Iran protests: Isolation, fear and beatings – Life inside the country’s notorious detention cells
Mina left solitary confinement a few days ago.
She has now been arrested twice by Iranian forces for taking part in the protests sweeping her country.
Speaking to Sky News through voice notes sent on an encrypted messaging app, she spoke about her experience and why she is prepared to risk her life to help secure change in Iran. We have changed her name and withheld some details to protect her identity.
“Our whole life has changed,” she says.
Mina, not her real name, spoke to Sky News shortly after leaving solitary confinement after being detained taking part in the protests
Before the death of Mahsa Amini in mid-September, Mina – an academic in her early 30s – was focused on her PhD studies in the Kurdish region of Iran.
Now, she says the daily lives of Iranian and Kurdish Iranians have been transformed by the constant protests triggered by the young woman’s death.
Usually, Mina would be studying in the library and hanging out with friends. Instead, a few days ago, she was detained and confined in a solitary cell by the regime’s intelligence office.
“This is a place where detainees are not transferred into the justice system. They undergo beatings and torture,” she explains.
The torture is sometimes physical, mental or a combination of the two. Mina is too afraid to describe what happened to her in her voice messages to us.
Two of her female friends were recently released from the juvenile detention centre in Sanandaj, the capital of the Kurdish region.
Mina describes their experiences: “When women’s rights activists are detained, they [the police] don’t attack you physically.
“Instead [the police] threaten, intimidate and try to frighten them. They insult people’s beliefs. It is an intense psychological violence.
“That woman’s future is then also targeted. They can make the woman lose her job and make her life difficult. This creates crippling fear.”
Mina has also been detained – she says illegally – during previous protests, facing interrogations and the seizure of her her laptop and mobile phone.
Now she has a lawyer who was able to help her escape detention this time and pay bail.
After being held in a cell, Mina was taken to a building she describes as a house. She was held there once again in solitary confinement before her recent release.
Mina believes the authorities have arrested so many people that they have run out of cells to hold them.
She knows of two other student protesters who were also not held in a traditional cell.
“They were held for a week in a huge basement full of protesters. They told me that they were beaten by cables and iron sticks.
“The jails are full of prisoners so now they use houses and basements to detain protesters.”
A man is kicked by Iranian plain clothes security forces, one of whom is holding a gun
The threat of loss of life is considerable. An estimated 244 protesters have died, including 32 children, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency in Iran.
“When we speak about fear for life, every person in this movement fears for their own lives and the lives of their fellow protesters,” she says, reflecting on the events of the current and past protests.
“We see guns firing in front of us.
“We have woken in the night shocked out of sleep at the sound of bullets, sirens and the smell of gunpowder and burning on the streets.
“We see how many people are being killed so the fear of losing one’s life still exists.”
Protesters who survive have other fears.
“Many of us are concerned about what is going to happen and about the heavy price we have paid inside the country because of the protests and strikes.
“We are also afraid of the hope we have pinned on change.
“Our fear and concern is that this hope will be lost or crushed.”
Much of the news coverage of the protests has focussed on Tehran, the capital of Iran.
But some of the biggest protests have happened in the Kurdish region of Iran, an area that both Mina and Amini call – or used to call – home.
Tensions have been particularly high there. A recent Sky News investigation tracked the intensifying crackdown being carried out by Iran’s security forces against the Iranian Kurds.
Verified videos online show police roving the streets on motorbikes and firing onto civilians. Plains clothes officers lurk among them in crowds. Tear gas canisters and bullet cases can be found on the floor, as seen in this video provides by human rights group Amnesty International.
One video, shakily filmed from a window in Sanandaj, shows security forces patrolling and firing on a residential street, with a fire burning behind them. Some of the men are heavily armed and nearly all have their faces obscured as they appear to shoot at local shops and people’s homes.
Mina fears that the brutal tactics of the police have ground down some protesters.
“I think these protests will continue but maybe not with the intensity of the first days and weeks, partly because the crackdown has intensified.
“But, I think some people will continue despite that.”
Iranian Kurds have been protesting since Amini’s death, with videos showing huge crowds at her funeral on 17 September.
Huge crowds gathered for Amini’s funeral in her hometown of Saqqez in the Kurdish region of Iran
Mina remembers the worry she and those around her felt for the 22-year-old, who was killed after being detained by officials who claimed she wore her hijab (head covering) “improperly”.
Throughout our interview Mina calls Amini by her true, Kurdish name: Jina. Under Iranian convention, many Kurdish names are not allowed and so instead Amini has become widely known by her Iranian name – Mahsa.
“Yes, the current protest started with the death of Jina but this is about institutional violence against all the people and all the individuals living in this society,” she explains.
She gives an example of how the regime’s restrictions on women have a direct impact on that person’s family.
