Tag: prison

The world must call on Iran to release Zeynab Jalalian

Imagine that you criticise the government and are arrested for it. You end up in prison not for a day, a month, or even a year. You are in prison for 18 years, and you do not know if you will ever be released. You are deemed too dangerous because you are not broken, and you are not famous enough to garner the public attention that would force the regime to let you go.

In 1982, the same year that I was arrested in Iran, a girl was born in a small village in West Azerbaijan Province. Her family called her Zeynab, and she became a women’s rights activist. In 2008, aged 27, while visiting a girls’ high school to talk about International Women’s Day, she was arrested. She was subsequently tortured and sentenced to execution for “enmity against God”.

Zeynab Jalalian and I belong to two different generations of Iranian women who fight against misogynistic laws. I did not reveal the names and addresses of friends who criticised the regime. So I was tortured severely and sentenced to death. My father’s unrelenting fight was what changed my fate.

Zeynab’s death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in 2011. During her imprisonment, she has not been given any leave and has only been permitted a small number of visits from her family.

Writing to her mother a few years ago, Zeynab depicted the torture she was forced to endure:

My pen is unable to describe my pain and distress. They blindfolded me, tore off my clothes, chained me to an iron bed and lashed my feet with a cable. My feet became black and swollen under torture. Eventually, I felt nothing. My entire body became numb. Under torture, I held my beliefs and my hope for women who are struggling for a better future. How can I witness the execution of my friends and say nothing? They are asking me to confess to wrongdoing in order to receive medical treatment. How can I regret struggling against them?

Many prisoners died behind bars because they did not receive medical treatment. When my stomach bled, I was told that they would take me to hospital if I signed a letter of repentance. This is a different kind of execution.

Despite her life sentence, she is denied any peace in her cell, and her health has deteriorated due to the torture inflicted on her.

Zeynab was permitted fibroid embolisation surgery after Redress Trust, a global organisation that supports survivors of torture, wrote an open letter in September 2025. However, she was not even allowed to recover in hospital and was sent back to prison the following day.

Her health is still of extreme concern, as she has asthma, pterygium, kidney disease, digestive problems, and she is currently at risk of losing her eyesight as a result of injuries from torture.

Since the US-Israel war on Iran

The war on Iran has made conditions worse for prisoners. While bombs were killing people and flattening essential infrastructure, prisoners have not received enough food and care due to a lack of personnel.

Furthermore, activists who have had nothing to do with the war, and who were imprisoned years before the attacks started, have been executed for the crime of being Israeli or American spies. In reality, the regime has always weaponised the accusation of activists serving as informants for Western countries in order to repress and silence them.

Indeed, the war on Iran has only made the regime stronger than ever before. This leaves many of us asking what this will mean for those who have been trying to topple it for the past 47 years.

This war has been waged against the people of Iran and its prisoners.

The negotiations between the US and the Islamic Republic demonstrated where all the interests lie: oil and resources, not the innocent lives and well-being of Iranian citizens. American forces are certainly not pressing the demands that Iran’s prisoners should be released and that the death sentence should be cancelled.

Throughout the war, I was worried that prisons would be bombed again; after all, Israel already targeted Evin Prison, where many were killed. The victims were locked up by one regime and murdered in their cells by another.

Resilience despite everything

Yet despite all that has taken place in recent years, Iran’s prisoners haven’t lost their resilience.

The ‘No to Execution’ movement began on 30 January 2024 at Ghezel Hesar prison. Death row inmates released a statement condemning the rise in executions, revealing that they faced imminent death without a fair trial or adequate legal representation. To urgently rally public support and awareness, they pledged to begin a hunger strike every Tuesday, a day associated with the transfer of inmates to solitary confinement before execution.

Over 2100 people were hanged in 2025. Iran’s regime is the leading executioner in the world per capita. But even as the regime continues to escalate its executions, over 62 prisons across the country are taking part in the hunger strike.

Zeynab also joined the strike and kept going, even after she was made to pay a heavy price. 18 years behind bars have not stopped her from speaking out about those oppressed and killed at the hands of brutal regimes, including the cases of Verisheh Moradi and Pakhshan Azizi, both women activists who were sentenced to death for supporting the Mahsa Amini protests. Jalalian asked the world not to be silent.

Now it is our turn to stand up for Zeynab, and help secure her release. That includes all the Western intellectuals who ignorantly echoed the regime’s so-called anti-imperialist slogans. After all, if anyone knows about the impact of imperialism, it is certainly Zeynab.

Her case risks being forgotten on the global stage; it is our duty to keep raising her name and story, and to pressure the regime at every opportunity. We have seen how the Islamic Republic has released prisoners following vocal campaigning and solidarity, so we know an act as simple as speaking up about Zeynab Jalalian can impact change.

