The torture of an educator in the prison of the intelligence agency

Farzad Kamangar, an educator and member of the teachers union in the village of Kamyaran in the west of Iran has been tortured in the lockup of the intelligence agency.

During the summer of 2006 Farzad Kamangar along with his friends, Ali Heydarian and Farhad Vakili was arrested by the agents of the intelligence agency in the city of Sanandaj. During the four initial months the family of Mr. Kamangar was unaware of the location of his imprisonment; later it was stated that Farzad was imprisoned in the high security lockup 209.

In advance to those statements, human rights activists in the west of Iran had reported that Farzad Kamangar was held in solitary confinement in 209 security lockup and was severely exposed to both psychological and Physical abuse. Farzad has recently described on a letter that was smuggled out of prison, the torture he was exposed to. He has written in that letter, that as soon as the interrogator found out he was Kurdish he was flogged with a garden hose. He also wrote that he was dreadfully affronted because of his beliefs, and was intensely beaten.

Farzad Wrote, that he was tied down to a chair in a little confined space close to the prison clinic for 24 hours. He was not permitted to visit the lavatory nor to eat.

Farzad also wrote in his letter that following the increase of torture and pursue in the security lockup of 209 he was exposed to, and the harassment of his family, and the arrestment of a girl that he was interested in, he attempted a suicide in the security lockup 209, he threw himself down the stairs, however he did not succeed.

In security lockup 209 he was incarcerated in a very small cell where he was not permitted to go out for fresh air, neither was he allowed having any contact with his family via the telephone or meeting his defending lawyer.

Furthermore he wrote that during October 2006, even when no accusation had been made against him, he was transferred from the security lockup of 209, to the lockup of the intelligence agency in the city of Kermanshah and was incarcerated in solitary confinement measuring 1m x 1m x 0.6m. In this incarceration he was exposed to noise torture and was only allowed to leave the cell only twice in order to use the toilet. In the basement of the lockup he was tied down to a bed and he was than flogged on the back and on the feet.

Continuously Farzad wrote that he was taken to the basement of the lockup where he was stripped of his clothes and then raped. In protest to this ill treatment he hit his head against the wall several times.