Families of Political Prisoners: Critics Are Still Being Arrested and Imprisoned

A group of family members of political prisoners in Iran has issued an open letter to the people of Iran, reporting ongoing actions and pressures from judges, interrogators of the IRGC, and the Ministry of Intelligence under Rouhani's government against political prisoners. They stated that these interrogators recommend young women to divorce their 'oppressed' husbands. According to the letter published on the website 'Kalemeh', close to Mir Hossein Mousavi, the families wrote: 'Not only the IRGC interrogators but also in the name of the interrogators of the moderate government’s Ministry of Intelligence, the children of this land are summoned at any time and are maliciously questioned, and they are held accountable for their solidarity and common language with the government of hope and prudence.' The families added: 'A few known judges, who have sold their religion for worldly gain, still collude with interrogators, forcing innocent defendants to confess to provide the necessary evidence for their unjust sentences, threatening them with heavier sentences if they do not cooperate. Parents are still threatened. Spouses and children are threatened. Young women are still advised to divorce their oppressed husbands.' The letter continues: 'They still consider the policy of 'victory through terror' effective for silencing critics and creating oppression; they still arrest, take away, and imprison. Families who clarify the situation of their loved ones are still sentenced for propaganda against the regime to intimidate others.' International human rights organizations have reported that despite the coming to power of Hassan Rouhani, the overall human rights situation in Iran has not improved in the past two years. International organizations and the U.S. State Department also continue to name the Islamic Republic of Iran as one of the world's largest violators of human rights in their annual reports on the state of human rights worldwide. The letter from the families of political prisoners states: 'Authoritarians have used all their strength to portray the government as ineffective in domestic politics. It is regrettable that if corruption had not infiltrated the legislative branch and representatives of the parliament had not become accustomed to taking illicit gains, we could have expected them to perform their supervisory duties well and demand answers from the judiciary for all this injustice. Unfortunately, real representatives of the people have not made it to the House of the Nation, and now our writings and speeches must address you, the aware and suffering people.' These families of political prisoners emphasized: 'We wish the respected president would pay more attention to this grave duty of defending the rights of the people with constitutional legal reminders.' After 36 years since the establishment of the Islamic Republic, no law has been passed to address political crimes in Iran, and the judiciary officials of the Islamic Republic also deny the existence of 'political prisoners' in the country, referring to imprisoned political and press activists as 'security prisoners.'