TEHRAN -- A parliamentary report released on Sunday has criticized former Tehran prosecutor general Saeed Mortazavi for sending 147 inmates to the Kahrizak detention center last summer.

According to the report of the parliamentary investigation into the Kahrizak incidents, despite the fact that officials of Evin prison had announced that the facility had space for the detainees, Mortazavi insisted on sending the 147 detainees to Kahrizak, which is located south of Tehran.
The 147 people were detained on July 9.
The 147 inmates were held for four days in a 70-square-meter room without proper ventilation in the company of 30 hooligans, the parliamentary fact-finding committee said.
The detention center came into the spotlight after it was revealed that three inmates were beaten to death there. Mohsen Rouholamini, Mohammad Kamrani, and Amir Javadifar were the three men who died at Kahrizak.
The fact-finding committee said the transfer of the detainees to Kahrizak on the orders of the then Tehran prosecutor was “unjustified”.
The officials responsible for the Kahrizak detention center initially refused to accept the detainees, but eventually they were forced to incarcerate the prisoners in a 70-square-meter room on the orders of Mortazavi, the report added.
According to the parliamentary investigation, the then Tehran prosecutor attended a meeting of the special parliamentary committee investigating the case on July 28 and claimed that the three inmates had died of meningitis.
In the meeting with the parliamentary committee members, the former prosecutor also claimed that the inmates were sent to Kahrizak because Evin prison did not have enough space for them, according to the report.
Mortazavi had claimed that Kahrizak had appropriate and standard conditions for incarcerating the detainees.
The report also dismissed the claims that some inmates had been sexually abused.
Excerpts of the report
The committee made a comprehensive inquiry into the issue of sexual abuse and even held a long meeting with former presidential candidate Mahdi Karroubi, who had made the issue public. But Karroubi did not present any convincing evidence or reliable documentation. So this claim was not proven to the committee.
Harsh corporal punishment, humiliating and insulting techniques, ill-treatment, packed confinement in small rooms, and deprivation of adequate food were utilized against the detainees.
The Kahrizak center was designed only for rapists, dangerous criminals, hooligans, and major drug dealers. Other offenders, including post-election detainees, should not have been sent to this center. All Judiciary officials have been informed about the function of this detention center, so they are more accountable than others in the occurrence of this bitter event. This center was an official detention center registered as Center No. 201, so the judicial officials involved cannot shun responsibility and the Judiciary should be held accountable. It is essential to deal firmly with the elements involved in the incident.
Earlier in the current (Iranian calendar) year (March 2009-March 2010), police officials had warned against orders issued by courts to send detainees charged with minor offenses to this detention center. Even if Evin prison had been full, it was not justified to send other offenders to this special site.
In this event, two groups were wronged. First, the people detained on July 9, whose rights were violated. The government should mollify them. Second, the more important issue is the right of the establishment. The damage to the image of the establishment should be repaired by taking firm action against any judicial or police official involved in the incident and informing the public about the proceedings.
The deaths of some detainees were a result of beatings and neglect of the physical condition of the injured by the detention center’s officials.