A/HRC/22/48 6. The Secretary-General nevertheless remains concerned about continuing allegations of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment in detention facilities. Particular concerns remain about the ongoing practice of incommunicado detention of political prisoners, prolonged solitary confinement and alleged occurrences of deaths in custody. It should be noted that given its severely adverse effects on physical and mental health, prolonged solitary confinement amounts to torture, inhuman or degrading treatment (see A/67/279). 7. In addition to custodial deaths caused by lack of medical attention or neglect, at least three cases in which detainees died in custody due to torture or ill-treatment have been confirmed in 2012.2 These include the death in custody of a blogger, Sattar Beheshti, which drew considerable international attention. On 15 November, a group of special procedure mandate holders3 expressed concerns at his death and urged the Government to undertake a thorough, independent and impartial investigation, particularly into the allegations of torture, and to make the results of such an investigation public. 8. Mr. Beheshti, who maintained a website critical of the Government, was arrested on 30 October by the cyber police, allegedly without a warrant. He was taken to Evin prison, where he was reportedly subjected to ill-treatment. On 6 November, prison authorities contacted relatives of Mr. Beheshti to collect his body. In an open letter, on 10 November, a number of political prisoners held in Evin prison testified that Mr. Beheshti had been subjected to torture and that they had witnessed injuries on his body. 9. Following an investigation, members of the Parliament and judiciary confirmed allegations of physical assault during arrest but denied reports that the death of Mr. Beheshti resulted from torture.4 A parliamentarian committee charged with investigating the case found the cyber police responsible for the death. In a report read out in an open session of Parliament, on 7 January 2013, the Committee accused cyber police of violating law by having kept Mr. Beheshti without authorization in a detention facility not supervised by the State prison administration, which did not meet the minimum standards, including of having closed-circuit cameras. The Committee report further referred to the findings of an Iranian forensic medicine organization, which stated that bruises were observed on Mr. Beheshti’s shoulder, legs and back. The Committee, noting the arrest of three Tehran cyber police officers in connection with this case, called on the judiciary to seriously deal with people responsible and to take the measures necessary to prevent similar incidents in the future.5 In a letter to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, dated 4 December, the High Council for Human Rights indicated that the head of the cyber police department had been dismissed for negligence, insufficient supervision of his subordinates and improper investigation of the case. 10. Allegations of torture have also been the subject of numerous communications by relevant special procedure mandate holders. In a report to the Human Rights Council, 6 a group of Special Rapporteurs drew the authorities’ attention to the alleged torture and prolonged solitary confinement of Saeed Malekpour, an Iranian-Canadian, who was detained in October 2008, after one of his websites had been used to host pornographic 2 3 4 5 6 4 According to Amnesty International, over 40 persons died in custody since 2003, as a result of torture or other ill-treatment, including a lack of adequate medical treatment. See “Iran must ensure an effective investigation into Sattar Beheshti’s death in custody”, 29 November 2012. Special Rapporteurs on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran; on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; and on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression. See www.presstv.com/detail/2012/12/05/276390/beheshti-died-of-natural-causes-iran-mp/. See www.mehrnews.com/fa/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=1784226 (in Persian). Communications report of special procedures, A/HRC/20/30.