Israel’s army on Monday focused Iran’s Evin jail, a infamous detention facility in Tehran the place dissidents and political prisoners are held. The detention middle has lengthy been considered an emblem of repression, and human rights teams and survivors say that torture and executions are routine there.
Israel’s protection minister, Israel Katz, introduced the assault, which got here amid Israeli strikes elsewhere in Tehran. Video footage verified by The New York Occasions exhibits an explosion on the fundamental entrance to the jail compound and injury after a blast close to a second entrance.
It was unclear why Israel struck the jail. There have been no rapid experiences of accidents, and Iran stated it nonetheless had management of the power.
Right here’s what to know concerning the jail and the Israeli assault:
What’s Evin jail?
Hundreds of prisoners are held at Evin, amongst them a whole lot of dissidents, together with distinguished opposition politicians, activists, attorneys, journalists, environmental activists and college students. It is usually used to carry distinguished non-Iranian or dual-citizen prisoners, a lot of whom have been accused of spying.
The jail sits on a hilltop in northern Tehran on the foot of the Alborz Mountains. The compound is surrounded by electrified barbed-wire fences in addition to a minefield.
How was the jail broken?
IRNA, the Iranian state information company, reported that projectiles had triggered “injury to components of the power” however stated the jail was “underneath full management.”
Video footage verified by The Occasions exhibits an explosion on the entrance and rescue staff clearing particles and steel beams collapsed by the strike from a gaping gap within the entrance.
Different footage verified by The Occasions exhibits injury to buildings within the rapid aftermath of one other explosion by a second entrance to the jail complicated, about 600 yards from the primary jail entrance. This strike gave the impression to be by an entrance to a visitation middle on the jail grounds.
How did Evin acquire its repute?
The jail was opened in 1971 underneath Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi. Over the subsequent seven years, the power got here to worldwide prominence due to what Human Rights Watch known as the “horrifying circumstances” through which prisoners have been held by the key police.
A 1979 revolution, set off partially by anger on the autocratic authorities, overthrew the shah, ushering in a theocratic regime underneath Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. However the jail’s notoriety grew.
In 1988, thousands of Evin prisoners have been executed after cursory trials, in accordance with Human Rights Watch. A lot of these killed have been considered as a menace to the brand new Islamic authorities.
A number of distinguished Iranians have been detained at Evin in the course of the wave of protests in 2022 that adopted the loss of life of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian girl arrested by Iran’s morality police. Throughout the protests, a huge fire broke out on the jail. Residents close by reported gunshots and explosions amid chants of “loss of life to the dictator,” and IRNA reported on the time that eight individuals had been injured. The reason for the fireplace remained unclear.
In April, the European Union positioned the pinnacle of the jail, Hedayatollah Farzadi, under sanctions.
What are circumstances like on the jail?
Former prisoners have described lengthy interrogations, torture, rape, psychological humiliation, solitary confinement and different examples of harsh remedy and abuse.
Executions on the jail have typically been carried out by hanging, they are saying. Feminine prisoners who’ve been tortured have additionally then been denied adequate medical care, in accordance with Amnesty Worldwide.
Cecilia Sala, an Italian journalist who was detained in Iran in December and held on the jail earlier than being launched, stated her cell had two blankets however no mattress or pillow. She stated guards seized her glasses, rendering her all however unable to see. The lights within the cell have been continually on, and through day by day interrogations, which lasted for hours, she was blindfolded and needed to sit dealing with a wall, she stated.
Are international prisoners held at Evin?
Iran has used the detention of foreign and dual citizens as a instrument of its international coverage for practically 5 a long time. Britain, France, the USA and others have accused Iran of detaining their residents, in addition to twin nationals, and utilizing them as diplomatic bargaining chips.
Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, two French residents, have been held for over three years at Evin. Their detention has develop into a sticking level in relations between France and Iran.
Ms. Kohler, 40, a literature professor, and her accomplice Mr. Paris, a retired professor in his 70s, have been visiting Iran as vacationers in 2022 once they have been arrested on spying costs that France strenuously rejects. Different French residents arrested on related costs have been steadily released, leaving Ms. Kohler and Mr. Paris as the one French residents remaining in Iranian custody.
French authorities have likened the circumstances they face in Evin to “torture,” saying they’re in close to complete isolation and have nearly no entry to consular visits. Final month, France filed a complaint in opposition to Iran on the Worldwide Courtroom of Justice over their case.
France’s international minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, stated on Monday that Ms. Kohler and Mr. Paris have been unharmed after the Israeli strikes, which he known as “unacceptable,” and repeated France’s demand for his or her launch.
Aurelien Breeden and Malachy Browne contributed reporting
