Iran Witness: Activist Mahboubeh Karami on Six Months in Detention

Women's rights activist Mahboubeh Karami was arrested on 2 March after security forces. She was freed this month on bail of $500,000, but still faces a four-year prison sentence. Interview by Change for Equality:

What happened on March 2, 2010?

On that night I was at my home along with my father and brother. Around 11 pm someone rang the door bell. When my brother answered, the person behind the door explained that he was a technician from the electric company and asked him to open the door. My brother went to the front yard, and I could see from the window that three men approached him and showed him a piece of paper. They entered our home along with my brother. As soon as they entered our home one of them began to search the premises. Another asked to see my computer.

What was on the piece of paper they showed your brother?

It was a summons giving them the right to search the premises, to seize my personal property, such as books and papers and my computer and to arrest me. But these security officials did not only search my personal property, they searched the entire house, including my brothers belongings.

After your arrest, where were you taken?

They asked that I go with them. In response to my brother’s repeated inquiries about why I was being arrested, they kept saying that it’s not an important issue and they only want to question me. But these three men who had come to my house in the middle of the night intended to arrest me. The fact that they were three men and there was no woman with them was worrisome for both myself and my family.

They took me to the car and gave me a blindfold and pushed my head down to the ground and in the end they took me to Evin Prison to Ward 2. Of course, at first I didn’t realize that this was Ward 2, which is managed by the Revolutionary Guards. Anyhow, I was taken to solitary confinement. The following day, my interrogations began.

Prior to the start of the interrogations, did they explain to you why you had been arrested?

Unfortunately no one explained anything to me. The first time they took me to the interrogation room, I noticed that the walls were mirrored. Later I found out that they referred to that room as the mirrored interrogation room.

The female prison guard who had taken me to that room left me there and I sat on the chair in the room. After a few minutes, a man entered the room abruptly while yelling and screaming at me. He was very violent and from the minute he entered the room, he yelled “GET UP! Who has allowed you to sit?” I got up, but he continued his constant shouting “Stand up straight! Don’t lean on the wall!” He was cursing. I became very anxious and nervous. He kept yelling, “Tell me the password to your e-mail!” and he continued cursing at me. Finally I realized that the reason for my arrest was my association with the “Human Rights Activists Group” because all his questions were related to this.

You said that the room they took you to was the mirrored interrogation room. Why did they call it the mirrored room?

The walls were covered in mirrors. Later I found out that when they left me alone in the room and even when I was being interrogated, there were people behind the mirrors watching.

What happened next?

After the first interrogation, another interrogator was sent. He tried to have a more pleasant approach. I was interrogated on an almost daily basis and remained in solitary confinement. This continued for several weeks. I was under a great deal of pressure emotionally.

One day, I asked the prison guard to bring me my scarf. I explained that the blanket they had given me had a lot of hairs on it and that I wanted to use my scarf as a sheet between my body and the blanket. She brought me the scarf. I tied the scarf around my neck tightly. I was tired and extremely weak. I was crying constantly and my emotional state was extremely poor. I pulled on the knot of the scarf so tightly that eventually I passed out. When I came to, there were two guards standing over me, and they were rubbing my neck. After that they took me to the interrogation room again. The first interrogator came to the room and began explaining that all that was happening to me was actually my own fault and a result of my own wrongdoing.

Despite having attempted suicide in prison, they didn’t take you to a doctor?

They took me to the prison infirmary and there they didn’t do anything in particular for me. More than anything, I needed a psychologist or psychiatrist or a therapist, not a general doctor.

Were you provided phone privileges during your imprisonment?

Yes. Almost every other day I was allowed to call my brother or my aunt, who has been very worried about me since the passing of my mother.

How long were you in Ward 2 of Evin managed by the Revolutionary Guards?

Approximately 80 days. Of course during this time, I was transferred also to solitary confinement in the women’s ward. I would be taken from there to Ward 2 for my interrogations.

Last March (2009), you were also in prison during the Iranian New Year’s holidays, is that true?

Yes . Last March, I was in prison and arrested for no reason. My mother was extremely sick with cancer and I missed out on being with her during her final days. This year for the New Years, despite all their promises, they did not allow me to attend the memorial services for my mother. They didn’t even give me the clothes my family had delivered to the prison in the hopes that I would be allowed to take part in her memorial service on the anniversary of her passing.

