Old photo showing human rights defender Narges Mohammadi
In response to Iran's foreign minister’s denials of rape in prisons, an imprisoned female activist announced she is ready to testify against the government.
In a letter sent to Radio Farda, the Persian Service of Radio Free Europe in Prague, Narges Mohammadi wrote: "In the past few months, detainees have been brought to the women's ward of Evin prison, and … subjected to sexual assault and physical torture. We have witnessed the traces left on their bodies.”
The civil activist, who has been in prison since 2016, also referred to the case of the elderly Baha'i poet and writer, Mahvash Shahriari, who has served 10 years in prison, and was recently arrested without any legal documents against her.
“She spent five months in solitary confinement [and] has suffered mental and physical torture,” emphasized Mohammadi.
She further expressed readiness "to testify in any place" as a "witness" regarding sexual assault and physical torture in prisons.
Amid the mass arrest of protesters within the past five months, numerous reports have been published regarding rape and assault on both men and women by regime officials in prisons, the first report published by CNN in November.
In response to the investigation, the foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, described the reports as "biased and false".