A Comprehensive Report of the First 82 days of Nationwide Protests in Iran

  HRANA – Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old young woman, was arrested by the morality police for the crime of improper hijab. Her arrest and death in detention fueled nationwide protests in Iran. Protesters came to the streets with the central slogan “Women, Life, Freedom” in protest against the performance, laws, and structure of the regime. The following 486-page report is dedicated to the statistical review, analysis, and summary of the first eighty-two days of the ongoing protests (September 17 to December 7, 2022). In this report, in addition to the geographic analysis and the presentation of maps and charts, the identity of 481 deceased, including 68 children and teenagers, an estimated of 18,242 arrested along with the identity of 3,670 arrested citizens, 605 students and 61 journalists or activists in the field of information is compiled. In addition, the report includes a complete collection of 1988 verified video reports by date and topic. The report examines protests across 1115 documented gatherings in all 31 provinces of the country, including 160 cities and 143 universities.

Summary

Mahsa (Zhina) Amini, a young 22-year-old woman from Saqqez, Kurdistan was visiting Tehran, when she was taken into custody on Tuesday, September 13, 2022, by the Morality Police officers at the Haqqani metro station in Tehran. The reason for her arrest: not properly observing the strict Islamic dress code. Mahsa/Zhina was taken to the infamous detention center of Moral Security Police known as Vozara.
Shortly after Mahsa’s arrest, she went into a coma with level three concussion, and her partially alive body was transferred to the intensive care unit of Kasra Hospital. Given the track record of the police and Guidance Patrols in mistreating the arrestees and similar previous incidents, with the believe that Mahsa was beaten during the arrest people were outraged.

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Unpersuasive explanations given by the Central Command of the Islamic Republic Police Force (FARAJA) in defense of its actions regarding the death of Mahsa, the past performance of the police force, along with widespread dissatisfaction with the existence of a body called the Moral Security Police, fueled widespread protests in Iran.
The widespread protests sparked at the time Mahsa Amini was announced dead in front of Kasra Hospital on Argentina Street in Tehran, and then quickly spread to the streets despite the intimidating presence of Iran’s security forces. The protests intensified after Mahsa’s burial in a Saqqez cemetery. To the extent that after eighty-two days of nationwide protests between September 17, 2022, to December 7, 2022, they have spread to Iran’s all 31 provinces, 160 cities, and 143 major universities.
The protests did not stay limited to Mahsa’s death, it rather, quickly targeted the Iranian government’s political and ideological foundations. These protests were violently quashed by the anti-riot police and Iran’s militia force (Basij). teargas, pellets, and live ammunition were used in the repression of protestors. This widespread crackdown has led to the death of dozens of people and the wounding of hundreds of protestors.
Despite sever communication restrictions imposed by the Islamic Republic, this report attempts to give a clearer picture of the first 82 days of the protests between September 17, to December 7, 2022. It’s worth mentioning at the time of this report the protests are still ongoing in various forms.

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For further inquiries please contact Skylar Thompson, Senior Advocacy Coordinator Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRA) at [email protected]

A Daily Overview of Human Rights Violations in Iran for January 4, 2019

The following is an overview of human rights violations in Iran on January 4th, 2019 based on the information compiled and verified by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

(1) Golrokh Iraee, a civil rights activist and Evin prisoner of conscience, has written an open letter to protest human rights violations in Iran. According to Hrana, Golrokh Iraee was arrested along with her husband on September 6, 2014. She spent 20 days in a solitary confinement in Evin prison before being released on a bail of 800 million rials [approximately $19,000]. On October 24, 2016, she was arrested again without a warrant. She was sentenced to six years in prison for blasphemy and “gathering and collusion against the regime.” She was later granted amnesty per Article 134 of Islamic Penal Code, which reduced her prison term to 2.5 years. Iraee’s husband Arash Sadeghi is serving a 19-year sentence in Karaj’s Rajai Shahr Prison.

