Social Activist, Ahmad Bab: Tortured to Confess to Espionage

Aug 4, 2010
Physical torture is a long-lasting human rights violation inflicted on political prisoners in Iran. The media tends to focus on conditions in the Tehran prisons, so it is common that acts of torture go unnoticed in other provinces where it is more violent and severe, such as is the case with prisons in the Kurdistan province of Iran.

This report describes the inhuman treatment inflicted on social activist Ahmad Bab by interrogators of the Ministry of Intelligence. Ahamd Bab, a resident of Marivan (a city in the province of Kurdistan) spent 195 days in detention and was subjected to the most severe forms of physical and psychological torture. Ahmad Bab is currently released from prison. His case is now open before branch 1 of the Marivan Revolutionary Court with judge Lotfi. So far, one court session was held with the presence of his lawyer Bahram Khalilian. His second court date is scheduled for August 21, 2010.

 

Ahmad Bab was arrested on the evening of September 25, 2009 after Ministry of Intelligence agents broke the door of his residence and entered without showing any ID or warrant. He was transferred blindfolded to the solitary confinement ward of the Marivan Intelligence office.
The manner in which Ahmad Bab was arrested is contravene to section 6 of the Civil Rights Circular issued by the Judiciary Power of the Islamic Republic of Iran that states tormenting individuals through blindfolding and humiliating them in the course of their arrest, investigation, and interrogation should be avoided. In addition, article 32 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic states that no one may be arrested unless according to the manner prescribed by the law. If arrested, the defendant should be immediately notified in writing of the reason behind the arrest and the accusations, and the initial case should be sent to the judicial authority within 24 hours. The trial should be arranged in a speedy manner. Those in violation of this article will be punished according to the law.

In the first hours of detention, Mr. Bab was pressured to confess that he had ties with anti-revolutionary groups and acted to disrupt public order by uniting people to act against the Islamic Republic. Since he is a social and civil activist, he did not accept any of the allegations and did not provide a false confession. As a result, he was subjected to the most horrendous physical and psychological torture.

While he was blindfolded and handcuffed, Mr. Bab was severely abused by three people. They punched and kicked him while they beat him with a wide military belt. Then, they unlocked the handcuffs and two of the people held him, while the other opened Mr. Bab’s mouth and pulled out three of his bottom teeth using a plier. Mr. Bab lost consciousness.

After the first night of arrest and torture, Mr. Bab’s shirt was filled with blood, his eye was bruised, and he was unable to speak. He suffered broken ribs, pulled out teeth, inflated gums, and an inflated skull from batons blows to the head. This all took place even though torture is forbidden in the laws of the Islamic Republic.

Article 38 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic indicates that any torture for acquiring information is forbidden. Forcing the individual to testify, confess, or take an oath is not permitted, and such testimony, confession, and oath is void of credibility and value. Anybody in violation of this article will be punished according to the law.

Throughout the course of detention, batons, sticks, military belts, pliers, and vulgar insults were the torture tools used on Mr. Bab. He was usually interrogated and tortured from evening until morning. He was also denied medical treatment for 33 days.

They would force him to sit up and stand a thousand times. When he was in the hundreds mark, they forced him to start over for missing a number. They beat him so much with the military belt that he was unable to stand on his feet. [Yet,] they forced him to stand on his feet, sometimes for ten hours. [A number of times], he was kept standing on his feet as a plier was dropped on his toes from head level. Each blow caused bleeding. They threatened him with a revolver. They would ask him to choose the finger that he wants them to fire at first. They threatened him with rape. They justified it by stating that rape against infidels was Halal (permitted by religion). He was asked to sit on a gas lamp. He resisted and in return they severely beat him. The interrogators wanted Mr. Bab to confess to espionage for the United States of America.

Ahamd Bab spent 33 days of his detention period in Marivan in solitary confinement. The condition of the cell was horrific. He had a military blanket and was allowed to use the bathroom three times a day. The only access to drinking water was in the bathroom.

His interrogation sessions began early afternoon and lasted until the next morning. He had no access to food during those long hours. Mr. Bab was denied a bath or shower for 33 days and was unable to access any self-grooming supplies. He was so weak at times that he had to crawl to the bathroom. Out of the 33 days of detention in the Marivan Intelligence office, the interrogations only stopped [the torture] for one week.

