Fact Finding Report’s Shortcoming: What about the Kahrizak Physician and the Mass Graves?

Many believe the report from the Iranian Parliament’s fact finding commission about Kahrizak Detention Center, in which three young detainees died, is a step forward. However, the Iranian Parliament’s minority faction believes that certain important components, such as the suspicious death of Kahrizak’s young physician, and reports about mass graves have not been addressed at all.

Dariush Ghanbari has told Parleman News: “Suspicious elements of this case, such as mass graves and the death of the attending physician of Kahrizak Center as well as the roles certain individuals, authorities, and police officers played in the events have not been mentioned in the report. Commander Radan’s role must be clarified. Those who ordered actions which led to the murders, those who beat people, and those who carried out illegal orders must be introduced and appropriate action must be taken to punish those people.”

He emphasized that punishment of those who ordered and carried out the actions must be on the agenda. This case has had evidence, and to a large degree it is clear who was at fault and who was negligent. The Kahrizak physician died under never suspicious circumstances just a few days before attending a Parliament session to provide testimony about what happened at the Kahrizak Detention Center during handling of post-election protesters there.

Some Iranian authorities have spoken of his suicide, while his family has refuted that possibility. In the Parliamentary fact finding report which took seven months to prepare and publish, there is no reference to the role of Police Commander Radan, contumacious and plain clothes forces, and the subject of sexual abuse in illegal prisons and detention centers has been completely denied. Over the past 48 hours, the Iranian state TV and certain pro-government media have censored certain parts of the report in which former Prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi’s direct role in the case has been mentioned, pointing to him as a major culprit in the case..