'Prisoner of Iran' author applies to be UN Special Rapporteur on Torture

Marina Nemat speaks to CTV News in this undated image.

Iranian-Canadian writer Marina Nemat, who was brutalized inside Tehran’s Evin prison, has applied to be the Special Rapporteur on Torture at the United Nations.

Nemat was sent to the notorious prison in 1982 at the age of 16, after protesting against the prohibitions on dancing, singing and wearing make-up that came with the 1979 Islamic revolution.

“Basically I was a loud mouth,” she told CTV News Channel. “I was not political. I was just a young girl.”

In a comment posted Monday on Facebook, Nemat wrote that although she does not have a law degree or a university endorsement, she wants the rapporteur job because “torture is a large part of who I am.”

“They beat us, they tortured us, and they raped us. Something like that, at such a young age, it never leaves you,” she said.

Nemat was beaten on the feet with cables and endured the sounds of her friends being executed by bullets. She only survived because a guard fell in love with her, according to her autobiography “Prisoner of Tehran.”

“I survived when my friends died,” she said. “I need to justify my survival by doing everything in my power . . . to help make a difference.”

Nemat says her chances of landing the job are “slim,” despite her harrowing experiences and work with the Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture.

“The UN is a very political place. It all depends on where the political winds are blowing. It’s not necessarily how good you might be at the job or how qualified you are,” she said.

Homa Hoodfar, an Iranian-Canadian professor known for her research on women in Islamic societies, is currently being held in Evin prison.

Montreal photojournalist Zahra Kazemi died in Evin in 2003 after she was raped and tortured.