A Political Prisoner Binds his Lips Together-Human Rights in Iran

          
          5/31/2011
          A Political Prisoner Binds his Lips Togeth...
          A PoliUcal Prisoner Binds his Ups Together
          February 13, 2008
          “Be assured, all he wants is the respect of his
          rights and nothing more.”
          — Khadijeh Yari, wife of Iranian political
          prisoner Babak Dadbakhsh
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          There are numberless ways to punish a prisoner, some as
          easy as a transfer to a more dangerous prison or ward.
          Iranian political prisoner Babak Dadbakhsh, in the fourth
          year of a five year sentence for “attempts to threaten
          national security,” has recently been relocated to the Rajaee
          Shahr Prison, outside of Tehran. According to information
          posted on the Amir Kabir University (Tehran) information
          website, Dadbakhsh and other political prisoners have
          resorted to a hunger strike to draw attention to several
          grievances. Referring to Iranian law governing prison
          practices, they protest their “illegal transfer from one prison
          to another and one section to another, the absence of
          classification and segregation among prisoners, the lack of
          security, and threats to their lives.” According to the same
          source, Mr. Dadbakhsh is also protesting against being
          “exiled [ transferred] away from the [ yin prison 21 times
          during the past three years, being illegally deprived of
          visitations and phone calls.”
          In the past month, Mr. Dadbakhsh has written letters
          addressing the Head of Prisons, as well as the Head of the
          Judiciary and the international human rights community, to
          protest his detention conditions and the retaliation he has
          been subjected to following his contribution to a report on
          corruption in prisons. (See his letter dated 15 January 2008
          (25 Day 1386).)
          The report, entitled “Laneh Fesad” (Nest of Corruption), was
          published by Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRAI) last fall,
          using information provided by inmates, including Mr.
          Dadbakhsh. This report details corruption and racketeering
          on the part of prison administrators at Ghezel Hesars and
          Evin Prisons, where Dadbakhsh has spent most of his
          incarceration. It describes corrupt and criminal structures
          within the prisons' management, responsible in various wards
          and parts of these prisons for the abuse and mistreatment of
          inmates by prison officials and other prisoners, including:
          extracting fees from prisoners for essential amenities; money
          laundering and sale of narcotics such as crack and opium;
          sexual abuse, slavery, and prostitution of minors, and of
          male and female adult inmates; the promotion of addiction
          and gambling among inmates; the promotion of mafia gangs
          amona prisoners and access to weaponry; and the lack of
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          5/31/2011 A Political Prisoner Binds his Lips Togeth...
          access to translation and legal representation for non-Iranian of Human Rights Abuses in Iran
          inmates.
          Iran s Pro-democracy Voices
          The report also refers to two dangerous and violent wards,
          >> And more.. .
          numbers 1 and 5, of Rajaee Shahr Prison, where prisoners
          convicted of violent crimes and inmates on death row are
          held, precisely the prison where Mr. Dadbakhsh and other
          prisoners have been transferred as a punishment for sharing
          information used in the “Laneh Fesad” report and for insisting
          upon fair and legal treatment within the prisons where they
          had been held.
          HRAI reports that in the weeks following the release of
          “Laneh Fesad” by HRAI, several delegations visited the
          prisons mentioned in the report and talked to inmates,
          including Mr. Dadbakhsh. On January 22, HRAI released
          information according to which Babak Dadbakhsh had been
          transferred to ward 5 (room 13) in Rajaee Shahr. To
          underline the seriousness of Mr. Dadbakhsh's situation, the
          Organization also provided a list of 13 individuals killed in
          “clashes,” 8 cases of suicides, 13 suspicious deaths, and 11
          cases of broken bones in the past 18 months in Room 13 of
          Raiaee Shahr prison .
          Such a transfer constitutes a violation of Article 1 of the
          Bylaws of the National Prisons' Association in Iran, whereby
          prisoners must be segregated according their gender, age,
          crime, legal status and health. The bylaws define four
          classes of crimes on which basis inmates must be
          categorized. Accordingly, Babak Dadbakhsh and other
          prisoners convicted of undermining national security
          (category 3) must be imprisoned in wards separated from
          those who are convicted of murder, rape, kidnapping and
          armed robbery (category A).
