Amnesty International calls for respect for families’ right to commemorate loved ones killed during uprising without reprisals on one-year anniversary
The clerical regime’s security forces in Isfahan arrested Nasrin Alizadeh today, Wednesday, August 23, 2023, and transferred her to an undisclosed location.
Nasrin Alizadeh is the sister of Shirin Alizadeh, who was killed by security forces in Ramsar, northern Iran, during the early days of the Iran Uprising last year.
Nasrin Alizadeh was arrested after security forces raided her home. There is no information on the place and reason for her detention.
Earlier on August 17, 2023, the husband of Shirin Alizadeh, Mr. Kourosh Vaziri, was arrested by security forces and detained in Dastgerd Prison of Isfahan.
Mr. Vaziri was arrested after celebrating his wife’s birthday with some friends at her tombstone. He was arrested in front of his son.
Shirin Alizadeh, 35, the mother of a 7-year-old boy called Daryoush, was shot in the head and killed by security forces in Ramsar while traveling in a car with her husband and son on September 22, 2022.
Yesterday, August 22, 2023, Ms. Mahsa Yazdani, the mother of Mohammad Javad Zahedi, slain during Iran protests last year, was also arrested by security forces in Sari, the capital of Mazandaran Province, northern Iran. No information is available on the place and reason for her arrest.
Security forces in Sari killed Mohammad Javad Zahedi on September 22, 2022.
The Iranian intelligence and security forces are arresting relatives of slain protesters on the eve of the anniversary of the Iran Uprising on September 16, 2022.
Amnesty International: Harassment of families of victims unlawfully killed during protests must end
Amnesty International published a report on August 21, 2023, detailing how the Iranian authorities have been subjecting victims’ families to arbitrary arrest and detention, imposing cruel restrictions on peaceful gatherings at grave sites, and destroying victims’ gravestones.
Amnesty International said in its statement that the families of those unlawfully killed by Iran’s security forces during the uprising in 2022 must be allowed to mark the first anniversary of their deaths.
Not a single official has been held to account for the unlawful killing of hundreds of men, women, and children by security forces during the authorities’ brutal crackdown on the popular uprising that engulfed Iran following the death in custody of Mahsa/Zhina Amini on 16 September 2022, Amnesty International wrote.
“The cruelty of the Iranian authorities knows no bounds. In their sinister attempt to cover up their crimes, the authorities are compounding the anguish and suffering of victims’ families by preventing them from demanding justice, truth, and reparation or even planting flowers at their loved ones’ graves. As the anniversary of the uprising nears, victims’ families fear that the authorities will deploy their usual repressive tactics to bar them from holding commemorations,” said Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
“The international community must support victims’ families by pressing the Iranian authorities in private and in public to respect their right to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly. The families must be protected from arbitrary detention, threats and other reprisals. States must also call on the Iranian authorities to release all those who were detained for advocating for truth and justice over the deaths, quash all unjust convictions and sentences against them, and drop all charges against those facing reprisals for speaking out.”
Amnesty International has documented in its latest publication the cases of 36 victims’ families from 10 provinces across the country who have been subjected to human rights violations in recent months. They include families of 33 individuals who were unlawfully killed by the security forces during the protests; families of two individuals who were arbitrarily executed in connection with the protests; and family of one torture survivor who committed suicide upon release from detention.
In July 2023, the mother of 16-year-old Artin Rahmani, who was shot dead by security forces on 16 November 2022 in Izeh, Khuzestan province, said on Twitter: “The authorities of the Islamic Republic killed my innocent son, imprisoned my brother and relatives, and summoned me to the prosecutor’s office for the crime of seeking justice for the killing of my child to silence me. Citizens in Iran have no right to protest and any efforts to seek freedom are suppressed with great violence.”
The authorities have also tried to bar victims’ families from holding ceremonies at the graves of their loved ones, including on the occasion of their birthdays. Families who have defiantly held gatherings have reported the heavy presence of security forces who violently cracked down on ceremonies, taking pictures of those present and beating or arbitrarily arresting family members.
