Activists in Iran describe the threats and oppression they face for protesting

Geoff Bennett:

Today, France's foreign minister said three French detainees being held by Iran face conditions that fall within the definition of torture.

Human rights groups have long decried how Iran treats its prisoners. An opposition group recently said Iran executed 1,000 people last year. That's the highest number in the country's modern history.

Nick Schifrin and "News Hour" producers spoke to protesters inside Iran, especially female demonstrators who have paid a heavy price in and out of jail, but remain undaunted.

Nick Schifrin:

It was a moment when hope was contagious, and Tehran students sang a song for freedom, among them, a woman we're calling Maryam to protect her identity.

Maryam, Iranian Activist (through interpreter):

Our women have gained more courage and boldness to demand for their rights and their right to control their bodies against the system of the Islamic Republic that is patriarchal and anti-women.

Nick Schifrin:

Maryam is an unlikely protester. Her father is a retired officer in the regime's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, so her fight began at home.

Maryam (through interpreter):

I come from a home that is more traditional and religious. Until last year, I was still wearing a chador in front of my parents, which is a more heavy-duty form of hijab in coverage. But now I go to many places without even a headscarf.

It becomes very hard to live in this home. But, anyway, I was stubborn enough. I could survive it until this age.

Nick Schifrin:

She considers her work a continuation of protests that began in 2022 and became known as Woman, Life, Freedom, sparked by police who detained and are accused of beating to death Mahsa Amini over improperly wearing a headscarf, a headscarf that, in our interview from an undisclosed location, Maryam chose not to wear.

Maryam (through interpreter):

I'm still learning from the bravery of women all over Iran, in the small towns and villages who stood up, the women who demanded rights, and with bravery screamed, "Woman, life, freedom."

Nick Schifrin:

She fell in love with a fellow protester. They were both sent to the notorious Evin prison. When they got out and got married, the authorities came for their marriage.

Maryam (through interpreter):

They put pressure on my partner. They told him his charges could be reduced by divorcing me, and pressured him, and, at the end, he chose to leave me. I felt the pain of how deep the patriarchy goes in the skin and bones of Iranian men.

But I'm not sad about this. In my opinion, the women of Iran every day, every second, every moment, are doing a big job and should not be hidden from the eyes of the world.

Nick Schifrin:

But that's exactly what she says authorities were trying to accomplish when we last spoke to her.

Maryam (through interpreter):

I have been receiving phone calls and death threats from the Iranian paramilitary and groups who support the government. And in the last anonymous phone call my father received, they told my father that I was a prostitute and that, if he can't discipline me, then they will take matters into their own hands.

Nick Schifrin:

About three weeks after this interview, Maryam was again arrested, accused of spreading propaganda against the state and insulting officials and agents, which means she once again faces conditions that are wretched. Iran's prisons teem with tales of torture.

Mr. H, Former Prisoner (through interpreter):

The first five days I was in prison with IRGC, I was only getting beaten, beaten and shocked, to the point, that six months after I was released I am still finding blood in my urine.

Nick Schifrin:

A man were calling Mr. H with bruises like these was arrested on charges similar to Maryam's. He served in solitary confinement for nearly two months.

Mr. H (through interpreter):

On the fifth day, for almost eight hours, I had a noose around my neck and kept on the tip of my toes. Twice, I let myself go hoping to just end it all. But there was someone standing behind me that would return me to my stool. The situation was such that you wished for your death.

Nick Schifrin:

The number of detainees facing that fate rose dramatically after 2022, more than fit in Iran's jails.

We're calling this man Arsalan.

Arsalan, Iranian Activist (through interpreter):

They filled at least 10 times the capacity of the prison. They filled places like factories, where they had no beds. They were all made to sleep next to each other on the ground just to fit them all in.

Nick Schifrin:

Arsalan helped lead the 2022 protests and was arrested briefly in the summer of 2023. He says many young protesters were tortured into forced confessions.

Arsalan (through interpreter):

They would give them sleeping pills. And when they were all sedated, they would then bring them into interrogations, when they weren't even aware of what they were saying or being accused of.

The people of Iran want things that people everywhere in the world want. There are certain human standards that are the same everywhere. And the people of Iran want the same. We don't have any other way but to fight. And I know that there is a price to pay, and we are willing to pay it, me and many others.

Maryam (through interpreter):

We all share the same story, demanding our rights, demanding control of our bodies, demanding control of our womanhood, that we build our future ourselves, that others don't decide for us. Others don't have the right to decide our destiny.

Nick Schifrin:

A destiny she is trying to control, despite the regime's crackdown. She is leading hunger strikes inside prison and continuing a fight for freedom.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Nick Schifrin.