          Further, prisoners' rights are also protected under
          international and human rights treaties that are legally
          binding on Iran. Article 10.1 of the International Covenant on
          Civil and Political Rights, ratified by Iran in 1975, requires
          that, “All persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated
          with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the
          human person.” The International Human Ri hts Standards
          for Prison Officials and of the Standard Minimum Rules for the
          Treatment of Prisoners also provide safeguards for prisoners
          and guidelines for their treatment. The latter requires that,
          “The different categories of prisoners shall be kept in
          separate institutions or parts of institutions taking account of
          their sex, age, criminal record, the legal reason for their
          detention and the necessities of their treatment.” It also
          protects prisoners' rights to complain about their detention to
          judicial authorities and prison inspectors.
          By failing to segregate prisoners, to protect their right to
          freedom of expression, to seriously investigate their
          complaints, and to provide them with a safe physical and
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          5/31/2011 A Political Prisoner Binds his Lips Togeth...
          psychological environment, the Iranian authorities are in
          violation of their obligations under national and international
          law.
          Facing the abusive conditions at Rajaee Shahr, a number of
          prisoners (such as Mostafa Alavi, Mehrdad Lohrasbi, Behrouz
          Javid Tehrani, and Babak Dadbakhsh) began a hunger strike
          in January 2008 to starve themselves in protest. In
          Dadbakhsh's appeal to Ayatollah Shahroudi, the Head of the
          Judiciary in Iran, on 15 January 2008, he announced his
          decision to join the hunger strike. According to the latest
          report by HRAI, dated 30 January 2008 (10 Bahman 1386),
          he is now in a coma. By literally sewing his lips together,
          thereby both objecting to and symbolizing his circumstances,
          Dadbakhsh has committed himself to a course of protest that
          now threatens his life.
          In her own letter of 5 February 2008, Khadijeh Yari, the wife
          of Mr. Dadbakhsh addressed Ayatollah Shahroudi in a plea
          for his life:
          “After three years, I have nothing left in my house to sell and
          pay for justice except for two old carpets and a disconnected
          phone. For three years, alone with my three-year-old son,
          and I am less than 21 years old, I have tried to seek justice
          and to see the law enforced. . ..I continually traveled between
          Tehran and Ardebil, . . .visited the offices of high ranking
          judicial authorities, but I was not eligible for justice because I
          don't have anyone [ influential].” She added, “I and my three-
          year-old child, Benjamin, have only one request: do not allow
          that they, as it is rumored, kill my husband in Rajaee Shahr
          prison in order to silence his call for respecting the law. Be
          assured that all he wants is the respect of his rights and
          nothing more.”
          Mr. Dadbakhsh's plea is not a first. Over the years, numerous
          prisoners in Iran have protested their prison conditions and
          the prison authorities' violation of their right to dignity and
          security. Many have resorted to hunger strikes, in a
          desperate attempt to draw attention to their plight. Some
          have died while on hunger strike.
          With Babak Dadbakhsh in a potentially life-threatening
          condition, ABF calls on independent local and international
          human rights activists and organizations to disseminate the
          appeal by Babak Dadbakhsh and to help expedite demands
          for a fair and independent inquiry into his and other similar
          cases.
          Furthermore, ABF calls on the Iranian Judiciary:
          1. to guarantee that Babak Dadbakhsh and other hunger
          strikers receive adequate medical care and are not permitted
          to die in custody;
          2. to guarantee to all prisoners a physically and
          nsvcholooirallv safe environment, to ensure their rioht to an
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          5/31/2011 A Political Prisoner Binds his Lips Togeth...
          effective grievance procedure and an impartial investigation,
          and to prevent retaliation against complainants by prison
          authorities;
          3. to seriously investigate and punish prison employees and
          administrators who retaliate against prisoners for calling
          attention to their detention conditions;
          4. to adhere to its own law and its international commitments,
          requiring segregation of prisoners to protect their dignity and
          security.
          5. To allow an independent investigations in the cases of
          prisoners who died in suspicious circumstances or while on
          hunger strike, such as Akbar Mohammadi and Valiollah Feiz
          Mahdavi .
          Copies of the original Farsi and English translation of the
          appeal by Babak Dadbakhsh are available at:
           . orci/encilish/document-316-742. oho
          htto://www.abfiran . orci/farsi/document-316-743. oho
          Copyright © 2011, Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation I Back to too
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