Iranian authorities are operating secret detention sites holding tens of thousands of protesters without any official records, judicial oversight, or family notification—a chilling resurrection of 1980s-era torture camps designed to make dissenters vanish without a trace.
Story Snapshot
- Iran’s regime runs unofficial “black box” detention centers modeled on 1980s torture camps, holding tens of thousands arrested during recent protests
- Detainees face total isolation, torture, and potential execution without family notification or court records
- Supreme Leader Khamenei authorized live fire against protesters, triggering mass arrests funneled into warehouses and abandoned buildings
- Human rights groups report videos showing approximately 250 bodies with gunshot wounds at Kahrizak morgue
- Families searching for loved ones receive no information as courts claim no detention records exist
Brutal Revival of 1980s Torture Infrastructure
The Iranian regime has resurrected detention methods from the 1980s Ghezel Hesar Prison camps near Tehran, where political prisoners endured coffin-sized confinement boxes, sleep deprivation, starvation, and systematic beatings. These facilities operated without any official registration, enabling authorities to torture and disappear dissidents without accountability. The current black box sites employ identical tactics, holding detainees in warehouses, abandoned buildings, and facilities like the Soroush center in Shiraz. State Security Forces operate these locations specifically to circumvent any judicial oversight or family access, creating what human rights monitors call conditions for untraceable abuse.
Nationwide Crackdown Following January Uprising
Protests erupting in late December 2025 escalated into what observers document as massacres by early 2026. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei authorized live fire orders through the Supreme National Security Council, directing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to suppress demonstrations. Following a nationwide uprising in January 2026, Judiciary Head Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i issued directives demanding speed and decisiveness in arrests and potential executions. Authorities deployed informant networks to identify protesters, while internet blackouts beginning January 8 facilitated mass arrests. This systematic approach funneled tens of thousands into the secret detention network, where families searching official prisons find no records.
Documented Executions and Morgue Evidence
Human Rights Activists News Agency reported secret executions across Tehran, Isfahan, Shiraz, and Mashhad throughout early February 2026. Leaked videos from Kahrizak morgue show approximately 250 bodies bearing gunshot wounds, corroborating reports of live fire against protesters. HRANA documented at least 17 executions within two days and estimates 392 deaths in Rasht alone, noting security forces “finished off” wounded protesters. The regime’s judiciary issued threats via state media on January 21, framing detained protesters as foreign agents to justify harsh treatment. Intelligence suggests mass executions are planned following completion of diplomatic talks with the United States, intensifying urgency for families desperate for information.
Total Information Blackout for Families
Families searching for detained relatives encounter systematic obstruction at every level. Courts claim no detention records exist for individuals arrested during protests, while black box facilities operate deliberately outside official prison systems. The Center for Human Rights in Iran identifies these sites as among the gravest human rights concerns due to complete absence of oversight, creating conditions for extreme abuse including torture to extract coerced confessions. Detainees face total isolation without communication rights or legal representation. This enforced disappearance tactic mirrors tactics used against dissidents throughout the regime’s history, particularly during the 1980s when similar camps made political prisoners vanish permanently. The opacity serves dual purposes: terrorizing opposition movements and shielding security forces from accountability.
International Monitoring Challenges
Human rights organizations face significant obstacles documenting abuses within Iran’s black sites due to internet blackouts and regime control over information. The National Council of Resistance of Iran and Center for Human Rights in Iran rely on leaked information, family testimonies, and occasional videos to piece together the scope of detentions. At least 24 children have been killed during the crackdown, including a three-year-old, according to documented reports. Exile protests have grown across Europe as diaspora communities demand accountability. While these monitoring efforts provide crucial documentation, precise locations of many detention sites remain unknown by design, complicating rescue or intervention efforts. The regime’s systematic erasure of official records ensures that even if detainees eventually appear in formal facilities, tracing their treatment during black site detention becomes nearly impossible.
Sources:
Iran operating secret ‘black box’ sites holding thousands in detention: reports
Behind the high walls of silence in Iran
Op-Ed: Iran’s protests have ended, the state’s terror campaign has not
