Al Jazeera English - Middle East - Inquiry urged into Iran rape claims
One of the defeated reformist candidates in Iran's disputed presidential election is calling for an investigation into claims that anti-government protesters were raped while in custody.
Mehdi Karroubi said in a letter, made public on Monday, that a number of detainees had claimed that several women and men, arrested amid violent demonstrations, were repeatedly abused by their jailers.
"A number of detainees have said that some female detainees have been raped savagely," Karroubi said in the letter to Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, an influential religious leader and former president.
"Young boys held in detention have also been savagely raped," he said, adding they were suffering from depression and serious physical harm after the alleged attacks.
Karroubi, who came fourth in the June election, appealed to Rafsanjani to bring the matter to the attention of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader.
His claims came after some Iranian officials acknowledged that a number of those detained during a crackdown over the protests had been subjected to mistreatment in prison.
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