At least 574 known students arrested within 3 months, actual number much higher
6 December 2022 – Iranian police and state security forces have arrested at least 574 university students since mid-September when anti-state protests erupted across Iran, according to a study by the Iranian Center for Human Rights (CHRI).
The actual number is much higher and is still being verified amid continuing attempts by Iranian authorities to block and hinder independent media and researchers from accessing the country and contacting sources. Kurdish-populated areas subject to persistent and deadly crackdowns by Islamic Republican forces.
CHRI Executive Director Hadi Gaemi said: “Iranian college students represent the hope and future of the country that the Islamic Republic is trying to defeat.
“The brave students have held up the torch of the Iranian uprising despite being beaten, arrested and violently abused in custody,” he added. “Governments and academia around the world should vocally condemn the Islamic Republic’s crimes against students.”
CHRI condemns in the strongest terms the violent suppression of protests at universities across Iran and calls on the Islamic Republic to stop the illegal arrest and prosecution of protesting students and to expunge all detained protesters. Release and allow students to demonstrate without threat of arbitrary arrest. Or violence.
CHRI also urges the international community to inform Iranian authorities of further diplomatic isolation and condemnation if Iran refuses to end violence against students.
Iranian college students are at the forefront of the country’s current protests for social and political change, following extreme violence by Islamic Republican forces using beatings, tear gas, and indiscriminate firing of live ammunition against students. has been exposed. In addition to mass arrests and detentions to quell protests.
Students Tortured and Sexually Abused in Jail
There are numerous reports that detained male and female college students have been subjected to other forms of abuse while in state custody, including torture and sexual abuse, as well as denial of necessary medical treatment.
Many cases of sexual assault against individuals in Iran’s custody have gone unreported due to fears of further reprisals by the Islamic Republic’s military.
A Kurdish-Iranian woman told CNN she witnessed and suffered sexual violence while in custody. “They are afraid to talk about these things,” she said.
CHRI was able to obtain details on three college students: These students were severely abused and were detained for long periods without access to legal counsel.
Sources who spoke to CHRI for this article requested anonymity to protect themselves from retaliation by the Islamic Republic Army for speaking out about the incident.
Sarah RezaeiAn Afghan national and journalism student at Alameh Tabatabai University in Tehran has been missing since October 18, 2022, when he told his sister that he was going to college to receive a visa extension.
In an interview with the Shargh newspaper on 26 November, defense attorney Reza Shafakhah said Rezaei had been arrested, but all attempts to find her in Tehran’s prisons, detention centers, hospitals and cemeteries had failed. said.
Judiciary and security officials have given no explanation for her disappearance at the same time as government spokesperson Ali Bahadri Jahromi visited the university.
Soha MorteseiA former student activist at the University of Tehran who was repeatedly accused of engaging in peaceful activities.
On November 27, the University Student Union Council said, “Police tied Soha’s right hand over one seat and her right leg over another, and during her suspension she was beaten by a female police officer and I was sexually abused.” When she complained, she was injured with a punch to her leg and stomach.
“What happened to Soha was shocking,” a source close to Mortezaei told CHRI. “Since her arrest, her friends had tried to visit her relatives many times, but their mental state was so bad that they could not agree.”
The source continues: ‘Soha has moved on’ [from Evin Prison] To Karchak Prison of Balamin [city]However, Qarchak officials were initially unwilling to accept her due to visible bruises on her body from beatings during her arrest. ”
The Kalchak Women’s Prison in Kalchak Upazila, Tehran Province, is notorious for its inhumane living conditions.
Mortesa ei, who has fought for years to overturn state bans on pursuing doctorates. On the night of November 17, she was in her dorm room at the University of Tehran when she was arrested by state security officials.
“MS. Mortesaei was lured out of her room when she was told a friend was waiting for her outside,” a source familiar with the incident told CHRI. I didn’t have any friends who were there.It was an excuse.The agents used threats and force to detain her.”
Merika GallegoslowA student at Alameh Tabatabai University in Tehran, she was taken to a mental hospital where she was tortured.
Journalism student Gallegoslow was arrested and taken to Gaczak Prison after security broke into her home on October 2, 2022. warning .
“Her family and friends are concerned that she will be slowly killed in prison (in February 2021) like Benham Majovi,” the Colleges Union Council said in a statement.
On September 19, 2022, Gallegoslaw will declared A revolutionary court sentenced her to four years and four months in prison for posting a video of herself without wearing a state-mandated headscarf. At the time of her arrest, she was released on bail awaiting the outcome of her appeal.
On November 16, she was transferred to Aminabad. Mental hospital In Tehran against her consent, without the knowledge of her family and lawyers.
In a telephone conversation with his mother on December 3, 2022, Gallegoslow said: hunger strike to protest a violent attempt to tie her to a bed and “inject an unknown substance” into her body.
“Merika’s family is under a lot of pressure not to make her condition known to the public,” a source familiar with the incident told CHRI.
The Islamic Republic Army has a documented history of using a variety of intimidation tactics, including intimidation, violent interrogation, arrest and detention, to prevent victims and their immediate family members from speaking publicly about their cases. I have.
An Iranian civil rights activist who was also transferred to a mental hospital told CHRI:
“We definitely [Gharegozlou’s] Detention in this hospital is in no way acceptable. Because they don’t even have basic facilities to treat regular patients, let alone political and religious prisoners,” the source added.
Concern that violence against students will increase as student life approaches
This year, Iran’s annual Student Day commemorates the killing of three Tehran University students by Iranian police on December 7, 1953, coinciding with the third day of a three-day nationwide strike. . close their doors Solidarity with the protesters.
Many observers fear the heightened student protests on December 7 will be met with escalating state violence and more arrests, detentions, abuses and disappearances.
On November 22, 2022, parliamentarians introduced a bill to the Iranian parliament specifically aimed at punishing protesting students. The bill states that students accused of participating in protests will be banned from leaving the country for 10 years, forced to pay the full cost of their education, and face other disciplinary action.
Earlier, in a televised address on 19 October, Iran’s unelected supreme leader Ali Khamenei called students boycotting classes in protest as “enemies of the country”, which he called Islamic State. Many see this as a signal that the Republican forces are targeting students.
At least 18,215 people have been arrested and at least 473 killed by security forces in Iran since September, according to the Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA). That’s when Masa (Gina) Amini’s death in state custody sparked massive protests. of each place.
CHRI has established a Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances and a special committee on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, Torture and Cruelty, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment, Violence against Women and Girls, and Human Harm. I appeal to the United Nations, including the rapporteur. Iran’s right to condemn and further investigate these abuses.
