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.

Download full report in PDF format

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.

Table of Contents

 

 

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

Activists Hashem Amini and Nosrat Beheshti Arrested; Javad Lal Mohammadi and Fatemeh Sepehri Still in Detention

Activists Hashem Amini and Nosrat Beheshti were recently arrested by security forces, while activists Javad Lal Mohammadi and Fatemeh Sepehri are still in detention.

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Hashem Amini, a civil activist native of Bajestan, was arrested and transferred to Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad on Wednesday, August 4, after being summoned by the Gonabad prosecutor’s office. Meanwhile, Nosrat Beheshti, a retired activist living in Mashhad, was detained by security forces at his home and then taken to an unknown location.

Amini was previously arrested by security forces at his home in Bajestan on June 17 and had been transferred to the Mashhad Intelligence Detention Center. He was released on bail from the Gonabad Intelligence Bureau in Khorasan Razavi Province on Thursday, July 8.

Nosrat Beheshti had previously been detained for signing the resignation request letter of Ali Khamenei the supreme leader in 2019.
Javad Lal Mohammadi and Fatemeh Sepehri are still in custody. These citizens were arrested by security forces on Sunday, August 1, during a protest rally in support of the people of Khuzestan in Mashhad.

Fatemeh Sepehri and Javad Laleh Mohammadi, are also signatories of the request letter for the Supreme Leader’s resignation, and they had previously been arrested and convicted for it.

According to a source close to the families of the two civil activists, Ms. Sepehri informed her family about her detention in the Mashhad Intelligence Office detention center on a short call. However, Javad Lal Mohammadi has not contacted his relatives since his arrest. Mr. Lal Mohammadi’s family follow-up has been inconclusive.