Torture, Sexual Abuse: The Stories of Two Iranian Protesters Held in “Safe Houses”

More than 20,000 people were unlawfully detained across Iran during protests sparked by the September 2022 death in police custody of Mahsa Amini.

The names of many of those detained never appeared on the Islamic Republic's extensive lists of detainees. 

Those who were held for only several hours by plainclothes officers endured physical, psychological and sexual abuse in unofficial detention places referred to as “safe houses,” before being abandoned in the dead of night on the roads, parks and streets.

Months after their release, these protesters grapple with lasting scars and nightmares.

This report is the narration of the torments two detained protesters had to submit to. 

To safeguard the security of this woman and man, IranWire used pseudonyms, and some information was altered or not published.

“I Will Hit Your Brain With This”

Sara was arrested in central Tehran in early October 2022 and remained less than 24 hours in custody. 

However, the psychological pressure, threats and sexual harassment inflicted by Basij and IRGC intelligence agents upon this woman in her 50s continue to haunt her to this day. 

Sara was initially detained in a mosque in central Tehran for several hours before being transferred to a secret location controlled by the IRGC’s intelligence branch. 

"The person who apprehended me didn't look like an ordinary civilian. He wasn't even in plainclothes. I had sought refuge inside a pharmacy while people dispersed,” she tells IranWire.

"When the situation calmed a bit, I came out and was arrested within seconds. He held me tightly, asking, 'Where are you going, whore?' I observed him closely; he had a shaved head and looked like a monster.

"Simultaneously, some motorcyclists arrived and three of them stopped. One took a shoelace-like strap from the motorcyclist and bound my hands."

Sara goes on to recount the sexual harassment she had to endured at the hands of the officers:

"One of them wore glasses and groped my chest before dismounting. I was so shocked that I didn't know how to react. Another wielded a baton and threatened me saying, ‘We'll put this [baton] into that part of your body in the morning.’

"They blindfolded me with a shawl, and the hefty man placed me on one of the motorcycles while another man sat behind me. I was sandwiched between these two. It was a harrowing experience."

Within minutes, Sara was abandoned in front of a mosque in central Tehran. 

Fearing for her safety, she called for help, and plainclothes officers arrived. 

"One held my hand, another held my leg, a third held the part between my two legs, and the fourth gripped my chest," she recounts. 

"They seated me in front of a toilet, securing my hands with a plastic strap instead of the shoelace and blindfolding me. 'Put on your hijab,' a female agent ordered. They interrogated me about my marital status, pondering why I wasn’t married.

"They spoke among themselves, intentionally loud enough for me to hear and feel fear. They mentioned that they would do something that night related to the fact that I wasn’t married. I screamed and cried, feeling unprotected and terrified.” 

After languishing several hours without food or water, Sara was eventually handed over to the IRGC, whose agents transferred her to a “safe house.”

Inside the facility, her jailers interrogated and threatened her, falsely claiming that she was a protest leader. 

"I pleaded for release, emphasizing that my elderly parents would suffer if I didn't return home. One of them brandished a stun gun and threatened me saying, 'I will hit your brain with this so that you remember who you are,'" Sara says.

The commander of the group, accompanied by a female agent and a male driver, placed Sara in a van and left her on a highway north of Tehran around 4 a.m.

Months later, Sara says that she continues to experience nightmares of her arrest and sexual assault.

"They Threatened Me with Sexual Assault, Beat me, and Suspended Me by the Hand”

Ali is a young man arrested in the west of Tehran in December 2022, about two months after being shot on the streets by security forces. 

"I always attended demonstrations at our usual spot. I believe that's how they identified me. Around 20 motorcycles surrounded me. As I turned, I saw one of them aiming his gun at my face,” he tells IranWire.

Images and medical records examined by IranWire reveal that Ali bears at least 50 pellet wounds on the back of his neck and upper back. 

The assailant intended to shoot Ali in the eyes and face, but the pellets struck the back of his neck because he had turned at the last moment.

With the help of a concerned citizen, Ali managed to reach a hospital in Tehran where he received treatment. 

"Intelligence officials came and inquired about the incident. I explained that I was an innocent passerby who was randomly shot. Initially, they treated me well, but a hospital staff member later advised me to flee because they were planning to apprehend me. I fled anyway," Ali says.

During another protest in December, Ali found himself arrested by plainclothes individuals. 

"They struck me with paintballs, staining my clothes. I didn’t notice that and that’s how they marked me to be arrested. They noticed the pellet wounds in my neck. They claimed, 'You were shot before. you must have been part of the crowd,’” he says.

Upon arrest, he endured severe beatings and was taken to a “safe house” in the northwest of Tehran:

"They threatened sexual assault, beat me, and suspended me by the hand, leaving me dangling between the earth and the sky. 

"They cuffed my hands and blindfolded me, and anyone who approached would kick me with his boots. My injured leg was kicked, and blood streamed. 

"Their commander arrived and, to intimidate me, alleged I had set fire to a police car and assaulted officers. 

"He demanded a confession. His officers whipped my ribs, head and thighs. They struck my chest and stomach with their boots, and even applied a stun gun to my armpit."

After enduring severe beatings and other ill-treatment to force him to admit being a protest leader, Ali was placed in a car thrown a few minutes later on Tehran’s Chamran highway. 

In the initial months of the protests, the detention centers were overcrowded and many arrested protesters were released when the security forces failed to find evidence against them during the early stage of interrogation.