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Bloggers tortured in Iran, says ex-VP

32 comments on Bloggers tortured in Iran, says ex-VP

Bloggers tortured in Iran, says ex-VP

: Iranian blogger Parthisan left a comment below urging us to read his translation of a post by Mohammed Ali Abtahi, the former VP of Iran — renowned for blogging himself — reporting on the imprisonment and torture of bloggers in Iran. It is his report on a committee meeting with imprisoned bloggers, called for by the president of Iran. An excerpt:

1- Physical torture, punches and kicks: “he banged my head to the bench that made my recently-operated nose bleed, and later I found out that they broke my nose”; “they punched us”; “we were alone in single cells for months”; and things of this kind…

2- The classical questions about sexual relationships [to create moral scandals]: “Write down the names of your boy/girl friends”; “tell us about your illegal [= out of marriage] sexual relationships”; “what kind of relationship have that girl/guy had with you?”; “how many times have you been raped, or have you raped?”; and worst of all, they gave the names of 6 reformist activist to one of the girls asking her to confess in writing that she had had illegal sexual relationship with them. And when the girl refused, they brought in a former prisoner (who had turned to their side under torture) who told the girl face to face that he had had sexual relationship with her!

3- The interrogations were managed by a formerly arrested blogger. A few other bloggers who had [given up and] repented before were under less pressure, and were in a way helping the interrogators who had lack of technical knowledge on the subject [of internet and blogs]. This proves that weak people cannot be trusted in politics. However, we understand the situation they’re in and can’t really blame them for what they’ve done.

And more….

I first discovered the amazing Iranian blogosphere when the government arrested fellow blogger Sina Motallebi. I blogged that. Others blogged that. Major media picked up the story. Motallebi got out of jail and then out of Iran and he has credited the attention his plight got from bloggers.

If what we read here is true, then it is incumbent of us to bring attention to this abuse who are doing nothing more than we are doing: excercising our right to free speech. This is citizens’ media and these are our fellow citizens.

Spread the word.

32 responses to “Bloggers tortured in Iran, says ex-VP”

  1. rick Avatar
    rick

    i think something needs to be done. i wonder if Iran is the next stop for the war on terror???

  2. Brian H Avatar
    Brian H

    The minds and methods of tyrants are universal. All this would be instantly familiar to George Orwell.

  3. Thomas Nephew Avatar
    Thomas Nephew

    What about the torturing we’re doing? Or its outsourcing?
    It doesn’t excuse what’s happening in Iran, but let’s get the beam out of our own eye before going after the mote (or the beam) in someone else’s. (Matthew 7:3)

  4. Faramin Avatar
    Faramin

    Your talks against Iran will only be valuable when you acknowledge that your own leaders have done and are doing human rights abuses too.
    What is happening in Iran and by the Iranian regime is barbaric and must be exposed, but so is what the US is doing in Iraq.
    Torture in Iraq has been happening by your forces and under the order of your leaders. You can close your eyes to this FACT, but even then, it will remain as a FACT.
    BTW, do you guys know that the US is the biggest exporter of the torturing devices to the world?
    Stop the rediculus double standard. Have the guts to speak out against and expose your own leaders and then your voice will be more effective against other tyrants of the world, and of course, the regime of Iran.

  5. afshin Avatar
    afshin

    Faramin,
    Drop dead you filthy piece of garbage.
    Afshin

  6. freddie Avatar
    freddie

    I don’t propose to take a for or against position on the American invasion of Iran but I do wish to note that if the U.S. admittedly has not sufficient troops for Afghanistan and Iraq, there is not much they are going to do about Iran–let alone Syria, N. Korea and China.

  7. DensityDuck Avatar
    DensityDuck

    >What about the torturing we’re doing? Or its
    >outsourcing?
    I thought that we weren’t allowed to moral-equivalence like that. If we are, then the invasion of Iraq is instantly justified.
    PS given that torture of Iranian bloggers cannot possibly be Bush’s fault, I move that we now blame anything bad involving blogs on Charles Johnson.

  8. Jeff Jarvis Avatar
    Jeff Jarvis

    Faramin: Your talks are never valuable — particularly because you do not have the balls to say who you are.