Where did they send you after Ward 2?

After 80 days I was transferred to the quarantine section of the female ward. I spent another 18 days in solitary confinement there and did not have the right to make any phone calls. My lack of communication worried my family greatly. After that they transferred me to the public women’s ward. I spent all my days in the public ward in one room along with 25 other prisoners. We were in a room that is called the political prisoner’s room.

Did you feel better after going to the public ward?

Naturally, I felt much better than when I was in solitary confinement. But I had become very weak and extremely depressed. I was crying constantly.

Did you receive any medical care during this time?

After I submitted a written request I was taken to the medical examiner, who determined that I was suffering from depression. Of course he has also determined that my emotional state and my depression would not prevent me from serving any prison sentence that may be handed down in my case. Except for this, no other action was taken to provide me with treatment in prison.

During your imprisonment, there were news reports that you had to go for a nose operation in Taleqani hospital, but you did not agree to the operation. Can you explain about this?

I have had problems with my breathing since I was a child. For this reason I am a difficult sleeper. In prison I made a lot of noise while sleeping as well. Sometimes I would snore, but at times I would scream while sleeping. My screaming was so bad that my cell mates had to wake me up. They took me to the hospital for this reason and the doctor suggested that I have an operation which would allow me to breathe more easily. I did not agree to the operation because prison conditions are not suited for a recuperation after operation. Also, my problems were much more serious than just breathing difficulties.

During this time, your court date has been changed on two occasions. Can you explain about that?

My first court date was scheduled for the 29th of June, but was postponed because on that day most court officials were on holiday and there was no one present to respond to our inquiries either. The second time, the judge was not present in his chambers and as such the date of my hearing was postponed again.

What were the charges brought against you in court?

I was charged with holding a position of responsibility in an illegal organization (the human rights activists group), accepting responsibility of the women’s committee in this group with the intent of disrupting national security, spreading of propaganda against the state, collusion, and gathering with the intent to commit a crime against national security and the publication of lies.

Did the court find you guilty of all the charges against you?

I was acquitted on the charge of spreading lies but was found guilty on all other charges. I was sentenced to two years for membership in the human rights organization and two years for collusion and gathering and spreading of propaganda against the state. In total I received a four-year mandatory prison sentence.

So, you have been sentenced to four years. What will you do next?

I will appeal the ruling. Currently because of my poor emotional state and on doctor’s orders I will have to be hospitalised. [It was reported yesterday that Karami is now in hospital.] But my lawyers will appeal the ruling in the time frame allotted by the courts. I do not accept any of the charges brought against me and have denied them.

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2010 GMT: Khatami's Qods Day Message for Iran. The Facebook page supporting Mir Hossein Mousavi has posted the English text of Mohammad Khatami's message for Qods Day. Inevitably, much of the statement was about Palestine, but Khatami did have a sharp passage directed at Tehran rather than Jerusalem:

We cannot suffer from colonial dependence in one place and say that we should fight that and be ignorant toward that in another place; or vice versa we say that others should be free and have sovereignty to chose their own fate and should ne not be under tyranny, colonialism and dictatorship but if such issues happen to us we be ignorant toward them! No! human problems are linked together.

The roots of many of these issues are in the teachings and history of Islam as well. One of these issues is what gives legitimacy to a system, a society and a government? What is the basis for legitimacy? There is a common principle that humanity have reached and we as Muslims also have accepted that and that is the fact that people's votes and satisfaction are the foundations to establish a legitimate system.

If people's consent does not exist, no government can be imposed on the people; and even if it is imposed it will not be legitimate. Of course according to our views based on Islam and Shia teachings a government should have some principles and meet some conditions and if it does not then it will not be legitimate. Government should meet some conditions and the rulers also should meet some conditions.

According to teachings of Imam Ali (Shia's first Imam), he had stated that if people's votes and presence did not exist, he would have never accepted to govern. It means that even in case of Imam Ali's government if people did not voted of it, it would have not been imposed on the people because if such thing would have happened it would have been wrong.

When we say democracy this is it: democracy in line with religion....

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1800 GMT: Families Protected. The Los Angeles Times, via Iran Labor News Agency, reports that the Parliament has referred controversial articles of the Family Protection Bill back to committee for further study.

Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani said, "According to the notification of the lawmakers and in consultation with the judiciary branch, seemingly the articles 22, 23 and 24 contain some Islamic shortcomings. Therefore, they will be returned to legal and judiciary commission to be corrected."

Parliament had already voted down a provision that would have allowed registration of "temporary marriages". The bill also would make ease the financial and legal regulations on polygamy for men.

1755 GMT: Supreme Leader Slaps Down the President. And the day gets even more interesting....

The website of Ayatollah Khamenei's office reports that, in a meeting with the President and the Cabinet, the Supreme Leader said they must "avoid parallel work in areas including foreign policy". That is an in-your-face message to Ahmadinejad that Khamenei is not happy with the President's appointment of four special representatives for international matters.

1740 GMT: Karroubi Watch --- Urgent. We've added to our feature on Mehdi Karroubi's latest statement, condeming election fraud and repression, with the disturbing news that his house is being declared the meeting place for plotters of sedition and that it has been surrounded by 50 "plainclothes forces".

1730 GMT: It's a bad propaganda week so far for the Iranian Government. We had already posted a feature on its bungled publicity over detained reformist Mostafa Tajzadeh; now we write about Tehran's nervousness that its image is being damaged by the case of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, condemned to death for adultery.

1400 GMT: Electricity Squeeze. DayPress claims that residents in Ahwaz in southern Iran have protested sharp rises in electricity bills, amidst 50-degree Celsius (122-degree Fahrenheit) heat.

1350 GMT: Rafsanjani Watch. Former President Hashemi Rafsanjani is maintaining a tough line on international matters: “The United States propped up Islamic extremism and created the extremist groups to impede the Islamic Revolution, but ... now they are plagued with [the acts of] their own puppets....The ill-informed and prejudiced [officials] in the West overtly express their animosity towards the liberating teachings of Islam and the Quran under the pretext of [opposing] the blind al-Qaeda terrorism and Islamic extremism.”

1344 GMT: Economy Watch. Despite sanctions and economic difficulties, the Tehran Stock Exchange continues to rise because of trading by state-run firms, increased liquidity, and the government's push for privatisation. The Exchange has hit a record high, rose nearly 4 percent on Sunday and Monday, adding a nominal $10 billion to its value.

1340 GMT: Qods Day Alert. Five days before Iranians are asked to recognise the situation of Palestine, former President Mohammad Khatami has declared that Qods Day "is a symbolic day against oppressors".

1330 GMT: Interview of the Day. It has to be Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki's exchange with the German magazine Der Spiegel, "The West Lacks Political Maturity". This is the mature start to the discussion:

SPIEGEL: Mr. Foreign Minister, you are the senior diplomat of the Islamic Republic of Iran. You represent a nation that prides itself on a cultural history stretching back more than 2,500 years. Don't you find it shameful that people are stoned to death in your country?

Manouchehr Mottaki: You come from a country that murdered millions of people during a tyrannical war, and you want to talk to me about human rights? OK, we can certainly discuss the laws in various countries and naturally we can, in a friendly atmosphere, debate the different legal principles.

The interview features Mottaki's claims, "No one is executed in Iran for political reasons. You have no evidence to prove the opposite," and "Confessions were made in an open atmosphere, in the presence of media representatives. They were also repeated in front of other witnesses." However, this is the maturity showpiece from the Foreign Minister:

This election was a triumph. We had the highest turnout for a presidential election since the 1979 revolution. Of 40 million voters, a turnout of 85 percent, 25 million voted for Mr. Ahmadinejad. But as was already the case during Mr. Ahmadinejad's first election in 2005, the West apparently expected a different election result. We think the Western countries lack political maturity.

Manipulation is an issue in elections everywhere. Just think of the differences of opinion that elections have triggered in the United States, where a court had to step in to end a dispute over the validity of ballots. The accusations were also investigated in our country, at the urging of the opposition and our leadership. The votes were recounted. Since then, the result has been legally binding.

1210 GMT: The President's Right-Hand Man. Looks like the Ahmadinejad office is ready for a fight with conservative MP Elyas Naderan over the claim that Chief of Staff Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai met the former US ambassador in Israel: "We reject the baseless claim made by an Iranian parliamentarian...and we secure our right to pursue the issue legally."

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, trying to defend the President's appointment of Rahim-Mashai and three others as special representatives for foreign policy, has said that Naderan's remarks in Parliament had "nothing to do" with the questions he had tabled over the appointments. Mottaki said he might have to give Naderan a "yellow card" for his behaviour.

