Iran is a constitutional monarchy. Parliament is theoretically sovereign, but in practice the Crown is the sole source of authority. The Shah is also commander-in-chief of the army. [Mohammad Reza Pahlavi] Because of this, opposition within the country and outside is concentrated on criticism of the Shah and his policies.

Some political prisoners may not be members of any political group, illegal or otherwise, but may have simply been associated with a group of friends who discussed politics. In the past few years there has been some guerrilla activity, which has provoked extremely repressive measures by the authorities. In 1969 Iran acted as the host to a large international conference on human rights, but a concern for human rights appears not to be reflected at all in its domestic practice.

It is alleged that torture of political prisoners during interrogation has been established practice in Iran for many years. The earliest detailed statement of torture known to Amnesty is dated 23 December 1963 and describes torture alleged to have occurred on 17 December 1963. However, opponents of the Iranian regime allege that torture has been taking place since the overthrow of Mossadegh in 1953. [Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh]

The Iranian government has consistently denied that torture is used, but as no systematic inquiry has ever been made into the allegations, their validity can only be judged by a study of the available material. Amnesty has only one signed statement alleging torture; most of the available information about torture is contained in the reports of observers who have attended trials of political prisoners in Iran. Nearly all of these prisoners have retracted their confessions in court on the grounds that they were made under torture and therefore are not valid. Allegations relate to the period of pre-trial custody, which may be several months. During this time, investigation of alleged political crimes and the preparation of the files on the basis of which trials are conducted, is carried out by SAVAK, the intelligence and security organisation.

M. Nuri Albala, an observer who attended a trial in January/February 1972, reported that one of the defendants, who was executed subsequently, “suddenly pulled off his sweater in front of everyone and showed me appalling burns on his stomach and his back; they appeared to be several months old”. Other defendants at the same trial alleged torture and stated that one of their number was unable to walk due to having been tortured; another was alleged to have died in the torture room. M. Albala concluded: “The length of time that a prisoner can be held in custody before trial is unlimited, SAVAK is completely free and can do as it pleases during this time; it does not hesitate to use torture, sometimes leading to death, on the persons it has under its control”.

Other observers have mentioned allegations of torture in their reports; some have concluded on the basis of what they heard and saw in court that the torture had occurred; others have stated that they had no way of checking the validity of the allegations and must therefore suspend judgment. Apart from these reports, information about torture has been smuggled out of prisons and published outside Iran. In February 1972 a detailed account of torture, written by an escaped political prisoner from Iran, was published in Le Monde and subsequently elsewhere. He described the methods or torture used in general and then proceeded to particular cases of which he was an eyewitness.

Many methods of torture are alleged to be in use, including both physical and psychological, but those which are mentioned most frequently are: beating of the feet, weighted handcuffs, insertion of electric cosh or bottle into the rectum, and placing the prisoner on an electric grill which is then heated. The last method is alleged to have paralysed some of those subjected to it, so that they were unable to walk, but could only move about by crawling on all fours. Investigation of these cases would be handicapped by the fact that the alleged victims have been executed.

From February 1972 until June 1973, no observers or foreign journalists were allowed to attend trials of political prisoners in Iran. Very little information is available, but as far as is known all these trials were completely closed to the public. Many resulted in executions. For this reason there is hardly any recent information about torture in Iran, although opposition groups outside Iran allege that the torture of political prisoners has continued. A French lawyer, Francoise Rozelaar-Vigier, who went to Iran in December 1972 with the intention of observing a trial for the International Association of Democratic Lawyers, was deliberately misled by the Iranian authorities and told that no trials were imminent, although, as she subsequently learned, a trial was in progress while she was in Teheran. In connection with this trial it has been alleged that at least one of the defendants was tortured and has since been executed.

Taking into account the constant factors in all the allegations over the past ten years, together with the details supplied, which include descriptions of methods, names of torturers, places and times, it can be concluded that enough prima facie evidence of torture exists to warrant a properly constituted inquiry.