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Italian Committee Admires Iranian Political Prisoners’ Fight Against Harassment and Torture

 

By NCRI Staff

NCRI – In an open letter to over 20 Iranian political prisoners on hunger strike in Gohardasht Prison, the Italian Parliamentary and Citizens’ Committee for a Free Iran condemned the crimes of Tehran’s regime and expressed admiration for the prisoners’ commitment to non-violent struggle and self-sacrifice in the face of torture and harassment by the regime.

In a statement issued on Thursday, United Nations special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iran, Asma Jahangir, expressed her deep concern about the situation of more than 20 political prisoners who have been on prolonged hunger strike since late July to protest their transfer to a high-security section of Gohardasht prison in Karaj, West of Tehran. The statement highlighted how badly these prisoners have been mistreated while in detention.

Translation of the text of the letter follows:

Rome, 30 August 2017:

The Italian Parliamentary and Citizens’ Committee for a Free Iran has been following the human rights situation in Iran for many years and wishes freedom, democracy and peace for the Iranian people. It welcomes your commitment and your fight, conducted without violence and with great capacity for sacrifice, against torture and harassment by the regime.

We Italian parliamentarians have been informed about your situation and your resistance for a few weeks and have appealed to the Italian, European and United Nations authorities to ask the Iranian regime to respect the obligations of international law on human rights, due process and respect for the lives, health and dignity of political prisoners.

We know that you are now subjected to constant monitoring, with closed-circuit cameras and listening devices everywhere, and without any privacy; that your cells have windows covered with metal plates and very little ventilation; that you have no access to drinking water; that family visits and phone calls are prohibited; and that some of you were kept in isolation for up to 12 days.

We have also denounced the massacre of 30,000 political prisoners by the regime in 1988 in all the relevant courts.

While we strongly condemn the crimes of the mullahs’ regime, we express our full solidarity and support. Therefore, we ask you, as Italian parliamentarians, to stop the hunger strike, and we confirm our commitment to your rightful requests being accepted in accordance with the rules of international law.