Awaiting execution in one of Iran’s most notorious jails, Mehtab makes a simple - and urgent - plea to the outside world: do not let those on death row be forgotten in the smokescreen of war. In messages smuggled out exclusively for The Independent, the political prisoner reveals the horrific conditions faced by those whose crime is to oppose the Iranian regime. Severe beatings, filthy conditions, scarce food and unbearable heat are all part of daily life, he says.
Mehtab, not his real name, highlights the dozens of Iranians who have been executed by the authorities since January’s uprising and the scores placed on death row during the ongoing war with the US - which, he says, Tehran has exploited to ramp up its repression of political opponents. Increase pressure on this regime to the maximum, and stand behind the Iranian people.” Mehtab was arrested for being a member of opposition group the People’s Mujahideen Organisation of Iran (PMOI). For this story, identities have been protected to guarantee the safety of prisoners, their families, and the political dissidents involved in smuggling material out of the prisons, a highly risky act that could be punishable by death.
The conditions in prison, he explains, are horrendous. Hygiene is poor, with scabies widespread. There is no separation of political prisoners and other criminals, which he says is a means for Iranian authorities to torment political prisoners.
Between the heat, the bedbugs, and the scabies, it is impossible to sleep or rest.” The prison yard is “virtually unusable” due to intense sunlight and a total lack of shade, he says. Food quality is extremely poor, portions are so small that prisoners are permanently hungry, and there is no medical treatment for sick prisoners. Mehtab says he was arrested for opposing Iranian executions and his public support for Maryam Rajavi, the leader of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, of which PMOI is a part.
Rajavi, who has put forward a 10-point plan that supporters say would establish a progressive democracy in Iran, is one of multiple political opponents outside Iran jockeying to be at the helm if the regime collapses, including former Iranian crown prince Reza Pahlavi. The Independent has not revealed which prison Mehtab is in, but it is understood that similar conditions prevail across the Iranian prison system. Prison officials are even supplying drugs to prisoners through “secure corridors”, a lucrative source of personal income, he adds, declaring that the Iranian authorities “want to destroy us, the political prisoners”.
Rights organisation Iran Human Rights (IHR) says there have been 537 executions so far this year - and 10,980 since 2010. Tehran has executed at least 56 people on national security charges since March, 27 of which were related to the January protests, the UN’s human rights chief says Volker Turk said in early August. The PMOI says it has recorded at least 40 executions of political dissidents aged between 19 and 70 since March, while at least 100 more have been sentenced to death.
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