After 33 days, he was transferred to the Sanandaj Intelligence prison. His physical condition was so weak that even though he was permitted to take a shower, he was only able to wash his head with the help of a soldier.

After his transfer to Sanandaj prison, he was quarantined for 14 days due to the fact that his skin was infected with fungi. His gums were also infected and he had internal bleeding. At the end of the 14-day period, and after receiving treatment, he was transferred to the solitary confinement ward at the Sanandaj Intelligence prison. He was once again subjected to interrogation and torture.

They wanted him to give a televised confession. The interrogators laid him down handcuffed to a bed and tied his toes together, and then tied his two big toes together. His shins were also tied to the bed. Then the interrogators proceeded to read passages from the Qur’an while the soles of his feet received lashings. He lost consciousness a number of times. Every time that he did, they would pour water on his face to wake him up. Then when he did, they continued with the lashings. He lost control of his bladder many times as a result of the blows and vomited on numerous occasions. Based on what the interrogators told him, he received a total of 320 lashes. They also placed headphones over his ears, and for three days, played sounds that unnerved and tired him.

The interrogators held his tongue with a plier and dragged him around in the prison to the point that he could not speak for four days. They demanded that he walk around the room and make animal noises. He refused and they severely beat him. The interrogators drilled holes in the soles of his feet. The marks are still visible. They also hung him from his feet.

In one of the torture sessions, the interrogator outed his cigarette on Mr. Bab’s elbow. The interrogator stated, “This [burn mark] is my souvenir to you.”

After the fourth month, Mr. Bab was told to write his will because he will be executed soon.

On the evening [of his "execution"], the interrogators took him to a room that was stated to be for executions. They made him stand up on a chair with wheels and a noose hung by his head. They placed the noose around his neck, handcuffed him, and shackled his feet. Under those circumstances, they interrogated him and asked him to confess. After one hour, they brought him back down. His body was completely wet and because he was unable to stand on his feet, he collapsed like a lifeless human being.

During the five months of detention, Ahamd Bab was able to talk to his family only once by phone. He was instructed to tell his family to come visit. When his family arrived, they were not permitted to visit him. Instead, they interrogated his pregnant wife for five hours. Mr. Bab was transferred to the Marivan General prison after 155 days of detention. He did not have access to a lawyer during this period. He was released after 165 days on a bail of approximately $70,000 USD.

The acts of violence that Ahmad Bab endured will haunt him for years. Pulled teeth, intense headaches, the marks from beatings, lashings, and drilled feet are the consequences of torture. Mr. Bab is unable to walk properly and the nerves in the sole of his feet are severely damaged. According to Mr. Bab, the charges against him are membership in anti-revolutionary groups and espionage for the United States of America. Ahmad Bab was previously arrested in 2003, 2005, and 2007 and spent a total of 61 days in solitary confinement in Marivan and Sanandaj detention centres belonging to the Ministry of Intelligence.

The list of the rights and laws violated during the detention and interrogation of Ahmad Bab are:

The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran

Article 38 | Any kind of torture used to extract an admission of guilt or to obtain information is forbidden. Compelling people to give evidence, or confess or take an oath is not allowed. Such evidence or confession or oath is null and void. Any person infringing this principle is to be punished in accordance with the law.

Article 39 | Aspersion of the dignity of and respect due to any person who has been arrested or put in detention, or imprisoned or exiled by command of the law is forbidden in any form, and is liable to punishment.

Civil Rights Circular issued by the Judiciary of the Islamic Republic (Number 716/83/1)

Section 6 | In the course of the arrest and interrogation or investigation, tormenting individuals by blindfolding or tying other parts of the body, humiliating, and belittling them should be avoided.

Section 7 | The interrogators and investigative team should refrain from covering the face, sitting behind the defendant, or taking them to undisclosed locations, and in general, committing any illegal acts.

Section 9 | Any kind of torture used to extract an admission of guilt or to force one to do anything else is forbidden, and confession obtained this way is not religiously or legally valid.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Article 5 | No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.