In Iran, families are being extorted by authorities demanding large sums of money to return the bodies of their loved ones, who were killed during the ongoing protests. This practice has been reported by multiple sources to the BBC Persian, revealing a disturbing pattern of behavior by the security forces. The protests, which began in Tehran on December 29th, have since spread to dozens of other towns and cities, turning against Iran's clerical rulers and prompting a violent crackdown by the authorities.
One family in Rasht, a northern city, was quoted as saying that security forces demanded 700 million tomans ($5,000; £3,700) to release the body of their loved one. The body was held at the Poursina Hospital mortuary, along with at least 70 other dead protesters. In Tehran, a Kurdish seasonal construction worker's family was told they must pay a billion tomans ($7,000; £5,200) to receive his body. The family, unable to afford the fee, was forced to leave without their son's body, considering that a construction worker in Iran typically earns less than $100 a month.
In some cases, hospital staff have proactively informed relatives of the dead, giving them advance warning to come and retrieve the bodies before security forces can demand any funds. One woman, whose husband was killed, only learned of his death on January 9th when she received a phone call from hospital staff. They told her to come quickly and collect his body before security forces arrived and demanded payment for its release.
The BBC Persian has also received reports that officials at Tehran's Behesht-e Zahra mortuary are offering a loophole to families. If they claim their child was a member of the Basij paramilitary force and was killed by protesters, the body will be released without charge. However, one family member reported being asked to participate in a pro-government rally and portray the body as that of a martyr, which they refused to do.
In another case, several families in Tehran broke into a mortuary out of fear that the authorities might keep the bodies or bury them without their knowledge. They broke open the morgue door and pulled the bodies out of ambulances, guarding them for several hours on the ground in the hospital courtyard to prevent them from being taken away until they could find private ambulances to transport them.
The internet and communications blackout in Iran have made it challenging to get a comprehensive view of the situation on the ground. International human rights groups have no direct access to the country, and the BBC, along with other international news organizations, is not allowed to report on the ground by the Iranian government. The protests have resulted in at least 2,435 protesters killed, 13 children, and 153 people affiliated with the security forces or government, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA). Additionally, 18,470 protesters have been arrested, according to the same source.
