By Staff Writer, Iran Probe
Thursday, 10 March 2016
Following a letter written a few days ago by 40 political prisoners in Gohardasht Prison of Karaj, west of Tehran, to the United Nations Human Rights Council calling for a mission extension for Ahmed Shaheed, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, the Iranian regime has increased its pressures and harassment on these inmates. In this regard one of these political prisoners has once again written a letter to the UN Human Rights Council reading in part:
Honorable Human Rights Council
As a prisoner who each day is under horrific pressures, aggressions and attacks against condemned human beings in prison, I declare that the accomplices of [Iranian president Hassan] Rouhani are determined to murder and annihilate a number of prisoners, including three of my cellmates, by announcing their charges as “classified.” The reason is nothing but an inhumane hatred and the fact that they are provoking hired prisoners to attack others with knives and other such weapons to serve as a lesson to others. As usually, they will be describing such incidents as ordinary fights between prisoners, heart attacks, brain strokes, swallowing a high number of pills and … The real issue is that these prisoners had only supported the Human Rights Council and its Special Rapporteur, Dr. Ahmed Shaheed. Otherwise, at a time when it has been five years since they have been behind bars, there are no longer any other charges.
Therefore, as one of their cellmates, we strongly warn about the conspiracies set for these prisoners (Misters Iraj Hatami, Fareed Azmoude and Behzad Tarahomi) and that their lives are truly in danger. The number one party responsible for any possible event is none other than the judiciary and the Gohardasht (Rajaie Shahr) Prison warden. The reason is that on 6 December 2015 they hired inmates to attack the abovementioned men, threatened them with various non-firearm weapons and even burned their faces and heads with cigarettes so they would no longer raise any protests regarding the unfair conditions in court and prison.
I am announcing beforehand that if I and other cellmates of mine are charged with “classified” accusations, or rioting and anarchy in prison, we are merely protesting injustice measures and extortions carried out against prisoners, as we are left without anyone to turn to and seek help. Now it is the turn of these prisoners. Therefore, I am urgently calling on all human rights organizations, especially the UN Human Rights Council, to not remain silent in the face of this possible catastrophe, or else this will be the fate of us and all other prisoners.
Thank you,
Saeed Masouri – Gohardasht Prison
CC:
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
Amnesty International