In 2009, Mina was taken to the notorious Vozara Street, home to the morality police’s detention centre.
Mahsa Amini, pictured here in this portrait, was 22-years-old when she died
They said, as they would say 13 years later to Amini, that Mina’s hijab was unsuitable. They said Mina’s family and in particular her husband are also responsible for her covering. They said if Mina’s hijab was unsuitable again, Mina’s husband had failed in his duty.
She explains: “The families become involved because they are summoned too. They insult them, they call them without honour. They say these things to husband, to brother, mother and father.”
The protesters on the streets of Iran are also demanding action on a number of economic, social and environmental issues.
What does Mina hope will come from these protests, that previous demonstrations have been unable to achieve?
“The hope and desire is that a fundamental change will come,” she says.
Mina admits change may not happen now, or perhaps ever, but believes the fact protests have continued in the face of militaristic policing shows the seed of anger that formed when Amini died has grown roots and is now anchored in the Iranian people.
“I and many other people have concluded that maybe it is true that change will not happen right now but in the coming months or years, it will achieve the result people want.
“So hopefulness is greater than hopelessness. We will continue.”
The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.
The man convicted of the murder of British student Meredith Kercher has been charged with sexual assault against an ex-girlfriend.
Rudy Guede, 38, was the only person who was definitively convicted of the murder of 21-year-old Ms Kercher in Perugia, Italy, back in 2007.
He will be standing trial again in November after an ex-girlfriend filed a police report in the summer of 2023 accusing Guede of mistreatment, personal injury and sexual violence.
Guede, from the Ivory Coast, was released from prison for the murder of Leeds University student Ms Kercher in 2021, after having served about 13 years of a 16-year sentence.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
Since last year – when this investigation was still ongoing – Guede has been under a “special surveillance” regime, Sky News understands, meaning he was banned from having any contact with the woman behind the sexual assault allegations, including via social media, and had to inform police any time he left his city of residence, Viterbo, as ruled by a Rome court.
Guede has been serving a restraining order and fitted with an electronic ankle tag.
The Kercher murder case, in the university city of Perugia, was the subject of international attention.
Ms Kercher, a 21-year-old British exchange student, was found murdered in the flat she shared with her American roommate, Amanda Knox.
The Briton’s throat had been cut and she had been stabbed 47 times.
(L-R) Raffaele Sollecito, Meredith Kercher and Amanda Knox. File pic: AP
Ms Knox and her then-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were placed under suspicion.
Both were initially convicted of murder, but Italy’s highest court overturned their convictions, acquitting them in 2015.
World
IDF blames ‘technical error’ after Gaza officials say children collecting water killed in strike
The Israeli military says it missed its intended target after Gaza officials said 10 Palestinians – including six children – were killed in a strike at a water collection point.
Another 17 people were wounded in the strike on a water distribution point in Nuseirat refugee camp, said Ahmed Abu Saifan, an emergency physician at Al Awda Hospital.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said it had intended to hit an Islamic Jihad militant but a “technical error with the munition” had caused the missile to fall “dozens of metres from the target”.
The IDF said the incident is under review, adding that it “works to mitigate harm to uninvolved civilians as much as possible” and “regrets any harm to uninvolved civilians”.
A wounded child is treated after the strike on the water collection point. Pic: Reuters
Officials at Al Awda Hospital said it received 10 bodies after the Israeli strike on the water collection point and six children were among the dead.
Ramadan Nassar, who lives in the area, said around 20 children and 14 adults were lined up Sunday morning to fill up water.
When the strike occurred, everyone ran and some, including those who were severely injured, fell to the ground, he said.
Blood stains are seen on containers at the water collection point. Pic: Reuters
In total, 19 people were killed in Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, local health officials said.
Two women and three children were among nine killed after an Israeli strike on a home in the central town of Zawaida, officials at Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said.
Israel has claimed it hit more than 150 targets in the besieged enclave in the past day.
The latest strikes come after the Israel military opened fire near an aid centre in Rafah on Saturday. The Red Cross said 31 people were killed.
The IDF has said it fired “warning shots” near the aid distribution site but it was “not aware of injured individuals” as a result.
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Palestinians shot while seeking aid, says paramedic
The war in Gaza started in response to Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, which killed 1,200 people and saw about 250 taken hostage.
More than 58,000 Palestinians have since been killed, with more than half being women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count.
Read more:
Palestinians shot while seeking aid, says paramedic
Dozens of MPs call for UK to recognise Palestine as state
US President Donald Trump has said he is closing in on another ceasefire agreement that would see more hostages released and potentially wind down the war.
But after two days of talks this week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, there were no signs of a breakthrough, as a new sticking point emerged over the deployment of Israeli troops during the truce.
