IRAN: SUSPICIOUS DEATH OF DETAINEE ABUSE WITNESS REIGNITES

C O N F I D E N T I A L RPO DUBAI 000502

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/19/2019
TAGS: PGOV PHUM IR
SUBJECT: IRAN: SUSPICIOUS DEATH OF DETAINEE ABUSE WITNESS REIGNITES
CRITCISM

CLASSIFIED BY: Alan Eyre, Director, Iran Regional Presence
Office, DOS.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)

1. (C) SUMMARY: The suspicious death of a 26-year old doctor
assigned to a notorious detention facility during the aftermath
of the government's crackdown on election protest has refocused
attention on detainee abuse and the lengths to which the regime
will go to suppress criticism of its behavior. After initially
hypothesizing the twenty-six year old doctor had died of a heart
attack while sleeping in government barracks, criticism prompted
judicial officials to declare Ramin Pourandarjani's death was
under investigation. A November 18 statement by the head of
Iran's Law Enforcement Forces attributing the death to suicide
due to depression has unleashed a new storm of criticism among
oppositionists. END SUMMARY.




2. (C) Oppositionist websites, led by a site associated with
Mehdi Karrubi, first brought attention to the death of Ramin
Pourandarjani, a twenty-six year old doctor stationed at
Kahrizak Detention Facility over the summer. Kahrizak was
closed in late July by direct order of Supreme Leader Khamenei
after becoming a lighting rod for public criticism of the
mistreatment of demonstrators arrested in the post-election
unrest. Several detainees, including Mohsen Ruholamini - the
son of a prominent conservative whose death at Kahrizak sparked
an outcry among regime insiders - are thought to have died at
Kahrizak as a result of wounds sustained at the facility.




3. (C) Many of the facts surrounding Pourandarjani's death
remain unclear and contradictory facts have been reported in
both the Iranian and international press. There appears to be
consensus that Pourandarjani was found dead by his roommates on
November 10 in his dormitory at the medical department of the
Tehran Police. According to statements by Law Enforcement
Officials, Pourandarjani, a medical doctor, was working at
Kahrizak one or two days per week fulfilling his mandatory
military service; this posting coincided with the influx of
post-election detainees to Kahrizak and reports on opposition
websites maintain Pourandarjani told them he witnessed
mistreatment of detainees at the hands of guards. Some reports
also indicate that he testified about what he witnessed before a
special Majlis commission investigating prisoner abuse, while
other reports said he unsuccessfully attempted to meet with
committee members.




4. (C) Initial IRIG statements attributed Pourandarjani's death
to a heart attack, an assertion met with immediate skepticism
due to the doctor's young age, good health, and knowledge of
medical issues. On November 16 the Tehran Public and
Revolutionary Prosecutor's office announced that it would
investigate Pourandarjani's death, after a preliminary coroner's
report indicated he had not been poisoned. Yet on November 18
the head of Iran's Law Enforcement Forces (LEF) told reporters
that the young doctor "likely committed suicide" because of
depression. According to General Ahmadi-Moghaddam,
Pourandarjani had been previously been summoned to court to
"explain" his actions at Kahrizak and was as a result depressed
and afraid of imprisonment. The LEF Commander said that the
rumors that Pourandarjani had been imprisoned for a week,
harshly interrogated, and threatened with five years in prison
if he persisted in talking about his experiences at Kahrizak as
"lies conceived by foreign agents." Fars News, closely
associated with the Revolutionary Guards, alleged November 19
that many of Pourandarjani's friends believed he committed
suicide out of remorse for his own actions at Kahrizak,
insinuating the young doctor has been complicit in the
mistreatment of detainees rather than trying to expose the
actions of others.




5. (C) COMMENT: The regime's clumsy attempt to explain away
Pourandarjani's death are reminiscent of past cases, including
that of Zahra Kazemi, the Canadian-Iranian photojournalist
beaten to death in custody in 2003. If, as all indications
suggest, the government killed Pourandarjani to either prevent
additional testimony about its brutality or punish him for his
temerity in speaking about the issue, it is yet another instance
of official intolerance for criticism and a brutal reminder for
would-be critics of the party line. END COMMENT.

EYRE