Rare accounts of life for women inside notorious Iranian prison

Crouched unsocial connected the floor, successful a tiny, windowless cell, Nasim could perceive what sounded similar different prisoners being tortured. The defender would bang connected the doorway and say: "Can you perceive that beating? Get ready, you're next."

She was "interrogated for 10 to 12 hours each day" and repeatedly threatened with execution.

The bare cell, nary much than 2 metres across, had nary furniture oregon toilet. Four months successful solitary confinement was the 36-year-old hairdresser's instauration to Iran's notorious Evin prison. The lone radical she saw were her interrogators. She thought that she would "die and no-one would know".

We person pieced unneurotic accounts from aggregate reliable sources to physique a representation of mundane beingness for Nasim and different women, who are presently being held successful Evin prison.

Many were among the tens of thousands of radical arrested successful transportation with the "Woman, Life, Freedom" protests that followed the decease of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini successful September 2022. Mahsa had been arrested for allegedly breaking Iranian laws that necessitate women to deterioration the hijab and she died successful constabulary custody.

While radical person spoken astir conditions successful Evin aft they person been released, it is uncommon to get details of inmates' lives portion they are inactive inside.

What we person heard reveals not lone brutality, but a spot of analyzable contrasts wherever the prisoners proceed to run for women's rights and defiantly situation restrictions imposed connected them. There are astonishing moments excessively - 1 inmate, occasionally allowed clip unsocial with her husband, has adjacent got pregnant.

Nasim - who loves rap euphony and make-up - was taken into custody successful April 2023 aft joining protests with her friends, 1 of whom was killed successful the authorities crackdown. She survived interrogations "by reasoning astir those who died connected the street". People who saw Nasim erstwhile she came retired of solitary confinement person described cuts and bruises connected her assemblage and however she was tortured to marque mendacious confessions.

Rezvaneh was besides arrested pursuing the protests, on with her husband, successful 2023. They some ended up successful Evin, which has abstracted sections for men and women. Her interrogators said they would termination her hubby and "hit him truthful overmuch that helium would crook achromatic similar coal, and purple similar an aubergine".

After solitary confinement, interrogations and humiliation, Nasim was moved to the women's wing, that houses astir 70 people, including Rezvaneh, astir of whom were arrested connected governmental charges.

It is wherever the British-Iranian national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcilffe, who was allowed to instrumentality to the UK successful 2022, spent astir 4 years of her sentence.

Most of the women determination person been sentenced due to the fact that of their activism, for offences including spreading propaganda, drafting arms against the regime, and endangering nationalist security.

They unrecorded successful 4 crowded cells with up to 20 radical successful each 1 and bunk beds stacked three- high.

Living unneurotic successful cramped quarters often causes friction, and sometimes fights - some carnal and verbal - interruption out. But the women besides forge choky bonds.

In winter, "everyone is freezing" and the women "walk astir with blistery h2o bottles" to enactment warm. In summer, they swelter successful the heat.

There is simply a tiny room country with a mates of hobs wherever - if they person capable wealth to bargain nutrient from the situation store - they tin navigator for themselves to supplement the basal situation meals that are brought to their cells.

A dark, soiled country astatine the extremity of a corridor serves arsenic a spot to smoke. A tiny cemented gait with a small country for plants and a volleyball nett provides a spot of extracurricular space.

They tin deterioration their ain apparel and are escaped to determination astir their surviving quarters which person 2 bathrooms. Every evening, they queue to usage the toilet and brushwood their teeth.

It was here, aft she had been successful situation for astir 4 months, that Rezvaneh recovered retired she was pregnant.

She had struggled with infertility for years and had fixed up connected ever having a baby. But according to Evin's rules, she and her hubby - who is inactive a captive successful the men's helping - were occasionally allowed to conscionable successful backstage and, connected 1 of these occasions, she conceived.

When she realised she was large she "cried for respective days".

She recovered "the worst happening was the intelligence unit and tensions wrong the prison". Finding a quiescent spot successful the crowded cells, wherever radical walk astir of their days sitting connected their beds, was a changeless challenge.

The situation nutrient near her craving pome juice, bread, and meat, which were hard to get clasp of. When she could get immoderate nutrient from the situation store it was astatine slightest doubly the terms of nutrient connected the outside.

The situation yet allowed her to person an ultrasound scan astatine 4 months, and doctors told her she was having a girl.

As she listened to "each heartbeat the consciousness of anticipation became stronger". But she was acrophobic that the conditions successful situation would endanger the baby's health. Rezvaneh was not conscionable acrophobic astir her fare - she has epilepsy and needed to debar stress. Prison doctors told her she had a precocious hazard of miscarriage.

Vida, a journalist, loves to paint. She uses bedsheets for canvases and paints portraits of the different women.

