Evidence of horror from Iran: the mysterious “death shots” for prisoners

Cumulative reports from Iran paint a difficult and disturbing picture of what is happening inside the prison and detention facilities and hospitals, against the background of the wave of brutal repression against protesters. The opposition channel “Iran International” cites eyewitnesses, various sources and human rights organizations, according to which detainees in Iran are forcibly given injections of unknown substances during their detention, a phenomenon that is suspected to be accompanied by an ever-expanding pattern of deaths among current and former prisoners.

Shiva Mehbovi, a former political prisoner and spokeswoman for the campaign to free political prisoners in Iran, said that her organization is collecting evidence that indicates that detainees, and especially protesters injured during the protests, do not receive medical treatment and are sometimes even given injections of unidentified substances. Mahabovi said that “one massacre took place in the streets, and another massacre may take place quietly inside prisons and detention centers.”

According to her, Iranian authorities tightly restrict access to prison facilities, families receive warnings not to speak publicly, and there is no mechanism for independent medical or forensic investigation. Despite this, Mahbobi and other activists claim that the evidence they have points to a systematic pattern and not to isolated cases.

According to reports, injured protesters are often taken directly to detention instead of hospitals, and in some cases are left without medical treatment. In some of the reported incidents, it is claimed that detainees received injections during their stay in detention and then their condition rapidly deteriorated medically.

One of the latest cases involves a 16-year-old girl who was arrested last week and went into a coma after receiving an injection while in custody. Medical tests indicated signs of poisoning, but the doctors did not determine the cause. The girl was released only after her family paid a heavy bond, was transferred to intensive care and is still hospitalized.

Mahbobi also mentioned another case in Esfahan, where a young woman was arrested, released on bail and later died. In another incident, in the city of Shahinshahr near Isfahan, Atzor’s family said that they received a notice that he would be released only after paying bail and receiving what the authorities called an “immunization”. According to her, the man resisted the injection, was beaten, and after his release had difficulty receiving medical treatment, due to doctors’ fear of the consequences.

Other testimonies describe difficult scenes outside the detention facilities as well. One eyewitness said that he heard voices calling for help from the morgue while they were handling the bodies, and claimed that these were people who had resisted the injections. Mehboubi said that documenting human rights violations inside prisons is almost impossible. “What people don’t see on TV is the scariest part,” she said. “There are no photographs from inside the prisons.”

The accusations are largely reminiscent of reports from the period of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests in 2022, when several detainees died shortly after their release following unexplained medical treatment while in custody. In some cases, families and human rights organizations raised concerns about the use of injections or drugs, but no independent investigations were conducted. At that time, medical experts warned that the forced use of anesthetics or psychiatric drugs in detention, and their sudden discontinuation, could cause serious complications, including heart failure.

The nature and type of substances that are reportedly being injected into detainees today are unknown. “We don’t know what they are being injected with,” said Mahabovi. “We know that people are injected in detention, and some of them die.” According to her, it is possible that executions are being carried out more and more away from the public eye: “The executions will not look like they used to,” she said. “They will be hidden.”

At the same time, reports from bereaved families, medical professionals and human rights organizations point to another pattern in the repression of the Gods: not only do the authorities prevent injured protesters from receiving medical treatment, but in some cases they were shot dead in the hospitals or taken alive and executed afterwards.

The Wall Street Journal described a case of a teenage protester named Sam, who was shot and taken from the hospital alive. According to the report, a medic told his family that he was in critical condition and being treated for a single gunshot wound to the head, but shortly after that security forces arrived and took him away along with other patients. The medic advised the family to look elsewhere. Days later, Sam was found in a body bag, with another gunshot wound that severely damaged his face.

Similar evidence came from Karaj, west of Tehran, where witnesses said armed forces surrounded hospitals after days of killing and resistance. Eyewitnesses reported the abduction of wounded protesters from hospitals and the execution of wounded who could not move. A taxi driver from Karaj said that he saw security forces loading corpses and wounded together into trucks “indiscriminately”.

Iran International wrote that they received a photo of a protester’s body at the Kahrizek Forensic Medicine Institute, with his hands tied and placed inside a black body bag. According to the report, the photo indicated that that person was in the custody of the security forces and died while in custody.

Other witnesses claimed that the killing also continued inside medical facilities. According to one of the reports, a silenced weapon was used, and the shooting of wounded protesters was described as manslaughter. An “armed lockdown” was imposed on many hospitals – families were prevented from entering and medical teams acted under threats.

The evidence shows a picture of method rather than chaos. Protesters who were injured and survived the initial shooting were seen as a burden, and as someone who “needs to finish the job with them”. Removing them from hospitals or eliminating them ensured that their testimony would not be heard. Mahabovi called on the international community to pressure the authorities in Iran to reveal the identity of the detainees and their location and allow independent supervision of the prison facilities: “Our fear is that if this continues quietly, many will never get out of there alive.”