Report: Details on 43 Iranians killed in post-election protests

It has been two years since Iran’s tenth Presidential election and the beginning of the Iranian opposition unrest that stemmed from the disputed election results. [Presidential candidates] Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi described the election as a “coup d’état” on many occasions and protested against the fraud that led to Iran’s Green movement and the street protests in Tehran and other cities in the country.

Direct shootings, assaults with the baton, and the inhalation of tear gas were only some of the causes of deaths. Numerous people were killed during university dorm attacks, others were thrown off bridges or ran over by police vehicles.

More protesters were arrested by security forces who, according to their families’ statement, lost their lives due to lack of medical care and hunger strikes, were beaten during the hunger strikes and tortured by prison officials.

The Judicial organization of the armed forces had previously confirmed some of the political prisoners held in Kahrizak prison were tortured.

State-run media and their references announced the casualties of the aftermath of the election as 36 deaths. Recently, a member of the military stated the same number of fatalities for Basij militia members.

A committee was appointed by Mousavi and 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.

Over the past two years, despite all the pressures by Iranian government forces and the lack of security, families decided to come forward with the truth on what happened to their loved ones.

The following report includes just the 43 victims who were officially reported in by their families. Please note, in order to be more accurate, the report needs the help of others with any related information.

Victims the Iranian government announced as Basij members

Among the 43 victims, seven were announced as members of the Basij by state-run media and Iranian government officials. Davoud Sadri, Kaveh Sabzalipour, Meysam Ebadi, Hamid Hosseinbeik Araghi, Mohamad Hossein Feiz, Gholamhossein Kabiri, and Sane Jaleh.

The families of Davoud Sadri, Hamid Hosseinbeyk Araghi, Kaveh Sabzalipour, Meysam Ebadi, and Sane Jaleh have officially reported to the media that their loves ones were not members of the Basij militia and described the allegations as “stealing martyrs” and “lies by the Iranian government.”

Fars News Agency, the Kayhan newspaper, and other media close to the government still refer to Mohammad Hossein Feiz and Gholamhossein Kabiri as Basij members by using the words of their families.

Regarding Mohammad Hossein Feiz, some of his friends and family members introduced him as a protester in annonymous interviews.

Victims only reported in by the families

Due to the unbearable pressures by security forces, some of the families were unable to speak up and others only released the name of their loved ones to confirm their deaths.

Saeed Abbasifar, Mahdi Karami, Bahman Jenabi, Amir Hossein Toufanpour, Shahrokh Rahmani, Shahsavand, Hamid Maddah Shourcheh, Alireza Eftekhari , Nasser Amirnejad, Mohammad Ali Rasekhinia, Jahanbakht Pazouki, and Amir Arshadi Tajmir (the son of a TV host) are some of the names on this list.

Judicial Proceedings inside Iran and help from International Organizations

Many family members [of the killed victims] have begun judicial processes so those responsible for the murders may be found and tried. The judicial system ignores many of the cases and places pressure on families to give up on the cases they filed; either through threats or offering blood money (atonement).

According to the committee’s report, Iranian government officials have taken responsibility for the deaths of Amir Javadifar, Mohammad Kamrani, and Mohsen Rohoulamini; all victims of beatings, torture, and lack of medical care in the notorious Kahrizak prison.

The cases were filed with the Judiciary and put on its agenda for further investigation and future trials. But, according to the families of the Kahrizak prison victims, only some of the low-ranking officers, who executed the beatings and torture, were tried. The people who ordered the [inhumane] acts were never summoned to court, tried, or prosecuted.

Families of the Kahrizak victims announced Saeed Mortazavi, Tehran’s former Attorney General, as the main commander of the [inhumane] acts.

Gholamhossein Kabiri’s case was the only one investigated in relation to the June 15, 2009 killings. His name was among those who were labelled Basij members by the Iranian government.

Numerous families, including the families of Sohrab Arabi, Neda Agha Soltan, Ali Hassanpour, and Mostafa Karim Beigi, have asked the UN and other human rights organizations to get involved with post-election murder cases by sending a Special Rapporteur to Iran to meet the families and help them find the people who ordered the murders and the people who followed these orders.

A seperate report on the executed

Please note that, after the election, some political activists were arrested and hastedly executed without the right to a public trial. Investigations on those executed and those awaiting execution will be included in a separate report.

The 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 head quarters in 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 Kahrizak traumas.

During Amir’s funeral, hi father Ali Javadifar told VOA, “Amir was hospitalized at Firouzgar 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. I would 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 12:30pm, [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 the clashes near the University of Tehran, during the time when he was preparing himself 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 hospital bed at Loghman hospital. He died after they moved him to Mehr hospital.”

He said, “Only God knows what we went through when we heard the testimonies of those detained in Kahrizak detention center 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. That night we were all shattered by all those horrible things we had heard. 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 told the 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, 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.

4. Ramin Pourandarjani

Ramin Pourandarjani was born on June 9, 1983 in Tabriz, Iran. He was serving his military obligations as a physician for the Greater Tehran police force at the Kahrizak detention centre. He was a doctor who examined prisoners killed and injured during the 2009 Iranian election protests. Initial reports by Iranian authorities claimed that Ramin Pourandarjani had committed suicide, but later they announced that the 26 year old doctor had died of a heart attack in his sleep. Later, they had said [again] he died as a result of suicide. Forensic tests showed that he had died from poisoning by drugs.

Pourandarjani had testified before a parliamentary committee for the investigation of misconduct at the Kahrizak detention centre.

The Iranian judiciary is reluctant to investigate Pourandarjani’s death.

His father Reza Qoli Pourandarjani said, “First they claimed my son had a heart attack and later they said it was suicide, and after that they said it was an overdose. They have not given us a clear answer to date.”

