The Iranian government has arrested the chief of Kahrizak jail as news accounts have documented numerous cases of the torture and killing of protesters arrested in the recent post-presidential protests. These deaths include the alleged killing of seven lawyers.

Iran’s police chief admitted yesterday that protesters had been tortured while in custody. General Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddam referred directly to the Kahrizak detention center. Various groups have identified protesters who died under torture but Moghaddam denied that the abuses were responsible for any fatalities. He insisted that the deaths were due to an unspecified “viral illness.”

In the meantime, Qorbanali Dori-Najafabadi, Iran’s prosecutor-general, conceded that “mistakes” had led to “painful accidents which cannot be defended, and those who were involved should be punished”.

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Another news report says that a Tehran member of Parliament admitted that “a number of young people” died at the prison, and held Moghadam responsible. “[The] commander of the security forces is responsible in this matter and must be held answerable,” Hamidreza Katoozian said. “Saying he did not know is not acceptable because he received daily reports [regarding conditions in Kahrizak].”

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