“Blindfolded Witnesses”, a documentary on horrifying experiences in prison
Iranian political prisoners talk about their horrifying experiences in prison
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“Blindfolded Witnesses” is the narrates stories of heroism, failure, torture, resistance, imprisoned children, executions and the brutality of the Islamic Regime of Iran in its prisons.
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In “Blindfolded Witnesses,” Nazli, Ahmad, Parvaneh, Manouchehr, Peyvand, Hamid, Bahareh and Tahmineh-each of whom spent 8 to 10 years in prison during the 1980s-recount their experiences in vivid detail. They take the viewer with them to the depths of the events and incidents of the Islamic Regime’s prisons. By processing an objective image of the limitless violence that is applied in the prisons of the Islamic Republic, they captivate viewers with their gripping accounts.
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“Blindfolded Witnesses” is a documentary film that story tellers have spent years in prisons of Islamic Regime of Iran.
“Blindfolded witnesses”, who were victims and at the same time witness to the IRI atrocities in prison, by raising this issue that Iran’s rulers’ approach to religion to intensify violence in prison, is the nature of the prison of the Islamic Regime, they talk about their opinions and experiences, uncovering untold and unheard aspects of what is happening in political prisons of the Islamic Regime of Iran.
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Peyvand remarks:
“The prisons of the Islamic Republic differ greatly from other prisons worldwide. In all prisons, there is torture, forced confessions, and beatings. But here, it was not just about silencing dissenters; it was about stripping you of your human identity. They aimed to kill humanity itself.
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Nasser Rahman-N.ejad insightfully states: “When an individual, a group, or a governing system allows itself to use the most painful and savage methods of torture and execution to advance its goals, establish its ideology or policy, and ensure its continuity, this reflects the most fanatic and regressive nature imaginable. In Iran, this time, the instrument was religion—religion being one of the central pillars of the Islamic Regime. It served as the foundation for its theoretical, philosophical, political, economic, military, judicial—and above all—moral framework, playing a significant role in justifying and perpetrating the regime’s crimes.”
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Nasser Rahman-Nejad, while discussing the issue that political imprisonment, torture, execution, and killings in Iran are the product and embodiment of the nature of both the royal capitalist and Islamic regimes, emphasises that these should be documented as part of the lives and history of the people and, most importantly, as part of the struggles of the Iranian people against injustice and inequality to be passed on to future generations. He describes the purpose of torture as follows:
“The ultimate goal of torture, which occurs through a specific process, is, in the first stage, to break the individual and, in the second stage, to transform them. This process begins from the very first moments of arrest. Immediately after being detained, the person’s eyes are blindfolded so they cannot see their surroundings or know where they are being taken. This act aims to initially disrupt their sense of direction, place, and space. Next, by throwing the individual into a cell and leaving them in darkness, they strip them of their sense of time.
Of course, each prisoner, depending on their morale, character, and experience, tries to gradually adapt to the new situation. However, the main and critical stage begins when the interrogator and torturer start their work.
They attack the prisoner with beatings, humiliation, insults, threats, and whippings, accompanied by loud noises and shouting, creating an atmosphere of terror and intimidation. They attempt to instill in the prisoner the belief that they know everything about them, have all the information, are thoroughly familiar with them, that everything has been exposed, that all their comrades and friends have been arrested and confessed to everything. Alongside physical pressure and torture, they aim to disrupt the prisoner’s natural, mental, and nervous system.”
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Tahmineh, sharing her memories, says:“One day, I was holding a bowl of grapes. I gave a piece to a friend, and they called me in, accusing me of sharing my food ‘communally.’ They said, ‘We want everyone to consume their portions individually, even lemon juice or salt. This kind of communal sharing will lead you to the coffins. Think carefully about your actions.
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Parvaneh describes the “c offins,” which was a unique torture method of the Islamic Regime in its prisons in 1980s, was designed based on religious beliefs envisioning an afterlife separate from worldly life:
“The most horrifying torture of this era was a torture that was called coffins, graves. I spent approximately six months in those coffins. Unlike solitary confinement, which separated you from others, deprived you of space, fresh air, and visits, you still retained personal freedoms—you could drink water, going to the bathroom, exercising in its tiny space, read a poem to yourself, humming a tune, or sketching on the wall, any time you liked. But the “coffins” or “graves” at Ghezzal Hassar prison was the most inhumane torture that could have been recorded in the history of Iranian prisons. We lived in spaces the size of a grave for months, wearing scarves and chadors, prohibited from lying down during the day, moving, walking or even shifting our limbs. We were only allowed to go to toilet three times a day under the observation of Guards that were “Tavabs (Prisoners who repented their past and were cooperating with prison authorities). We could not make any noise or stretches our legs or hands otherwise would have been punished. The physical pain was nothing compared to the psychological torture. Every morning, Quran recitations blasted at unbearably high volumes, followed by recordings of broken prisoners giving coerced interviews.” Even if you repeat loudly a tape or a piece of music you like several times, your ears will get tired. This was exactly like torture. Tapes and interviews of prisoners who were severely broken down in “coffins”, were played at an incredibly high volume regularly.”
Manouchehr says: “…When they apply ‘Qapani’ Handcuffs, to apply maximum pressure on the prisoner, they would hang you from the ceiling by a chain with hands angled from up/down and tied back. “That means you are essentially hung from the ceiling with your hands tied behind your back in a ‘Qapani’ position with handcuffs, causing excruciating pain to your chest, shoulders, and wrists, to the point that the handcuffs would dig into the skin and flesh of your wrist. These handcuffs are designed to tighten more. The more tighten, the more pain and more dig into your skin and flesh of your wrist.”
Nazli describes the prison of the Islamic regime as of the worst and “the most inhuman, most violent, most cruel with no sense of human feelings.”
She says: “in order to survive, we had to endure and resist to the end. I learned to caress myself. When I went sleep, I would strike my hair gently. In this way I tried to repair myself. I had to sleep well. I decided I should sleep in order to be prepared to resist whatever was awiting me the following day.”
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Bahareh, in a part of her narrative story says: “Haj Davood once told us, ‘I’ll make beds for you so you can sleep comfortably without disturbing one another.’ We didn’t know those beds were for torture. During that time in “coffins”, we were deprived of all sensory experiences—touch, hearing and sight. We were entirely stripped of our senses.”
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Ahmad, was imprisoned in Rasht prison during the massacre of political prisoners in the summer of 1988. He says: “…I don’t want to talk about the year 1988, despite having experienced the most painful moments during that year and the summer of 1988. I just want to say one sentence: In the ward where we lived, out of ninety of my companions who were with me, eighty-one were executed in the city of Rasht.”
Hamid, another narrator of this film, says: “The Islamic Republic wanted the 1988 massacre to take place in silence and be kept quiet. The Islamic Republic has not officially spoken about it. We will not allow this massacre to be forgotten. We have no intention of seeking revenge against anyone. Sometimes people ask what I would do if the torturer or prison guard fell into my hands. I learned this in prison because I witnessed torture and executions there, and I made a promise to myself to strive to create conditions in my country where there is neither execution nor torture.
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“Blindfolded Witnesses” was produced by the “Association of Iranian Political Prisoners (in exile). It is the product of the joint work of people who have experienced the prisons of the Royal Regime of Shah and the Islamic Regimes.
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Two young cameramen, Kaveh Akbari and Armand, with extraordinary talent captured unforgettable scenes for this film. It was edited by Iranian documentary filmmaker Reza Allahabad. The music was composed by composer Esfandiar Monfaredzadeh.
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