Update: more dead or feared dead

Yaqoob Barvaieh, 27, born in Ahwaz, died at hospital today. He was shot on 25 June by a basiji from the rooftop of Lowlagar Mosque in Tehran. He was an MA student in performing arts.

Taraneh Mousavi (left), 28, was among hundreds arrested on June 19, 2009. Since than her family has had no news of her whereabouts. There are reports now that her mother was contacted by an anonymous caller from the regime’s security after three weeks of her disappearance to say that she had been hospitalized in Imam Khomeini Hospital in Karaj due to the rupturing of her womb. Her family went to the hospital but did not find her there. They say some of the nurses recall a woman there whose womb was torn but that she was removed whilst unconscious. The caller said she had tried to hang herself in prison because of her lack of honour. According to a witness who was arrested with her, she was detained in the vicinity of Shariati Street in Tehran. ‘The security forces physically and mentally abused us. Some were transferred to Evin prison and some others were released. Her interrogation took longer than the rest; she was very beautiful with green eyes. Whilst they released us and transferred others, they kept her. She was not even allowed to contact her family. Taraneh’s father suffers from a heart condition and is seriously ill after the disappearance of his only child. The family have been warned not to mention that she was arrested in the protests. There is concern that she was raped and killed.

A mother of one of those who is missing reports that she were taken to a cold storage facility in Southwest Tehran which is usually used to store fruits and dairy products. She was shown pictures of hundreds of dead in an effort to identify her missing child. It took, she said, half an hour, to go through all the photographs. The mother had to pass by dead bodies piled up on each other to leave the facility. Whilst she had not located her child, she says she fainted at the sight of the dead; when she came to, she was in the car. Sohrab Arabi’s family was also show 20-60 photographs of the dead in order to have them identify Sohrab.

There are reports that one of the bodies of the dead returned to his family was covered in cement. The family believe it is to hide evidence of torture.

One blogger, Nima Namdari, has said his 47 year old uncle, Behzad Mohajer, has been missing since 15 June and they have been unable to locate him wherever they have turned.

There has been a rise in executions by the regime in recent weeks; many are fearful that imprisoned protestors and political prisoners are being executed under the pretext of other offences such as drug trafficking.