In the Name of Justice
 
The Honorable Secretary of the Islamic Human Rights Commission of Iran,
 
I would like to express my gratitude for commission's cooperation in
transferring my husband, Abbas Amir-Entezam, to the hospital to undergo a
CT scan and other necessary medical tests to investigate his recent
severe headaches.  Here I would like to draw your attention to the
problems which we face today:
 
1)      The prison personnel insisted on bringing my husband to the
clinic in prison uniform and handcuffs and chains.  In the eyes of the
prison authorities, is there no difference between a political prisoner
and a common criminal that they treat both similarly?  Should we resort
to chains and handcuffs to keep a man who has been kept in Iran's prisons
against the law for more than 17 years and has always showed that he is
not even thinking of escaping prison?
 
The prison authorities must be aware by now that escaping is not an
honorable act in the view of a political prisoner like my husband.
Instead of preventing criminals, who are a danger to the society, from
escaping, they humiliate my husband daily. Within the prison compound,
they have been transporting him in meat trucks.  A highly dangerous
choice since the doors cannot be opened from inside, in case of any
emergency.  Not to mention the humiliation that the prisoner must feel in
being ranked among animal carcass.  They even had my husband handcuffed
and chained when they were transferring him to the hospital. 
Unfortunately, this was not the first time my husband had been chained
and handcuffed.  Therefore, the prison authorities must be aware that no
matter how much they try to portray him as a dangerous prisoner, the
public will recognize their illegal and uncivilized acts. 
 
2)      The prison authorities didn't give any attention to the
doctor's recommendation for a short- term hospitalization of my husband,
in order to run tests and make sure he is in a good health. The guard in
charge maintained contact with the authorities, and based on the orders
received, insisted on returning my husband to the prison before any
medical tests could be performed. It seems as if the authorities
suspected the genuineness of his complaints.
 
As such, during our short visit to the hospital, the two guards in charge
not only watched our every move, but also made medical suggestions to the
doctors. For instance, they prevented the performance of the Tuberculosis
skin test on my husband.  All this took place in the calmest of
circumstances since I had fully cooperated with the authorities and kept
the entire affair from the media and the public. Therefore, only my
husband's lawyer and I were aware of this transfer to the hospital.  But
it was the excessive comings and goings of the guards that drew attention
and was completely unnecessary.
 
Dear Secretary of the commission, please accept and convince others as
well that my husband never has or will think of committing an unlawful
act.  Clearly, there is no need for handcuffs and chains for transferring
him from prison to the hospital only a few miles away.  Allow me to
remind you that even when he had his passport and permission to leave
Iran, he never thought nor does he think about leaving his country, till
such time that his name has been cleared.  He will always remain in his
country and will not escape the law.  How ironic that we so steadfastly
respect and abide by the very "laws" or rather lawlessness that has
brought us so much pain only in the hope that it will pave the path for
the rule of law in our country.
 
3) Having access to medical treatments, for which we pay, is an
indisputable right of my husband.  But the authorities could not even
fulfill their responsibility to safeguard this right and limited my
husband's medical treatment to a CT scan only and did not let any other
procedure to take place. These all happened when I, according to the
doctor's recommendation and in spite of all kinds of problems, had passed
all the administrative stages for a 24-hour hospitalization for him (the
related documents had been previously sent to the commission, along with
a letter).  
  
Dear honorable Secretary of the Commission, for your information, I must
say that during the short period of my husband's house arrest (following
his dismissal from the prison), I did all I could to nurse him back to
health after the numerous damages he had suffered in 17 years of
imprisonment.  My husband was re-arrested in relatively good health.
Therefore by this letter I hold the Evin prison authorities and the
ministry of information responsible for any health conditions he may
incur from the date his arrest on September 8, 1998.  The reason I used
the term "relatively," in the above is that in the past, in a nightly
transfer from the Evin prison in Tehran to the Ghezel Hesar prison in the
city of Karaj, in winter, on the back of an open truck, he contracted a
severe ear infection. No matter how many times in a period of 8 months he
told the authorities that his ear was infected and that he was in pain,
the authorities did not respond, and because of that my husband's eardrum
was ruptured, causing irreversible hearing loss.  Again, these were all
taking place at a time when an honorable prison official told me that
taking care of the prisoner's health is the human and religious duty of
the authorities.  He even provide the example of the appendectomy that
was performed on a criminal known as the "Night's Bat," which saved his
life!  The "Night's Bat" was a dangerous criminal who had been sentenced
to death and executed after the operation had been performed!  The
authorities obviously respected his rights and made sure that a human
being was executed in a perfect health.
 
