Saturday, May 4, 2024

White Torture: Interviews with Iranian Women Prisoners by Narges Mohammadi

 


  White Torture is a book that should be read by university students across the world. I am humbled by the courage and resilience of Narges Mohammadi and other women in Iran who resist the oppression and abuse of the Iranian government. When Narges Mohammadi won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2023, I thought that the international community would be more determined to support these women. However, the torture and executions of innocent women by the Iranian government continue to run unabated.  Narges Mohammadi provides details of the gender apartheid in Iran in a recent letter she wrote to Antonio Guterres, urging the United Nations to declare gender apartheid a crime against humanity and demanding action against it.

 I could not find any response from Antonio Guterres.

 White Torture contains interviews with highly educated Iranian women who are in jail due to false, ludicrous accusations or for merely disagreeing with an authoritarian government that treats women as inferior beings. Practicing a religion that is different from the one imposed by the government is also a reason for imprisonment and torture.  Reading about the ways these valiant women were separated from their children was heartbreaking.

  I could not find Narges Mohammadi’s book at the library, so I purchased the book myself, in solidarity with these amazing women. I will be donating it to one of the little libraries in my town and I encourage you to do the same. It is necessary to support the voices of these women whose lives have been suppressed by an authoritarian regime that trashes democratic principles and gender equality.

  I am impressed by these women’s boldness and clarity of mind despite the trauma. The way they analyze their social context and navigate situations with dignity and integrity shakes the heart and strengthens the spirit in ways that are difficult to describe. (It was a very emotional experience to read the book, and it also confirmed previous statements I made in my blog…) I was not exaggerating when I said that misogyny is legal in some countries. It is not uncommon for dissidents to be jailed and tortured in Iran. A woman who faced various threats and insults by an interrogator shares an anecdote. After blowing his nose on a paper towel, her interrogator said, “Women are like this paper towel. They are to be used and then thrown away.”

    Narges Mohammadi said, “What keeps me on my feet in this prison, while my body is bruised and wounded, is my love for the honorable, but tormented, people of this country, and my ideals of justice and freedom. To honor the innocent people’s blood shed atrociously, I pledge to speak the truth, defy tyranny, and defend the oppressed and my last breath.”

 Narges Mohammadi was not allowed to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in- person because she is in prison, and we don’t know what her medical condition is now. Her family does not know if they will ever see her again.

  The only ones protesting to support these women are in Iran, and these brave people are jailed and executed for doing so. Where is the solidarity with them?

  Narges has always been an activist for human rights and democracy in Iran. She was born on April 21, 1972 in the city of Zanjan in a middle-class family. She studied physics at the International Imam Khomeini University in Qazvin. After graduating she worked as a professional engineer with the Iran Engineering Inspection Corporation. While working as an engineer she wrote articles for newspapers and magazines in which she expressed her concerns regarding gender equality and democracy in Iran. Working as an engineer and writing these articles, however, became untenable under the repressive system of the Islamic Republic. In 2009 Narges was dismissed from her position with the Engineering Inspection Corporation. In 2010 she was summoned to court for being a member of the Defenders of Human Rights Center. She was later released on bail (50,000 $), but was rearrested several times after that. While in Evin Prison her health declined.

  The book has an introduction by Shannon Woodcock which gives a relevant account of the Islamic regime, “The Islamic regime has used legislation and physical coercion to create a society in which women and ethnic and religious minorities have restricted rights of movement, education and employment. Those who protest are flogged, imprisoned and executed. The Iranian state targets and persecutes families across generations, threatening to incarcerate and torture political prisoners’ children--and sometimes doing so—to further push families into total socio-economic exclusion and isolation.”

  Interestingly, her explanations provide insight into a situation that extends beyond the borders of Iran, “White torture unveils how the Islamic Republic of Iran demands the total annihilation of a belief in justice, and how it tortures women for advocating human rights, for their religion or, in cases like Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s, in order to pressure other states to negotiate with Iran. From its very beginning, the Islamic regime has taken hostages in order to exert pressure on the prisoner’s family and community and to terrorize society into submission. These testimonies show that white torture inflicts deep wounds, but also that it cannot achieve what the regime intends. The Islamic regime cannot separate a woman from her love for her family, her fellow citizens, or her God. This book introduces us to a group of women who clearly speak with all their senses and their soul; they are the antidote to white torture: they build strength, solidarity and love.”

 

   Nayereh Tohidi highlights the essence of Narges’s strengths as a role model. Her intentions are summarized well in these words, “In her own way, Narges is part of the growing counterculture in Iran that stands against the violent and ascetic culture preached by fanatic Islamist extremists. She advocates for a life affirming culture that embraces the pursuit of happiness, liberty and equality. Unlike the religious extremists among the current rulers of Iran who sacralize ascetism or hypocritically pretend in public to be ascetic, pious and strict ‘men of god’, but behave immorally in private, Narges is among those who believe we should honestly and openly promote beauty, happiness, non-violence and joy.”

