Iran police commander dismissed after detainee reported tortured to death in custody

Iran’s police force has dismissed the commander of a city in the northern province of Gilan after the death in custody of a detainee, state media report.

Mohammad Mir Mousavi, 36, was arrested on July 22 after being involved in a fight in Lahijan, police say in a statement carried by the official news agency IRNA.

“The police commander… was dismissed due to insufficient oversight of the conduct and behavior of staff,” the police say .

“Due to the complexity of the matter, the final conclusion on the cause of Mohammad Mir Mousavi’s death depends on the medical examiner’s final report, the statement says.

The police say the station commander and several officers involved in the incident had been suspended.

“The behavior of some law enforcement officers was against the professional policy of the police and that is not acceptable in any way, so they were referred to the judicial authority,” the statement adds.

The Norway-based Kurdish human rights organization, Hengaw, on Wednesday said Mir Mousavi “was killed under torture in the detention center.”

"Mohammad Mousavi" was tortured and killed in Iran by the Islamic Republic. What do you think? pic.twitter.com/pxWRaCMmM0

— فیلیپ مارلو⁦⁦⁦⁦⁦⁦⁦⁦⁦⁦⁦⁦⁦⁦⁦⁦⁦⁦⁦⁦⁦ (@khodn98) August 28, 2024

On Thursday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian ordered an investigation into the case.

Dismissals of members of the security forces are rare in Iran.

In 2022, the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman who had been arrested in Tehran for an alleged breach of the country’s strict dress code for women, sparked months of deadly nationwide protests.