Somayeh Kargar, former political prisoner in Iran, now in exile, posted a statement in part:
"Since the beginning of the Israeli aggression, the Islamic Republic has been warned to immediately release political prisoners and not to take advantage of them as hostages of war. But the lives of prisoners are of no value to the Islamic Republic or to Israel. The time has come to release the prisoners into the hands of the people.
The only way to save the prisoners of Evin is for all families to gather with the help and support of a large number of people from Tehran and other cities in front of Evin. Students from various universities, activists of labor social movements and teachers, women and retirees, and especially human rights activists, must play an important role in calling and organizing people to save the prisoners.
This can be a turning point in the broad unity and solidarity to confront all the evils of Israel/U.S. and the Islamic Republic regime. Our people must take their destiny into their own hands. Releasing political prisoners can be an important step toward that.
signed: Communist Party of Iran, Marxist-Leninist-Maoist (CPIMLM) "
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Note: On June 21, the US bombed Iran. Just four days earlier, a statement from the “No to Execution
Tuesdays” campaign by hunger striking prisoners had warned of the threat to their lives by being “bombs
from the sky and riot police behind bars
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As Israeli bombs rain death on Iran, prisoners caught in crossfire stand firm
“The Iranian people have been embroiled in a war that they did not and do not want at all.” So begins the June 17 statement by the weekly hunger strike campaign “No to Execution Tuesdays” now in 47 prisons across Iran. (Read IEC’s translation of full prisoners’ statement https://www.instagram.com/p/DLB5l4mu7tR/)
The prisoners’ campaign describes two chillingly emblematic incidents during this week of terror.
Caught between bombs from the sky and riot police behind bars
In the early hours of June 16, Israeli missiles rained down near the Dizel Abad Prison in Kermanshah, a majority-Kurdish city in Western Iran. Amid broken glass and the deafening sound of explosions, inmates demanded to be moved to a safer location. Instead, guards fired directly at prisoners, killing 9-10 and wounding many more. Riot control forces were deployed, using pellet guns, tear gas, and other means of suppression to subdue prisoners. Some prison doors were reportedly welded shut to restrict movement within the facility. The bodies of the deceased were secreted out in private vehicles, and all communication with the prisoners has been cut off since.[1]
The prisoners’ campaign also notes that on the same day, Esmail Fekri was hanged in Ghezel Hesar Prison on charges of “sending sensitive information to Israel” although no evidence or details have been provided to substantiate the charges.[2]
There is a mortal danger to the political prisoners — and to all who are resisting the regime's fascist theocratic rule. All this will greatly increase repression and even possibly the massacre of prisoners (as happened in 1988 in Iran). It may encourage the regime's social base to conflate Israel with Iranian dissidents(especially those of oppressed regions). Amnesty International has raised the alarm about the IRI’s calls for expedited trials and executions .[3] In the week since the first Israeli airstrikes (June 17), the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) has arrested at least 300 people on vague charges like espionage or “collaboration” with Israel, including for merely publishing war-related photos on social media.[4] As of June 20, there is a country-wide shutdown of the internet, meaning loved ones can’t find one another and people can’t receive evacuation warnings,greatly increasing the sense of panic and chaos.
What kind of people are being arrested for aiding Israel? It was reported that at least 18 teenage girls were arrested on June 17 in Mahabad, a majority-Kurd city, for expressing opinions about the war on social media. They were temporarily released after several hours of interrogation under pressure and threats, with a court case filed and receiving bail.
In another example, on June 19, 30 plainclothes officers raided the home of dissident rapper Toomaj Salehi and held him incommunicado for 5 hours before releasing him. This was two days after he had scathingly criticized the warning (by Trump, although Toomaj didn’t name him) to “Evacuate Tehran”, which directly contradicts the regime’s excuse that dissidents are “helping Israel”.
War Danger to Prisoners
On June 16, Israel issued a warning to evacuate District 3 in Tehran, home to 330,000 people, many of whom would be unable to evacuate. Among those are 15,000 inmates in Evin Prison who are not only unable to escape Israeli bombs but have been cut off from any phone calls.
On June 19, several political prisoners in Evin signed a letter demanding temporary furloughs to enable them to leave the war-torn area. The duty to protect prisoners from harm during war is specified by international law.[5] Political prisoners in Evin Prison in particular have continued to struggle to bring moral and political clarity under dire conditions. Evin Prison, especially the women’s ward, has been long-known as a bastion of political resistance.This makes Israel’s bombing of Evin Prison all the more criminal and depraved. And this role highlights the importance of continuing to fight to free all political prisoners in Iran and to stop ALL executions.
One way (of many) to do this is to bring alive for people in the US the deep humanity and solidarity of these prisoners, is to promote the new book written by Sepideh Gholian while imprisoned in Evin, Evin Prison Bakers’ Club, Surviving Iran’s Most Notorious Prison in 16 Recipes (see our review). We are overjoyed to report that 30-year-old Sepideh was just released after completing her most recent 2.5 year imprisonment.
We conclude with the end of the statement from the hunger strikers from last week:
The presence and solidarity of the people is more important than ever in these critical days caused by the wars...You, the conscious and free people, are the only support and voice for us prisoners.
The release of all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience and the immediate revocation of all death sentences must become a public demand because the lives of political prisoners and those sentenced to death are in grave danger, and it is feared that the government will, as in the past, take those convicted to the slaughterhouse to intensify repression and intimidation.
The "No to the Death Penalty Tuesdays" campaign will be on hunger strike in the 73rd week of Tuesday, June 17, in 47 prisons."
So People Everywhere Can Learn What's Happening And Can ACT NOW!
In light of the grave situation in Evin prison and the other hell-hole prisons across Iran, it is crucially important to get the courageous words and resistance into the public square.
This is concentrated in the IEC’s demands: Free Iran’s political prisoners NOW! No US War Moves on Iran
This a message must ring out across social media, emails, and texts, and in the public square! This will give heart to the prisoners, their loved ones, and millions of Iranians. People everywhere need to be squarely confronted with the unfolding reality, so they — and especially those of us in the US, the country that sponsors Israel’s bombs and itself has now dropped massive bombs on Iran — can ACT commensurate with the urgency and gravity of the peril to the political prisoners.
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