Mansoureh Behkish’s open letter to Iran’s new president, Hassan
Rouhani
Mr. Rouhani, please hear our voices!
Translated by Laleh
Gillani © 2013
On Saturday, August 3, 2013, you were confirmed as the president of
the Islamic Republic of Iran and subsequently were sworn into the office.
During the inaugural ceremonies, you stated
that the president represented everyone in the country. As an Iranian, I find it necessary to point
out that you don’t represent those of us who didn’t participate in the
presidential election. We believe that
elections aren’t free in Iran because the basic process of nominating and
selecting a candidate is not democratic; there is no freedom of speech in the
country, and people are not free to form and participate in political
organizations. Nonetheless, we hold that
as the chief executive officer, the president has the duty to be responsive to
people’s demands whether they have voted for him or not.
As you faced the nation, you took an oath and then stated that
locked doors could be opened only when everything was transparent. How wonderful! Transparency is one of the pillars of
effective management. We hope that
you’re committed to transparency in practice.
It is what we haven’t seen during the last 34 years and need it so much. However, transparency isn’t enough. There are other important aspects to effective
management. Government officials must be
held responsible for their actions.
Accountability and social justice are other principles upon which effective
management of the country relies.
After the referendum of 1979 and the establishment of the Islamic
Republic of Iran, people faced numerous problems throughout the country, but
government officials asked everyone to be patient. We were told to hope for a better future
since peace, prosperity and freedom for everyone were just around the corner. But there was a vast difference between what
was said and what was done. In Neauphle-le-Château,
Ayatollah Khomeini had said that everyone even communists would be free in Iran. Once he came back, though, the best and the
brightest of our people were executed during 1980s. In the summer of 1988 alone, thousands of
political prisoners were hanged following a direct order issued by none but the
Ayatollah himself.
Instead of the bright future promised to our people, all of a
sudden, raids, arrests, tortures, forced confessions and killings of dissidents
began. Then, the war came along,
followed by its devastating aftermath, mandatory hijab, the closure of universities, the expulsion of
college students, and finally the mass killings of political prisoners in the summer
of 1988. In less than a month, thousands
of dissidents who were serving their prison sentences behind bars were executed
and buried in mass graves. Their
families were neither notified of the trials nor were present at the time of
burials. The bodies of political
prisoners while fully dressed were simply thrown into channel-like mass graves
without proper burial ceremonies.
Still, there was more to come.
Our nation then endured the chain killings of writers throughout 1998. Although those crimes were exposed, but the
murder cases were never solved. Then, student
protesters were brutally attacked in their dormitories on campus in 1999, and
several of them were killed or injured.
In 2009, the country witnessed again the crackdown on street protesters,
followed by numerous arrests, torture, rapes and eventually silent, mysterious
deaths in prisons. Once again, the
regime failed to address any grievances, providing no explanations to shed any
light on why and how these events had occurred.
Mr. Rouhani, during the last 34 years, you and your brethren have
done all you could to harm our nation. The
very same people who overthrow Shah’s government in search of freedom and in pursuit
of a better life worthy of human beings have been oppressed by the Islamic
Republic of Iran. But no one takes the
responsibility for what has been done to us.
Each and every one of you points his figure at others and blames someone
else for what has conspired during this time.
A lot of people including me have lost our loved ones simply
because there is no freedom in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Although systematic and gross violations of
human rights is still wide-spread in the country, the circumstances are different today as it was in the ‘80s. Today, oppressors no long can eliminate their
defenseless opponents quietly and get away with it. Now, the regime is facing a restless nation
tired of social and political pressures as well as economic hardship,
unemployment and inflation. The majority
of people who voted for you did so simply because they had no other
choice. They are neither fond of the
Islamic Republic of Iran nor the likes of you.
They simply want to live decent lives without discrimination, war and
bloodshed.
The families and relatives of the fallen want nothing but to build
a better world for everyone, but we have been oppressed brutally and forced to
live in the worst possible conditions. The
Islamic Republic of Iran not only took the lives of our loved ones, but it also
brought about the demise of their mothers, fathers and other family members,
denying everyone a normal life. Even
worse, our children have been haunted too.
