Security forces have detained hundreds of protesters in various cities since mass protests shook Iran following skyrocketing petrol prices, local sources in Sanandaj, Marivan, Kermanshah, Javanrud, Ilam and Orumiyeh told the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN).
Due to escalating security measures and threatening the detainees’ families by the Iranian security agencies not to report to media and defending human rights organizations, no precise figures of people detained in the protests have been achieved. However, the KHRN has obtained some information from a number of detainees released permanently or temporarily on bail in the past few days.
According to our initial statistics, more than 1000 people have been arrested in the cities of Ilam, Mehran, Chardaval, Sar-Pol-Zahab, Kermanshah, Javanrud, Kamyaran, Sanandaj, Marivan, Saqqez, Bukan and Orumiyeh. In addition to that, a number of Kurdish civilians residing in Tehran and Karaj have also been arrested during the protests, however, the number of detainees remains unknown.
About 100 detainees have thus far been released on bail from detention centres and prisons. The amount of these bail varies from 30 million to several hundred million Iranian Tomans.
The detained civilians are held in small cells of the detention centres of security police detention centres, intelligence agencies and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC) who are subjected to physical and psychological torture for forced confessions, a number of detainees released in the past few days confirmed to the KHRN.
Two detainees also released from the detention centres in Kermanshah and Marivan reported that dozens of children and adolescents are being held in detention centres.
On another side, over the past few days, more than 200 detainees have been transferred from security detention centres to Sanandaj and Dizelabad prisons in Kermanshah. The detention of these civilians is deplorable due to lack of facilities in these prisons.
As per a report, about 50 civilians wounded by gunfire have been detained in the streets and hospitals. These people are currently being held in the detention centres of the IRGC and Kermanshah Intelligence Bureau in Sanandaj, where they are in urgent need of medical treatment. Concerns over the fate of these people has further increased as families have received no reliable information if their children have received medial treatment.
A number of families of detainees who preferred to remain anonymous due to security concerns have told the KHRN that hundreds of families were gathering in front of the Judiciary of various cities every day to hear about the status of their detained beloved ones. However, the judicial authorities are yet to respond to their concerns. Only those detainees who have been transferred to quarantine in these prisons have managed to make phone calls to their families.
Hitherto, law enforcement officials in the provinces of Ilam, Kermanshah and Kurdistan have officially announced the arrests of “two telegram admins in Ilam” “7 leaders in Chardawal“, “240 protesters in Kermanshah and Javanrud” and “25 protesters in Marivan and Sanandaj”. But the provincial Intelligence Bureau has not released any details about the detainees.
The names and identities of about 156 detainees have been collected by the KHRN. Among them are the names of 67 civilians detained in Kermanshah province, five civilians in Ilam province, 10 citizens in West Azerbaijan province and 74 civilians in Kurdistan province. Four of these detainees were released while two of them were taken to Orumiyeh Central Prison. There is no precise information about the fate of the other detainees.
