Iran: When Youth Become Conscious & Brave – A Survivor Speaks
Posted by Mike E on October 25, 2008
Soudabeh Ardavan, artist, former political prisoner
Iran: “There is a period when youth become extremely conscious and brave” – A Survivor Speaks
20 October 2008. A World to Win News Service. Following are excerpts from a speech by Anahita Rahmani at a meeting commemorating the 20th anniversary of the massacre of Iranian political prisoners held in Toronto (Canada) on 3 August 2008. Rahmani was a political prisoner in Iran during those years. The text has been edited for publication.
Hail to the thousands of political prisoners who gave their precious lives for the goal of a world without oppression and exploitation and the emancipation of humanity! Salute those who gave their lives and did not give their secrets to the enemy!
There is a period in the history of every country when its people and youth become extremely conscious and brave and that enables them to create and safeguard the highest human values with the most honest and purest enthusiasm. The political prisoners and martyrs of the ’80s were that kind of people. They had sensitive minds and a rebellious and self-sacrificing spirit.
It was an honour that from 1983 to 1991 I was one among the thousands of women political prisoners held by the Islamic regime of Iran.
The IRI arose by attacking women. At its foundation, it gave the force of law to the most basic Islamic principles calling for the suppression of women. And in this way, a bloody struggle between women as a whole and the Islamic reactionaries started and has been going on ever since. The women political prisoners ranged from 12 to 70 years of age. Their rebellion against the old ideas, traditions and social relations became a mirror of the resistance and struggle against a vicious system.
After the massacre, some people came forward from within the ranks of the regime and tried to wipe these crimes from the memories of the people. Concealed under the guise of reformism, they raised the slogan of “national reconciliation”. They said that pursuing high goals is a thing of the past; they said it is time for tolerance and moderation! Trying to reconcile the people and the murderers and criminals, they put forward the slogan, “Forget and forgive”. They said the past is the past, now let’s have “civilized dialogue”! But these deceptions did not work. We have not let it be forgotten, and we will not forgive.
It has been two decades since the massacres in the prisons. Struggles involving memories and memoirs have been going on all these years. It is time to raise the demand for an investigation into the massacres that took place throughout the whole decade of the ’80s, and in particular the horrible crimes of the summer of ‘88, into a big social movement. It has been 20 years since this crime against humanity, and yet the case is still open and the details are not yet known. Not all of those who ordered this crime have been identified. Those who have been identified have occupied high posts and continue their crimes. This crime has not yet been recognised on an international scale and not even in a national scale in a correct way.
The lack of a response to the crimes of the ’80s is the most important reason for the continuation of crimes against the people in Iran in the following years. Despite broad protests against the IRI’s repression and killings, the numbers of those executed is still high – death sentences and stonings and mutilations are still carried out, and student activists and union leaders are imprisoned.
We must not allow this immense anti-human tragedy to be forgotten.
It is absolutely necessary to have a united voice to protest and a united movement to investigate the crimes of the IRI in the ’80s. Such a demand can succeed only when it has become a general demand of a social movement.
The question of political prisoners in Iran and the massacre of ‘88 cannot be separated from the issue of political prisoners in other parts of the world. Ending torture and allowing prisoners the right to a lawyer and a public trial are universal rights and should be fought for, from Evin (the infamous prison in Tehran for political prisoners built during the rule of the Shah and kept in use by the IRI) to Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib.
I was a member of the Union of Iranian Communists (Sarbedaran) when I was arrested and imprisoned. This organisation launched an armed struggle to overthrow the IRI, and my husband was one of those rebels. He was arrested and murdered under brutal torture because of his communist views and participation in this armed rebellion. Captives involved in armed struggles must be recognized as prisoners of war and be treated according to international conventions. In fact, to recognise this is to recognize the right of opposition.
The political prisoners of the decade of the ’80s were tortured and executed because of their antagonism to a rule whose essence was oppression, exploitation and gender discrimination. They were murdered without having a real opportunity to defend their ideas and their struggle and their political and social goals. And the people and society need that kind of defence in order to find the right path.
I am not lodging a complaint about human rights violations on the behalf of the communists who were murdered. The problem is much deeper: they murdered us for our struggle and our war to emancipate humanity; they murdered us out of desperation, to deprive the seeds of water, to kill off those dreams and high goals in our society. But the blood of our comrades nourished these plants. I, as a survivor of this massacre, declare that the resistance of our loved ones and the giving of their precious lives was not the end of our goal and the end of our march. It was a glorious attempt to light the difficult and complicated path of revolution and entrust the red flag of emancipation into the hands of young comrades of this shining path.
To subscribe or for back issues, go to www.aworldtowin.org or http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/AWorldToWinNewsService/