We must #FreeZainabJalalian.

Nasrin Parvaz is an activist and author. Her works include ‘One Woman’s Struggle in Iran, A Prison Memoir’ (Award-Winner in the Women’s Issues category of the 2019 International Book Awards), and ‘The Secret Letters from X to A’. Nasrin has also written for The Guardian, The Morning Star, and Huck magazine, among others.

Source: The New Arab

I was a political prisoner in Iran — Tehran will use this moment to execute dissidents

In November 1982, Nasrin Parvaz planned to meet a friend and fellow activist in the Iranian capital, Tehran. She was shocked when her friend showed up at the meeting with an interrogator.

“I didn’t know he’d been arrested the day before,” Ms Parvaz, now 67 and based in Britain, told The i Paper. “He couldn’t take the torture, and named me. I was arrested.”

Ms Parvaz had been involved in demonstrations against the Iranian regime that had come to power following the revolution in 1979, bringing with it a fundamentalist and repressive interpretation of Shia Islam.

“The regime introduced misogynistic laws,” she said. “They said women had to cover their heads. Women did not have the right to divorce. Women had to have their husband’s permission to leave the country. Custody of children was the husband’s right. The law permitted men to kill their daughters and wives, and they went free.”

Ms Parvaz was taken to an interrogation centre for six months. “I was tortured because they wanted my contacts, and I wouldn’t give it to them,” she said. “My feet were lashed, so much so that I was paralysed for three weeks. The guards had to take me to the loo, and I couldn’t shower.”

She was transferred to Evin prison in Tehran, a notorious site holding thousands of prisoners, including hundreds of political dissidents, human rights activists, journalists and dual nationals. The prison, sitting on a hilltop surrounded by electrified barbed-wire fences, would become her home for most of the next seven years.

“Evin has a reputation of being a site of torture and oppression,” Nader Hashemi, director of the Alwaleed Centre for Muslim-Christian Understanding at the Edmund A Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, told The i Paper. “Every major political dissident that has been arrested by the Islamic Republic of Iran has found themselves at Evin.”

Ms Parvaz was shown to a room meant to sleep five prisoners – instead, it housed 80 women and two children.

A prisoner walks in the Evin prison yard in Tehran, Iran October 17, 2022. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY
An inmate in the Evin prison yard in Tehran in 2022 (Photo: Majid Asgaripour/Wana)

“I was beaten, but not like when I was at the interrogation centre,” she said. “I was put in solitary confinement, sometimes for months.”

She remembers becoming very ill in Evin with an unbearable pain in her stomach.

“I was at the point of dying,” she said. “I couldn’t eat anything and lost a dramatic amount of weight. They didn’t want to give me any treatment or medication, and said they would take me to hospital if I wrote my first confession – that I had made a mistake to struggle against the regime. I said I would not.”

Read more on The iPaper

A Letter From Evin Prison

Three women political prisoners have written to the people of Iran:

Greetings to our defiant people

We, the women political prisoners of Evin, condemn the destructive war waged by capitalist governments against all people. They are after only their own interests in securing their power through warmongering. This war brings nothing for people except destruction. People who have not caused these wars would be the main victims. We know that the people of Iran and the rest
of the world do not want war. That is because wars are imposed by governments to destroy, kill and repress human life.

We political prisoners are hostages of the regime in Iran. We are behind bars without the right to defend ourselves. Despite the unique circumstances imposed on us, it is for you that we worry, the dear freedom seeking people of Iran, from the bottom of our hearts.

We demand an end to the war that has been imposed on our people as soon as possible. We are asking you, the people, to demand an end to the war with your collective power.

Anisha Asadollahi, Nahid Khodajo, Nasrin KhezrJavadi – worker activists

Translated by Nasrin Parvaz
Nahid Khodajo was my prison cellmate during the 1980’s, when I was in prison for eight years. Nahid was in prison for seven years during the 80’s. She was arrested again in February 2024.

My Torturers Tried to Silence Me, But Art Gave Me Back My Voice

More than thirty years ago, I suffered terribly at the hands of the Iranian government. I was imprisoned for eight years, and they tried to silence me with torture. All I’d done was take to the streets to demand my freedom and liberty from an oppressive and authoritarian regime.

The torturers tried to take my voice away. And therapy, writing and art played a vital role in helping me to express myself again. When I first came to the UK, after leaving my friends and family behind, I felt lost. But I was given support by organisations like Freedom from Torture that had a transformative impact on my life. I joined Write to Life, a creative writing group for survivors of torture. Through writing I regained my voice.

