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From Behind Prison Walls

01 October 2006 Gozaar

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Twenty seven years ago, millions of courageous demonstrators forced the Pahlavi regime to open its prison cells and free political prisoners. Iranians honored these prisoners as symbols of their resistance and struggle for freedom. They carried them on their shoulders with hope for a new life. A few months later, Ayatollah Khomeini, just returned from exile, delivered his first speech at Behesht-e Zahra cemetery in Tehran. He attacked the Shah’s collapsing regime, saying, “Mohammad Reza ruined our cities and built dungeons and cemeteries in their place.”

Freedom, however, did not last long in Iran. Ayatollah Khomeini did not keep his promises. For the last quarter century, Iran’s prisons have held captive thousands of “prisoners of conscience.” The massacre of nearly four thousand political prisoners in a few short weeks in 1988 – people who expressed alternative views of a democratic future for their country – is especially harrowing. This year thousands of Iranians gathered at another cemetery—this time Golzar-e Khavaran--to commemorate the 1988 massacre.

In an effort to extinguish dissent, repressive regimes bar free access to information and ideas. Intellectuals and journalists, therefore, have a responsibility to tell the truth. Their willingness to disclose the truth, however, has turned Iran into one of the world’s largest prisons for journalists. A few weeks ago, Shargh and Nameh, the last remaining independent and moderate newspapers were shut down. While common criminals are let loose or punished with only a small fine, journalists, student activists, labor leaders and human rights defenders are tortured and sentenced to solitary confinement and lengthy imprisonments.

Gozaar’s second issue is dedicated to Iran’s courageous political prisoners. In this issue, Faraj Sarkouhi, a political prisoner under both the Pahlavi regime and the Islamic Republic, examines the root causes of the 1988 massacre and the tragedy of silence among Iranian intellectuals concerning it. In an interview, Simin Behbahani, Iran’s iconic poet, gives her unique perspective on the experiences of political prisoners under both regimes. Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Laureate and founder of the Center for the Defense of Human Rights, also reveals the extent of the repression of dissidents today.

Activists Bina Darabzand and Alireza Jabbari, recently released from Gohardasht prison, report on the plight of political prisoners they knew there. They recall in particular the last hours of the life of Akbar Mohammadi, who died recently in prison as a result of torture and hunger strike. In addition to these perspectives, three interviews with wives of political prisoners reveal the effects of imprisonment and torture on families and society at large.

Gozaar’s second issue is dedicated to these courageous advocates for freedom.