Defeated Iranian presidential candidate Mehdi Karoubi has said on his website that some of those arrested after the June presidential election were tortured to death, but other inmates defended their treatment.
Expanding on allegations he made on Sunday that some arrested protesters, men and women, had been raped at Tehran's Kahrizak prison, Mr Karoubi said detainees had reported being forced to go naked, with prison guards riding on their backs.
Still others were piled on top of each other, also naked.
"We observe that in an Islamic country some young people are beaten to death just for chanting slogans in (the post- election) protests," Karoubi's Etemademelli website said.
"Some of the detainees said they were forced to take off their clothes. Then they were made to go on their hands and knees and were ridden (by prison guards)," Mr Karoubi said.
"Or the prison authorities put them on top of each other while they were naked," he added.
Authorities were not immediately available for comment, but state television, in a report on a parliamentary committee investigating claims of prison abuse, has shown people testifying that they were treated properly.
"I am not under pressure. I am satisfied with the conditions provided by the jail authorities," said a young detainee in Tehran's Evin prison, where many political prisoners are held.
Many of the post-election detainees were held in the south Tehran prison, built to house people breaching vice laws. At least three people died in custody there and widespread anger erupted as reports of abuse in the jail
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered the closure of the Kahrizak prison last month.
Elsewhere, a hardline Iranian cleric today urged the judiciary to resist Western pressure to free Western-linked detainees held after the country's disputed June presidential election, state radio said.
"Iranians expect the judiciary to act strongly and firmly and not to yield to Western pressure," senior cleric Ahmad Khatami told worshippers at Tehran University.
Iran has staged mass trials of those arrested after June 12th the vote, including a Frenchwoman and employees of the British and French embassies, in a move aimed at uprooting the opposition and putting an end to protests.
The opposition says the poll was rigged to secure President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election, a charge Iran's authorities deny, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
He has accused Western powers of fomenting the vote unrest. The losing candidates say 69 people were killed in the unrest, more than double the official toll of 26.
Mr Ahmadinejad, who was sworn in last week, must name a cabinet and seek parliament's approval in what may be a stormy process.
Reuters