For many years writing was a means of escape for me. But art opened my eyes and I realised that it could be a way of fighting back, as well as a means of change. It can provide a counterpoint to what those in power and their media are showing to people. Art can change people’s minds. That’s why art is seen as a threat to power. Look how many artists are imprisoned in Iran from rappers, like Toomaj Salehi, to film makers and other artists.

Sharing my story through writing, and now through my art, is such a powerful way to tell difficult stories. It can give such an important insight into the very painful realities faced by those of us who’ve experienced torture. Today, I’m a member of Survivors Speak OUT (the UK’s torture survivor-led activist network) and I can raise awareness of the horrors happening in Iran. Being able to do this has helped give my life meaning since I had to leave my home.

I’ve listened and watched in terror at the violence that has swept across my country, since the death of 22-year-old Jina Mahsa Amini at the hands of the abusive “morality police” in September 2022. Although media interest is disappearing, the wave of protests sparked by Amini’s death haven’t died away, they’ve just changed. Instead of thousands taking to the streets, young people gather to dance, and women risk their lives and liberty just to sing.

Now, things like street dancing, singing, paintings and music are such an important way for people in Iran to protest. Many forms of art – like songs, digital art, videos, graffiti – have been created during the Woman, Life, Freedom revolution. Each of them emphasises protest actions, resistance, and different forms of activities against the regime’s repressive system. My own work explores personal and political journeys based on both my life and collective experiences that I have witnessed and heard about.

At first, I only wanted to show what had happened in prison, but now I have so many other ideas, I don’t have enough time to paint them all. My work explores the vulnerabilities of humans, of issues like refugee and women’s rights. I try and capture this in my work, regardless of the media I use, through drawing, painting, sculpture or print making.

When I first got to the UK, my head was full of the scenes of prison. All I could think about were the faces of my friends who’d been executed, the noise of the firing squad and the crying of hungry children in the prison, the torture that we experienced, and the face of my father when I told him I’d been sentenced to death. Therapy helped me to slowly clear these images from my head, and over time, I was able to feel safe and strong again.

Still so many people in Iran have been imprisoned, they’ve been tortured and are languishing in prisons. I was lucky, I was able to get out. I’ve had the chance to recover and rebuild my life here in the UK. But my heart aches for the women who are still being subjected to the same kind of torture that I was. It’s horrific and depressing that this is still happening.

 

Iran is one of the top countries of origin of Freedom from Torture’s clients. There are many people like me who have fled their homes and reached the UK hoping just to live in safety. The therapists, lawyers and welfare advisors offer a lifeline to people who crucially need compassion, support and rehabilitation to recover.

Those in power in Iran now will do anything to try and suppress any opposition. Ex-prisoners, families of those still imprisoned, or anyone remotely politically active are being threatened and intimidated by security forces. It’s just more abuse carried out by an authoritarian regime that will stop at nothing to eradicate any form of defiance.

We need to continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the women and young people demanding the basic rights that we, in other parts of the world, take for granted and enjoy every single day. I’m calling on the international community and media to keep shining a spotlight on my country to demand that the regime stop using torture immediately.

Nasrin Parvaz became a civil rights activist when the Islamic regime took power in 1979. She was arrested in 1982, tortured and imprisoned for eight years. Parvaz is the author of One Woman’s Struggle in Iran: A Prison Memoir and The Secret Letters from X to A.

Article originally appeared on Huckmag.

“Yo no me quiebro”, Nasrin’s Memoir in Spanish

En 1979, Nasrin Parcaz regresó a Irán desde Inglaterra, donde había ido a estudiar, y se hizo militante de un partido socialista que luchaba por un estado no islámico. Tres años más tarde, a la edad de 23, Nasrin fue detenida por la policía secreta del régimen islámico. Durante los ocho años que siguieron, estuvo prisionera recintos del sistema penal iraní.

Yo no me quiebro es un testimonio de lo que tuvo que sufrir durante esos ocho años.

https://www.victorinapress.com/product/yo-no-me-quiebro-memorias-de-una-presa-politica-irani/

You could lift the noose from the necks of these 11 young men by signing this petition

During the 2017 uprising in Iran a participant named Asghar Haron Alrashidi was killed by a bullet fired by a government guard.

His family complained against the government militias. Soon after a number of his friends were arrested. They were forced to falsely confess to the use of arms in what was a peaceful demonstration under torture by the hands of Islamic Guards. The regime used these confessions against them to condemn them to execution.

These five men are sentenced to ten executions for the crime of protesting against the regime – yes, each of them is sentenced to two executions each. Their death sentence has been issued by the Supreme Court.

One thing that the Iranian regime does not like is international publicity that shows them for what they are. Please sign this petition to stop the regime from carrying out these executions.

