Murder or Suicide
The general Iranian masses have been turned into citizens lacking any protection, even though they do not engage in any political activities or criticize the regime. If any one is sent to prison through fake accusations, they are put under the absolute control of brutal prison authorities whose behavior is not supervised by any one. Prison officials openly state that they are not responsible for suicides in prisons. Such remarks assume that a prisoner lacks any right to life and whose fate is determined before any trial.
Recently, a young woman medical student was arrested in the town of Hamedan on some fake charges. She is taken to a detention centre and 24 hours later her dead body is presented to her family members. They claim that the victim hanged herself in prison. How? With the propaganda cloth placards that are abundantly found in detention centers.
Now the family members of this young woman have vowed to stand up against such cruelty. We are familiar with the consequences of similar crimes in the past. The serial murders of the 1990s and the murder of Iranian Canadian journalist Zahra Kazemi that took place in prison shod the public conscience. But true to form, Iran’s security and judiciary officials ignored the public’s calls for justice.
And in the most recent case, this time a young student is slain and with her takes to grave all the unspoken secrets of what actually bestowed upon her. There is no honest witness who could retell her tragedy. We do not even hear from a responsible prosecutor. In fact, where can one find an honest public prosecutor in the current environment in Iran? Do the prosecutors of today act in the best interests of the public, as we are used to knowing them and who in the past enjoyed such public trust and respect.
And now they tell us that a young woman has committed suicide in prison. Even if this be true, they must tell us what did they do to her so that she preferred death to life.
One cannot easily accept the claim of suicide for someone who was fully aware of the conditions around her and of those in society at large. She knew perfectly well who her interlocutors were. She know well that they could justify their behavior by claiming that she had an honest relationship with a person. At the same she was not of the type to be intimidated to this extent. Everybody knows that detentions on such charges at the most lead to interrogations and eventually a moral judgment against her, which in many cases can be bought off. So she could not have committed suicide because of fear of punishment, as the punishment for what she was detained was not a serious case. One needs far more reasons to actually commit suicide. There has to be something else at play for a young woman, a medical student, to commit suicide just a few hours after being detained on charges of violations of the moral code. But what is it?
I think it is the mistreatment and indignity to which she was subjected to and which shocked her, causing her to prefer death to life among oppressors. If the claim to suicide is true, then because of the fact that she was held under government control, suicide is the same as murder. Those who imposed such harsh conditions on her and insulted her being are criminals for pushing things to the extent that suicide becomes a choice and liberation. Prison authorities are responsible for the murder of this young medical student. Prisoners have the right to life. And they have the right to be treated humanely, even behind bars. The fate of a prisoner is determined by law, not heavy handed prison wardens. The responsibility for an unnatural death of a prisoner is with the organization that created the conditions for the detention.
So where is the public prosecutor? Where is that prosecutor who enjoyed prophetic respect by our fathers and mothers? Can one find a prosecutor with such qualities in the current buildings of the judiciary today?
If one can reject the possibility of suicide because the officials desired to hide their crime, then we are left with an act of murder, appearing in the form of suicide. If this is the case, then everyone in the long chain of authority that includes the prison wardens to the lowest judiciary officers and judges overseeing detentions centers and passing judgments over detentions is responsible is this crime.
This of course is not the first suicide news from inside Iranian prisons this year. But in this case that involves a medical student, more attention and care must be taken to reach simple conclusions. What was she really subjected to that prompted her to end her life as a way to stop that behavior? What did they do to her that the authorities around her wished to hide by removing the witness?
One cannot simply gloss over what may have happened to this innocent victim. One can therefore expect that the family members who are now calling for justice and an investigation too will be threatened with death and forced to remain silent. In the most optimistic scenario, the family members will be sent on a wild goose chase for so long that they will eventually get tired, disillusioned and give up. Those responsible will do anything to cover up their deeds and waste the life of this young woman.
And so it appears that the story of the serial murders and the murder of Zahra Kazemi are once again being repeated. The prosecutor will not call for justice. But others will undoubtedly continue to investigate this event. Houses of injustice and cruelty have always been destroyed by the silent voices of the innocent dead.
Mehrangiz Kar is an attorney living in the United States of America.