Iran: concerns Over Reopening of Kahrizak Torture Facility

As the government is gearing up to begin enforcement of two new programs both of which are reminiscent of  the Kahrizak detention facility that was shut last year, one dealing with women’s Islamic attire and the other with cleaning city streets off thugs and criminals, Mehdi Khazali, the son of one of Iran’s most influential clerics published an open letter to the head of the country’s judiciary about the plans to reopen Kahrizak.  The letter reports that the facility is being reopened under a new name, “Soroush 111,” and has many political and human rights activists as well as members of the public outraged.

In his letter, which has also been published by Kalame belonging to Mir-Hossein Mousavi’s supporters, Khazali writes to the judiciary chief that, “I have recently heard from a credible source (a high-ranking judiciary official) that the Kahrizak detention facility – which had been shut on the orders of the supreme leader – has been reopened under the name of ‘Soroush 111.’  Why should a detention facility that lacks the most basic facilities, and in which our young children have died, be reopened under a new name?  Was the problem with the facility mere its name?”

Khazali probes deeper into the issue and says, “The issue of Kahrizak’s abusers is still open and ongoing.  It is very strange that the death sentence of a young man who was charged with throwing rocks is settled promptly, but the case involving murderers at Kahrizak take such a long time!  Kahrizak still weighs heavily on people’s conscience; and the questions people have asked their representatives remain unanswered.  We hope that your attention to this matter would calm people’s grievances.”

Mehdi Khazali is the son of ayatollah Aboulghasem Khazali, a hardline cleric close to ayatollah Khamenei and a supporter of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Khazali worked for the ministry of intelligence under Ali Fallahian, and was involved in the production of the infamous “Hoviyat” television series which broadcast forced confessions extracted under pressure from political dissidents, including Saeed Sirjani and Ezatollah Sahabi.

After the mass arrest of protesters last year, Mehdi Khazali changed course, accused the Islamic Republic of “oppression and injustice” and targeted widespread criticism against ayatollah Khamenei.  His father subsequently cut off the younger Khazali from his family ties.

The exact number of individuals killed at the Kahrizak facility has not yet been announced but the Islamic Republic has confirmed that at least four individuals, Mohsen Rouholamini, Amir Javadifar, Mohammad Kamrani and Ramin Aghazadeh-Ghahremani, were killed there. Mohsen Rouholamini was the son of Abdolhossein Rouholamini, Mohsen Rezaei’s senior advisor.

Last summer Panjereh magazine, close to Majlis representative Alireza Zakani, wrote a report on the Kahrizak facility, describing the day on which Kahrizak detainees were transferred to Evin Prison after the facility was shut down: “When the caravan carrying Kahrizak detainees arrives at Evin, prison officials there refused to take in some of the Kahrizak detainees due to their weak physical condition and the rotten smell of bodily wounds. Eventually however they were forced to accept the detainees. But even as Evin officials were taking in Kahrizak’s detainees in, one of the detainees collapsed and was taken to the hospital an hour later.”

The case of accused Kahrizak officers has been on hold for at least three months. The names of the main defendants and their charges have also not been released till today.

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