Remembering those who sacrificed for freedom

By Ahmad Rahbar

The inhumane mullahs’ regime ruling Iran recently executed a young man by the name of Behruz Alekhani after holding him behind bars for 8 years. Alekhani was a young Kurd representing the aspirations of his nation, and today he is no longer among us. The mullahs’ regime in Iran has in the past 35 years of its despicable rule continuously shedding blood and executing people, and its main target have always been the women and youth in Iran. This is something that people talk less about these days.

Today, in the age of communications, these crimes can no longer be cloaked or covered up as despots wish. They immediately raise attention and shock the world, inspiring campaigns against such injustice. However, there were days when this regime’s horrific crimes against the youth and women of my imprisoned nation went unnoticed, and people’s voices fell on deaf ears. I suddenly remember the days back in 1981 when I was imprisoned in the city of Lahijan in northern Iran, simply for protesting the mullahs’ crackdown and repression of freedoms.

After some time I was relocated to another prison and found myself in a dark cell of a dungeon. My hands were cuffed and eyes blindfolded. There was nothing I could see under the cloth covering my eyes. I could only understand that a metal door opened and they literally threw me inside a room. I lost balance and fell to the ground in dungeon cell that was very much like a small stock room only 1.5m x 1.5m, with no windows and a floor was of dirt. I immediately fell asleep as I hadn’t slept for the past two days. I don’t know what time it was when I jumped to the sound of a deafening scream. It was of a woman who was held somewhere near my cell, and it was so heartbreaking that I just couldn’t tolerate it. Screaming along with weeping, asking for help from anyone!

“Mother, mother, oh God, please help me, go to hell, you and your damn imam [Khomeini] who has let you loose against us…”

At first I thought all of this was planned to psychologically torture me. This was the voice of a woman who was literally being torn apart as she was being tortured and raped by a number of Revolutionary Guards members in a cell right next to mine. I truly forgot all my own pains, yet I couldn’t do anything. I was dying inside because of the pressure, and becoming desperate since I just couldn’t do anything!

After moments of silence, again the screaming began…

“Damn you, leave me alone, what do you want from me… oh God, help me!”

The only thing I could think of was to cry out loud and repeat the cries of that defenseless woman, so that maybe, just maybe I could distract the torturers attention and maybe lessen her pains for a moment or so… However, the more I tried, the less successful I was. The only thing I could practically do was bang my head to the metal door and along with yelling and screaming maybe gain their attention to my cell. This was my plan and I began banging my head on the door, and the sounds spread throughout that area. Sometime later I realized that blood was streaming down my head and my clothes had also become bloody. However, in those conditions I only wanted to save that woman from torture. Each time I banged my head harder on the door, but the horrifying screams of that woman wouldn’t allow me to stop.

At one point I went dizzy and fell to the ground. As my eyes were becoming dim, a monster opened the door and I could see that his hands were full of blood. He kicked me hard in the head and I went unconscious. I don’t know how long I had passed out, and when I did gain consciousness I saw that I was in another place. On that day and the days later I tried my best to find out who that woman was, yet to no success. No one else knew her name either! However, it was crystal clear for me that the regime’s henchmen only tortured to such an extent women and girls who were members or supporters of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran. In these tortures the mullahs’ henchmen literally become animals and they can never be described as human beings.

Those years no one ever came to know what those thousands of women went through in the dark torture dungeons in Iran. I witnessed just one case…

What happened to them, what was their name and where were they finally laid to rest?  As the number of martyrs of the Iranian people has reached over 120,000, to this day only the names of 22,000 have been identified.

Today, “Reyhane” is also not among us anymore, and she too is now added to the thousands of defenseless victims of fundamentalism. However, her voice of innocence was heard throughout the world thanks to the organized effort of human rights organizations and an unparalleled resistance movement comprising of men and women active against the mullahs across the globe. This movement has brought new hope and determination for women and the youth to continue this struggle. This is the price of freedom a nation has to pay.

The memories of all those human beings who gave their all for freedom will live eternally forever in history. Hail to all of them and we promise to continue their path until the mullahs’ overthrow in Iran.

Ahmad Rahbar is a former political prisoner in Iran under the mullahs