Elham Modaresi: I was tortured to force a confession

Elham Modarresi, one of the detainees of the nationwide protests of 1401, reported that he was tortured to force him to confess to "membership in Komala."

Elham Modarresi, a 32-year-old from Sanandaj, was a protester and a detainee of the nationwide protests of 1401 in Fardis, Karaj, who spent some time in Kachhui Prison. He was tortured for 50 days to extract a forced confession to his membership in the Komala group. His torture took place while Elham was suffering from a genetic liver disease and had suffered a severe drop in blood pressure and numbness in his body as a result of the harassment during interrogation. 

After her release and many threats, Elham Modaresi went to Turkey with her family and is now living in Turkey. While mentioning that she was active in the Women, Life, and Freedom movement, she published a text on the “X” page and emphasized the slogan “May my life be sacrificed for Iran and may Iran be strong.” She wrote: “I, Elham Modaresi, was active in the Women, Life, and Freedom movement and we were arrested along with our comrades. On November 11, 1401, twelve members of the repression force stormed our house. They violently pushed my mother and held guns to my mother and brother’s heads, blindfolded me, and took me away.

"The entire time I was in prison, I was subjected to the most severe physical torture, and the severe beatings eventually led to internal bleeding. The intelligence agents also took my ultrasound sheet from the hospital and tore it up. They lied that my brother was being tortured in the next room. They constantly threatened me with rape and tried to force me to confess that I had a weapon and was a member of the Kurdistan Komala Party, while I was only protesting the situation in Iran and the oppression being inflicted on the people."

Regarding the time of his interrogations, Elham Modarresi stated: "I was interrogated every day from 7 am to 11 pm, for a total of 140 hours. They had designed a scenario in which I would confess to my membership in the Komala Party under torture, so that this forced confession would ultimately lead to my being sentenced to death, even though my charge was mentioned in the indictment for "Moharebeh."

"The entire time I was in prison, I was not only deprived of medical care and medication, and my general condition was getting worse day by day. In the prison infirmary, I was given injections due to severe pain in my liver, which made my condition worse, to the point where I could barely breathe."

Elham Modarresi announced his release on a bail of five billion, but even after his release, he was threatened with death by unknown individuals and was constantly summoned to the Ministry of Intelligence and interrogated again. He stated in his testimony: "The Ministry of Intelligence continued to threaten and pressure me and my family with security measures until we were forced to leave the land for which we fought to the limit. Now, while my general condition is critical due to the loss of a large part of my liver and I have to be hospitalized in a Turkish hospital two to three days a week, we are living in absolute uncertainty without insurance and high medical costs, and I do not know how long I will be able to survive."

After leaving Iran, Elham Modarresi described the dire situation of political prisoners and protesters in the women's ward of Kachouei Prison in an interview with Voice of America.