The Search of Parvin Fahimi — Sohrab Aarabi’s Mother

A report from 25 days of nonstop searching by the Peace Mother, Parvin “Ameneh Khatoon” Fahimi: ————– Open Your Eyes Sohrab, Your Mother Is Staring At You How soon you grew up, Sohrab! In these 25 days that your mother was looking for you How many years did you grow up? The coroner’s doctor decided [...]

Video Clips and Pictures of Sohrab Aarabi’s Funeral

(13 July 2009) Sohrab Aarabi, the 19 year old protestor, who disappeared on 15 June during a demonstration in Tehran, was buried today at Behesht Zahra Cemetery in Tehran. Watch video clips and see pictures of the funeral.

After Withholding Information, Authorities say Youth Demonstrator Died of Gunshot Wounds

(12 July 2009) Iranian authorities have informed the family of Sohrab Aarabi, 19, that he died of gunshot wounds to his heart, 26 days after he disappeared during a demonstration on 15 June, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran reported today.

Aarabi’s mother, Parvin Fahimi, a member of the Mothers for Peace organization, made numerous attempts to obtain information about his situation, taking his photograph to prisons, courts and other addresses.

Update: Kian Tajbakhsh, Prominent Intellectual, Arrested

(10 July 2009) Agents of the Security Police arrested Dr. Kian Tajbakhsh at his home in Tehran on the evening of 9 July, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today. The agents did not provide any legal justification for the arrest and took him to an undisclosed location.

Tajbakhsh joins more than 240 other prominent Iranian lawyers, activists, journalists, professors, human rights defenders, and students who have been arrested without warrants at their homes or places of work by unidentified agents and taken to undisclosed locations. These detainees are being held in incommunicado detention and the authorities have refused to provide any information regarding charges against them or their condition to their families.

Eyewitness Account from the Streets of Tehran

Today, on the streets of Tehran, at 4 pm sharp, people started to congregate along routes that had been previously announced.

Their eyes communicated with each other, expressions of familiarity, sympathy, and solidarity that today we shall make history together, yet once more. Security forces, in large numbers and from early hours, were visible on the streets. They were vigilantly preventing any gatherings from forming.

But along the intersections of Kaveh Street — at Jamalzadeh Street and from Tohid Circle to Navab — and on Vesal Street as well as along Keshavarz Boulevard, groups of three to four hundred protestors would occasionally manage to form, chanting slogans and holding up their V-shaped fingers.

Reporter’s Eyewitness Account

Demonstrations commemorating the tenth anniversary of attacks on Tehran University campus were violently disrupted by security and police forces as well as Basij militia and plain clothes agents who attacked and beat the demonstrators.

On Thursday evening, thousands of people, many holding red roses, approached Revolution Street in Tehran for the remembrance of the events of 9 July 1999. They were met with a wall of government forces. In Revolution Square, the crowds were halted and attacked with batons and tear gas. The crowds took refuge in the surrounding side streets, looking for ways to approach the Tehran University gates. But those streets were also occupied by various security, police, Basij, and plain clothes agents who savagely beat the protestors.

Savage Attacks on Protestors who Refuse to Be Intimidated

(10 July 2009) Thousands of demonstrators commemorated the tenth anniversary of the student-led protests of 9 July 1999 in Tehran yesterday, despite a harsh crackdown by government forces. Dozens of protestors were detained.

Security forces and government-controlled Basij militia and plain clothes agents attacked the protestors, beating them viciously with batons, cables, and attempting to disperse them with heavy use of tear gas, several eyewitnesses told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.

Widespread Arbitrary Arrests and Disappearances Continue

Prominent human rights lawyer among new detainees

Arrests by unidentified agents, detentions in undisclosed locations

(8 July 2009) While Iranian authorities have issued statements about the release of some of the approximately 2,000 citizens that local human rights monitors believe are detained, they have continued to arrest other prominent individuals, in violation of due process standards, according to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.

Today, unidentified agents arrested Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, a prominent human rights lawyer and founding member of the Defenders for Human Rights Center (DHRC), at his law office at 4 pm Tehran local time.

Lives of Detained Pregnant Journalist and Paralyzed Politician in Danger

(6 July 2009) With as many as two thousand individuals, including more than two-hundred prominent personalities, under incommunicado detention in Iran, serious concerns for their health and safety are growing. There are increasing reports of extensive use of solitary confinement and torture against the detainees.

While the Iranian Judiciary has announced a directive to criminalize cooperation with satellite television programs and “opposition” internet communication, authorities have continued to detain individual journalists, including Masoud Bastani, who was arrested on 5 July as he inquired about the whereabouts of his wife, Mahsa Amrabadi, a pregnant journalist arrested on 14 June, according to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. The life of another detainee, Saeed Hajarian, a prominent politician and journalist who is paralyzed, is in danger.

Account of Ashkaan Sohrabi’s Sister

An Interview with the sister of one of those who were killed on June 2oth: Ashkaan said, “I’ll go and come back.” June 30th, 2009 www.roozonline.com (Parastoo Sepehri): Ashkaan Sohrabi was an 18-year-old who was shot and killed on June 20th. His residential location was around the intersection of Roudaki and Salsabil, where he was [...]