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| Rafsanjani responds to Karroubi 'jail rape' letter |
| 2009-08-14 |
| Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani has reportedly responded to a letter by former Iranian presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi on 'jail rape' claims. In a letter dated July 29 to Rafsanjani, the Chairman of Expediency Council, Karroubi, the Veteran Reformist figure, had urged a probe into reports of the sexual abuse of prisoners at the notorious Kahrizak detention center in southern Tehran, where he said several of both male and female detainees were brutally raped. According to a report by Iranian daily Jomhuriye Eslami, upon receiving the letter from Karroubi, Ayatollah Rafsanjani sent it to outgoing Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi-Shahroudi and called for an investigation into the issue. Ayatollah Shahroudi reportedly responded to the letter, saying that such treatment had not happened in those detention centers that are under the supervision of the judicial branch. The office of Ayatollah Rafsanjani then sent the letter by Ayatollah Shahroudi to Karroubi, according to the report. "The people who informed me about these events hold sensitive positions in the country ... these officials told me of the things that happened in the detention centers that even if one count is true, it would be a tragedy for the Islamic Republic," Karroubi said in his letter. "A number of detainees have said that some female detainees were raped savagely," he said, adding "Young boys held in detention have also been savagely raped." Following the request to probe the issue, Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani urged an inquiry to the report and assigned a special committee to investigate the issue. On Wednesday, Larijani dismissed the allegation as 'sheer lies', saying that a 'precise and comprehensive' inquiry found no cases of sexual abuse. Larijani, then, called on Karroubi to present strong evidence to prove his claims. The 'non-standard' prison of Kahrizak was shut down upon a direct order by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei in July after reports surfaced about the mistreatment of detainees who protested against the result of the disputed presidential vote. Amid controversies surrounding reports of the sexual abuse of prisoners, Majid Ansari, a member of Majma'e Rowhaniyoun-e Mobarez (the Combatant Clergy Association), told IRNA that the issue was indeed verified. "The very existence of such an issue [jail rape reports] has been confirmed and the report has been taken up with officials," former vice president said without mentioning the name of any officials. On Tuesday, Ayatollah Rafsanjani demanded officials to respect the rights of the detainees. "Judgment and proxy as well as (protecting) the rights of the accused can provide guarantees for the presence of justice in the final verdict." After the shutdown, the head of Kahrizak prison was dismissed and arrested for 'dereliction of duty'. |
| Posted by:Fred |