Soviet Translation, Supplement to Mardom Newspaper Published in Iran, 'The Crimes of Iranian Reaction and the Deeds of the Sons of the Fatherland are Becoming Clear to the Public Opinion of Iran and the Entire World' (Attachment)

ref 916-[vz]

Translation from the Persian

Supplement to the newspaper "MARDOM"

THE CRIMES OF IRANIAN REACTION AND THE DEEDS OF THE SONS OF THE FATHERLAND ARE BECOMING CLEAR TO THE PUBLIC OPINION OF IRAN AND THE ENTIRE WORLD

Recent events which have occurred in our motherland have clearly shown the public opinion of Iran and the entire world, on the one hand, the horrifying crimes of Iranian reaction and its American and British masters and, on the other, the unforgettable deeds of the loyal sons of our motherland who, even when dying a glorious death, declared their unwavering faith in the victory of the Iranian people.

The traitorous Iranian Shah and the venal government of Zahedi, who have completely shamelessly and cynically sold our motherland and its oil wells to the American and British oil thieves and instigators of war are the domestic ringleaders of the organization of these brutal and shameful crimes, the goal of which is to turn Iran into a silent cemetery and the inhuman suppression of all honest and patriotic people, and defenders of freedom and independence of Iran. The venal and vindictive agents of the anti-national government of the Shah and Zahedi, like the Batmanklichis, Azmude, Bakhtiari, Amjadi, Zibayi, and brainless martinets who constantly hand down death sentences or long terms of imprisonment from the seats of the military court are in total a dirty band of criminals and misanthropes who have lost everything human and have turned into humanlike bloodthirsty beasts. This dirty band, which appeared after the traitorous 28^th of Mordad 1332 coup, has bound our country to thieving American and British imperialism. The teachers of this criminal band are none other than the American advisers in the army, police, and gendarmerie. It is they who put at the disposal of their hirelings, declaring themselves to be Iranians, all the American devices for savage torture which it is hard to believe, and ordered these hirelings to employ the devices given them on the most honest and patriotic sons of Iran. It is they who pushed their hirelings, calling themselves Iranians, on the path of mass murder and fascist terror.

The hated imperialists, who are robbing our country and putting the profits from the greatest national wealth of Iran, oil, into the pockets of a consortium consisting of American and British oil monopolies, having imposed onerous conditions on us, violating our independence, and preparing to turn Iran into a complete colony and join it to a Middle Eastern aggressive military group under its leadership, have found the only way to successfully carry out their dirty plans in the persecution, torture, and mass murders of Iranian patriots. Without taking into account historical experience, which proves that all these savage methods will suffer defeat before the firm will of the peoples to preserve their freedom and independence, they stupidly imagine that by such a means they will be able to retain their usurped power and carry out their onerous imperialistic plans without hindrance. They do not understand that the will of the people will not bend before any of these brutal methods. The people who have given their lives for their freedom and independence fear neither the torture devices made in the US nor the mass murders. The only result of these methods is that the ruling apparatus is showing its savage substance more, that all the large strata of the people hate this savage oppression, that the voice of protest and indignation rings out from the whole world and that these inhuman methods will finally suffer defeat themselves.

This oppression, medieval tortures, and mass murders of Iranian patriots have so outraged the public opinion of Iran and the entire world and caused such sharp protests and burning hatred among the broadest strata of the population and individuals of the entire world who hold different political and social views that at the present time the government of the Shah and Zahedi has been shamed before public opinion inside the country and outside it and condemned as a vengeful enemy of the Iranian people, as a government entirely bought by the imperialists, who have violated all the principles of humanity, human rights, and the constitution of Iran.

The criminal Shah, the hireling Zahedi, and their agents have tried by every means to conceal their inhuman crimes, hide their barbaric methods, and terrible tortures. However, the efforts of the villains who have tried to cover the tracks of their crimes have suffered defeat. Now descriptions of their crimes and the medieval tortures are being placed on the pages of the newspapers of the most remote countries, and the terrible face of the enemies of humanity are being revealed to everyone. At the present time in the entire world they know how, at the direct order of American advisers, the Iranian fascists have treated and are treating the 650 honest Iranian patriotic officers and thousands of arrested civilians whose crimes consist of striving for the freedom and independence of the motherland.

Photographs of "interrogated" officers in hospital beds placed in government newspapers, and other photographs depicting these officers bent over and with faces covered with creases could not even be recognized by members of their families who lived with their sons and husbands for years. As a consequence of the savage tortures their faces had lost their usual expression and had completely changed. At the present time various reliable information has been received about tortures employed in the secret torture chambers of the Iranian fascists and causing a feeling of disgust in every honest and humane person. Political prisoners were led to overheated baths and lashed several hundred times so that their bodies bled and remained covered with wounds for a long time. The lashes which were used are American. They cut into the body and rip out the flesh. Patriots are hung by their hands and held in such a position for a long time. Small holes were made in various parts of their bodies with the aid of an implement of torture and salt poured in there. Heavy metallic American helmets with iron pins inside were placed on the heads of officers being tortured for hours. The sex organs were squeezed by special American boards with a pressure gauge and sometimes the soldiers did it with their own hands. Heavy weights up to 30 kilograms were hung from these organs. Hot boiled chicken eggs were inserted into the anuses of prisoners being tortured. Their nails were pulled out using an implement of torture. Several times they forced some mean people to commit immoral acts on the officers being tortured. These savage medieval tortures mainly occur in the ruined bath of Qasr and [Baghe] Mehran Prisons. Sometimes they are done with the aid of different American instruments of torture. in [Baghe] Mehran prisoners being tortured are thrown into rooms for a long time with various stinging insects: bees, scorpions, and centipedes. Finally, besides tortures in these torture chambers the prisoners being tortured are put at the complete disposition of special butchers who take them where they want, torture them as they want, and get "confessions" from them. These savage methods which in reality are the transfer of prisoners to butchers on contract, are being increasingly introduced among the Iranian fascists and employed against women and men. These butchers have the right to perform the most savage and horrible tortures on the prisoners transferred to them on contract and can even act immorally with them. Only with the aid of such tortures are "confessions" gained from prisoners, that is, they force them to sign what the butcher-investigators have written. These "confessions" are referred to as materials when sentencing the prisoners to death and long terms of imprisonment. Officials of the military governorate and the band of Bakhtiar, Amjad, and Zibayi torture Iranian patriots not only before the official interrogation of the prisoners but also during the entire interrogation done by Azmude and the investigators of the military court. Every phrase of the investigator's question or reply to it is accompanied by tortures. If the answer is not what the butchers and murders want, even more savage tortures are employed.

Therefore it is completely understandable why the fascist murderers announced that the court session for the patriotic officers was to be closed. The announcement that the court sessions were closed was the result of a fear that the horrifying crimes of the murderers would be revealed. It follows from this fact that the criminals do not have the slightest real evidence or materials pointing to the guilt of the accused and they "refer" only to fabricated papers, "confessions", and signatures taken from the accused by torture and the invalidity of which is clear from the point of view of justice and law.

The murderers not only declared court sessions closed, thus taking away the right of defense from the patriotic army, police, and gendarmerie officers, but also trampled on all the customs and traditions used in court practice. In reality, the accused officers did not have lawyers, and they were "defended" only by people appointed by the court who were completely a tool in the hands of army prosecutor Azmude. However, this "defense" offered nothing other than confirmation of the groundless accusations full of abuse offered by the army prosecutor. Government newspapers, several times repeating the court-appointed lawyers' phrases full of abuse and insults against the patriotic officers, thereby illuminating the course of the trial and laying bare the fact that the accused were deprived of the right of defense.

In this stifling atmosphere, in a situation of the deprivation of the accused's elementary rights the glorious patriotic officers exposed the substance of the ruling traitorous apparatus of Iran and the oppression of the British and American imperialists, proclaiming their loyalty to the freedom and independence of the motherland. Colonel [Siyamak] declared, "The Army prosecutor's accusation is fair. I was a spy. Every morning I passed to one foreign officer all the information and materials about the gendarmerie which I got. However, this foreign officer was not Soviet but an American, who held the post of adviser in the Iranian gendarmerie and received a salary from the Iranian government, and he was officially informed about all the issues associated with the gendarmerie".

The malice of the butchers and murderers evoked by the course of the closed court sessions and the unbending will of the patriotic officers was such that it was even reflected in the government press. The military court regularly handed down mass death sentences. Of the 12 men in the first group, 10 were sentenced to death and two to life imprisonment. All 12 of the second group received death sentences. With respect to the last groups the death sentences, sentences to life imprisonment, and imprisonment for long terms followed one after another. The butchers and murderers thirsted for blood. The traitorous Shah, who had organized these barbaric crimes himself, cynically deprived the officers sentenced to death of the legal right of appeal to the court of cassation and thus implemented the orders for the mass murder of Iranian patriots.

Information about the deeds and bravery of the condemned officers in the name of the independence of the motherland during their courageous deaths circulated among the public opinion of Iran and the entire world with lightning speed. All the fighters and patriots are excited when hearing about this bravery. These deeds fortify the spirits of the entire Iranian people in their brave struggle for freedom and independence of the motherland. The murderers invited Iranian and foreign correspondents to be present at the spectacle of the execution of the first 10 condemned. However, this invitation, which had the goal of showing "the victory" of the murderers, did not end in their favor since, in spite of all Azmude's insistence that newspapers and press agencies print nothing except official reports, Iranian and foreign newspapers placed a description of the scenes of the heroic deaths of the Iranian patriots. The French newspaper Le Monde, which is not only not leftist but, on the contrary, is known as a semi-official publication of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, wrote the following, "The condemned died bravely and courageously". Shouts of "Long live the Iranian people!", "The people will avenge us", and "Death to fascism" were heard in the air even after the first volley, of which there were four in all. However, they did not manage to silence the sound of the shooting, as among the deathly silence there was heard a voice of Captain [Shef]: "Shoot! I am still alive!"

Even the reactionary American magazine Time began the headline of their article about the execution of the condemned with their slogan, "The people will win!"

According to a report of the newspaper Ettelaat, Colonel [Mobasheri] named the path along which all those officers who died for a just cause and along which all patriots and honest people travel to be "a path to Paradise". In reply to Azmude's question Colonel [Siyamak] declared, "All the people will concern themselves about our families. We don't need you". These models of decisive and optimistic statements by those condemned to death, which all Iranian patriots are now talking about, show the strength of the inflexible will of the patriotic heroic officers and inspires everyone to fight for the interests of their own people and motherland to the last drop of blood.

The murderers no dared to invite representatives of the press and telegraph agencies to the executions of the officers of the second and third groups. However, despite the murderers' wishes the shouts of hatred of these officers against the imperialists and conspirators, and also their last oaths of loyalty to the people and motherland penetrated the prison walls and places of execution and reached the ears of the people and inspired them to continue the heroic struggle in the difficult conditions of violence and terror.

Information that leaked out despite all the strong measures shows that the heroes of these groups (the second and third - the [Soviet] translator) forced their jailers to admire them with the same inflexible will. The testaments written by these heroes in the last hours of their lives and which have fallen into our hands show their courage, great spirit, and unwavering faith in the glorious path they had traveled. To date the criminals have thus executed 21 heroic sons of our people, but the death sentences and sentences to long terms of imprisonment to other groups among the total of 650 patriotic army officers are regularly handed down by the framed-up court machine which obeys the orders of the army prosecutor.

Recent events from Iran and the savage violence against Iranian patriots have provoked strong anger and repugnance from public opinion of the entire world. Expressions of sympathy to the Iranian people from world democratic organizations and prominent people of foreign countries increase with each day.

In an article headlined "Outrage over police lawlessness in Iran" the newspaper "For a Lasting Peace, for People's Democracy" writes, "All honest people of every country condemn the police terror occurring in Iran with deep anger and contempt and raise their voices of protest in defense of the victims of Iranian reaction. All honest people of every country demand that an end be put to the persecutions and innumerable sufferings of the people whose only 'guilt' is sincere love for the motherland".

