Is rape used to quell protests in Iran?
Tehran, IRNA – American news channel CNN on November 21 published a report which it described as investigative, claiming that “Iran’s security forces use rape to quell protests”. The Islamic Republic News Agency has conducted research to verify claims made in the report and determine that whether the American news network has offered evidence to back up those claims. First, we take a brief look at the CNN report.
What CNN report says?
The American news channel in its report claims that protesters arrested during the recent unrest in Iran have been sexually assaulted by security forces while in detention. CNN says, “with media access inside Iran severely constrained”, it went to Iraq’s Kurdistan region near the Iran border to file the report and “interview eyewitnesses who’s left the country.”
One of those witnesses is a Kurdish Iranian woman in her 20s, whom CNN calls Hana “for her safety”.
Hana says she was arrested during protests and “was held in a detention center at a police station in Iran’s northwestern city of Urmia for 24 hours.”
“At the holding center, there are about 30 to 40 women and the rest were boys…There were girls who were sexually assaulted and then transferred to other cities,” Hana told CNN.
The news channel says it was able to locate the police station where Hana was held through her description and eyewitness corroboration, with the holding center most probably located in the Eslamabad neighborhood of Urmia.
CNN speaks of evidence of sexual assaults by Iranian security forces against protesters based on images shared on social media, and says that it has verified “accounts from survivors and sources both in and outside Iran.”
Another case of alleged sexual assault is about Armita Abbasi, a 20-year- old girl living in the city of Karaj near the capital Tehran. Allegations had surfaced on social media that Armita was sexually assaulted by Iranian security forces in custody.
Repeating those allegations, CNN speaks of “a series of leaked accounts on Instagram”, which it said were conversations between medics of Karaj’s Imam Ali Hospital on Instagram’s private messaging service. CNN, citing the content of the leaked accounts, says that Armita’s “head had been shaved and she was shaking violently” suggesting that she had been “tortured and sexually assaulted.”
CNN says that one medic at Imam Ali Hospital “confirmed the veracity of those leaks”, but the news network said that it had been unable to reach Armita or her family members for comment.
Citing “sources who spoke to the victims”, CNN says in some of the cases it has reported on, security forces filmed the sexual assault to use them to blackmail the protesters into silence. The news network has cited “sources who spoke to the victims” without offering any evidence.
CNN says Iranian officials have not responded to its request for comment on the abuses alleged in its report.
It also says most of the reports of sexual violence it has reviewed came from predominantly Kurdish regions in western Iran. “The stigma attached to victims of sexual violence adds another layer of secrecy to what’s unfolding,” it added.
Outlining claims in CNN report
A 20-year-old Kurdish woman called Hana was arrested during protests, transferred to a holding center in Urmia ad was sexually assaulted.
Security forces have sexually violated other girls during interrogation.
CNN says it has corroborated several reports of sexual violence by Iranian security forces against protesters and heard accounts of many more.
Amrita Abbasi has been brutally raped by security forces.
In some cases, security forces have filmed the sexual assault to blackmail the protesters into silence.
Now the question is that whether CNN has offered solid evidence to back up its claims.
Young Kurdish woman sexually violated in Urmia detention center?
The only victim of an alleged case of sexual violence, who appears in CNN report without her real identity being determined and her picture being clear, is a young woman called Hana in the report. CNN says: “A white scarf is wound around her neck on the day CNN speaks with her. It covers a purple mark where a security officer forced himself on her, she says, and violently kissed her.”
In addition to hiding the image of the girl – because it was a sexual assault case – the purple mark is shown neither. CNN says the young woman has fled Iran and is currently living with her relatives in Iraqi Kurdistan, after she was assaulted by security forces. But she has not offered any piece of forensic examination.
The CNN report cites Hana as saying that her female cellmates told her they had been raped in the police station, and when Hana’s interrogator returned, “he resumed making unwanted sexual advances on her. But within minutes, her father had come to bail her out, saving her, she believes, from the worst.”
