TV 'confession' shows and what goes on in Iran's prisons.

Is no news good news?

No one knows how many people were arrested, detained, kidnapped or killed in the post-election Iran. No one knows how the detainees are being treated in custody, except the terrifying story of an 18 year old man who was released in Shiraz with marks of horrific tortures all over his body and injuries due to being repeatedly raped by his interrogators(reported in the Guardian). Whether this young man will ever be able to live a normal life is in serious doubt but ar least we now know what people should expect from the coup leaders and their henchmen. We now know how they torture people to force them to appear on TV shows to 'confess' to their 'crimes' and their 'affiliation' with foreign elements! We also know that these methods have long lost their credibility, not only with the opposition inside and outside Iran and the world as a whole but even among the majority of the ruler's own supporters.



What remains is the worry to the whereabouts and the fate of those in detention, or the number of people killed and buried in unknown graves. Families of thousands of students, workers, women activists, journalists and ordinary people are going through hell as they are left in the dark to the fate of their loved ones.


Jila Bani Yakoob, editor of Focus on Women website and the winner of Courage Journalism Awards was taken away along with her husband, Bahman Ahmadi Amuie from their home, and except one phone call in the first few days, no news are given of their whereabouts, the charges against them and their safety.


The coup leaders have acted as any coup leader had acted anywhere in history before them. What distinguishes this coup from other coups is the unprecedented resilience of the people and their elected leaders. What has determined the coup leaders to act so monstrously is the determination of the people to discredit the Teneth election. This is the mile stone. People's unity and their srtength to say No to the coup and its notoriuos, humiliated leaders. History will forever remember the determination of a nation which against the brutal repression of its best people is standing firm to say No to the election-coup.