Ninety of the 124 prisoners are being held in the prison of Rajai Shahr, Karaj. Six are in Sanandaj Prison, four are in Kermanshah, two in Urumia, and two in Ghezelhesar, Karaj.
Eighteen additional people of Sunni Kurdish origin are under interrogation at the offices of the Ministry of Intelligence and Security in Sanandaj and Urumia
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a representative of the Rajaj Shahr prisoners said:
“The majority of arrests and interrogations of these people weren’t according to any standard legal procedure and it was mainly based on a fear factor implemented by the Ministry of Intelligence and [Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps].
These people were interrogated under extreme mental and physical torture. Under extreme pressure from security officials, they have been blindfolded, forced to sign papers while being tortured, or by forcing the content of certain false confessions. Also, the security officials had forced these people to accept false confessions in front of cameras. “
When asked whether these prisoners were allowed access to trial lawyers, this representative said:
“Most of these people served two years in absolute isolation cells. At the time of arrest and in court, they had no right to a lawyer. All these people were tried in the courts for 10 minutes at Branch 28 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided by Judge Mullah Mohammad Moghiseh. The court charged all of them with the totally unexplained and baseless offense of acting against national security and convicted them.”
The judge reportedly also emphasized that none of these people had the right to object to his verdict, lest he be subject to verbal and physical abuses.
In January 2012, six Sunni prisoners, Asghar Rahimi, Kayvan Zand-Karimi, Behnam Rahimi, Zaher Bahmani, Hooshyar Mohammadi and Bahram Ahmadi were executed in Karaj Rajai Shahr Prison. Representatives of Sunni inmates in the prison have condemned the Intelligence officials unilateral action in this case, particularly because Bahram Ahmadi was under the age of 18 at the time of his arrest.
“Prisoners’ families are mostly from Kurdistan and Sanandaj, and the Sunni areas have always been poor, due to discriminatory government policies,” said the representative of the Rajai Shahr prisoners. “The families are constantly abused by Intelligence Ministry officials. Even this prison is 700 kilometers away from their families and they have only 20 minutes to visit their children once a month.“
Prisoners are subject to constant abuse even after transferring to prison, according to this same eyewitness. “The Sunni prisoners are under constant abusive threats, by prison officials and especially the Intelligent Ministry, of being transferred to wards with narcotics problems and dangerous prisoners.”
According to Nafas dar Qafas website All of the prisoners of Branch 28 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Moghiseh, were convicted of Mohareb, or waging war against God, as well as acting against national security.
Three more Sunni prisoners, named Mohammad-kayvan Karimi, Amjad Salehi and Omid Payvand, are on death row. Their verdict was already announced in May to their State assigned lawyer. The cases of these prisoners of conscience are now under consideration by the Supreme Court.
