In the name of Allah
Urgent report to
the people of Iran
The Islamic Republic Officials
Chief Judiciary, Ministry of Intelligence, and
The Commander-in-Chief
I hereby inform you that
My son Hossein is under torture
I have just received a phone call
From an unknown number
that they are taking Hossein
to the torture chamber in Evin Prison
to extract forced confessions from him
Hossein is vomiting blood
He is in very critical condition
No one in Iran is paying attention
Who is responsible?
Chief Judiciary,
I sent letters to you
Is torture legal in the Islamic Republic?
Is torture legal in the constitution?
Is confession under torture acceptable to the courts?
They are killing Hossein as we speak
Hossein is under torture
Chief Judiciary, Your Honour,
You allow torture under your command
You cannot preside over the Department of Justice
Your officials are killing my son
The gate to human rights is closed in Iran
In the Islamic Republic of Iran
the officials are not answerable
They are appointed to kill
Government officials in Iran,
Is this social justice?
Is this religion?
Hossein is now under torture
by the intelligence
I hope you come to believe in God
None of you believe in God
If you did, you wouldn’t do this
I ask
all humans
all the world
I ask
all the countries
that respect human rights
I ask the United Nations,
The International Court of Justice in Hague
and everyone in a position of influence—
to stop them from killing my son
Hossein is under torture
If anything happens to Hossein
You are all responsible
All of you—
Author’s Note: The poem is based on a video posted to the Instagram account of Ahmad Ronaghi, the elderly father of the Iranian blogger and political dissident Hossein Ronaghi, on October 14, 2022. The video was also posted to the BBC Persian Instagram account and here is a link to a recent news story about Hossein Ronaghi: Worries Grow Over Health Of Jailed Iranian Activist Ronaghi (rferl.org)
