Islamic regime official confesses to 100 illegal detention centers in Iran

Iran Press News: The Amir Kabir university newsletter reported: Ali-Akbar Yasaghi, the head of the prisons & corrections organization of Iran, admitted to the existence of detention centers that were not controlled by his organization. He said: “There are many such realities in our country and one should not be surprised. It is true that according to the law there should not be detention centers that are not under the supervision of the prisons & corrections organizations but whether the law is in fact and actually implemented…leaves room for pause. Establishing detention centers, is a matter of taste (!); on the one hand the law clearly states that the detention centers should not be run by intelligence & security forces and on the other hand there were contracts that had been signed [by intelligence & security agents] in the past that put them in charge of administration of such centers."

Recently in an interview with several of the Islamic regime’s news agencies the head of the prisons & corrections organization said that are as many as 100 detention centers that are out of the control and supervision of this organization. He added that there has to be specific security measures implemented in the detention centers and prisons for those who have committed crimes against the national rule and jeopardized our security system and foreign relations. Yasaghi said: "After all there should be specific actions taken against those who put the domestic security of the Islamic Republic in danger.”

The admission of the existence of these detention centers over the recent weeks has raised serious concerns among human rights activists and groups. Members of the minority faction of the Islamic parliament were not even allowed to visit the infamous ward 209 of Evin prison which is run by the ministry of intelligence & security [and out of the control of the prisons & corrections organization]. According to a member of this faction of the Islamic parliament: "There are reports [that raises great concern] about the violation of the human rights that has been brought to our attention."

Yasaghi however refused to address or comment on the issue of ward 209 and its’ methods of supervision. According to Yasaghi, the only measure that officials from the prisons & corrections organization are able to take when observing human rights violation cases is to report it to higher authorities which ultimately means that nothing will in fact ever be done to investigate or rectify the situation. In this case Yasaghi said: "At this juncture, I prefer not to respond to questions or comment on this matter."

The first official reports of the existence of such detention centers that came out in 2002 and 2003 was written and published by the representative of the sixth parliament, Ali-Akbar Moussavi-Khoini and after that Abass-Ali Alizadeh, the director general of Tehran’s Judiciary at the time handed excerpts of the report of the committee of supervision of citizens rights of the Judiciary to various members of the Islamic regime’s press in the summer of 2005.

In that report, there are cases of human rights violations, description of solitary cells, torture, assault and battery; there are also mention of cases where interrogators refused to permit detainees to retain legal counsel, the lack of judges and superintendents in the prison or two superintendents of prisons as well as clear and highly illegal cases of discrimination between prisoners.