Police, A Source of Insecurity! Judiciary Names Police Assault on Teenager “Inappropriate Conduct”

In Tabriz, a video emerged showing the beating and sexual humiliation of a teenager by police officers; an incident that, following widespread public reaction, resulted in charges being filed against six officers. However, the Islamic Republic’s judiciary, in its indictment statement, did not explicitly include sexual assault among the charges and described the matter as “inappropriate conduct toward an individual.” This case once again raises the question: when a police officer, who should be a source of protection and security for citizens, becomes a source of fear and humiliation, where should the victim seek justice?

In any society, a police officer represents the law on the street. When a citizen sees a police officer, they should feel that someone is there to protect their life, property, and dignity; not fear that this officer might beat them, humiliate them, or assault them.

In a video released in the last week of Shahrivar, several police officers abuse and humiliate a teenager. In parts of the footage, one officer pulls down the teenager’s clothes and engages in sexually degrading conduct, while another officer threatens him with assault at the police station.

This is no longer merely “inappropriate conduct”; the issue concerns the dignity of a human being, particularly that of a child, in the face of armed officers of the law—dignity so disregarded that even the judiciary refuses to call this assault by its proper name.

Following the widespread distribution of these images, the judicial organization of the armed forces announced that a case had been opened for the officers and that they had been detained. Now, however, in the indictment stage, the judiciary has named six suspects and announced their charges as “violation of citizens’ rights,” “creating a negative atmosphere toward the armed forces,” and “intentional injury.”

Yet the shocking point is this: in the list of announced charges, there is no mention of sexual assault on the teenager. The judiciary’s media outlet even referred to the victim as “an individual” and made no reference to his being a minor.

This type of language raises serious questions: Is the sexual humiliation of a teenager in detention merely “inappropriate conduct”? Had such behavior been committed by an ordinary citizen, would the judicial system describe it in the same terms?

Crime cannot be minimized by changing words. Changing the terminology does not change the reality of what is seen in the video. If an officer beats someone, he bears responsibility. If an arrested teenager is humiliated, he bears greater responsibility, and if sexual assault or violence occurs during detention, the matter is no longer merely “administrative misconduct” or “inappropriate behavior.”

The judiciary must clarify why charges related to sexual assault were not raised in the released indictment and whether this aspect of the officers’ conduct was investigated at all.

Justice is not achieved by removing unpleasant words from the text of an indictment. This time, the camera was on, and one of the most important differences between this case and many others is the existence of video footage documenting part of the officers’ conduct.

The images show several officers present at the scene and the teenager in a situation where he has no ability to defend himself. It was the release of these very images that provoked widespread social reaction and compelled judicial and law enforcement authorities to respond.

But there is a far more important question: if there had been no camera, what would have happened to this teenager?

And more importantly, in thousands of detentions where no camera exists in interrogation rooms, vehicles, detention centers, or prisons, what guarantee exists for protecting the dignity and safety of individuals?

What was seen on the street heightens concerns about what happens behind the doors of detention centers. One should not claim without evidence that every detainee has been assaulted, but concern about torture and sexual violence in the Islamic Republic’s detention centers is not merely rumor or scattered claims.

In 2023, Amnesty International, following an investigation into the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests, documented testimonies from 45 people regarding rape and other forms of sexual violence. These cases involved women, men, and children and occurred in several Iranian provinces. The organization stated that no government official had faced criminal prosecution for the documented cases of rape and sexual violence.

Amnesty International also reported regarding detained children that the Islamic Republic’s security forces have used beatings, flogging, electric shock, rape, threats of rape, and other forms of sexual violence against children.

Therefore, the public’s concern about what may occur behind the closed doors of detention centers is based on documented precedent.

Four years ago, the death of Jina Mahsa Amini following her detention by morality police became one of the Islamic Republic’s greatest human rights crises. But the problem is not merely one officer or one police unit.

In its recent report on the suppression of 2022 protests, Amnesty International stated that the Islamic Republic’s authorities have committed crimes against humanity and identified 87 officials for criminal investigation regarding their role in this suppression. The organization also emphasized that in the past four years, no independent and effective criminal investigations have been conducted regarding government forces’ crimes during the protests.

This is the very point where the Tabriz case gains greater significance. If the offending officer is not punished, the message is clear: power can transcend the law.

If action against an officer only begins after a video is released and public outrage erupts, another question arises: what happens to cases where no camera has recorded anything?

In its 2023 report, Amnesty International stated that the Islamic Republic’s intelligence and security forces used rape and other forms of sexual violence during the 2022 protests as a means of torture, punishment, humiliation, and to instill fear among protesters.

The organization documented 45 cases, including cases against children aged 14, 16, and 17. It also reported that complaints from some victims were ignored, and in some cases, judicial authorities helped cover up the matter rather than investigate it.

Amnesty International explicitly spoke of systematic impunity regarding these crimes. Therefore, when today a teenager is subjected to violence and sexual humiliation by officers on camera, society has the right to ask whether justice will truly be served this time or if this case, too, will eventually be forgotten.

This issue is of doubled importance for the Islamic Republic because in the past four years, a large portion of the country’s security apparatus has been employed not only to maintain order but to deal with political and social protests.

In such circumstances, the line between “law enforcement” and “suppression” must be controlled by independent oversight and accountability mechanisms, not by security and military institutions deciding for themselves regarding their forces’ conduct.

The humiliation and assault of a Tabriz teenager is not just a case file; this teenager has become a symbol of a larger question: Can a citizen in Iran feel secure when encountering police?

This question is not answered merely by issuing an indictment. It is answered when the actual charges are presented without deletion or distortion, when the victim has access to support and justice, when the defendants face a fair trial, and when the outcome of the case is clear to the public.

The Tabriz case is now a test for the Islamic Republic’s judiciary. Not only for the six officers, but to determine whether the law applies equally to a police officer as it does to an ordinary citizen. Police should be a place where citizens feel safe upon seeing them; not a place that fills them with fear for their future.