Is it not the time for the authorities of Iran to accept the principle of
equality of all human beings before the law? Shall I compare my husband's
case to that of the "Night's Bat?" A common criminal toward whom the
prison authorities fulfilled their human and religious duties? But why do
they not exercise the same compassion toward my husband and deny him
hospitalization and treatment?  Or shall I compare him with other
"defendants" who, with final verdict pending, can easily get permission
to leave the country and appear among the foreign official political
circles?  But we, for a short hospital stay, must go through a series of
difficult stages, and consider access to medical treatment a special
privilege.  After all in those few hours, we underwent all kinds of
security measures.  How can such discrimination between the citizens be
explained?  It is true that unlike many others, we do not have open or
secret support of any of the existing political factions, but we do have
one protector that we rely upon and that is our god. 
  
4) After the re-arrest of my husband, I could visit my husband in prison
weekly while abiding by all the prison laws.  However, during the last
two months, without any logic or explanation, they denied my right to
visit him. In a letter to the head of the prison, I explained my reasons
for visiting my husband again, and I reminded him that Amir-Entezam is
not a new or unknown prisoner. For many years, Amir-Entezam was denied
having visitors or even an attorney.  And now that all of the prisoners
can see their immediate family members once a week, since my husband does
not have a father, a brother, or any children in Iran, visiting my
husband weekly, is the undeniable right of both of us.  So far I have not
received a reply from the authorities. On the other hand, the weekly
meetings between my husband and his lawyers are still confirmed. 
However, each time the lawyers are made to wait for one or two hours in
order to see him.  Perhaps because the authorities do not realize how
precious the work and the time of these lawyers are.  I must remind you
that my husband is not their only client and their time is valuable. 
Maybe these unacceptable delays are intended to discourage these
attorneys from defending Amir-Entezam, so that my husband would lose even
his right to counsel?
 
Dear Secretary of the Commission, I am presenting these complaints under
extreme duress and in the face of threats and frightening phone calls.  I
have been advised to change my residence, to leave the capital, to stop
talking and to stop writing. Although I am living under dangerous
conditions, up to this date I have not urged any organization or
foundation for any safety arrangements, because I do not wish to draw any
attention to myself.  Nor do I wish to add to this miserable "epidemic." 
 
It seems that certain forces are determined to destroy the secular
intellectuals.  However, they must first ask themselves how they will
ever be able to measure their own beliefs in the absence of intellectual
diversity in Iran. How can these blind totalitarian forces question the
loyalty and patriotism of secular Iranians? Have those, who chose to stay
in the country for the last 20 years and withstood all kinds of
brutality, not proved their loyalty to the country? Surely, the fact that
they have suffered bombings and the missile strikes and continued to live
in Iran in the face of all economic and social hardships must be
indicative of their patriotism. 
 
Iranians have been Muslims for centuries and are not new Muslims. We
follow and believe in a religion that has passed onto every generation.
Now if being a person with "different" ideas, like Dariush and Parvaneh
Foruhar (for whom we still mourn) or liberal writers like Sharif,
Mokhtari, Pouyandeh deserve getting killed, let us be considered
"different." All of us regardless of our clothing and occupations, must
undergo certain amount of growth and take steps in order to accomplish
our highest of human ideals.  Shame on us, if we let selfishness and
single-mindedness change our resolve. And pity on us if instead of the
"Dialogue of the Civilizations," we witness the "Face Off of the Beasts."
Dear Secretary of the Commission, with my apologies for taking your time,
at the end I would like to say that I don't have any demands, except that
your take note of my points. Though I am aware that writing the above may
result in more difficult conditions for me and my husband, I still wrote
because I believe it is my duty to do so that lack of awareness of the
authorities may never be posed as an excuse or justification.  Also, I
write because my husband continues to believe in the cause of justice in
Iran and as his wife I intend to do all I can to support him.  Or perhaps
in my heart of hearts, there is still a glimmer of hope that we too have
a share in the great quest and possible realization of human rights.
 
With best wishes for your success,
Elahe Mizani Amir-Entezam
Tehran / Iran