  9. Jeff Jarvis Avatar
    Jeff Jarvis

    Oh, come now, Thomas: I cannot stand up and warn about torture of fellow citizens because you say I’m not holy enough… because I am American?…. Well, then, certainly our friends in Germany should not be criticizing us or anyone, should they? And the French and their colonialism and stingy contributions to work aid make them unqualified. And…. Don’t be ridculous! What an inane equivalency to make! People are being tortured and you turn it into your own spin! For shame, sir. I will stand up for my Iranian brothers and sisters no matter whether you think I should or not.

  10. Hubris Avatar
    Hubris

    What’s that logical fallacy called again?
    Ah, yes: tu quoque.

  11. RealTM Avatar
    RealTM

    Jeff, I know you are a blogger’s blogger so how about some of the outrage you poured out against Prof. Pondscum on this new issue of bloggers such as Roger Simon suggesting AP photographers are to blame for recent executions in Iraq?
    I think you need to address this “media’s fault” meme that is haunting the blogosphere.

  12. Chap Avatar
    Chap

    Jeff,
    Chap here. I am ready to act where I can but need a direction. I would love some information on who, what, where. If you can’t lead due to whatever, there are others out here who can.
    If you’re someone reading these comments after the Instalanche, let’s act.
    Natan Sharansky is right on this–the dissidents need to be recognized and publicly supported out here in the free society. Due to moral equivalence, groups that might help like Amnesty may well fail us–you see some of that lack of moral clarity in the comments previous. It’s not just in Iran that dissidents get captured and tortured and show trialled, but perhaps there is public pressure available to cause internal change.

  13. Jeff Jarvis Avatar
    Jeff Jarvis

    Well, first, let’s get this before the attention of reporters from mainstream media, who can report the story and get attention. If this, indeed, comes from a former vice president of Iran, that matters.
    Second, Iranian bloggers started a petition when Sina was arrested. Petitions themselves don’t necessarily do much but they do focus the voice and that’s good.
    Third, draw attention to the issue in blogs.
    That’s a start.

  14. mamapajamas Avatar
    mamapajamas

    Real TM: “how about some of the outrage you poured out against Prof. Pondscum on this new issue of bloggers such as Roger Simon suggesting AP photographers are to blame for recent executions in Iraq?”
    The photographer probably IS to blame for the recent executions. He was, according to AP sources, tipped off that there would be a “demonstration” on Haifa Street. How on earth can anyone from any responsible news agency even begin to believe that a demonstration anywhere in the ME is “news”????? The photographer should have told them that demonstrations aren’t news, and hung up.
    The very presence of the photographer set the events into motion. Had there been no coverage the terrorists probably would have saved it for another day.

  15. J. Peden Avatar
    J. Peden

    RealTM: yet another example of thought chaos. Pondscum was making [false] assertions which could endanger people, the Iraqi bloggers. Simon is talking about newsmedia possibly engendering the executions of others. Do you see the parallel?

  16. Hidden Nook Avatar
    Hidden Nook

    My heart goes out to the Iranians…and to their families. I hope President Bush kicks some (future?) tail in Iran…these leaders need to be offered the same treatment that they give out.

  17. Thomas Nephew Avatar
    Thomas Nephew

    Jeff,
    I’m not saying you can’t speak out about Iranian torture because you’re American, not at all. I’m saying it would behoove you and us to look at our own misdeeds as well — it makes our protests about misdeeds by others more effective and less hypocritical.
    Maybe I used the wrong words to express that — but I honestly don’t see anywhere near the same kind of outrage in your writings about American torture that I do about torture by others. Yet American torture is something we as Americans can do something about far sooner than we can do anything about Iranian torture, and with far greater authority. That isn’t “my own spin,” that’s the simple truth. We are *responsible* for one, we are not for the other. Which ought to come first? How do we have standing to criticize in others what we do ourselves?
    I said “it doesn’t excuse what’s happening in Iran”. I’m willing to sign petitions, write e-mails, etc. about Iranian torture victims. But it’s with a hollow feeling, given the ongoing stream of revelations about our own misdeeds in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo.
    Equivalency? Well, yes, I guess torture by us is pretty much equivalent to torture by them. Lets stand up for our detained and tormented Iraqi, Afghan, and Arab brothers and sisters too, while we’re at it: 1) they may well be mostly innocent of terrorism, and 2) even if some of them aren’t, no one deserves to be tortured.
    I’m frankly surprised and disappointed you consider any of this “inane,” and that you employ “for shame” against someone who doesn’t.