Generation after generations have been subjected to continuous threats
and denied an opportunities to live as productive members of the society.
The account of what’s been done to me is an example of how the
regime has treated the families of the fallen.
I have been arrested numerous times just because I have been after the
truth, sought justice and demanded answers.
I have been summoned to the Intelligence Agency many times and have lost
my job. In February 2008, my passport
was confiscated at the airport. I have been
tried and sentenced to four years in prison with three and a half years
suspended. These days, I live my life,
fearing the moment when I must return to prison to serve the remainder of my
term. On February 3, 2013, I was ordered
to report to Evin Prison but was sent back home. My suitcase still sits in a corner of the
house, remaining there until the next summon arrives. Now that I have written this letter to
describe the bitter truth of what has conspired against us, I honestly don’t
know what is going to happen to me next.
The greatest tragedy is that no government official has ever given
the families of the fallen any answers.
The Islamic Republic of Iran hasn’t told us what was done to our loved
ones behind bars. Since you are after
transparency in government, we ask you to address, at a minimum, the following
questions:
1.
How were the executions of political
prisoners in the 1980s, especially those killed during 1988, carried out?
2.
Why were prisoners who were serving
their terms behind bars executed without notifying their families?
3.
Why were the political prisoners
retried behind closed doors in secret by the Execution Commission?
4.
Why haven’t government officials
formally answered any of our questions to clarify why and how these mass
killings occurred?
5.
Why doesn’t the regime tell us where
exactly the executed political prisoners are buried?
6.
Why doesn’t the regime give the
prisoners’ last words and testaments to their families?
7.
Why does the government continue to
torment and harass the families who wish to gather in Khavaran?
8.
Why doesn’t the regime let us freely
commemorate the fallen in our homes and at Khavaran or other cemeteries?
9.
Why did the regime attempt to
destroy Khavaran once more in 2008 and failed to address our complaints?
10. Why
has the main entrance to Khavaran been blocked for the last five years? What is to be achieved by forcing elderly
parents to walk a considerable distance to reach the unmarked graves of their
loved ones?
11. Why
doesn’t the regime let the family of the fallen to mark their graves, plant
flowers and trees, and irrigate and clean the cemeteries?
12. Why
has the regime denied us the right to petition the government for redress of
our grievances?
Mr. Rouhani, are you aware of the fact that the minister of
“justice” chosen by you to fill this post in your cabinet was a member of the Execution
Commission 25 years ago? Do you know
that he was the one who issued death sentences for thousands of innocent human
beings including two of my own darling brothers? Do you know that they were serving prison
terms at the time when they were retried and sentenced to death?
Among those who voted for you are lots of people who are the
families of the fallen. They are individuals
whose fathers, mothers, spouses, siblings and children have been killed by the
Islamic regime. They are from families
who have persevered through tough times, surviving in the face of adversity despite
constant pressure. Only because they’ve
been left without any other alternatives, they participated in the elections
which resulted in nothing but the shifting of the same players along the
political spectrum. However, if this
time around nothing changes, and their needs and demands are ignored, without a
doubt, they will seek other alternatives.
If you and other government officials truly understand the current
conditions and comprehend the bitter truth, you know that you must do something
if for no other reason than saving yourselves.
You must do something today because tomorrow, it will be too late.
Mr. President, this year coincides with the 25th
anniversary of the mass executions of political prisoners in 1988. We are still seeking to find the truth about
what happened; we are still waiting for government officials to answer our
questions. Until such time as the truth
comes out, our grief and sense of loss linger, and our commitment to follow
through continues.
We ask you to stop tormenting and harassing the families of the executed
dissidents. Open the doors of Khavaran to
us and stop interfering with our ceremonies to commemorate the anniversary of
the fallen. We demand to know exactly
where our loved ones have been buried.
We would like to care for their graves as we see fit. At a bare minimum, we are entitled to these
rights. So we ask you to acknowledge and
respect them.
Those of us who seek justice have strived to build a better life
worthy of human beings, hoping that the world will never witness such crimes
repeated again.
Mansoureh Behkish
August 7, 2013
Petition:
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