I am a woman imprisoned in a prison as vast as Iran for the past 40 years;
and ‘I Have Been Tortured Too’
The following is Iranian women’s appeal for justice and their indictment against 40 years of torture, physical as well as emotional abuse, sexual assault, rape, and state organized- and sanctioned crimes.
Esmaail Bakhshi, a labor leader, was brave and audacious enough to reveal the tortures he had been subjected to while in the custody of the terrorist Islamist regime in Iran. He thereby strengthened the voice of the oppressed but justice-seeking workers, women and the masses at large.
Now, I, as a woman, declare that:
I have been tortured for 40 years in a hellish prison called Islamic Republic established 40 years ago to suppress the society, in general, and the women, in particular.
The Hejab that was forcibly pulled over my body was a solitary cell I was rammed into to be tortured.
The incessant intimidations on the streets, the assaults in public, the emotional abuse, the thumbtacks used to pin the Hejab onto my forehead, throwing tufts of pins at my face by passing motorcyclist Revolutionary Guards, being hit, assaulted and insulted by Modesty Patrols, Edifier Patrols, the Promotion- of- Good- and- Prevention- of -Evil Patrols, the Militia ( Basij), and so on and so forth, were all firmly there to torture me.
I was tortured for I was thought of as femme fatale, a licentious creature to be segregated from men according to Quran.
I was tortured for I was thought of as less than human, as a second class citizen, as a sex object.
I was tortured as I was deprived of the right to choose my personal relationships, my sexual relationship, my sexual orientation, my life style.
I was tortured for I was subjected to forced marriage and to child marriage.
I was tortured for I was bought and sold for bride price, dowry, etc.
I was tortured for I had to obey my husband in every way, and for I was the victim of legal marital rape.
I was tortured for I was deprived of the right to divorce, to child custody.
I was tortured for I was married to a foreign man, as a result of which my child would not be registered as an Iranian citizen for the reason of being born to non-Iranian father.
I was tortured for I was deprived of the right to enter stadiums, to travel abroad without my husband’s or father’s permission, to enter certain jobs and certain fields of education, to non-discriminatory employment laws, to do sports, social and cultural activities in the way of my choice.
I was tortured for I was not allowed to become a judge, and for my testimony being given half the weight of a man’s, and not even accepted for certain types of offenses.
I was tortured for my entitlement to inheritance was half as much as my brother’s.
I was tortured for I feared the constant threat of rape while in prison, and for I had to bear the obscenest swear words.
I was tortured for, in my efforts to free my child from prison, I had to bear a slew of assaults, insults and humiliations at the hands of the regime’s officials.
I, Zahraa Baniyaghoob, was raped, tortured and killed in 2009 while in custody of the Headquarters of Promotion of Good and Prevention of Evil in the city of Hamedaan.
I, Zahraa (Zibaa) Kaazemi, was raped, tortured and killed in 2003 in Evin Prison in Teheran.
I, Taraaneh Musavi, was raped, tortured and killed in 2009; my burned corpse was found in the deserts.
I, Reyhaaneh Jabbari, defended myself against rape, and was executed in 2014.
I, Zahraa Navidpoor, was raped by a regime’s high ranking official; sued the rapist; I allegedly committed suicide after receiving several death threats from the rapist.
Therefore, we, the undersigned women, declare this to be our indictment against the Islamist regime in Iran for four decades of its organized and sanctioned criminal violence against women, examples of which were cited above. So, we hereby demand that all orderers and executors of those crimes stand open and fair trials at international courts supervised by official bodies recognized by the world community.
The people in Iran deserve a compassionate, free, equal and secular society. They have relentlessly struggled for that goal for 40 years. The women, who have borne the brunt of the savagery of the Islamist regime on a daily basis, have been front-line fighters of that struggle throughout the 40 years of the rule of terror. This indictment is part of that our struggle in the new women’s liberation movement which is, in turn, part of the current revolutionary movement by the masses in Iran. So, it is only natural that the latter has been imbued with strong womanly attributes since its inception.
1- Shirin Shams – Women’s Revolution Founder
2- Shima Baabaai – Civil Rights Activist
3- Sholeh Paakravaan – Reyhaneh Jabbaari’s Mother
4- Mina Ahadi – Women’s and Human Rights Activist
5- Shaaparak Shajarizaadeh – The Girls of Revolution Street (Anti-Hejab Activist)
6- Shahnaaz Akmali – Mother of Mostafa Karimbeigi (killed in the uprising of 2009 by Police)
7- Massomeh Nemati – Mother of Atenaa Daaemi (political prisoner)
8- Hossein Daaemi – Father of Atenaa Daaemi (political prisoner)
9- Leilaa Mighaffaari – Women’s Rights Activist
10- Shahin Mahinfar – Mother of Amir-Arshad Taajmir (killed in the uprising of 2009 by Police)
11- Shiva Ganji – Journalist and Women’s Rights Activist
12- Mahtaab Ghorbaani – Author, Poet, Human Rights Activists
13- Shivaa Mahbobi – Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran, Women’s Rights Activist
14- Mersedeh Ghaaedi – Activist, Iran Tribunal campaign
15- Sekineh Baagheri – from the “I am tortured too” campaign
Jan. 8, 2019
Signe here: https://goo.gl/qTP3Qn
Email: womensrevolution1@gmail.com
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Contact us: 0046739681438
Translated from Farsi by Jamshid Hadian
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