Activists and Prisoners Shave Their Heads in Solidarity With Cell Block 350

Political prisoners and activists have sent a clear message of solidarity with the inmates of Cell Block 350, shaving their heads to express their anger and outrage. 

Following the April 17th raid on the Evin cell block, in which scores of prisoners were brutally attacked and humiliated, prison guards shaved the heads of inmates they claimed were responsible for the unrest.

Though Iranian officials have denied April 17th events at Cell Block 350, photographic evidence published after the raid tell a different story. One image shows human rights lawyer Abdolfattah Soltani, who was given an 18-year prison sentence in 2012, being attacked and forced to have his head shaved.

Political prisoners in Rajaie Shahr Prison near Tehran took part in the protest, as did Iranian Sufis, who posted a video on YouTube of many of their members with shaved heads. Civil rights advocates, political activists and journalists have also joined the protest, posting photographs of themselves with shaved heads on websites and via social networks, many of them using the hashtag ‪#‎proud350. The Facebook page “Solidarity with Political Prisoners of Cell Block 350” has more than 3,000 likes. 

Saeed Pour Heydar, an Iranian journalist now living in the United States, was once an inmate of Cell Block 350. Talking about his motivation to join the solidarity campaign, he told IranWire: “I served time there and the painful events of the last week brought back my own unpleasant memories. Shaving my head might help me cope with the grief." He said that women who joined the protest and shaved their heads were making a particularly powerful statement: such acts of solidarity demand that people put their personal concerns aside and become part of a protest movement that is rapidly gathering momentum across Iranian society.

Heydar said he hoped the campaign would give some comfort to the families of political prisoners. But he does not believe it will have an impact on the Islamic Republic’s treatment of political prisoners. 

Samaneh Abolpour shaved her head in solidarity, and says that it’s impossible to know the torture and violence prisoners have suffered. “They have been beaten, they have been humiliated and their families have been abused. People like me read the news and feel sick. We just want to show our solidarity. I am very happy that so many Iranian men and women are resisting and fighting for freedom.”

“You suddenly remember the good and bad memories you shared with fellow inmates,” said Massoud Lavasani, who spent time in Evin Prison and now lives in Turkey. At the same time, he says that these memories also remind him of how powerless he is; protests of this type will not necessarily change anything. “Shaving your head is not enough,” he said. Lavasani told IranWire he was considering staging a hunger strike outside the Iranian embassy in the Turkish capital Ankara.

Relatives of some of the protesters who were killed during the violent aftermath of the 2009 presidential elections also took part. Shahnaz Karim Beigi, whose son was killed by security forces, shaved her head and posted her picture on Facebook. “My hair turned white because I lost my son,” she wrote. “Now I shave my head for all my sons in prison. We are all inmates of Cell Block 350.”

Tehran-based engineer Keyvan Dabaghi has also joined the campaign. For him, it’s important that this show of solidarity broadcasts the message that the Green Movement is still alive. He also hopes that strong and vocal public opinion will compel the authorities to ease the pressure on political prisoners and their families.

“Since I shaved my head, people keep asking me why I did it, ” Amir Kalhor, a student activist in Tehran, told IranWire. “I explain what happened at Evin on Black Friday. When I meet people on the metro, on the bus or in the street who have shaved their heads like me, we look at each other and exchange meaningful smiles and hold up our hands to make the 'V' sign.” He also said that shaving his head has made it easier to talk about politics in situations where such topics would not normally be discussed, like family gatherings. “My shaved head gives me a chance to explain the events at Block 350 in detail,” he said.

A Popular Tactic of Intimidation is Undermined

Iranian law enforcement agents often shave the heads of criminals guilty of drug smuggling or burglary. Prison guards are also known to shave off the moustaches of Sufis—for members of Sufi sects, the moustache is a symbol of religious devotion so forced shaving is undeniably an act of aggression, intimidation and humiliation.  

In the case of Cell Block 350, Iranian officials sent a clear message to political prisoners and anti-government protesters: you are no better than common criminals. Yet the response among activists around the world firmly rejects such a narrative. 

It’s not the first time this sort of strategy has backfired. In December 2009, Fars news agency, which has direct links with the country’s Revolutionary Guards, published a photograph of anti-government activist Majid Tavakoli dressed as a woman, claiming he had disguised himself in order to escape. But civil society activists said they believed that the judiciary had forced Tavakoli to wear women’s clothing, thereby telling the Iranian public that anti-government activists like Tavakoli—symbols and heroes of the students’ movement—were weak cowards.

Fundamentalists are fond of undermining their political opponents by referring to their “feminine” attributes. It’s a tactic that underpins the hardliner belief that women are the “weaker sex”, but also refers to the political battle between Abolhasan Bani-Sadr and hardliners 33 years ago, when government-sponsored media claimed the politician fled the country disguised as a woman.

Though this was clearly an act of intimidation, a Facebook campaign featuring Iranian men wearing headscarves and women’s clothing in support of Tavakoli shows just how savvy activists and human rights proponents have become: if you use a weapon against us, they seem to be saying, we will find a way of turning it back on you. 

By forcing prisoners to have their heads shaved, prison authorities took direct action against the lawyers, activists, musicians, playwrights, and other dissenting voices that make up Iran’s political prisoner population. 

But the Iranian judiciary and hardliner politicians may not have expected such a response from other prisoners around the country, and from the Iranian public; they may have not anticipated that others would make their voices heard, speaking up for those the regime is trying to silence.