Political Statement of Political Prisoners from Greater Tehran Penitentiary

For 42 years, prisons in the Islamic Republic of Iran have been places where humanity dies. Stripped of their every right, prisoners are subjected to all sorts of hidden tortures as well physical and mental torture, and for some, ultimately death. From the moment a prisoner steps inside prison, the prison system goes out of its way to inflict the most humiliation, pain and suffering on the individual. They go from one system of corruption outside the prison to another inside. From being stripped naked in front of others and made to do squats on entry, to a prison system that can only be compared to the mafia. “Service charges”, “bed rents” and all sorts of other extortions payable to ward “advocates” who act as the warden’s minions and in turn give a cut that goes up the prison chain of command. A family’s breadwinner who finds himself behind bars now has to not only provide for his family on the outside but also pay his own way through the prison. Many are forced to work as cleaners and take odd jobs around the prison. And while ordinary prisoners struggle to provide the bare minimums in dire conditions that lack basic sanitation and food often not suitable for humans, the prison system is busy lining its pockets. Like the mafia, drugs are their bread and butter which they hook prisoners on and use for their own purposes. Forced religious practices, denial of medical care, prolonged solitary confinement, and daily humiliating treatment are amongst other hidden tortures that take away their dignity and amount to cruel and degrading treatment. The results on each individual may be different, but each creates a ripple effect that reaches far beyond the individual and prison walls. For 42 years, arbitrary arrests, a lack of due process, and unfair trials, a system that breeds violence, poverty, and division have destroyed millions of lives.

The #ChainHungerStrike is taking a stance. They’re demanding accountability for the deaths and torture in custody. Their bodies are their last weapon when all other means have been exhausted and day after day, another prisoner is killed and tortured in custody with impunity, and those who protest are punished with new fabricated cases and more human rights breaches. In 1980, 7 Irish political prisoners went on hunger strike which they stopped after the Brits lied about conceding to their demands. Their ensuing hunger strike which cost 10 lives, changed the course of history. Today, a dry hunger strike by 7 Iranian prisoners which was turned wet to counter regime tactics and now has 20+ strikers, is intent on changing a 42-year history. They’re counting on us to be their voice!

Mohammad Abolhassani, Sina Beheshti, Hamid Kashani, Mohammad Turkman, Mahmoud Ali Naghi, Hossein Qashqai, Reza Salavati, Milad Arsanjani, Shahab Soltanian, Mehran Delfan Azari, and Akbar Faraji