Claims of savage rape emerge from Iran’s prisons
TEHRAN. August 11. KAZINFORM. An Iranian opposition leader has claimed that women and boys detained over the wave of unrest that swept the nation after the disputed presidential election were savagely raped in custody; Kazinform refers to Arab News.
The allegations by defeated presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi surfaced as Iran hit back at Western criticism of its mass trials of protesters, including British and French embassy staff.
He said such crimes, if proven true, would "disgrace" Iran's Islamic ruling system. He did not name any officials who made the rape claims.
Senior police and judiciary officials acknowledged over the weekend that opposition detainees have been abused in prison and called for those responsible to be punished, apparently in an effort to calm public outrage over the mistreatment and death of prisoners.
Karroubi made the allegations in a letter to Rafsanjani in his capacity as head of the Assembly of Experts, the powerful body which selects the supreme leader and supervises his activities.
Karroubi, a reformist former parliamentary speaker who came a distant fourth in the June 12 election that returned President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power, has previously alleged that protesters were abused and beaten in custody. Karroubi said he did not send the letter to Ahmadinejad because he considers his presidency illegitimate; Kazinform cites Arab News. See www.arabnews.com for full version.