UN expert says human rights still a problem in Iran
Today the United Nations' Special Rapporteur on the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ahmed Shaheed will present his latest report on human rights in the country to the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Freedom from Torture has provided clinical services to thousands of Iranian torture victims. Since our foundation in 1985, more than 5000 Iranians have been referred to us for treatment or forensic documentation of torture injuries. In 2013, Freedom from Torture received 217 referrals for Iranians, making Iran the second top country of origin for those referred to the organisation.
Last year, Freedom from Torture published a study of 50 Iranian torture cases documented by clinicians in the Medico-Legal Report Service. All of the cases involved torture perpetrated in the lead-up to and the period following the disputed 2009 presidential elections.
The study indicated that a wide range of physical, psychological and environmental torture methods were practised in a highly systematic way by torturers in Iran during this period and that torture was practised against many people – and their family members - who had been involved in very low-level grassroots activism.