  18. Jeff Jarvis Avatar
    Jeff Jarvis

    Thomas: You created the equivalency by bringing it up in this context.
    You can’t find me being outraged enough — by your standards — about torture of Iraqi prisoners in U.S. custody (sorry, but I figured there was plenty of outrage already and I didn’t see that I added much to the discussion; like any blogger, I don’t cover all issues with the same attention because I’m an individual, not a news organizatin and, to quote Jon Stewart, I’m not your monkey). By making that comparison, you are trying to diminish what I am saying about the torture of bloggers. Well, by that standard, have you been outraged enough about the torture of victims in Saddam’s custody? What does that say about your outrage vs. my outrage? I’d call that inane. It’s a rhetorical non sequitor. As Hubris says, above, it’s tu quoque. It’s also slightly exploitive: dangling one class of victims to try to win points against someone advocating for another class of victims. One has no impact on the other — other than an attempt at distraction.
    The point of this post is very simple: I am trying to draw attention to what appears to be new disclosures of torture of our fellow bloggers. As far as I can tell, this is news. Pay attention or don’t — your choice. But don’t diminish what is being said about these people just to make your rhetorical point.

  19. corrie Avatar
    corrie

    Doin’ my tiny bit as part of the Instalanche, Jeff. Is Amnesty International on the case yet?

  20. Faramin Avatar
    Faramin

    Jeff,
    I really don’t care if you consider my comments valuable or not. They are true neverthless. As I said before, unless you develope the courage (well, you like the term “balls” since you use it a lot) to mention the human rights abuses of your own leaders, you have no moral qualification to criticize others, no matter how much what you say is true. Like the case with the criminal regime of Tehran. Tehran regime is absolutely criminal, but so is Washington regime. True caring people would condemn them both but you are not one of those people, no matter how much you scream you are.

  21. Taji Avatar
    Taji

    Well said Jeff, particularly in dealing with the disgusting terror apologist and absolute moron, Faramin. But don’t worry, he only crawls out of Rubert McNobrain’s butthole to post on other sites when the moon is full.

  22. J. Peden Avatar
    J. Peden

    Iran torturing bloggers for blogging is a statement and act of sadism against freedom itself – free thought and speech. The torture is issued from the highest command.
    We can do something directly about the torture of free-speakers in Iran by speaking freely about the fact of torture and what it means about the Mullahs’ view of humanity, since free speech is the antithesis of the Iranian government’s intrinsic view of how things should be.
    What is the noble Faramin doing about anything? How does he escape the torture?

  23. Faramin Avatar
    Faramin

    J. Peden,
    Faramin has already felt the torture of that regime with his bons and skin but he doesn’t now live in Iran. and unlike what “briliant” Taji says, Faramin is no apologist to any kind of terror, from Iranian regime style terror to American type of terror.

  24. Kat Avatar
    Kat

    Faramin preferred Saddam’s kind of torture. He’d be as happy as a pig in shit if Saddam was still killing–and pleasing allah.
    Here’s a quote from Safia Al Souhail, an Iraqi citizen, and advocacy director of the International Alliance for Justice:
    “Iraq under Saddam’s regime has become a land of hopelessness, sadness and fear. A country where people are ethnically cleansed; prisoners are tortured in more than 300 prisons in Iraq. Rape is systematic … congenital malformation, birth defects, infertility, cancer and various disorders are the results of Saddam’s gassing of his own people … the killing and torturing of husbands in front of their wives and children … Iraq under Saddam has become a hell and a museum of crimes.”
    The official State Department report continues: “Under Saddam Hussein’s orders, the security apparatus in Iraq routinely and systematically tortures its citizens. Beatings, rape, breaking of limbs and denial of food and water are commonplace in Iraqi detention centers. Saddam Hussein’s regime has also invented unique and horrific methods of torture including electric shocks to a male’s genitals, pulling out fingernails, suspending individuals from rotating ceiling fans, dripping acid on a victim’s skin, gouging out eyes, and burning victims with a hot iron or blowtorch.”
    Why don’t more Iraqis complain? Because of Saddam’s decree in 2000 authorizing the government to amputate the tongues of citizens who criticize him or his government.
    The following were routine under Saddam:
    * Medical experimentation
    * Beatings
    * Crucifixion
    * Hammering nails into the fingers and hands
    * Amputating sex organs or breasts with an electric carving knife
    * Spraying insecticides into a victim’s eyes
    * Branding with a hot iron
    * Committing rape while the victim’s spouse is forced to watch
    * Pouring boiling water into the victim’s rectum
    * Nailing the tongue to a wooden board
    * Extracting teeth with pliers
    * Using bees and scorpions to sting naked children in front of their parents
    But this is the Iraq little Faramin yearns for–a little terrorist creep hiding out in North America, biting the hand that feeds him. Likely building little bombs in a mosque basement somewhere, and learning hatred in a madrasa. Sad little man.