Hamas still holds 50 hostages, with fewer than half of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
World
‘At least 59 killed’ in Gaza after Israeli military opens fire near aid centre and carries out strikes
At least 59 Palestinians have reportedly been killed after the Israeli military opened fire near an aid centre in Gaza and carried out strikes across the territory.
The Red Cross, which operates a field hospital in Rafah, said 25 people were “declared dead upon arrival” and “six more died after admittance” following gunfire near an aid distribution centre in the southern Gazan city.
The humanitarian organisation added that it also received 132 patients “suffering from weapon-related injuries” after the incident.
The Red Cross said: “The overwhelming majority of these patients sustained gunshot wounds, and all responsive individuals reported they were attempting to access food distribution sites.”
The organisation said the number of deaths marks the hospital’s “largest influx of fatalities” since it began operations in May last year.
The IDF has said it fired “warning shots” near the aid distribution site but it was “not aware of injured individuals” as a result.
It said in a statement: “Earlier today, several suspects were identified approaching IDF troops operating in the Rafah area, posing a threat to the troops, hundreds of metres from the aid distribution site.
“IDF troops operated in order to prevent the suspects from approaching them and fired warning shots.”
Palestinians mourn a loved one following the incident near the aid centre. Pic: Reuters
Mother’s despair over shooting
Somia Alshaar told Sky News her 17-year-old son Nasir was shot dead while visiting the aid centre after she told him not to go.
She said: “He went to get us tahini so we could eat.
“He went to get flour. He told me ‘mama, we don’t have tahini. Today I’ll bring you flour. Even if it kills me, I will get you flour’.
“He left the house and didn’t return. They told me at the hospital: your son…’Oh God, oh Lord’.”
Asked where her son was shot, she replied: “In the chest. Yes, in the chest.”
Somia Alshaar, pictured with her daughter, says her son was shot dead. Pic: Reuters
‘A policy of mass murder’
Hassan Omran, a paramedic with Gaza’s ministry of health, told Sky News after the incident that humanitarian aid centres in Gaza are now “centres of mass death”.
Speaking in Khan Younis, he said: “Today, there were more than 150 injuries and more than 20 martyrs at the aid distribution centres… the Israeli occupation deliberately kills and commits genocide. The Israeli occupation is carrying out a policy of mass murder.
“They call people to come get their daily food, and then, when citizens arrive at these centres, they are killed in cold blood.
“All the victims have gunshot wounds to the head and chest, meaning the enemy is committing these crimes deliberately.”
Israel has rejected genocide accusations and denies targeting civilians.
Two boys mourn their brother at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. Pic: Reuters
‘Lies being peddled’
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the controversial US and Israeli-backed group which operates the distribution centre near Rafah, said: “Hamas is claiming there was violence at our aid distribution sites today. False.
“Once again, there were no incidents at or in the immediate vicinity of our sites.
“But that’s not stopping some from spreading the lies being peddled by ‘officials’ at the Hamas-controlled Nasser Hospital.”
The Red Cross said its field hospital in Rafah has recorded more than 250 fatalities and treated more than 3,400 “weapon-wounded patients” since new food distribution sites were set up in Gaza on 27 May.
Read more:
‘At least 798 killed’ at Gaza aid points
’10 children killed’ waiting for Gaza health clinic to open
Israel says permanent ceasefire ‘questionable’
Palestinians inspect the wreckage after an Israeli airstrike in Deir al Balah. Pic: AP
It comes after four children and two women were among at least 13 people who died in Deir al Balah, in central Gaza, after Israeli strikes pounded the area starting late on Friday, officials in Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital in the territory said.
Fifteen others died in Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, according to Nasser Hospital.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has not responded to a request for comment on the reported deaths.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
Israeli has been carrying out attacks in Gaza since Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages on 7 October 2023.
Hamas still holds 50 hostages, with fewer than half of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count.
US President Donald Trump has said he is closing in on another ceasefire agreement that would see more hostages released and potentially wind down the war.
But after two days of talks this week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, there were no signs of a breakthrough.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
The latest fatalities in Gaza comes as a 20-year-old Palestinian-American man was beaten to death by settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Friday, the Palestinian Health ministry said.
Sayafollah Musallet, also known as Saif, was killed during a confrontation between Palestinians and settlers in Sinjil, north of Ramallah, the ministry said.
A second man, Hussein Al-Shalabi, 23, died after being shot in the chest.
Mr Musallet’s family, from Tampa Florida, has called on the US State Department to lead an “immediate investigation”.
A State Department spokesperson said it was aware of the incident but it had no further comment “out of respect for the privacy of the family and loved ones” of the reported victim.
The Israeli military said the confrontation broke out after Palestinians threw rocks at Israelis, lightly injuring them.
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