  The book reveals the experiences of women who stand up against injustice and gender inequality in Iran. With deep introspection the women in this book share some of their unique responses to despair, their zest to cultivate resilience during their incarceration, to resist when loneliness and isolation permeate every aspect of their existence. Cruelty is used to humiliate and demoralize them. I was speechless at their determination and grace, and I wish with all my heart that freedom and justice will prevail in their lives. Yet the basic question in my mind is, will they survive?

    The book is the starting point to learn more about their struggle. I read the letter Narges Mohammadi wrote to Antonio Guterres, urging the United Nations to consider gender apartheid a crime against humanity. In her own words, “the government of Iran uses religion as a cloak for despotism and authoritarian rule.” It helps them to oppress citizens. I want to share some of the important points of her letter about gender apartheid in Iran:

1)     Not adhering to the religious hijab laws in Iran will result in up to 74 lashes for a woman and these punishments will be further intensified with the approval of the Chastity and Veil Bill.

2)     Obtaining a passport and traveling abroad requires the legal guardian’s permission, which is exclusively in the hands of fathers for daughters, and husbands for wives.

3)     Women in Iran are denied the right to study in certain university fields, such as aerospace engineering.

4)     Testimony and witness accounts of men in Iranian courts are considered equal to those of two women.

5)     The blood money (diyah) and inheritance for women are half that of men.

6)     In Iran men are allowed to have simultaneous marriages with up to four wives. This number is significantly higher for engaging in temporary marriages known as “Sigheh”. Meanwhile the punishment for a married woman having a relationship with another man is execution.

7)     Men in Iran with legal support can easily divorce their wives if they face issues like blindness in both eyes. However, women do not have such a right.

8)     Enrollment in specialized medical courses and dental assistantship for women in Iran is only possible with the consent of their husbands.

9)     The rate of femicides, especially the ones attributed to honor killings, are on the rise in Iran. During the year 2023 21 percent of the honor killings were against women under the age of 18.

You can read more details about gender apartheid in Iran by clicking on this link.

 The Iranian regime is not only oppressing women. It oppresses men as well, so those who blatantly disregard this issue because they think it is only a problem that pertains to women, should pay attention and understand that authoritarian regimes affect people of all genders. Again, White Torture can be a useful resource to introduce the subject, and university professors should be the first ones to read it. The Iranian regime is a theocracy with clear features of fascism, and the ways it treats those who dissent reminds me of the way Vladimir Putin treats its own people in Russia. These countries, along with China, align to delegitimize Western democracies across the world.

  The ideology of Hamas aligns with the ideology of the government of Iran. The goal of attacking Israel on October 7 was to cause a genocide of Jewish people but also to expand their ideology into Israel. Like Iran, Hamas does not believe in democratic principles. They do not support gender equality.  Their goal is to destroy Israel and annihilate Jews. I hope that Hamas will release the hostages and surrender to peaceful negotiations. Terrorism has never accomplished anything. Terrorism triggers wars and empowers extremist rulers.

  Mother’s Day is coming up. I will be thinking of Narges Mohammadi and her family. I will be thinking of every woman and man in similar situations. I will be reflecting on the suffering caused by an ideology of violence that wants to impose the idea that terrorism, vandalism and authoritarian regimes are the solution to current problems. They are not. I will be reflecting on the need to educate children for peace and against hate, and about the pain of mothers who lost their children in wars, and about those who lost their mothers. I will be thinking of the hostages in Gaza…

My Writing Life blog stands up against hate of any kind, supports democratic principles and the freedom to read books.

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Here’s a list of supplementary links:


https://www.euronews.com/2024/03/26/regimes-rebels-and-social-change-interview-with-iranian-dissident-masih-alinejad

 

https://time.com/6590643/iran-executions/

https://www.iranintl.com/en/202405214155


https://www.context.news/socioeconomic-inclusion/should-gender-apartheid-be-an-international-crime

https://rsf.org/en/watch-out-because-we-re-coming-you-rsf-report-unprecedented-transnational-repression-iranian

https://carnegieendowment.org/2023/11/29/aggressive-new-digital-repression-in-iran-in-era-of-woman-life-freedom-uprisings-pub-91025

 https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/salman-rushdie-palestine-israel-hamas-b2548290.html

https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/econographics/global-sanctions-dashboard-how-iran-evades-sanctions-and-finances-terrorist-organizations-like-hamas/

 

https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/21/europe/iran-paris-dissidents-mime-intl/index.html

 

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-68840881

 

https://pen.org/press-release/nobel-peace-prize-laureate-narges-mohammadi-handed-an-additional-sentence-for-propaganda/


https://www.reuters.com/world/russia-iran-strengthen-ties-trusting-atmosphere-russian-foreign-ministry-2023-10-24/

https://ecfr.eu/article/iran-hamas-and-islamic-jihad-a-marriage-of-convenience/

 

 

Addendum to the post: I invite you to sign this petition by PEN America asking the Iranian Government to set her free. Thank you so much for taking the time to sign it: