Iran Feature: 43 Stories of Those Who Died After the 2009 Election (Alinejad)

Amir JavadifarMasih Alinejad, writing for Persian2English, is compiling the stories of 43 people have died in violence since the 2009 Presidential election. She explains why she is pursuing the task:

A committee was appointed by [opposition figures Mir Hossein] Mousavi and [Mehdi] Karroubi during the early days of the protest marches. The committee's job was to collect statistical news and information about the victims of the aftermath.

The same committee released more than 70 names of victims who lost their lives during the protests. Security forces and judicial officials have not yet commented or cooperated on this issue.

On September 7, 2009, security forces arrested committee members in an office raid. All assets and documents were confiscated in the process.

Afterward, the state-run media and other publishing networks close to the government launched a campaign to deny the allegations.

Despite denials on the number of deaths, this report is based on my personal interviews written for Rahe Sabz (Jaras) and some of my colleagues employed by or working for Kaleme, Saham News, Rooz Online, the Iranian Teachers' Association, the Mourning Mothers website, Radio Farda, Voice of America (VOA), BBC, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, and the follow-up committee for the aftermath victims.

The interviews, some in-person, were conducted with the family members of 43 victims.

1. Amir Javadifar

Amir Javadifar, 25, was a management studies student at Azad University in Qazvin. He was arrested on July 9, 2009. His lifeless body was delivered to his family even though, based on Amir's personal decision, he went to the security forces headquarters to respect the law.

In the investigation committee's report, it was confirmed that Amir was weakened by the beatings at the time of his arrest, therefore he could not bear the traumas at Kahrizak [detention centre[.

During Amir's funeral, his father Ali Javadifar told VOA, "Amir was hospitalised at hospital. He underwent a full check up and stayed there for a full night....He was healthy [and I took him to the police station] on his own two feet. He drank a soda before he left and laughed and said that he would be back in two days. But my son left....Why did they give me his body when I had brought him to them? I brought him there because I knew my son didn't do anything wrong. If I thought for a second he had done something wrong, I would have never given him to them. Would I have Helped him escape. Now I think Respecting the law is a mistake. Who will hear me out now? They should investigate this according to the law and bring whoever ordered and executed [the death] to justice. "

Babak Javadifar, Amir Javadifar's brother also told Jaras:

I approached the people in Kahrizak. Some said that Amir had lost his eyesight in his last days. Some said, because of the unhealthy conditions in the prison, his eyes became infected after he was beaten, which led to the loss of his eyesight. Consequently Amir was unable to walk [without assistance] ...

On July 14, 2009, at 12:30 pm, [as a result of the beatings] Amir collapsed on the bus transferring him from Kahrizak to Evin. They removed him from the bus and lay him down on the ground. Someone gave him CPR. This person said that Amir threw up blood as he was giving him the CPR.

They didn't take Amir to the hospital. Perhaps if they did he would still be alive.

2. Mohammad Kamrani

Mohammad Kamrani, 18, ​​was arrested during the July 9, 2009 protests. According to his family, he was arrested in clashes near the University of Tehran, during the time when he was himself preparing for the medical university entrance examination. As a result of torture, beatings, and injuries to his body, he died in the Mehr Hospital.

Mohammad's father Ali Kamrani told Jaras, "My son had not even reached the legal voting age and he had not participated in the assemblies, but the so-called plainclothes agents arrested him, beat him savagely, and while the poor kid was in a Coma and had a high fever, they chained him to the bed in Loghman Hospital. He died after they moved him to the Mehr Hospital. "

He said, "Only God knows what we went through when we heard the testimonies of those detained in Kahrizak detention centre at the trial of those convicted of committing crimes in that prison. After the trial, neither I nor Mohammad's mother nor his two sisters were able to sleep. Were we all shattered by that night we all had heard those horrible things. They must show the video of the trial of Those convicted of Committing Crimes in Kahrizak so that people may know the depth of the Tragedy. Those who ordered these crimes must be prosecuted. Everybody asks, 'Who gives orders to the plainclothes agents? Who supports them? How many organizations are responsible for the national security? '"

When informed of his son's death, Mohammad Kamrani's father wrote a complaint to Hashemi Shahroudi (member of the Guardian Council and former head of the Iranian judiciary). Shahroudi mentioned Saeed Mortazavi as the one who had ordered the transfer of prisoners to Kahrizak. Shahroudi wrote an order to follow up on the case. Mohammad's father also wrote a letter to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and Khamenei ordered further investigations to be conducted.

3. Mohsen Rohoulamini

According to eyewitnesses, on July 9, 2009, Mohsen Rohoulamini and others were arrested by plainclothes agents and taken to the Tehran police department on Kargar Street near Enghelab Square. On the morning of July 10, 2009, they were transferred by bus to Evin Prison and the Kahrizak detention center.

In an open letter, Hossein Alaie, one of the ex-commanders of the IRGC revealed the details of Mohsen Rohoulamini's death. According to him, someone phoned Mohsen's father at his office and told him: "You are a regime official. Why don't you search for your son? "The father replied that he had been looking everywhere for his son but nobody knew where he was. The person on the phone expressed his/her condolences and told Mohsen's father where he could retrieve his son's body.

Mohsen Rohoulamini's father said:

I went to the coroner's office and discovered that my son had been beaten and injured while in detention. When I saw his dead body I realized his face had been smashed.

My son was an honest man. He never lied. He had answered their questions honestly. Perhaps they were unable to tolerate his truthfulness and so they beat him severely and tortured him to death. With the permission of the authorities, I studied his medical case. The location of his death had been omitted. It was revealed that after being injured, he had been neglected to the extent that, due to the infection of blood and a fever over 40 degrees (104 degrees Fahrenheit), he had developed meningitis. He had been transferred to Shohadaye Tajrish Hospital as an anonymous patient and the next day his corpse was delivered to the morgue.

Mohsen's father Abdolhossein Rohoulamini is one of the advocates of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. He later revealed that Ramin Aghazadeh Ghahramani was the fourth Kahrizak victim who had been beaten to death but his family had kept silent due to the pressures by security organizations.

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