A protester named Mohammad Haji Rasulpour, tortured under detention in Bukan, West Azerbaijan, lost his life today in the intensive care unit of a hospital in the city.
Rasulpour, a former political prisoner, was temporarily released from prison on 13 December due to his deteriorating physical condition caused by torture.
The security forces arrested him twice in Bukan since the beginning of the public protests.
His last arrest came on 23 November and 20 days later he was released from Bukan prison on a bail of 500 million Iranian Tomans – nearly 12,500 USD.
After his release, he was immediately transferred to the Gholipour Hospital in Bukan and remained in a coma until this morning.
The security forces had previously arrested the 57-year-old civilian on 1 October. He was temporarily released from prison on 25 October.
He was previously in prison from December 2021 to April 2022 on the charge of “propaganda against the state in favour of one of the parties opposing the state”.
Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN)’s investigations indicate that Rasulpour is the eighth protester to die due to torture in security detention centres in Kurdistan in the last three months.
In the past weeks, at least seven other civilians named Shadman Ahmadi from Dehgolan, Shahriar Adeli from Sardasht, Ramin Fatehi from Sanandaj, Esmaeil Dez-Avar from Saqqez, Mohammad Lotfollahi from Sanandaj, Omid Hosseini from Sanandaj and Hemin Aman from Bukan lost their lives as a result of torture while in custody.
There are also numerous reports of detained civilians being severely tortured.
KHRN calls for immediate attention and action from public opinion and human rights organisations on the situation of detainees in Iran’s security detention centres and prisons. The lives of these people are in grave danger.
