I was physically and psychologically tortured by Ebrahim Zakeri and others for at least seven to eight hours. I was subjected to the most terrifying and violent torture. A number of them began hitting me on the shin with their army boots. They would tie my hands behind my back, pick me up and slap me around. Sometimes, they would put their mouth next to my ears and would scream loudly. It was torturous and nerve-racking. They feared that I had somehow been able to telephone my family and BBC radio. Therefore they were trying to break me down and force me to sign the letter, so in case the news of my imprisonment were to be broadcast, they would be able to manufacture a document explaining their actions.
Prior to my treatment at the hands of these people, I had spent the night before wondering in the streets of Baghdad and had not slept for 48 hours. This fact intensified the awful effect of the torture. I was subsequently blindfolded and handcuffed again and transferred to another solitary confinement cell where I remained until Dec. 1999-Jan 2000 [Dey 1379].
Mohammd Hussein Sobhani
They sold me (blindfolded and handcuffed again) to Iraqi intelligence and security Organization (Mukhaberat) on 16 January 2000[ 26 Dey] of the same year (later I discovered that three other longtime members of the organization had separately received the same kind of treatment as I. I, however, would not reveal their identities for safety reasons, but I am prepared to give their names to amnesty International, UN High Commission on Human Rights and legal agencies). Other members of the organization and I spent 35 days in Iraqi torture chambers and at Intelligence and Security Organization’s (Mukhaberat) central jail. As long as I was at Rajavi’s jail, I was kept in solitary confinement which placed great deal of emotional and psychological pressure on me.
However, the overcrowded jails at Iraqi Intelligence and Security were unbearable. They put 12 prisoners in a cell three meters by three meters. The prisoners had to sleep on top of each other. Toilet and sink filled one third of the room. The walls of the cell were the color of blood. The half-dark cell was lit only by a dim moonlight. This was in stark contrast to Rajavi’s solitary confinement jail, where four years I had to sleep with the light on every night. And anytime I was awaken by onslaught of mosquitoes, suffocating heat or unbearable psychological pressure, I was not able to go back to sleep. The bright lamps would worsen the throbbing headache that I had to frequently endure.
After two or three weeks, Abu-Seyf came to visit me at Ashraf Base. I protested my imprisonment and demanded to be turned over to UN so I could join my daughter in Denmark. In the past, he, on many occasions because of my post in the HE, had seen me with Mr. Rajavi and Mrs. Maryam Qajar-Azdanlou. Abu-Seyf tried to console me. He tried to portray Iraq as an innocent party to all that had aspired by differentiating between MKO and Iraqi policies. He placed the blame for my years in Rajavi’s solitary confinement on MKO. He expressed his sorrow at my years of imprisonment and torture and my inability to see my daughter promising to transfer me to a new location where UN officials in Baghdad would visit me. He said that I would be able to ask the UN officials to transfer me to Denmark where I could join my daughter.
I along with another three long-time members of the organization were transferred to Abu-Quraib prison on 20 February 2001[1st Esfand 1379] date as received. To my amazement I discovered that 30 to 40 former members of the organization who had been sold to Iraqi government were housed at that prison.
To be continued