For the first time, I am writing this letter on behalf of a young student in prison who has addressed Mr. Ahmed Shaheed, UN Special Rapporteur:
Mr. Ahmed Shaheed,
There are talks of you coming to our country, a country in the Middle East region, a region where for years all eyes have been looking intently at and expect the unfolding of a new event every moment. Yet, I neither speak of the Middle East nor the eyes looking upon it. I speak about a country in southwestern Asia that’s shaped like a cat in the world map. The country that based on the recent UN resolution is your responsibility to prepare a report about its human rights conditions. Yes, I am speaking to your from Iran and its beating heart in Evin Prison. These days there are talks in political circles, newspapers, news and … about your trip as the special representative for human rights and your decision to prepare a report.
I don’t know that for a country whose head of state Mr. Ahmadinejad has stated many times in internal and international media conferences “In Iran there is absolute freedom” or “Iran is the most democratic country in the region”, what takes place behind the curtains that there is such disagreement with the arrival of the human rights representative?! In the country of liberty (!) that responds to any criticism or protest with threats and terror, in the country of liberty that responds to any advocacy of religion besides that of its rulers with enchainment and imprisonment, in the country of liberty that lawyers who defend their innocent clients – in show courts – are answered with heavy prison sentences and barred from advocacy, in the country of liberty terrorization and intimidation and a show of power is illustrated through hangings from cranes in public city squares, there is nothing to hide.
Mr. Ahmed Shaheed!
Understanding these conditions might or might not be easy for you, but they are the realities of our life. We are imprisoned for our beliefs in a country whose officials, every minute and every day, express concern over the violation of human rights in the most far out countries in the world, express solidarity with its people, criticize its rulers and warn its dictators to listen to the voice of their people. Given that it is the people who set the path of history. They complain over the treatment of students and defend freedom of speech and belief. In such circumstances I ask all of them “then who am I?” I who have been imprisoned for my beliefs, my fellow inmates who are innocent women with different beliefs, where do we stand in this puzzle? “Then why aren’t you hearing our voices?!”
After extreme effort to reach your voice to the officials you draw this conclusion that their story is like to Iranian proverb that says “death is good yet for the neighbor”. It is so that when your voice is not heard, you cry out and speak of your deprived rights, you cry out for someone, even beyond the borders, to hear your voice. You cry out so that human consciences can hear your sorrow and sighs and awaken. My letter to you stands as that cry with body of pain and suffering. I am addressing you as a 24 year old Iranian girl who studied computer science at Tehran’s University of Tarbiyat Moalem and have been in prison with my brother since 19 February 2009 on charges of seeking justice, freedom, human rights and human dignity, a girl that in her record over the past two and a half years has the experience of being in the prisons of the Iranian regime’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security, Ward 209 and the public ward of the Evin Prison, RajaiiShahr Prison and the city of Varamin’s Gharchak Prison. I am speaking to you as an Iranian student.
While those my age in other countries are supported and led by their governments to pave their path to progress and development, I am paddling behind metal bars for my minimum human rights, for the right to think, the right to express my beliefs, even the right to breathe. In a country that my share of its civil rights and of its vast lands is the corner of a cage, in which through modern technology and security cameras even my breaths are counted and the only communication I have with the outside world in the era of communications is a 20 minute weekly visit of my family behind stained glasses and through a telephone. My share is the tight corner of a cage without getting any fresh air. When the rulers pretend to value science, knowledge and technology I ask myself what meaning does detaining students have? And this comes without taking into consideration the hundreds of people who are deprived of education only because of their beliefs. The most painful issue is that such behavior is not only limited to students, rather is includes all walks of life in the society, from doctors, engineers, lawyers and workers to teachers, house wives and young and old men and women!
Mr. Ahmad Shaheed,
When I take a look at the book of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, I see something that I yearn very much for, yet I will never look for such an example in my own country; we are forced to endure such hardship to prove our humanity with any kind of belief, way of thinking and religion through our struggle, and it is only in respect to humanity that we find the strength to pay such a heavy price. I may literally be able to find a separate case that violates the rights in each and every article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. My brother and I are being interrogated in Ward 209 Not just for our own beliefs, but also for the beliefs of a number of our family members! In this Ward 209, I saw a number of Bahai’I women who were only arrested for their beliefs. I saw reporters who were arrested simply for reporting the news and the status quo. I saw how an unfair court convicted my brother and I both to five years imprisonment in exile to the harshest exile prison in Iran. We were exiled to a location that is considered an exile prison in comparison to the conditions of other prisons throughout the country.
Yes, Mr. Shaheed, ours is a very long and sad story and I can only refer to a few issues of it. In prison since I was 21 years old, I have lived amongst drug addicts, murderers, smugglers and prostitutes, all victims of the disparate and unjust regime ruling Iran. I can truly say that I have experienced the worst conditions. The horrible living conditions in RajaiiShahr Prison – only two toilets, one sink to wash your hands and two showers for 200 people – is only the smallest example. I have seen many people suffering from deep pains and wounds in such conditions. I have lived with them and I have suffered with them, crying for their loneliness and having nowhere to seek help or refuge. It would have been great if you could see these conditions in person, for you to also see that not only are the most basic rights of the prisoners of the Shahr Ray Repentance Facility (known as the “Small Prison”) are neglected, but for you to see how women who are left without anyone in this world are kept in places that are nowhere near the definition of prison standards. Now, after being exiled to Rajaii Prison and transferred to the ‘Small Prison’, I have once again been relocated to Evin Prison. And now, I am surpassing the dark days of imprisonment along with 32 other innocent women with the least possible communication supplies in a tight security environment. Even the prison officials say we are being kept in a location that is not even called a “ward”.
Mr. Shaheed,
I don’t how I will be treated after writing this letter. For your information, just for informing my family about my conditions in RajaiiShahr, I was deprived of having family visits and phone calls for four months starting from October 14th, 2010. Now, my brother Farzad Madadzadeh has been transferred along with three of his friends – Saleh Kohandelh, Behrouz Javid Tehrani and Pirouz Mansouri – have been transferred from RajaiiShahr prison to Ward 240 of Evin Prison. To this very moment there is no information about their whereabouts. However, we have gained these excruciatingly painful experiences in our early years in life.
Now that you have been assigned to view these atrocities up close, you should see and inform the world of what you have seen, and prevent the continuation of these unfair trials.
Mr. Shaheed,
There is much to say and this is only a tip of the iceberg of the pains we are suffering as there is only a glimmering ray of hope in the hearts of us prisoners and our people’s sufferings. Maybe your full report, an international consensus and your efforts in Iran to accomplish the wish of those who first established the Universal Declaration of Human Rights will improve our conditions. Of course, there is also this concern that this issue, like thousands of others, will become the victim of political deals. Now, there are eyes on your actions. I ask you not to let this happen.
Shabnam Madadzadeh
Evin Prison
August 2011
From the Committee of Human Rights Reporters/Rapporteurs
