Iranian authorities have detained over 50,000 people in a nationwide crackdown on protests, with rights groups warning of torture and forced confessions.
PARIS: Iranian authorities have arrested over 50,000 people as part of a sweeping crackdown on protests, a rights group said.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said it had counted at least 50,235 arrests linked to the unrest.
Arrests have targeted “a wide range of citizens, including students, writers and teachers”, it said.
“In some cases, arrests were accompanied by home searches and the confiscation of personal belongings.”
HRANA added that fresh detentions were ongoing nationwide.
The group said it had counted over 300 forced confessions linked to the protests.
It stated that suspects made televised statements after being subjected to physical or psychological torture.
Amnesty International warned last week that thousands of those arrested were at “grave risk of enforced disappearance, torture and other ill-treatment, deaths in custody and prolonged imprisonment and arbitrary executions following grossly unfair trials”.
Iran’s judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei has vowed “no leniency” against offenders.
The judiciary has indicated that some could be charged with crimes that carry the death penalty.
Among recent detainees were screenwriter Mehdi Mahmoudian, co-writer on an Oscar-nominated film.
Abdollah Momeni and women’s rights activist Vida Rabbani were also detained in the same case.
They had signed a joint statement with over a dozen other activists condemning an “organised state crime against humanity” in the crackdown, according to the foundation of detained Nobel Laureate Narges Mohammadi.
Mohammadi, the 2023 Nobel peace prize laureate, was arrested at a demonstration in December.
She has only been allowed a single phone call with her family since her detention.
Her foundation said prosecutors will only allow her a new phone call if she adheres to rules over what she says, terms she has refused.
Rights groups have accused Iran’s security forces of killing thousands of people during the protests.
The unrest peaked on January 8 and 9 and has since subsided.
Iran’s leaders have blamed “rioters” supported from abroad for the widespread demonstrations.
