19-Year-Old Baluch Dies After Torture in Iranian Custody

A 19-year-old pre-university student died in the eastern Iranian city of Zabul this week after being tortured by intelligence agents of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the Haalvsh human rights group reported. 

Mahmoud Rakhshani, an ethnic Baluch, was arrested on September 3 by IRGC intelligence agents who had stormed his father's home without a court order. 

The agents accused the family of possessing a weapon, which was not found during the search.

While in detention, Rakhshani was beaten on the head by the IRGC intelligence officers who demanded he hand over the alleged weapon. 

The torture resulted in a severe concussion, and the young man remained in a vegetative state  in Zabul’s Amir al-Mominin Hospital for three months, before succumbing to his injuries on December 11.

The family were allowed to retrieve the body five hours after they reluctantly signed a document in which they pledged not to launch any legal action and talk about the death publicly.