Iran’s supreme leader closes prison over abuses

TEHRAN – Iran’s supreme leader ordered the closure of a prison where rights workers say protesters detained in the country’s election turmoil have died, officials said yesterday, as the head of the opposition sharply condemned the wave of arrests.

The order by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was a nod to concerns over the treatment of the hundreds arrested after the disputed June 12 presidential election. Authorities appear to be paying greater attention to the complaints after the son of a prominent conservative figure died in prison – reportedly the same one closed by Khamenei.Besides the closure of Kahrizak prison, the head of Iran’s judiciary, promised on Monday that the public prosecutor would review the situation of all the hundreds of postelection detainees within a week and decide whether to release or bring them to trial, the state news agency IRNA reported. Also, a parliamentary committee investigating detainees’ condition was due to visit Tehran’s main prison, Evin, yesterday, according to IRNA.At least 500 people remain in prison from the heavy crackdown launched against protests that erupted following the election, in which President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the winner but which the opposition says was fraudulent. Among those detained are young protesters, as well as prominent pro-reform politicians, rights activists and lawyers.The opposition has complained for weeks that many of the detainees are being held in secret prisons, have not had contact with their families and have undergone torture to force them to confess to stirring up unrest. At least 20 people were killed, according to police, though rights groups say the number is likely far higher. The crackdown was carried out by police, the elite Revolutionary Guards and the pro-government Basij militia.Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, who claims to have won the election, said on Monday that amid the disorder of the crackdown, even the judiciary doesn’t have access to all the prisoners.’All departments from intelligence to Basij say (those who arrested protesters) were not related to them. Where are they from? Have they come from the Mars? Who do believe this?’ Mousavi said. ‘I am sure even the judiciary is not able and has no right to visit many prisons and ask for details.’Khamenei’s order for the prison closure was announced on Monday. It was closed because of ‘illegal pressures on some detainees of the postelection unrest,’ IRNA reported. As supreme leader, Khamenei has final say in all state matters in Iran.Yesterday, an official with a parliamentary commission on the detainees, Kazem Jalali, identified the closed prison as Kahrizak, a facility on Tehran’s southern outskirts. ‘It did not possess the required standards to ensure the rights of the detainees,’ Jilali told the semi-official Mehr news agency. – Nampa-AP