(2) Esmail Bakhshi, a detained trade unionist who has been released on bail, has written an open letter to protest physical and mental abuse, interrogation, and tortures in prison. He invited the minister of intelligence, Mahmoud Alavi, to a debate. He is a workers’ representative of Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Mill and has been released on bail on December 12. He was detained for 40 days in prison.

(3) A young Kurdish Kulbar (border courier), Yaghoub Kamyan Niksirat, was shot and killed by a border patrol agent shooting in Urmia.

(4) Mohammadreza Nematipour, a worker of Iran National Steel Industrial Group (INSIG) was arrested and transferred to Sheiban prison in Ahvaz on January 2nd. At least 8 workers of INSIG are still in prison.

(5) Two Arab citizens were arrested in Ahvaz on January 2nd. Khalil Khasarji and Hashem Afari’s whereabouts are still unknown.

(6) Two construction workers were killed and injured by avalanche at Shemshak-Dizin road because of negligence in the oversight of safety conditions.

(7) A member of parliament, Amir Khojasteh, announced that four people who were involved in a high-profile corruption case, were sentenced to death. He added that 31 people have been charged with bribery, fraud, and embezzlement in this case and he has been requested public execution in Tehran Azadi square for all of them.

(8) Farmers of Varzaneh in Isfahan province have protested for 13 consecutive days regarding their water right. Water scarcity is one of the greatest challenges in Iran.

Golrokh Iraee Calls Citizens to the Defense of Persecuted Activist Soheil Arabi

Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA) – Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee, a civil rights activist imprisoned at Evin, has written an open letter in response to the recent re-sentencing of Soheil Arabi, a prisoner of conscience in Great Tehran Penitentiary who has been held without furlough since November 7, 2013.

On new charges of “propaganda against the regime” and “disturbing the public mind,” Tehran Revolutionary Court Branch 26 sentenced Arabi to three more years of imprisonment and three years of exile on September 22, 2018. Cited as evidence against him were voice files he allegedly sent from inside the prison, in which he can be heard comparing Evin to a torture chamber.

In her letter, Iraee accuses authorities of using the exile sentence to banish dissidents like Arabi from public memory.

Golrokh Iraee pictured here with husband and fellow prisoner of conscience Arash Sadeghi

While behind bars on separate charges in June of this year, Arabi was issued a six-month prison sentence by Judge Moghiseh on charges of “blasphemy” and “propaganda against the regime.” The charges stemmed from a case file opened up against Arabi and his ex-spouse Nastaran Naimi, who was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment for “blasphemy” and “aiding and abetting.”

Iraee’s letter warns the Iranian public that apathy towards the extension of Arabi’s detainment would be ignoring symptoms of a malaise for which all Iranian citizens are responsible.

The full text of her letter, translated into English by HRANA, is below:

“He has been behind bars for years without having committed a crime. He is held captive by a vengeful system that has no tolerance for dissenting views, that stifles them instead in bondage, with physical and mental tortures.

Soheil Arabi was first detained on a misunderstanding that devolved into a blasphemy charge. After spending years behind bars and nearing the end of a sentence that tore his family apart (after the immoral and inhumane pressures they submitted him to, to break his spirit), yet another case file emerges, yet another prison sentence is leveled against him. After compounding his suffering with a ban on visits from his daughter, they now want to do with him what they did with Arjang Davoudi and Gholamreza Kalbi: exile him to the middle of nowhere, remove him from public memory, and let his existence perish into the abyss.

After the hunger strikes and beatings he endured in prison, Soheil’s condition is worrisome indeed. It is fitting that we be reminded, after commemorating the World Day against the Death Penalty, of Soheil’s initial execution sentence. He was made to suffer for a long time under the threat of execution, and the [long-term] imprisonment to which his death penalty was commuted, yet we are still witnessing concerted efforts to annihilate him with continued torture and new case files extending his imprisonment.

