According to the Balochistan Human Rights group, more than eight months have passed since the detention of two Baloch teenagers named “Yasin Kabdani,” born on April 18, 2004, the son of Gholamali, and “Benyamin Kohkan,” son of Hamidreza, both residents of Zahedan. They are still held in custody without any clear charges.
Benyamin was detained on January 3rd, 2023, during the widespread and extrajudicial arrests in Zahedan by security forces. Yasin was also detained on the same day while planning to travel to Kerman with his father and one of his father’s friends at a police checkpoint on the Zahedan road by intelligence forces.
The intelligence forces released Yasin’s father and his friend after 24 hours of detention and a formal court appearance, but they have kept Yasin in custody without any explanation to his family.
Tasnim News Agency, affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, broadcasted a video one day after the arrest of Yasin and Benyamin, in which these two teenagers falsely confessed to shooting at police patrol cars in Zahedan.
In subsequent meetings with their relatives, these teenagers stated that they had been severely tortured and forced to make false confessions, and they were given unknown pills during their detention.
These teenagers spent twenty-two days in detention centers of security and military institutions and were then transferred to the “Reform and Education Center” located on Behdasht Street in Zahedan.
Their lawyers have not been allowed to meet with their clients so far, and they have only been given access to the case file for the purpose of obtaining their power of attorney.
It is said that these individuals are allowed to have face-to-face visits with their family members every twenty-five days, and on other days, the officials at the center do not even allow them to make phone calls.
The judicial authorities have refrained from holding a court session for these two individuals, but they have verbally accused them of “waging war against God, corruption on earth, and murder.” Given the reported pressures, torture, and forced confessions, it is suspected that the judicial system may have decided to consider the death penalty for these teenagers, who were both under eighteen at the time of their detention.