Hadi Kiani was born in 1990 and is married.

Abass Mohammadi was born in 1991 and has two children.

Mohammad Bastami was born in 1992 and is married.

Majid Nazari Kondori was born in 1994.

Mehdi Salehi Ghaleh Shahrokhi was born in 1983 and has a seven year old daughter.

During the last three years there have been bursts of peaceful demonstrations in Iran. What people want is their basic rights: freedom of expression, jobs and unemployment benefits, and the end of execution. The regime shot demonstrators and arrested thousands of them before killing them in prison. Please sign this petition to stop the execution of these young men.

 

Just to say a couple of sentences about myself: I was arrested three years after the Islamic regime took power in the early 80s for the same reasons that these young men revolting against the regime. I was tortured and sentenced to execution, but after a year and half my late father was able to change my fate. I was released from prison after eight years. Now I’m a refugee living in the UK.

Sign the petition here.

Inside Stories: Stories of Resilience During the Pandemic

Inside Stories: stories of resilience during the pandemic is a series of conversations with people who have been displaced by war, conflict or persecution about their lives, thoughts and hopes for others.

As a young woman in post revolutionary Iran, Nasrin Parvaz was arrested for her political activism and spent the next eight years in Iran’s prisons.  The brutality of the prison regime, her friendship with her fellow women prisoners and their children, and the unexpected glimmers of joy and humour are captured in her book, One Woman’s Struggle in Iran: a prison memoir. Nasrin was granted protection in the UK in 1993 and is an author and artist.  She continues to campaign for justice and is an active members of Survivors Speak Out at Freedom from Torture.

A few weeks into the lockdown, we asked Nasrin what has happening in her life, what was on her mind and what message she might have for others.

“My life hasn’t changed much. Due to epilepsy, which I developed as a result of having my head bashed against walls in prison, my social life had become limited the last few years even before the pandemic; that means I couldn’t do the activities I would have liked. So my life was mostly dedicated to writing and recently to art. Now with the lockdown, that little social life that I had is gone and I’ve missed it, but I’m in touch with friends by phone. I’m very grateful that my editor has finished editing my most recent novel during the lockdown and with that aside, I now have other unfinished books to work on, and I continue my art classes on Zoom to improve my painting.

However I’m aware that this situation is very hard for people who have lost their loved ones, or for those who lost their jobs and don’t have a secure future. At the same time there is money available, it’s just not given to those who need it, and this hurts me. Especially when everyone had to stay at home and look after themselves and the construction workers still had to work. A friend of mine who had done many different jobs and who is a construction worker, worked until he dropped to the floor with the coronavirus and was under ventilation for 12 days. When he came out of the ICU the nurses clapped for him, saying he fought for his life. He had no energy to tell them that they had saved his life.

Once more this situation has reminded me that my struggle for justice was right and that I have to continue. Last year there were multiple floods in Iran that made so many people homeless. Flooding also happened in numerous other countries and it only makes the poor poorer, whilst the rich, whose companies heat up the earth producing useless goods, get richer.

The situation reminds me of prison, but not solitary confinement where I was deprived of being able to see anyone for days and nights for months. It reminds me of times that we prisoners were together or in different rooms, but had no right to talk to each other. We would be tortured if we did. Yet the guards could not read our eyes and a glance at my cellmate meant I had written a letter for her. We had secret places where we used to hide our letters. When another friend of mine hung her blue shirt on the washing line, I knew she was telling me that she had hidden a letter for me. An ordinary book would be a cover for our little letters to read under the guard’s nose. Just as we found new ways to communicate in prison, we are now using social media to be in touch with each other.

I hope this situation opens our eyes and people try to change the world for a better future. I’m worried that big pharma may attempt to capitalise on the importance of the virus and extort people by profiting on the price of the vaccine.

Nasrin Parvaz, June 2020

One thing that kept me going in prison was the belief that the situation will pass. I believed nothing was permanent and it’s the same with this situation we’re living in now. One day this virus will disappear. But I hope this situation opens our eyes and people try to change the world for a better future. It makes me sad that all the production is for profit rather than for people’s benefit – and everywhere people become poorer and a select few get all the wealth with the help of the system and army that they have made to protect themselves. I’m worried that big pharma may attempt to capitalise on the importance of the virus and extort people by profiting on the price of the vaccine if it is successfully developed.

I also hope all those polluting cars won’t come back to the streets, and that there is a solution. If transport is public and free, not for profit, then people would not bring their cars to the street and the air wouldn’t get polluted: the earth would breathe rather than burn as it does now.

#CommunityAcrossDifferences #RefugeeAllies  #InThisTogether  #InsideStories

© Milan Svanderlik for www.LondonersAtHome.org