This method of eliminating activists, protesters, and dissenters may be the current status quo of the judicial system, but it is critical we consider these actions as the red flags that they are, and that we increase public sensitivity and attract the attention of international organizations so that we can put a stop to the annihilation of political and ideological activists. Abandoning them in this state renders us guilty of spreading the disease of our judicial system, and condoning the repetition of such crimes.

Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee, Women’s Ward of Evin Prison, October 2018.

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Golrokh Iraee was arrested along with her husband on September 6, 2014. She was first held at an IRGC safe house for two days and then spent 20 days in the solitary cells of Evin’s Section 2A, which is under IRGC jurisdiction, before being released on a bail of 800 million rials. On October 24, 2016, the IRGC arrested Iraee again, without a warrant. Her husband Arash Sadeghi, who was sentenced to 19 years in prison, is currently in Karaj’s Rajai Shahr Prison and has undergone operations for cancer. Iraee was sentenced to six years in prison, which was reduced to 2.5 years based on amnesty and Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code. She was convicted of “insulting the sacred” and “gathering and collusion against the regime.”

Atena Daemi Ended Her Hunger Strike, Golrokh Iraei Continues with Drinking Water

HRANA News Agency – At the request of a number of human rights defenders, Atena Daemi has stopped her hunger strike after 13 days, 6 days of which were dry hunger strike. However, Glorokh Iraei has announced that she would stop her dry hunger strike (not drinking fluids), but would continue her hunger strike by drinking water.

According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency in Iran (HRANA), In addition to the individual requests of human rights activists, particularly a group of women human rights defenders published an open letter titled “For the suppressed people and your goals, you should stay alive”, addressed to Atena Daemi and Golrokh Iraei, and called them to end their strike. Continue reading “Atena Daemi Ended Her Hunger Strike, Golrokh Iraei Continues with Drinking Water”

Golrokh Irai Arrested and Transferred to Evin Prison

HRANA News Agency – Golrokh Irai, Arash Sadeghi’s wife was arrested by security forces. They broke the house door and transferred her to Evin prison in order to serve her sentence.

According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Golrokh Irai was arrested by security forces, after they broke the door of the house, and transferred to Evin prison in order to serve her 6 years of imprisonment, even though she had not received a notification. Continue reading “Golrokh Irai Arrested and Transferred to Evin Prison”

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Arash Sadeghi and Golrokh Iraei’s Lawyers Have No Access to Their Cases

HRANA News Agency – The lawyers of Arash Sadeghi and Golrokh Iraei have not had the chance to review the content of their cases yet.
According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA),  although the trial of this couple is planned to be held on May 6 in branch number 15 of revolutionary court but judge Salavati has prevented the lawyers from having access to the content of the case. Continue reading “Arash Sadeghi and Golrokh Iraei’s Lawyers Have No Access to Their Cases”

Arash Sadeghi’s Lawyer Has No Access to His Case

HRANA News Agency – Arash Sadeghi and Golrokh Iraei’s solicitors still have not had the chance to study their clients’ bundles, although their trial will take place in near future.
According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency in Iran (HRANA), although there are only less than ten days to the trial of Arash Sadeghi and his wife, Golrokh Iraei, none of the solicitors, have been able to study their clients’ cases, yet. Continue reading “Arash Sadeghi’s Lawyer Has No Access to His Case”

4 political activists still under detention of IRGC

HRANA News Agency – Arash Sadeghi, Golrokh Iraei, Atena Farqdani and Omid Alishnas are still undecided kept in detention in Evin Prison, in ward 2-A of IRGC.

According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Arash Sadeghi and his wife, Golrokh Iraei along with two of his friends were arrested at their workplace on September 6th.
Friends of this couple were released after a few days, but Arash and Golrokh are still detained. They have had only one telephone call with their families. Continue reading “4 political activists still under detention of IRGC”