Amnesty International said in a statement that the authorities must immediately quash the death sentences of three young protesters who were subjected to gruesome torture including floggings, electric shocks, being hung upside down and death threats at gunpoint, Amnesty International said today.

Amnesty learned that Revolutionary Guards agents raped one of them and sexually tortured another by placing ice on his testicles for two days.

Arshia Takdastan, aged 18, Mehdi Mohammadifard, aged 19, and Javad Rouhi, aged 31, each received two death sentences in December 2022 for “enmity against God” (moharebeh) and “corruption on earth” (efsad-e fel arz). The court stated that the young men “incited…widespread” arson or vandalism by dancing, clapping, chanting or throwing headscarves into bonfires during protests in Noshahr, in northern Manzandaran province on 21 September 2022. Javad Rouhi received a third death sentence for “apostasy” based on his “confessions” under torture that he burned a copy of the Quran during protests. The men’s appeal is before the Supreme Court.

Javad Rouhi was arrested on 22 September 2022 and held for more than 40 days in solitary confinement at a Revolutionary Guards detention centre known as Shahid Kazemi, which is located within Tir Kola prison in Sari, the capital of Manzandaran province.

According to information obtained by Amnesty International, “during this period, he was subjected to severe beatings and floggings while being tied to a pole, including on the soles of his feet, shocked with stun guns, exposed to freezing temperatures, and sexually assaulted by having ice put on his testicles. Revolutionary Guards agents repeatedly pointed a gun at his head and threatened to shoot him if he did not “confess”. As a result of this torture, Javad Rouhi suffered shoulder and muscular injuries, urinary incontinence, digestive complications and mobility and speech impairment. He continues to experience severe pain in his back and hips and numbness in his right leg, which requires specialist medical care unavailable in prison.”

For Mehdi Mohammadifard, the prosecution similarly cited his “confessions” of setting fire to state buildings and a video clip purportedly showing him throwing Molotov cocktails into the same traffic police booth. His lawyer stated in court that the clip does not prove that he provoked or participated in widespread arson and that his “confessions” were obtained under coercion.