Families allege victims’ bodies withheld
Families of people killed during the protests in Iran say authorities are demanding large sums of money before returning victims’ bodies for burial.
Relatives report that bodies are being held in mortuaries and hospitals and that security forces refuse to release them unless payment is made.
At least 2,435 people have been killed during more than two weeks of protests across the country.
Large sums demanded from relatives
One family in the northern city of Rasht said security forces demanded 700 million tomans ($5,000; £3,700) to release the body of their loved one. The body was being held at the Poursina Hospital mortuary, along with at least 70 other victims of the protests in Iran.
In Tehran, the family of a Kurdish seasonal construction worker were told they would need to pay one billion tomans ($7,000; £5,200) to collect his body. Unable to afford the fee, the family left without their son’s remains. A construction worker in Iran typically earns less than $100 a month.
In some cases, hospital staff have contacted relatives in advance, urging them to collect bodies quickly before security forces arrive and demand payment.
Families take desperate measures
One woman, not identified for her safety, learned of her husband’s death only after receiving a call on his phone from hospital staff on 9 January. She was told to come immediately to collect his body before security forces arrived.
She travelled to the hospital with her two children, placed her husband’s body in the back of a pickup truck and drove for seven hours to their hometown in western Iran to bury him.
“I rode in the back of the pickup truck, crying over his body for seven hours while my children sat in the front seat,” she later told a relative.
Reports have also emerged that officials at Tehran’s Behesht-e Zahra mortuary told families that if they claimed their child was a member of the Basij and had been killed by protesters, the body would be released without charge. One family said they were asked to attend a pro-government rally and present the body as that of a martyr, which they refused.
In another case in Tehran, several families reportedly broke into a mortuary to retrieve bodies out of fear they would be taken away or buried without their knowledge. The families then guarded the bodies for hours in a hospital courtyard until private ambulances could be arranged.
Protests and crackdown
An internet and communications blackout has made it difficult to obtain a full picture of events on the ground. International human rights organisations have no direct access to the country, and foreign media are barred from reporting inside Iran.
Demonstrations began in Tehran on 29 December following a sharp fall in the value of the Iranian currency. As protests spread to dozens of towns and cities, they turned against the country’s clerical rulers and were met with a violent crackdown.
The protests escalated significantly last Thursday and were met with deadly force by authorities.
According to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, at least 2,435 protesters have been killed since the unrest began, along with 13 children and 153 people affiliated with security forces or the government. A further 18,470 protesters have reportedly been arrested.
Arrests have continued nationwide, with security forces and Revolutionary Guard intelligence units detaining activists, lawyers and ordinary citizens.
Source: BBC
Also read: Trump warns of using Insurrection Act in Minnesota protests
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