One, which was smuggled retired of Evin, is of Kurdish captive Pakhshan Azizi who travelled to Kurdish areas of Iraq and Syria to assistance victims of the Islamic State group. Pakhshan has been sentenced to death, pursuing charges of utilizing arms to combat the Iranian regime, and determination is large interest this condemnation could beryllium carried retired soon.

Vida has been warned not to gully thing with a hidden meaning. On 1 of the walls successful the gait she painted crumbling bricks with a greenish wood down them. The authorities sprayed implicit it.

In a corridor she painted a representation of an Iranian cheetah running. Some of the women "kept saying however overmuch bully vigor they got from it". But 1 nighttime the authorities "went and painted implicit it" and restricted Vida's entree to coating supplies.

One of her murals has been near intact though - huge, bluish water waves connected the walls of the corridor wherever the women spell to smoke.

Getting aesculapian attraction has been a changeless conflict for the women. One of the inmates, quality rights activistic and Nobel Peace Prize victor Narges Mohammadi, has life-threatening bosom and lung conditions.

But successful situation she has had to combat agelong and hard for entree to a doctor. Relatives said that officials repeatedly blocked attraction due to the fact that she refused to deterioration a headscarf to a aesculapian appointment. The authorities lone relented aft chap prisoners went connected hunger onslaught for 2 weeks. Narges was released for 21 days astatine the commencement of December connected aesculapian grounds.

Behind bars, she and the others person carried retired protests, pushing the boundaries and continuing to combat for their rights. Although the instrumentality requires them to deterioration headscarves, galore refuse. And aft a agelong combat with the authorities, the women were allowed curtains astir the beds truthful they could person immoderate privacy, retired of presumption of CCTV cameras.

One of the toughest things for the women is waiting to perceive their sentences. Nasim's interrogators had threatened her with the decease punishment and she had to hold astir 500 days to find retired her fate.

She recovered solace successful her chap prisoners - who she has described arsenic sisters who springiness her beingness and enactment arsenic "a balm connected the wounds" of her wings.

Every morning, 1 of her friends pulls speech the furniture curtain and makes her get up for breakfast.

"Each time we deliberation of thing to do, truthful by the extremity of the time we tin archer ourselves, 'We lived today,'" 1 of our sources explains.

Others walk their clip speechmaking poetry, singing, playing homemade paper games and watching TV - determination are 2 televisions wherever they tin ticker Iranian channels showing drama, documentaries and football.

It is these tiny things that kept Nasim going portion she waited for her sentence, nether the changeless menace of execution. When the condemnation yet came, she was fixed six years successful prison, 74 lashes and 20 years successful exile successful a tiny municipality acold from Tehran. She had been charged with distributing propaganda and drafting arms against the Islamic Republic.

Despite the severity of the sentence, Nasim felt she could respire again, and clasp the beingness she thought she had lost.

Three different women successful the helping person been sentenced to decease for drafting arms against the authorities oregon affiliation to equipped groups. However 1 of them has had her condemnation overturned.

More than 800 radical were executed successful Iran past twelvemonth - the highest fig successful 8 years, according to Amnesty International. Most were for crimes involving unit and drugs. A fistful were women.

So each Tuesday, the women protestation against executions, chanting successful the situation yard, refusing to determination each nighttime and staging hunger strikes. The run has dispersed done jails crossed Iran, gaining planetary support. On the day of Mahsa Amini's decease the women successful Evin burned headscarves.

There person been repercussions - sometimes the guards raid their cells and women person been beaten and injured. They tin besides beryllium taken for further interrogations, enactment backmost successful solitary confinement oregon person telephone calls and visits blocked. Most of the guards are women and "sometimes they are kind, sometimes they are cruel and hard-hearted, depending connected what orders they person from a higher authority", says 1 of our sources.

The Iranian authorities routinely denies allegations of quality rights violations, saying conditions wrong Evin situation conscionable each indispensable standards and prisoners are not mistreated.

As Rezvaneh's owed day approached, the situation authorities allowed her to temporarily permission situation for the birth. In October, she had a babe girl.

But her joyousness and alleviation astatine the harmless accomplishment of her girl is mingled with fear, sadness and anger. Her hubby was not allowed retired of situation with her, though she has been capable to instrumentality their girl to sojourn him successful Evin.

And due to the fact that of the stress, Rezvaneh has struggled to nutrient breastmilk. She is expecting to beryllium recalled to Evin situation soon with her babe girl to service the remainder of her five-year condemnation - if she's not granted an aboriginal release, that could beryllium astir 4 years.

Babies are usually allowed to enactment with their mothers successful jailhouse until the property of two. After that they are often sent to a adjacent relative, oregon if that is not possible, they mightiness beryllium placed successful a children's home.

But alternatively than halt the inmates, 1 captive has said the challenges they look person made her "braver and stronger," supporting their content that "the aboriginal is clear: to fight, adjacent successful prison".