Green Movement Activist Tortured to Death

Translation by Siavosh Jalili, Persian2English – The body of Keramatollah “Keramat” Zareian, 27, was found in the bathtub of an apartment in Tehran, reported the Kurdpa News Agency. Zareian had been reportedly arrested by the city of Jahrom’s Intelligence bureau.

After Kurdpa News Agency received word of the incident, [its reporters] contacted Kermatollah Zareian’s sister by phone and asked about the details of her brother’s murder.

Hakimeh Zareian told Kurdpa: “Following the 2009 protests against the contested Presidential election, my brother was arrested in August 2009 by [IRI] security forces and then released after some time.

Due to pressure from security agents, he was forced to continue his studies in Singapore. He was later summoned by the IRI (Islamic Republic of Iran) to explain some issues. He was arrested upon his arrival at the Imam Khomeini airport. He was eventually released in the city of Jahrom (in the province of Fars in southern Iran) in February 2010. His family was contacted by phone to be informed of his release.

Keramatollah Zareian has lost two of his brothers in the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988). He left his native city of Jahrom to go to Tehran and study in the University of Tehran’s faculty of the performing arts. He was once again summoned by the Ministry of Intelligence in August 2012 where he was interrogated and asked to leave Iran.

Hakimeh Zareian alleges that her brother was tortured in prison, and security agents attempted to extract forced confessions from him.

Finally, in a phone contact on November 16, 2012, agents informed his family that their son had an “accident” which had resulted in his death. Four days prior to this incident (November 12th), Keramatollah had called home.

Hakimeh explained to Kurdpa Agency that his brother suffered from severe spinal cord injury as a result of torture he suffered at the hands of IRI security agents. After killing Keramatollah, his body was left in a bathtub with the hot water running. As a result of the heat and humidity, the body was completely decomposed and was nearly unidentifiable.

Hakimeh added that the police has not allowed the family to follow up and investigate the case, and even offered them 200 million toman (Approximately $ 65,000 USD) to not file any complaints or press any charges. The Zareian family is under tight surveillance by the IRI security forces and has been warned against any contact with the media.

Keramatollah Zareian was born in 1985, and was a supporter of the Green Movement. His name appeared in the list of people arrested during the post-election protests.