Continued Pressure on Families of Victims of Protests; At Least 70 Arrested

Many members of the families seeking justice for those killed in last year's protests in Iran have been arrested, interrogated, or threatened by government agents as the anniversary of Mahsa Amini's death approaches. According to the Hengaw Human Rights Organization, since the beginning of this year, at least 70 members of these families, including 9 children under 18, have been arrested in various cities. The Kurdpa human rights network also reported that "28 citizens arrested during last year's nationwide protests in Abdanan have received summonses and have been called to the prosecutor's office." They have been asked to appear at the prosecutor's office in this city by the 10th of September. According to this human rights network, the indictment issued in November 2022 for this group has also been attached to the new summons. This is while, except for the case of Ahmad Alizadeh, a teacher from Abdanan, other protesters' cases have been declared closed based on a directive known as the "Leader's Amnesty" issued in March of last year. Pressure on the families of victims of the "Women, Life, Freedom" protests in Iran has intensified since September. In this context, Farhad Zare, the brother of Milad Zare, who was killed during the crackdown on the nationwide protests in the second half of 2022 in Babol, was arrested. Fatemeh Heydari, sister of Javad Heydari, a protester killed in Qazvin, reported pressure on her family as the anniversary of his death approaches, and Leila Mahdavi, the mother of Siavash Mahmoudi, was summoned to Evin Court on the second of September after her house was searched in Tehran and her mobile phone was confiscated. The legal group "Dadban" also reported a raid by government forces on the home of Mashallah Karami, the father of Mohammad Mehdi Karami, a protester executed in the "Karaj Highway" case, and the arrest of him and Amir Hossein Kouhkan, the family's lawyer. A relative of Hanane Kiya also reported the arrest of Vahid Kiya, Masoumeh Azari, Hanane's parents; Helia Kiya, her 16-year-old sister; and Amir Kiya, the fiancé of this protester killed in Mazandaran, and told Voice of America that the "social authority" of the families seeking justice among the people is the reason for these arrests. Additionally, since June, when Pouya Molaei, the cousin of Kian Pirfalak's mother, was killed by government forces on Kian's birthday, several members of the Pirfalak family have also been arrested and pressured, and the social media accounts of Kian's father and uncle have not been updated, and there is no news from Mahmonir Molaei Rad, Kian's mother. Hengaw reported based on images received on the fifth of September that the "government agencies" of the Islamic Republic have installed "citizen monitoring and identification cameras" under the title "Urban Monitoring System" at the entrance of the Aichi Cemetery in Saqqez, near the grave of Mahsa (Jina) Amini. Abram Pily, the U.S. Special Envoy for Iran, condemned the reports of arrests and pressure on the families of victims of the Islamic Republic, calling it a "clear attempt to instill fear among dissenting Iranians." Reports published by human rights groups indicate threats and pressure on families to refrain from holding memorials and anniversaries for their deceased loved ones. Many of their social media accounts have also been blocked. The arrests of members of the families seeking justice continue; the wife of Javad Heydari's brother was fired from her job. The mother of Houman Taheri stated that she will file a complaint against the Ministry of Intelligence due to the "torture of her son." The U.S. representative for Iran stated that the pressure on the families of victims is an attempt by the Islamic Republic to create fear. Intensified pressure on the seekers of justice ahead of Mahsa Amini's anniversary; Farhad Zare was also arrested. The government's confrontation with the seekers of justice; Fatemeh Heydari: You are putting pressure on us close to my brother's anniversary to "keep us silent." Hundreds of civil and women's rights activists condemned the recent arrests in a statement.