Narges Mohammadi: Solitary Confinement is 'White Torture' and Contradicts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Narges Mohammadi, the imprisoned vice president of the Center for Human Rights Defenders, in an open letter, referred to the use of solitary confinement in Iranian prisons as 'white torture' and urged the international community to prioritize this issue in their negotiations with Iranian officials regarding human rights. In the letter published by Saham News, close to Mehdi Karroubi, on Wednesday, September 3, she described solitary confinement as 'inhumane' and one of the 'most brutal forms of psychological torture' used by Iranian authorities against political and ideological detainees. According to Mohammadi, thousands of civil and political activists have been sent to solitary confinement over the past 37 years, while the detention of these detainees in solitary confinement has 'no security-judicial justification.' She further stated that these detainees are interrogated without access to legal counsel, and the duration of their solitary confinement can be extended at the discretion of security officials. Mohammadi, who has been detained and imprisoned again since May 2014, described the use of solitary confinement as 'white torture,' which has become 'common' in Iran. She wrote in her letter that 'baseless and false' confessions obtained under solitary confinement conditions are turned into seemingly judicial documents for issuing indictments and court rulings by judges, while many detainees have claimed that their statements after leaving solitary confinement were made 'under psychological pressure and are false.' The vice president of the Center for Human Rights Defenders stated that individuals held in solitary confinement are deprived of adequate air, light, movement, sufficient nutrition, medical and pharmaceutical facilities, books, newspapers, radio, television, contact with family, free access to bathrooms, and communication with others, which is where 'white torture and brainwashing' take place. She emphasized that the use of solitary confinement 'due to its torturous nature' contradicts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Iran's constitution. Mohammadi stated that her aim in writing this letter is to draw the attention of the United Nations and the European Union to some instances of 'violations' of human rights in Iran and to propose solutions to prevent them. She stressed that while Iranian officials are in dialogue with the UN and the EU, there is a possibility of elevating discussions to include human rights issues. In recent years, many human rights defenders have protested the conditions of political and ideological prisoners in Iran and their detention in solitary confinement. Ahmed Shaheed, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, has repeatedly criticized the detention of political and ideological detainees in solitary confinement and their lack of access to legal counsel in his reports. Over the five years of his mandate, he has repeatedly requested permission from Iranian officials to travel to Iran to assess the situation of prisons firsthand. However, Iranian officials have not granted Shaheed permission to travel to Iran and have consistently described his reports as 'false, biased, and politically motivated.' In this context, thousands of Iranians have requested Sadegh Larijani to address Narges Mohammadi's situation. Messages from political and human rights activists to Narges Mohammadi: 'Break your hunger strike.' A flood of tweets in support of Narges Mohammadi's freedom. Amnesty International warns about the continuation of Narges Mohammadi's hunger strike. The changing battlefield of 'proxy wars'; war against the people in the streets of Iran. The first paragraph; the responsibility of opponents and the potential radicalization of Iranian society. The death of the last Mossad representative in Tehran amid the Iran crisis.