Mohammad Maleki to UN Special Rapporteur: I testify to 32 years of crime
By: Maryam Nayeb Yazdi
Tags: Humanity First, Iran, Humanity, Human Rights, Mohammad Maleki

This letter was written by Mohammad Maleki in September 2011 addressed to Ahmed Shaheed, the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iran at the time:

In the Name of God

Dear Dr. Ahmed Shaheed,

I wish you success in your great and humanitarian undertaking. I am Dr. Mohammad Maleki, a retired university professor and the first President of the University of Tehran after the Islamic revolution. Based on my personal experience, I want to inform you of some of the egregious violations of human rights in my country, Iran, with the hope that it may be a step toward freeing my nation from so much atrocity, corruption, and cruelty by its rulers.

My dear brother, Mr. Shaheed,

I am one of tens of thousands of Iranians whose human rights have been frequently violated by the authoritarian and despotic rulers of the Islamic Republic of Iran over the past 32 years, and I have witnessed many crimes in Iranian prisons. Here I will mention some of them.

In 1979, following the victory of the Islamic revolution, and after being appointed as the President of the University of Tehran, I used all my resources to implement one of the aims of the revolution: managing the university and its colleges by a council composed of professors, students, and staff selected through a democratic election. However, the ruling system, which had assumed control over all affairs in the country, did not favor this plan. Finally, in a coup called the “Cultural Revolution”, [the ruling system] attacked the universities and murdered some students and injured or arrested some others and closed the universities. They arrested many of the protesting students and, after severe torture, executed them. The Management Council of the University of Tehran and the Supreme Council of the university, which administered the university, opposed this action. But instead of responding to the opposition, the ruling system arrested some of [the members], including me. For opposing the decree of the leader (Ayatollah Khomeini) [we were] sent to prison. In an illegal court, I was tried in the absence of a lawyer and was first sentenced to death and then to 10 years in prison. During this period I was treated in the cruelest ways possible, including: being lashed with a cable wire on the soles of my feet and other parts of my body; being hung from the ceiling; my head being smashed against the wall; and being punched and kicked, which led to my blindness in the left eye and my right wrist to break…and all other kinds of torture. The signs of some of these tortures are still evident on my body. After five years I was released, but for months I had to introduce myself to the Prosecutor once every few days in order to be interrogated, which was itself a type of torture.

In the year 2000, I was arrested again along with tens of national-religious activists and charged with “Subversion”. I was imprisoned for six months in one of the most horrific prisons [Eshratabad] operated by the IRGC. [I was held in a] solitary confinement cell measuring 1 X 2 meters. According to jurists and and psychologists, [this method of isolation] is called “white torture”. After enduring about seven months of imprisonment (white torture) I was released for trial. In an illegal closed court session I was sentenced to seven years of suspended imprisonment.

On August 22, 2009, while I was suffering from prostate cancer, heart arrhythmia and high blood pressure and was passing chemotherapy sessions and also suffered from a heart condition and frequent syncope, in the early morning some Ministry of Intelligence agents rushed into my home and, after inspecting the house and confiscating many of my books, transferred me directly from my sickbed to the Ministry of Intelligence ward (209) in Evin prison. I was held in solitary confinement for three months. In the interrogation sessions, they insulted and humiliated me in all ways possible, and just because of my critical writings and speeches, accused me of Moharebeh (enmity with and waging war against God) and insulting Khomeini and Khamenei (the leaders of the Islamic Republic). Finally, after 191 days of imprisonment, due to my critical health condition for which I had been transferred to the hospital several times, they granted me a sick leave so that my chemotherapy sessions may continue and the surgery for implanting a pacemaker be performed.

Recently, I was summoned to appear before the closed court, which is against the laws of the Islamic Republic, so that the verdict of the judge may be issued. Presently I spend the hard and excruciating days waiting for my sentence. I am an ailing 78-year-old man; however, I am ready for any sentence because my goal has been, is, and will be to struggle against tyranny and despotism of the ruling system in Iran. I rely on God and the people and I am not afraid of any retribution. My wish is to meet you and reveal some facts about the oppression of this nation and what has happened in Iran during the past three decades.

Dear Dr. Shaheed,

I shall testify how during the 1980’s, each night after being severely tortured, young prisoners and students, both male and female, were taken for execution in tens or hundreds;. They walked toward their destiny while singing chants along the way. I am ready to reveal the facts I have witnessed in the Velayat-e Faghih prisons and pay the price for it.

Finally, as an Iranian, I wish you success in your task. And I assure you that God is on your side. I am looking forward to meeting you.

Best regards,

Dr. Mohammad Maleki

Suspended political prisoner and former president of the University of Tehran

September 2011