Shooting and Detention Camps in the East and West of Iran

IranPressNews.com

According to updated information from a human rights official in Iran, during the month of July 2009 dozens of people were massacred in the city of Kerman in east Iran, an area with a large Baluchi minority. This was the result of a demonstration that started out as a non-violent protest, where demonstrators shouted slogans against Khamanei and the Iranian regime.

A fierce response by IRGC forces in the area, which included shooting toward the residents to intimidate them, caused hundreds of people to riot and damage government buildings. The authorities, in turn, started shooting at the demonstrators with the aim of wounding them. The media was of course prohibited from entering the city. According to the information, there are currently orders from top regime echelons to deal harshly with the minorities, including firing at them, out of fear that if the regime loses control in these areas it will be unable to control efficiently the minority districts in general.

IRGC officials who took part in the indiscriminate shooting at the protesters said they were ordered to do so by IRGC commanders in the area, and said that this oppression was a preventive measure as part of the steps Iran is taking to contend with a possible escalation of the situation, particularly in the minority districts. The regime also started detaining several thousands of people in detention camps built in recent years in Iran. These camps were built in districts populated by a large percentage of minority groups or close to these districts and where there is fear of unrest.

There are indications that demonstrators were brought from Tehran and Esfahan, to a large detention camp in the Kermanshah district in West Iran where there is a large Kurd presence. They were accused of violent disturbances, from burning government buildings, shattering windows of government facilities to looting and shouting slogans from rooftops in the city centers, against the ayatollah regime, the president elect and the conservative camp.

As soon as the riots broke out, a hard core of people was detained and sent to the detention camp. This core included people accused of spreading rumors in Iran of election rigging, women who mingled with men during the demonstrations and demonstration leaders. There are reports of serious human rights violations against this group within the camp. The camps were built as part of the regime's early preparations to deal with minority rebellion, especially in case of a military surprise attack on Iran, and they have a capacity to hold tens of thousands of minorities. The detainees were held as a deterrent measure, for investigation and in certain cases for possible expulsion, if the Iranian regime felt threatened.

In addition, there were preparations for populating three additional detention camps which were built for this purpose. Two are in the Kerman district (south east Iran, on the border of Sistan-Baluchistan). This area is known to be particularly problematic and is populated mainly by minorities, including Baluchis, Arabs and Sunni Iranians. A third detention camp is located in the Azerbaijan district (north-west Iran) populated by the Azeri minority. These camps are designed to detain hundreds of thousands of detainees if necessary.