1000 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch.Ghorban Behzadian-Nejad, the manager of Mir Hossein Mousavi's campaign, is free on bail after 9 months in detention.

Women's rights activist Mahboubeh Karami is reportedly in hospital after her release on $50,000 bail. Karami has been sentenced to four years in prison.

0855 GMT: We have now posted our special feature, "Political Prisoners, Election Fraud, & The Regime’s Backfiring Propaganda."

0700 GMT: Sanctions Watch. William Yong of The New York Times follows up on the development, which we noted last week, that Iran is withdrawing its assets from European banks to prevent them being frozen.

0645 GMT: Shutting Down the Lawyers. Fereshteh Ghazi reports on another instance of harassment and intimidation of Iran's defence attorneys. Nasrin Sotudeh's office and home have been searched, and the lawyer has been accused of propaganda against the regime.

0640 GMT: Discussing, Organising. Activists have announced a conference from 1 to 3 October at the Free University in Berlin to discussion the formation of "an independent, widespread organization of Iranian youth and students abroad".

0636 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch --- The Latest Names. An activist, drawing from RAHANA, has published an English-language list of 574 known political prisoners currently in detention.

0633 GMT: Political Defiance. The reformist Islamic Iran Participation Front, banned by the Government, continues to defy its "non-existence". Rah-e-Sabz has photos of an Iftar, the meal breaking the daily fast during Ramadan, of IIPF members.

0630 GMT: Execution Protests. Mission Free Iran claims that Rasht, a city in northwest Iran, joined the global demonstrations this weekend against stoning.

0625 GMT: The President's Right-Hand Man. Kodoom claims, without citing the original source, that prominent conservative MP Elyas Naderan has accused Ahmadinejad's Chief of Staff, Esfandiar Rahim Mashai, of meeting a former American Ambassador to Israel, hosting mixed-gender dance parties, and serving alcohol at some gatherings.

0610 GMT: We open today with two specials surrounding the claimed rigging --- some going as far to call it a "coup" --- of the 2009 Presidential election. We have the English text of Mehdi Karroubi's statement on Sunday condemning the election fraud and repression of the Iranian people. Later this morning, we'll have an update on the increasingly desperate Government campaign (which we noted 12 days ago after a manipulated video appeared, failed, and disappeared) to fabricate a "confession" by former Deputy Minister of Interior Mostafa Tajzadeh that the election was legitimate.

Rah-e-Sabz features Tajzadeh's latest resistance, via his wife's blog to the regime's propaganda and pressure upon him and his family. He challenges defenders of the vote to a public debate and asks, "I have written 7 pages about the rigged election in jail, why don't they [the Government] publish them?" (See English version of report.)

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2020 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch (Cosmetics Edition). Minister of Intelligence Heydar Moslehi, who has been putting himself on front pages all week with tales of danger and how Iran's services are triumphing, does it again today by accusing the Swedish cosmetics firm Oriflame of trying to harm Iran's security: "Oriflame intended to fight the (Iranian) system. There are no economic reasons behind the company. We realised through the evidence that the arrogants (Western powers) and intelligence agencies sought to create security problems for the country through this company."

Oriflamme's chief financial officer Gabriel Bennet responded, "We are a cosmetics company, we are selling direct. We are of course not involved in any political activities in the country (Iran). It is very very difficult to comment on [the accusations]."

On 22 August, Iranian authorities closed Oriflamme's Tehran office and arrested five employees, reportedly on charges that the company was running a pyramid scheme.

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1625 GMT: The American Detainees (cont.). There is chatter, amidst the statement of Minister of Intelligence Heydar Moslehi that the case of Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal "is nearing its end", that the US hikers could be released before the end of Ramadan.

There have been a number of moments over the last 13 months when there were indications that freedom was imminent, and each time hopes have been dashed. So the attitude might be "believe it when we see it".

The lesson could be --- as with many other cases and seen this week in the campaigns for Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani (see 1415 GMT) and Shiva Nazar Ahari --- that pressure not be relaxed for justice and resolution of the situation.

1500 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Ten days after he was summoned back to prison, journalist/filmmaker Mohammad Nourizad has finally been allowed to see his family.