Such a narrative seems strange that the father of a detainee can bail them out so easily. In addition, when an interrogator has the power to sexually assault a woman in custody, he also has the power to keep her detained until the marks of the sexual act vanish.
Sexual assault on other girls?
Hana also told CNN: “There were girls who were sexually assaulted and then transferred to other cities. They are scared to talk about these things.” This quotation can be assessed, but it proves nothing by itself.
To prove what Hana has said, CNN has cited Kurdish rights groups that “have documented evidence of secret detention centers in military bases.” CNN, based on what the young Kurdish woman described, has located the holding center and made a motion graph of it.
If the locating is correct, it can point to unofficial detention centers, not the official ones. The unofficial detention centers might serve as places to conduct illegal activities. But only mentioning such centers cannot be used as evidence to prove sexual assault against women.
Evidence of sexual assaults by security forces
CNN says that it has gathered evidence of sexual assault by Iranian security forces. That’s while the news network has offered nothing new, and only presented a couple of videos showing security forces dealing with women protesters on the streets, which had already been shared on social media.
Sexual assault against Armita Abbasi?
Prior to the CNN report, the alleged sexual violation against Armita Abbasi had been shared on Twitter and Persian social media. To prove the allegations, CNN has referred to leaked “conversations between medics of Karaj’s Imam Ali Hospital on Instagram’s private messaging service” that believed Armita had been tortured and raped, since her head was shaved and she was violently shaking.
CNN claims that one medic at Imam Ali Hospital “confirmed the veracity of those leaks”, but the news network said that it had been unable to reach Armita or her family members for comment.
The news network also said that it “can confirm that four to five medics leaked the information to social media. All of them said they believed she was raped in custody.”
The only evidence CNN has provided in this regard are blurred images of the conversations among Imam Ali Hospital staff on Instagram. It is true that releasing the identity of the users of those accounts may cost them, but the mere release of images of several sentences cannot be used as evidence to prove an allegation.
At the same time, it's highly unlikely that the hospital staff have sent the texts of their conversations to CNN, because the number of the staff able to attend to a patient like Abbasi is very few, and therefore it is very risky for them to leak such conversations.
Another point is related to the content of the leaked conversations. Some of those conversations are as follow:
“She was my patient. I went to her bedside. They had shaved her hair and her head was wrapped. She was scared and was trembling.”
“To make it short, they screwed up. They screwed up and they don’t know how to put it together again.”
“My heart which saw her and couldn't free her is driving me crazy.”
“It's not my intention to spread fear and horror. But this is the truth. A crime is happening and I can't remain silent.”
Even if these conversations have been made, they are not regarded as testimony by the hospital staff about a rape case. These conversations could imply the staff’s sadness over the arrest of a young woman, and for example, her injuries caused by security forces. The conversations cannot be used to confirm that she has been raped.
In addition, judiciary officials said that Armita Abbasi had been treated for digestive problems and released the form showing that she had been admitted to hospital for those problems.
But CNN said: “Medics at the Imam Ali hospital said the claim did not tally with the symptoms Abbasi exhibited. Abbasi was also treated by a gynecologist and a psychiatrist, which the medics said was also inconsistent with the government’s account.”
CNN also says it “has presented the leaked accounts of Abbasi’s injuries to an Iranian doctor outside Iran who said the symptoms as described indicated brutal sexual assault”, but offers no evidence to prove that, and does not name the Iranian doctor who will face no threats.
CNN has also said it was “unable to reach Armita or her family members for comment.” In such cases, family is regarded as an important source of information, although it may be hard to make contact with the family members of a detainee, as they might have considerations to speak about the issue.
A while ago, London-based Persian-language Channel, Manoto, released a story on an Instagram page which it attributed to Armita’s mother. The story said: “40 days passed. I kept silent, waiting for something good happening. I stayed silent to avoid any excuses used by the authorities. I remained silent because I know that my daughter is innocent and left alone. Tyrants! 40 days passed. Fire at will.”
