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The highlights include the use of torture, including severe beatings and rape, as a routine method for interrogating and punishing prisoners. Iran as of last November was described as having more than 1,600 juveniles on death row, for reasons that in some cases a free society would not deem criminal, such as homosexuality, apostasy or "acts incompatible with chastity."

The report cites the violent repression of protests following the election last June, including the killing of protesters in the streets and arrests of thousands more who have since been subject to the systematic brutalities of Iran's prisons, and in some cases executed. Iran discriminates brutally against minorities, hinders free speech and restricts travel. The penal code condones "amputation and flogging" for some offenses, and stoning for adultery.