Sweden Supports Call For Full Investigation Of Iran’s Torture Of Protesters

Sweden’s Foreign Minister Ann Linde said on Wednesday that her country supports Amnesty International’s call for a full investigation of alleged human rights violations following the 2019 protests in Iran

Linde tweeted that the Amnesty International report released Wednesday painted a grim picture of serious violations following the protests, adding, “[We] support the call for a full investigation into the allegations. Freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly must be ensured.”

In the report, Amnesty International compiled testimonies from victims and victims’ families, eyewitnesses and lawyers, as well as verified video footage, reports from human rights defenders inside Iran and news and human rights organizations outside the country.

The report revealed that police, security, intelligence agents and prison officials inflicted torture and other atrocities on protesters and others detained in connection with the protests, both during arrests and in detention centers and prisons across the country.

According to the report, interrogators subjected detainees to extreme temperatures and the bombardment of light or sound over a sustained period, including at night; stripped them, sprayed them with cold water and exposed them to cold temperatures, including waterboarding; extracted nails from victims’ fingers or toes; used sexual violence and humiliation against them; applied pepper spray, chemical substances and electric shocks to victims’ face and genital areas; and staged mock executions.”In all cases documented by Amnesty International, victims also reported various forms of psychological torture aimed at obtaining forced ‘confessions,'” the report said.Linde also expressed deep concern about the deteriorating health of imprisoned human rights defender Nasrin Sotoudeh, who is currently on a hunger strike to protest conditions for political prisoners in Iran. “Reiterate the EU’s call for her sentence to be reviewed,” she said in her tweet.