“Searching for Justice” Civil Rights Motion Goals to Uncover Info and Preserve Victims’ Recollections Alive – Middle for Human Rights in Iran

A new civil rights movement is emerging in Iran

June 10, 2021 – Ahead of Iran’s June 18 presidential election, public discussions of victims of state repression – including vivid descriptions of prison torture and other human rights violations – on the social networking app Clubhouse have fueled a growing Iranian civil rights movement.

The Seek Justice (Dadkhahi in Persian) movement includes former political prisoners, relatives of political prisoners executed in the 1980s, a group of mothers whose children were executed or killed by state security forces (known as the Mothers of Laleh Parks). , and relatives of some of the 176 passengers killed on board the Ukrainian plane that was shot down by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Iranian airspace in 2020.

This movement aims to peacefully bring justice to victims of state repression and to keep victims’ stories and memories alive to prevent further injustices and human rights violations.

All over the world there have long been righteous movements. A prominent example are the mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, who bravely stood up against Argentina’s military commanders and the systematic murder of thousands. Over time and with perseverance, actions of justice like that of the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo have grown into grand movements.

Justice-seeking movements around the world move forward and never give up, regardless of the adversity they may face.

In Iran, the struggle for justice has been fueled by the relentless determination of the relatives of victims of state repression and human rights abuses, as well as the determination of these families to keep the call for justice alive.

According to Article 34 of the Constitution, “it is the indisputable right of every citizen to seek justice in the competent courts”. However, victims of human rights violations do not have access to effective grief mechanisms.

Yet the refusal by Iranian officials to implement such mechanisms has not dampened this movement’s determination to seek justice and ensure that the stories of the victims are never forgotten.

Keeping victims’ memories alive

Movements in search of justice are defined by their collective struggles and focus on root causes, including investigations that identify perpetrators of violence and tyranny, hold violators accountable, and advocate mechanisms that families through various means, including redress for injuries, justice and loss of life.

One of the key components of all justice movements is their insistence on keeping alive the stories and experiences of victims of the injustices committed against them. This ongoing struggle has the power to turn short-term actions and reactions into long-term historical movements.

These movements also focus heavily on reforming legal institutions and calling for evidence-based, transparent and fair investigations. In other words, these movements seek to hold those in power accountable to those whose rights have been violated. With these movements, the public’s awareness of their rights also grows.

In Iran, the “Mothers of Khavaran,” made up of mothers whose children were killed in the mass executions in Iran in the 1980s, are an example of the ongoing struggle to keep victims’ memories alive by sharing facts about what happened to their children, demand.

In 1988, a committee formed by then Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini – now known as the “Death Committee” – paved the way for the execution and burial of at least 4,500 to 5,000 prisoners in unmarked mass and individual graves based on the committee’s determination of their “Loyalty” towards the newly established Islamic Republic. These prisoners had already been tried and were serving their sentences.

The four-member committee included Ebrahim Raisi, who is currently running for president, although he is also head of justice.

Despite more than three decades of harassment, threats and persecution by the courts and state security forces, these mothers have insisted that they hold twice-yearly gatherings at Khavaran Cemetery in southern Tehran, including in August and March.

A statement from the victims’ families on June 4, 2021 called for the 1988 executions to be officially recognized by the international community as a crime committed by the Islamic Republic of Iran.

“As relatives of Khavaran victims, we still do not know how this crime was committed or where they buried our loved ones in unmarked graves,” the statement said. “We have been looking for the truth and justice for years.”

Seek justice, not vengeance

Movements in search of justice should not be associated with revenge. These movements are not guided by personal hostility towards the perpetrators of state violence and crimes against the people.

Justice should not be served by the families of the victims, but by a court led by independent judges who follow legal norms based on the principles of human rights.

In the words of the artist and human rights activist Parastou Forouhar, whose parents were murdered by Iranian intelligence agents in the 1990s, “… the search for justice is based on awareness and critical thinking, not revenge. This is a legacy that must be shaped through a legal process in court if there is to be any hope of establishing justice and purifying instruments of repression from society. “

Public awareness of human rights and the insistence on fair and transparent judicial processes are key ingredients in movements in search of justice around the world. Demands for bloody vengeance or retribution are completely excluded in any struggle for meaningful and lasting justice.

The Iranian civil rights movement Justice Seeking envisions a future in which courts are built on principles of fairness and transparency while keeping victims’ memories alive. This ongoing struggle also gives strength and hope to victims of government repression and ill-treatment, regardless of the obstacles they face.

Challenges and the way ahead

Article 34 of the Iranian Constitution states: “All citizens have the right of access to such courts, and no one can be expelled from courts to which they have legal recourse.” Nevertheless, courts continue to deny victims of state repression and human rights abuses this right by giving them Pay a heavy price through harassment, threats and law enforcement, all orchestrated by law enforcement officials and state security forces.

For more than 40 years of the Islamic Republic’s existence, justice seekers have demanded accountability from a state that not only fears the disclosure of facts but also routinely cracks down on efforts to seek justice. Of course, this has aroused fear in many victims and relatives of the search for justice and sometimes silenced them.

But ongoing state repression has made the fight for justice in Iran bigger than ever.

In recent years, various components of this struggle have been intertwined into the outlines of a justice-seeking movement. Groups and individual activists offer each other effective support, stressing the need for solidarity and joint peaceful action that could eventually become one big movement.

An example of this growing unity is the collaboration between the mothers of Laleh Park and families of other victims of state repression.

On April 1, 2021, the anniversary of the referendum that led to the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979, activists launched a highly impactful online campaign in Persian to tell 100 stories of 100 victims of torture and oppression in Iran’s prisons.

This campaign was widely celebrated to build solidarity among justice seekers across the country and abroad.

As more and more activists join hands, the Iranian Justice Seekers Movement is forming to take advantage of this historic opportunity to unite civil and human rights lawyers to achieve common goals and achieve justice.

The movement’s most recent action includes a lawsuit filed in Iran by a group of civil rights activists against those who order or enforce solitary confinement in the country’s detention centers and prisons, bringing to the fore the public debate in Iran about a longstanding practice, which the UN has called torture.

Read this article in Persian.