IRAN ASYLUM SEEKER ALLEGES TORTURE AND SIGNS OF

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 001520

SIPDIS
NOFORN

P FOR WALLER AND NEA/IR FOR SCHWARTZ AND DEJUANA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/20/2019
TAGS: CVIS IR PGOV PHUM PINS PREL SCUL SOCI TU
SUBJECT: IRAN ASYLUM SEEKER ALLEGES TORTURE AND SIGNS OF
ROBERT LEVINSON

REF: REFTEL ANKARA 1370

Classified By: Classified By: Consul Karen Ogle for reasons 1.4(b,d)


1. (S/NF) SUMMARY: On Monday October 19th, CONOFF and
LEGATT interviewed Ebrahim Ali MEHTARI (strictly protect),an
Iranian asylum seeker in Ankara, regarding MEHTARI's claims
that he saw writing by Robert LEVINSON at an Iranian
Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) detention center during
MEHTARI's professed confinement and torture. MEHTARI claimed
he saw three lines written in English on the frame of his
cell door and the name "B. LEVINSON" written underneath.
MEHTARI was not able to provide more detail concerning the
three lines other than he suspects they were a plea for help.
MEHTARI also detailed his abduction, captivity and torture.
END SUMMARY.


2. (S/NF) MEHTARI told us that on August 19th he was
abducted outside his workplace, while walking out to purchase
cigarettes a few blocks from Tehran University. He described
how men in masks got out of one car and forced him into
another nearby car in which they bound and blindfolded him,
and forced his head to the floor of the car. He believes
that based on the location where he was abducted and the
turns made, that the car turned onto Enghelab Street and
continued eastward for 45 minutes, stopping somewhere in East
Tehran. He believes they weaved in and out of a special road
used for military personnel buses which runs parallel to
Enghelab Street. The abductors parked inside what he
believes to be an Iran-Iraq era detention center and based on
what he could hear, led him through a busy office and then
downstairs to an isolated area. Upon entering, MEHTARI said
he threw-up due to the strong smell of blood. He was then
quickly taken to an area where his head was shaved.


3. (S/NF) While in confinement MEHTARI said he was
blindfolded constantly with the exception of when he was in
his cell. He drew a picture of the cell which indicated that
he had to sleep diagonally across the room to be able to
fully lie down. He said he heard other prisoners but had no
idea how many there were but everyone appeared to have their
own cell. He indicated he did not hear any foreign languages
spoken by the other detainees except for Kurdish. He claimed
that in the middle of the left side of his cell door frame
there were three lines written in English with the name "B.
LEVINSON" written underneath. He said that at the time he
did not know who LEVINSON was and only after his release did
he use the search engine google to find that LEVINSON was a
missing American citizen. At that point MEHTARI made contact
with LEVINSON's family, via an FBI setup website, in order to
notify them about what he had seen.


4. (S/NF) MEHTARI alleges that he was beaten and tortured
while under constant questioning by various teams of guards.
He claimed they burned his head and back with cigarettes and
that they had restrained him to a bed and beat his feet. He
showed CONOFF the scars he had on his wrists from the
bindings. MEHTARI noted that at one point the beatings
became worse when Iranian newspapers incorrectly published
articles claiming he was a member of the Mujahedin Enghelab
reformist party. MEHTARI denied claims that he was ever a
member of this group but admitted to CONOFF that he was
associated with reformist groups. He then explained he
believes he was abducted due to photos which he had posted on
Facebook of himself with Mohammad KHATAMI and former Italian
Prime Minister Romano PRODI during their October 2008 trip to
Yazd. Due to his blindfold, he could not offer much
information to describe the guards. At one point he heard
them use the names, "Karimi", "Sayyed", and "Doctor".


5. (S/NF) During MEHTARI's interrogation the guards
constantly asked him about his photos with KHATAMI and
MEHTARI's reformist activities. MEHTARI also claims that the
interrogators used a "good guy bad guy" technique and at one
point the "good guy" offered him juice to drink. After
drinking the juice he claims he felt a warm sensation, then
heaviness, and for days after could not sleep. Towards the
end of his detainment MEHTARI said that he was taken by a few
of the guards and sodomized with a stick-like instrument. He
noted that the bleeding was so bad that a doctor had to come
to examine him but gave no treatment. He was then beaten
some more and he believes that they decided to release him as
they thought he would die from a head wound he received
during one of the final beatings. He was then dumped on the
street after four days of captivity, around August 23, 2009.


6. (S/NF) MEHTARI was reasonably certain that the detention
center was an IRGC facility. He said that the abductors wore
plainclothes and were not organized, which indicates that

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they were not regular army or police officers. He also said
that when his parents were looking for him, the police,
Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Intelligence denied
any knowledge of his whereabouts. He alleges that he later
saw a piece paper about his detention which had a quote from
the Quran which he said was associated with the IRGC. It was
unclear to CONOFF where he saw the piece of paper. MEHTARI
also noted that the area of East Tehran in which he believes
he was held is known for military and IRGC installations. He
also believes the detention center was rectangular in shape
with offices on the top floor and the detention center in the
basement.


7. (S/NF) MEHTARI is the second Iranian citizen that Embassy
Ankara has interviewed regarding alleged torture and sodomy
by IRGC authorities after post election unrest (reftel).
MEHTARI's story of abduction and abuse closely mirrors that
of the previous allegations made to us by Ebrahim SHARIFI
(strictly protect)(reftel). The same day Post had brief
phone contact with Maryam SABRI(strictly protect),another
alleged torture and rape victim currently in Ankara, who
previously had printed pro-MOUSAVI posters. We advised all
of the alleged victims to contact and register with the
United Nations High Commission for Refugees office in Ankara
in order to seek status as legally protected refugees in
Turkey and to be eligible for onward resettlement. All have
said they have done so.


8. (S/NF) COMMENT: Although there appears to be
consistency among the various reports of rape and torture by
the claimants, post is unable to confirm the veracity of
their allegations. MEHTARI asked us for no favors, so we
cannot speculate on why he informed us about LEVINSON. END
COMMENT.


JEFFREY

"Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.intelink.s
gov.gov/wiki/Portal:Turkey"