  25. Faramin Avatar
    Faramin

    Kat,
    You have proven numerous times that you suffer from low density brain desease otherwise you wouldn’t repeat your crap about how I feel about Saddam and how I feel about religion as I’ve made my opinion clear about it tens of times.
    But looks like you live and are addicted to making bullshit comments.

  26. RealTM Avatar
    RealTM

    mamapajamas: “The photographer probably IS to blame for the recent executions. He was, according to AP sources, tipped off that there would be a “demonstration” on Haifa Street. How on earth can anyone from any responsible news agency even begin to believe that a demonstration anywhere in the ME is “news”????? The photographer should have told them that demonstrations aren’t news, and hung up.
    The very presence of the photographer set the events into motion. Had there been no coverage the terrorists probably would have saved it for another day.”
    That’s ridiculous. Before I respond to you, I’d like to remind Jeff that although my statement was rhetorical, I was expecting atleast a response. Something along the lines of “You don’t have balls, RealTM”.
    Now back to you. By your logic, photographers and journalists are to blame for the horrific images they capture. Crime can be prevented by not paying any attention to it. All I have to say to that is WOW. I cannot believe that type of thinking still exists. I’ll let you redeem yourself before I make any judgements. I’ll still take you seriously, with caution.
    Secondly, why isn’t a protest, or a demonstration in the ME news? I remember seeing many demonstrations on TV from Iraq. I don’t know who gassed you into thinking you can decide for the AP and other news agencies what “news” is.
    Martini Republic: “A similar occurrence happened in Saigon over 40 years ago, when a Buddhist Monk dowsed himself with gasoline and lit himself on fire; members of the press had received tips about a “protest” but none expected the horrific event which then occurred.”
    I guess the press were to blame for that too. It’s getting harder and harder to take you seriously. You too Jeff.

  27. RealTM Avatar
    RealTM

    J Peden: “yet another example of thought chaos. Pondscum was making [false] assertions which could endanger people, the Iraqi bloggers. Simon is talking about newsmedia possibly engendering the executions of others. Do you see the parallel?”
    Not at all. Unless you mean to tell me that Simon is not making false assertions.

  28. Needle Avatar
    Needle

    I think this article would have been a lot more effective if the author hadn’t made it look like the usual self-important public masturbation that makes up nearly all weblogs, through the use of the stupid term “blogosphere.”
    OK, brief rant over. Continue changing the world by bravely pointing and clicking, folks.

  29. DensityDuck Avatar
    DensityDuck

    >Continue changing the world by bravely pointing
    >and clicking, folks.
    Ooo, you got ’em good there, mister anonymous comment-poster person!

  30. Shaaheen Avatar
    Shaaheen

    I honestly think the Iranian government has mastered the technique of bluffing based on some imaginary nuclear weapon rumour. While every measure must be taken to assure people of Iran and the world that oil money is not being spent on development of nuclear WMD, the world must also notice that the Iranian gov could be exaggerating by deliberately giving away false information. In this way they will keep the mind of the world busy on the nuclear threat, and this gives them a lot of free time to do whatever they want, oppress intellectual movements, shut down all reformist movements, jail every journalist and recently bloggers. And because everyone is just worried about nukes, the main thing which is ‘reform’ and consequently ‘freedom’ will be lost.
    If western democracies are serious about helping Iranians, which I think they are, they should give “human rights record” and “nuclear deals” the same weight in the negotiations.
    A persian provern says “they offered death so you would be happy with a fever”. Our problem is the fever now, we need remedies i.e. international pressure for changes.

  31. JameWY Avatar
    JameWY

    the situation is quite the same in China. Reading the post from Taiwan, I get the sense to know why most Chinese bloggers hesitate to touch politics. It’s killing. However, China is still the only country in the world most successfully controlled Internet. Freedom of speech is still the only way to liberate people’s brain in authoritarian countries.

  32. juice Avatar
    juice

    fuck u and fuck all the muslim/arabs from indonesia, and malaysia, there all dead cocksuckers and deserved to die. you pricks will only use the money to take more heads off and blow up cafes. go eat shit you camel fucking cocksuckers