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Ahmad
Batebi © Private
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Ahmad
Batebi, a student of film production attached to Tehran
University, was 21 years old when he was arrested in July 1999
during clashes between students and the security forces in
central Tehran. From the end of June 1999 until the day of his
arrest Ahmad Batebi was, with the authorization of his
university, producing a documentary about the dangers of drug
addiction and social problems. When he heard about the student
dormitory disturbances, he went to cover the incident and was
subsequently arrested by a plainclothes militiaman who was
present at the student demonstration. Ahmad Batebi has been in
prison since then and was sentenced to death after a secret
trial by the Revolutionary Court; his sentence was later
reportedly commuted to 15 years’ imprisonment by the Leader of
the Islamic Republic of Iran.
In March
2000, he wrote an open letter from prison to the Head of the
Judiciary describing his treatment in detention. Ahmad Batebi
alleged that an official report available from the Law
Enforcement Forces showed that he was condemned to flogging; he
was blindfolded and the sentence was carried out in the same
room where he was being held. He was later transferred by bus to
another location where he was separated from the other people
arrested. The following brief account of what happened to him
during his interrogation and trial is according to his own
testimony in the open letter.
Ahmad
Batebi said in the open letter that soldiers bound his hands and
secured them to plumbing pipes. They beat his head and abdominal
area with soldiers’ shoes. They insisted that he sign a
confession of the accusations made against him. The next day, he
was thrown onto the floor, they stood on his neck and cut off
all his hair and parts of his scalp causing it to bleed. They
beat him so severely with their heavy shoes that he lost
consciousness, and when he regained consciousness, they started
their actions again, ordering him to write and sign a
"confession". When he refused, they took him to
another room, blindfolded him and secured his bound hands to the
window bars.
During his
interrogations, they threatened several times to execute Ahmad
Batebi and to torture and rape his family members as well as
imprison them for long terms. The investigators ordered him to
confess to false allegations and under extreme duress, he signed
a "confession" fearing that they would carry out their
threats to him and his family.
As far as
Amnesty International is aware, no official investigation has
been undertaken to examine the above allegations of torture made
by Ahmad Batebi.
TAKE
ACTION
E-mail,
write or fax the Iranian authorities and call for a
thorough, impartial investigation into the attack on the
demonstration and to make public the details of allegations of
torture against Ahmad Batebi and other students and for further
investigations into police conduct on raids on student unions
and further harassment, arrest and "disappearance" of
activists.
The President, Islamic Republic of Iran
Hojjatoleslam val Moslemin Sayed Mohammad Khatami
The Presidency, Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: khatami@president.ir
Fax: + 98 21 649 5880 (please ask for the fax to be forwarded to
President Khatami)
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