EDITOR’S NOTE: The following letter does not pertain to a local problem or situation, but is being published at the request of the writer because there are many Iranian students living in this county and the letter writer felt the situation would be of general interest to them.

TO THE EDITOR:

The Iranian students in Houston, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco have gone on a hunger strike since July 22.

All people who still believe in democracy and freedom should be concerned about the news of the shocking conditions of political prisoners in Iran. The dictatorial regime of the Shah of Iran has tried to suppress all oppositions to its despotic rule so as to better serve the interest of its masters: U.S. government and corporations. This has been further exposed since the implementation of the “one party” system.

Repression has been greatly intensified in Iran. This is best shown by the savage murder of nine political prisoners (including B. Jazani) [Bijan Jazani] under torture by shah’s secret police SAVAK. This brings to 12 SAVAK’s known torture-killings in the last eight months alone. The regime has claimed that the nine were “shot while trying to escape”

“We have reason to believe that they may have died under torture and that the ‘shot while trying to escape’ story may be an attempt to disguise this.” (Amnesty International press release, April 22).

All people who still believe in humanity and democratic rights of individuals must also be aware that besides refusal to provide adequate food and medical care to the prisoners, some of [the] torture methods include “the sustained flogging of the soles of the feet, extraction of finger and toenails, electric shock treatment to sexual organs, and the thrusting of a broken bottle into the anus of prisoners suspended by their wrists from a beam.” (London Sunday Times, Jan. 19, 1975) The life of Iran’s 40,000 political prisoners, like Paknezhad is in jeopardy. [Opposition figure Shokrollah Paknejad, executed in 1982 under Khomeini]

All people who still believe in freedom, independence and equality, should vehemently condemn the dictatorial regime of Shah of Iran; give full support to the delegation of independent observers (Messrs. L. Weinglass [Famed civil rights lawyer Leonard Weinglass (1933-2011)] and J. Champlin) being sent to Iran by such organizations as National Lawyers’ Guild and others and demand that:

1) International observers must be allowed to investigate the conditions of Iranian political prisoners!

2) Stop torturing Iran’s 40,000 political prisoners!

3) Free all political prisoners!

Ali Massoed
Iranian Students’ Association
BOX 14181
Houston