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
Other recent newsletters
Iran: In Suooort of the International
Campaign Against the Death Penalty
February 22, 2011
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
Iran rights.org/engl ish/newsletter-3.php
Iran Uses the Holidays to Announce the
Imminent Execution of a Student
December 24, 2010
Iran Cannot Hide the Truth Behind
Sakineh
December 10, 2010
Iran: A Reflection on the Death Penalty
and a Failed Anti-Narcotic Campaign
October 31, 2010
Iran's Interrupted Lives
October 1, 2010
Iran's leadership guilty of crimes against
humanity
June 8, 2010
Three Iranian human rights activists
receive the Lech Walesa Prize
September 29, 2009
Terror in Buenos Aires : The Islamic
Republic's Forgotten Crime Against
Humanity
July 18, 2009
Authorization Denied: The high cost of
the public expression of dissent in Iran
July 9, 2009
Neither Free Nor Fair, Elections in the
Islamic Republic of Iran
June 12, 2009
>> And more.. .
Visit the Human Rights and
Democracy Library
International Human Rights
Organizations' Reports on Human Rights
Abuses in Iran
Testimonies of Victims and Perpetrators
1/4
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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