The International Federation of Trade Unions, numbering more than 70 million workers of different countries of the world, the World Federation of Democratic youth, which includes 80.5 million members, the International Anti-Fascist Student Union of 72 countries, the World Democratic Federation of Women, the World Union of Justice Workers, and many branches of these organizations have appealed in protest against the criminal activities of the monarchical-fascist government of Iran and expressed their sympathy with the heroic Iranian patriots. These organizations have sent telegrams to the government of Iran which contain a demand to stop the savage murders and police lawlessness.

The Communist Party of Tunisia declared the following in their telegram to the Iranian Embassy in Paris, "We declare our angry protest of the execution of the Iranian patriots. The Tunisian people express their sympathy to the heroic people of Iran, demand the lives of the Iranian patriots be preserved, and this bloody violence be halted".

The anger and protest of public opinion against the criminal acts of the terrorist government in Iran are taking on a worldwide character unbounded by specific parties and strata of the people, but encompassing organizations, newspapers, and individuals of various political convictions. In the Lebanese parliament sympathy was expressed to the heroic people of Iran who are defending their freedom and independence in conditions of fascist oppression and savage murders. This sympathy was also widely expressed by the public opinion of India and the newspapers of this country. The protest of the Japanese people against the violence in Iran and a stream of letters of protest to the Iranian Embassy in Japan have even also found reflection in such radio broadcasts as London's. Even the British newspaper "The Times" was forced to admit the fact that the mass murders in Iran are inciting worldwide revulsion.

These protests and expressions of sympathy are particularly notable among the public opinion of France and in various newspapers of this country. Protest demonstrations of Parisians against the murders of Iranian patriots have been held in front of the Iranian Embassy in France. Every day letters of protest from various organizations, unions, and individuals come to the Iranian Embassy in Paris or directly to the Iranian government. Among the protestors are notable French figures in the field of public life, literature, science, and politics. In an appeal which was sent to Zahedi's government are more than 75 noted French writers and artists demanding the cessation of the murders of patriotic Iranian officers one can see the signatures of the famous artist Picasso, the famous writer [Vercors], and the noted critic Francis [Jourdain]. The famous French writer and representative of the existentialism movement Jean-Paul Sartre, who can in no way be listed among "leftist" elements, is a protestor against the actions of the Iranian government and the demand to halt the savage murders and violence. The name of Francois Mauriac, a member of the Academie Francaise and outstanding writer, is prominent among the names of the many French intellectuals who spoke in defense of the Iranian patriots. Even the semi-official publication of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the newspaper "Le Monde", participated in these protests, so that the Iranian ambassador sent his absurd scribblings to this newspaper for publication as a "reply".

The newspaper "L'Observateur", touching on the scope of the wave of arrests in the Iranian army, writes that one of every seven officers has been arrested. The newspaper Combat condemns the criminal tactics and fascist terror of the Iranian government with great anger and disgust.

The examples cited above are only a small part of the ever-increasing protests of international public opinion against the injustices committed by Iranian reaction together with the American and British imperialists. These facts show that the Iranian people are not alone in their struggle against the oppression of imperialism and reaction, that all honest people of the world and international public opinion energetically support the struggle of the Iranian people. These protests, which increase with every day, cannot fail to scare even such reactionaries as the Iranian reactionaries, forcing them to halt the lawlessness. The support of international public opinion inspires the Iranian people even more to continue the heroic struggle in the conditions of a fascist regime.

The People's Party of Iran, the fighting party of Iranian patriots, continues its glorious path in the defense of the freedom and independence of our motherland, inspired by the deeds and courage of the loyal sons of our people. In spite of the strong terror of reaction, the strength of the people is incalculable. Historical experience shows that nothing can stop a people bravely fighting for freedom and independence. New heroes will spring up from each drop of blood of those who have died for a just cause.

The imperialists and their servants will not sleep calmly in our motherland and none of their criminal and inhuman acts will avert the final victory of the heroic people of Iran in the cause of the complete elimination of imperialism and its hirelings, the return of the freedom and independence to our motherland, and the assurance of its happiness.

Translated by: [signature] /Yu. Alekseyev/

6-ru

13 January 1955