Division and taken to an unknown detention center, where he was tortured for two days in a row with batons and shocker on sensitive parts of his body. Also, G-A was arrested by IRGC intelligence. He was tortured in a gym for a week with a shocker and a baton. Force fully the henchman undresses him and then with a shocker they hit him on the sensitive parts of his body. Another prisoner, initialed M-S, was tortured in the same place, also forced to undress.

About Mock execution

7.  Mock execution is the torture that the IRGC uses on many November Uprising detained protesters. In some cases, they mock the execution by throwing the prisoner off from the rooftop.

The detained protester initialed as M-A was mock executed twice. Once, he was placed in the trunk of a car and taken to another location. After, he was asked to testify and be ready to be executed. Then while blind-folded, they shot around and near his ear.

In some cases, a cleric is used to tell the prisoner to testify before execution and to make a will if he has one. In other cases, the prisoner forced with hunger is told that he would be executed at night, then he was handcuffed and taken out of the cell.

Detained protester initialed as A-R was severely tortured in ward 240 of notorious Evin Prison while blind-folded. Then they took him to another place and told him to make a will because now, "we want to hang you." The whole scene was set for execution. They put a stool under the prisoner's feet and continued this psychological torture for hours.

About Torture of children and adolescents

8.  Among those arrested in November 2019 uprising, there were a large number of children and adolescents under the age of 18 who were severely tortured. Detained protester initialed A-K was tortured with a shocker and baton and was also whipped, and his nails were pulled out. A-M., another prisoner who was less than 18 years old and was severely tortured with a shocker. Some detained protesters from the November 2019 uprising were raped several times. Another method of torture is pouring cold water underneath the prisoner and on the cell's floor, and the prisoner is kept in that condition in the cell for days, suffering from leg and back pain and other serious complications.

About Underground prison in Shiraz, IRGC Intelligence Division (called Ebrat)

9.  The IRGC Intelligence Division in Shiraz tortures the November 2019 arrested protesters in Ebrat prison and is employing the most ruthless guards there. In this ward, the guards call each other by titles such as "left-handed Jalal," "Godless Majid," and "shameless Hussein." One of these guards had written on the entrance gate: ‌ "There is no God here." Navid Afkari and his 2 brothers were imprisoned in this ward.

10. During the November 2019 uprising, all the injured protesters were transferred from the hospitals to the Ebrat prison. The number of prisoners is between 350 to 400, who are kept in filthy cells. There is only one square meter of space for each prisoner. Prisoners do not have the right to talk to each other and will be punished if a word is exchanged between them. The food ration is cut for week this is an example of the type of punishment. Prisoners are continuously monitored by CCTV. There is no medical care in Ebrat prison. During winter, prisoners have to have a cold shower in the prison's yard. Prisoners are deprived of using the telephone to communicate with the outside world.

11.   In Ebrat prison, prisoners are tortured blindfolded. The prisoner is hung from the ceiling and beaten with a cable on his hands, feet, and fingers. In many cases, the prisoner's fingers break. Another torture is to strip a prisoner naked and place him in the scorching sun or in the extreme cold. Many of the detainees were left unattended, after the brutal torture in November 2019, and some who had been injured due to tortures, their wounds were infected. Some prisoners' nails were pulled out. Three detainees of the November Uprising were killed in this prison under torture.

12. Prisoners on death row are transferred to solitary confinement the night before the execution. The agents of the regime are cautious so that the names and details of the prisoners in Ebrat prison does not leak out to the international organizations.

It is vitally important that the United Nations Secretary-General, the Human Rights Council, and the High Commissioner as well as other human rights organizations to take urgent action to secure the release of detained protesters who are subject to torture and execution. It is also emphatically necessary for an international delegation to visit prisons and detention centers of the clerical regime, and to meet with the prisoners, particularly the detained protesters.