Reformist politician Mostafa Tajzadeh, who also returned to detention and shares a cell with Nourizad, has written an open letter to the Tehran Prosecutor General. In the message, he talks about seeing his wife after 11 days incommunicado.

1435 GMT: The American Detainees. Minister of Intelligence Heydar Moslehi has said the case of three detained American nationals --- Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal --- is near closure: "The investigations in the case of the three (Americans) is nearing its end and the verdict to be announced soon."

The trio were arrested in July 2009 when they allegedly crossed an unmarked border into Iran while hiking in Iraq's Kurdistan region.

1420 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. HRANA reports that the four-year prison sentence for human rights activist Mahboumeh Karami has been confirmed.

1415 GMT: Political Prisoner (Ashtiani) Watch. The Iranian judiciary has released a statement on the case of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, sentenced to death for adultery.

The judiciary, implicitly recognising the international presssure for clemency and/or freedom for Ashtiani, said that the rights of all citizens were defended; however, the charges of adultery and complicity in her husband's murder had been proven against the 43-year-old woman.

1120 GMT: Diplomatic Service. Iranian official Mohammad Reza Sheibani Rauf has defended the President's appointment of four special representatives, including Chief of Staff Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai, for areas of foreign policy. He claimed this was "not uncommon" and cited the example of the US.

Rauf also noted that the President's office had appointed a Special Representative on Caspian Affairs in the past.

1100 GMT: The Battle Within. Leading conservative Morteza Nabavi has criticised the President for his failure to attend meetings of the Expediency Council, saying this was a "legal claim" as well as a political issue.

Nabavi noted the possible conflict between Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the head of the Expediency Council, Hashemi Rafsanjani, but said both should reject "inflexible positions" and show an example of "political maturity" in reaching resolutions.

0900 GMT: Uranium Watch. Peyke Iran, drawing from Asr-e Iran, claims that Moscow is unsure about Tehran's proposal for a joint consortium to produce fuel for the Bushehr nuclear plant.

0850 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Dr. Shiravi, Professor of Mechanical Engineering and former Dean of Shahid Chamran University in Dezfoul, has been arrested.

0615 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Muhammad Sahimi, writing in Tehran Bureau, has a lengthy profile of Shiva Nazar Ahari, the activist detained since July 2009 and facing death on the charge of "mohareb" (war against God).

0610 GMT: Economy Watch. Street Journalist, relaying an item we saw in Peyke Iran, quotes Ali Deghan Kia, a member of the Higher Islamic Council Association Board, who says there has been a 40% increase in unemployment in manufacturing and "more than 90 percent of productive units transferred to the private sector are at risk of bankruptcy”.

Deghan Kia blamed "uncontrollable importation and smuggling of Chinese goods [as] the number one cause for unemployment....Every billion dollars of smuggled good entering the country is responsible for unemployment of 25,000 workers in Iran.”

0600 GMT: Academic Corner. Science follows up on the firing of Professor Yousef Sobouti, the astrophysicist and founder-director of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences who was Chancellor of Zanjan University. It claims that Sobouti's replacement, Rasoul Khodabakhsh, is a "nuclear scientist known to have links with the pro-government Basij militia".

Science that the Government has also replaced the leaders of at least 17 other academic and scientific institutions over the past month, including the chancellors of Sharif University of Technology in Tehran, the University of Golestan in north Iran, and Arak University.

0545 GMT: We open Saturday with a music special, as Kanye West and Jay-Z put out a rap against war with Iran.

Meanwhile, the Swiss energy group EGL spins another message, saying that 18 billion Euro ($23 billion) gas contract with the National Iranian Gas Export Company is not affected by American sanctions: “We are not violating any regulations, and follow rules; we feel we are not really deserving to come on the sanctions list.”

“Using of the revenues by Iran from the EGL deal to finance terrorism and its allies Hamas and Hizbullah. That is speculation. We do not pay money for supporting terrorism. I cannot really comment on such a speculation,” spokeswoman Lilly Frei said.

Last week EGL put out a somewhat different rationale: “As we noted in the past when this deal was first announced, oil and gas deals with Iran send the wrong message when Iran continues to defy UN Security Council resolutions. We have raised our concerns with the Swiss government about this arrangement on multiple occasions."

However, Frei is now saying, “We have a contract with the company, not with Ahmadinejad." Asked about other connections, Frei said EGL did “not know if the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps is affiliated with National Iranian Gas Export Company".