Iran’s Javan Newspaper, following CNN report, cited the same Instagram page as saying: “CNN has released a series of fake news which I reject totally, because I have talked to Armita personally. Friends, who are worried about the physical condition of my Armita, please ignore such news. Amrita is fine and held at a prison in Karaj. She calls me almost every day. We miss each other; we haven’t seen each other for a long time, and that her verdict is not known yet.”
If it is proved that this page belongs to Armita’s mother, it would constitute key evidence rejecting CNN allegations about the young woman and the rape case against her. Yet, reviewing the content of the page does not prove that the page is attributed to Armita’s mother, especially that the page does not include an image of the young woman.
Films of sexual assaults made by security forces
The American news channel in this regard says: “In some of the cases CNN uncovered, the sexual assault was filmed and used to blackmail the protesters into silence, according to sources who spoke to the victims.”
This shows that CNN itself has not talked to the victims, and the sources who have spoken to the victims have made those claims. No evidence has been offered for the second-hand sources, while the claims have not been verified either. In such cases, claims made by different sources are compared to determine how much they correspond. Possible contradictions may reduce the credibility of the sources.
Information dissemination or propaganda?
An investigative report is the result of extensive investigation and collecting valid information. A media outlet can present the information it has gathered in an attractive way. But the way CNN has filed its report looks like propaganda rather than disseminating information. When opening CNN report, one faces this message: “Warning: This report includes details of sexual assaults.” Then blurred images of a number of girls, with a black background, appear. CNN has used open-source intelligence (OSINT) techniques to locate military posts, which may have been aimed at covering intelligence faults and cases that cannot be proved.
There is also the possibility that the CNN report, in addition to seeking to influence the world public opinion, is aimed at being used by international and human rights organizations. That’s an issue which became highlighted when the UN Human Rights Council on November 24 adopted a resolution against Iran.
Conclusion: CNN files report at cost of its credibility
CNN is known for being a credible and influential media outlet, when it comes to the public opinion in different countries as well as presenting an agenda for some governments. The heart-breaking images of starving Somalian children CNN showed put pressure on American officials to send troops to the African country. CNN also shaped the public opinion about the first Persian Gulf war by magnifying threats posed by toppled Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
The influence of the news network to drag the US government into war raised an issue called CNN Effect which drew attention of experts.
However, when it comes to the latest report about the alleged sexual assaults by Iranian security forces, it seems that CNN, instead of being obliged to present evidence, has acted in a way that has cost its credibility, and wants the audience to trust its record and credibility instead of examining facts. Considering all these, it seems that the claims made in CNN report lack sufficient evidence to be proved.
A journalist believes that mainstream media when reporting on developments in third world countries are seeking to present strange narratives. That’s while the same media outlets, like the Boston Globe reporting on serial sex abuses at the Catholic church, cite hundreds of witnesses and offer numerous documents. But when it comes to the Middle East, untransparent images are offered which are based on sources whose identity is unclear.
Little done by Iranian officials, media
The failure of the CNN report to offer evidence does not mean that it has not been influential. The news network is influential and has a big receptive audience across the world. Regardless of the bias adopted by CNN reporters, it seems that the continued existence of suspicious issues paves the way for such narratives by media outlets both in and outside Iran; a weakness exacerbated by the failure of some officials and official media outlets to present a credible and exact narrative of events over the past two months, which has created a negative environment against the Islamic Republic. That requires to receive outmost attention.
For example, after a video showing security forces approaching a woman in a Tehran square went viral and caused controversy, police promised an investigation and made an announcement on October 14 saying: “The Police Force, while protecting the security of citizens, is obliged to be accountable and does not approve of the behaviors outside rules and regulations in any way, and in case of any violation, it will deal with the violators based on rules and regulations.”
Two months into that statement, no new announcement has been made about the result of the police investigation, and the same video has been used in the CNN report.
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