“We have filed a lawsuit in Tehran and demanded that his murder be investigated. The case has been opened at the criminal court but no one has done anything about it,” he added.

5. Ali Hassanpour

Ali Hassanpour was married and a father of two children, 14 and 21 years old. He was shot in the face and died in Azadi Square at the demonstration on June 15, 2009. A picture of his body covered with blood and lying on the ground in the crowd of protestors was published in the media that same day. The picture symbolizes the violence exercised by the Iranian regime against the people’s silent march. His wife Ladan Mostafaei said in her first interview with Voice of America that, when she showed her husband’s photo to authorities, they denied knowing any information about him.

In the same interview she said that it took the criminal court 105 days to find her husband’s body.

Ladan Mostafaei spread the information about the murder of her husband. She demanded an inquiry. Since she did not receive a response from the Iranian authorities, she, like the families of other killed protesters, turned to international authorities for an inquiry.

Ladan Mostafei said to Jaras, “I contact judicial authorities at least four times a month to ask who had aimed their gun at my husband and killed him for being on the street. Mr. Larijani and other responsible officers present a new murder every time they show up at international meetings. Sometimes they [blame] British agents, other times they say the US and Israel are behind the killings, or they [blame] the Monafeghin (the derogatory name coined by the Iranian regime to refer to its opposition, mainly the PMOI. I have told the judicial authorities that, according to many witnesses, my husband was shot from the top of the Ashura Basiji building 117. The arms experts of the judicial authorities have confirmed that he was shot with a kalashnikov (rifle).

During these two years the [Iranian] authorities have not cared at all about my situation. The government agencies do not reply to the inquiries of the Judge in charge of the case. The media inside Iran is unable to reach our message to the UN and human rights organizations that nobody has been held accountable for the death of our loved ones.

6. Sohrab Arabi

19 year old Sohrab Arabi disappeared after the June 15th demonstration that he attended with his family. Following 26 days of searching the prisons, police stations, and hospitals, Sohrab’s body was available for identification.

Parvin Fahimi, the mother of Sohrab Arabi is among the first Mourning Mothers who did not stay silent. A few days after July 22, 2009, the day she buried her son, Parvin Fahimi and a number of the members of the One Million Signatures Campaign invited others to break their silence during a visit with Neda Agha Soltan’s mother. This news was later published by women activists and reporters in Iran.

In an interview with Kaleme, Parvin Fahimi said she would forgive the blood of her son only under the condition that all the political prisoners were set free and declared innocent. She told Jaras she was open to the idea of an interview with Iranian state-run television and radio. She said, “I requested something simple. I said I would participate in an interview if they wished to report on everything that a mother has to say. I could have told them what has happened to me. They didn’t want that. Then came Press TV. I asked them to not censor me and, as a mother, I just wanted to express my right to follow up on Sohrab’s murder. I told them there is no benefit of making programs stating that some rioters killed our children and to allow me to tell them who has [really] killed our children in the streets and in Kahrizak. I am a human living in Iran and it is my legal right to have access to national media so I can tell what happened to my son. My statements are not political. They didn’t want to listen to me about how Sohrab was shot.”

Parvin Fahimi’s home and the neighbours’ homes have been attacked several times. She has been summoned and detained. She told Jaras, “They cruelly attacked and detained young people in the neighborhood Sohrab belonged to. Why should the young protesters of this country be held in captivity by a government that lies?”

After not receiving any response about the inquiry to her son’s murder, Parvin Fahimi told Jaras, “I suggest that the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon visits the families of the martyrs to hear their stories.

7. Ahmad Naeem Abadi

Ahmad Naeem Abadi is also one of the young protesters who was marching peacefully during the aftermath of Iran’s presidential election. On June 15, 2009 he was shot directly around Azadi Square. He died later in Tehran’s Rasoul Akram hospital. Ahmad’s body was returned to his family one week after his death by the coroners at Kahrizak.

During a visit with Mir Hossein Mousavi, Ahmad’s father gave a full account on how his son died. According to a report published by Kaleme, Ahmad’s father had stated that, other than his slain son, other members of his family were also protesting the results of the election and they participated in the street rallies, asking for their rights. Nobody imagined such violent treatment from the government on people who simply asked for their votes to be re-counted. Like families of many other victims, Iranian authorities offered Ahmad’s family blood money to not speak up. His family refused to accept the money and insisted on investigating and punishing the individuals responsible for the killing of innocent protesters.

Ahmad’s family had filed many complaints but they never received a response.

8. Moharram Chegini

Moharram Chegini, a 32 year old married man was shot and killed in front of Meghdad station on Azadi Street on June 15, 2009. His wife Masoumeh Chegini told Jaras in an interview, “What happens when you kill the bread winner in a family? In such dire conditions, how does a widowed wife continue supporting her family? Why won’t any of the officials even speak to our lawyer?” They give us a martyrdom card and offer some money but they never tell us why they kill innocent young people who ask for nothing but their votes.”

Ali Chegini, the brother of the victim also spoke to Jaras. He said his brother attended the street protests from his humble neighborhood in the southern part of Tehran where a simple life is difficult. He also said the Iranian government and state-run media take advantage of people’s traditional and religious beliefs. The state-run media shows a few young people dancing and dressed in less than full Hijab to portray the supporters of Mousavi as anti-Islamic western punks who riot so they may have the freedom to hang out nude; an attempt to turn religious people against us. The state-run media makes films about the Green supporters to show them as anti-Islamic, and for many people it is difficult to accept anyone who fights against their religion, so they look down upon us as if we have a contagious disease of being Green.

He also noted that according to the government official reports, The family members of 36 people who died, and who were offered martyrdom cards [by the government], are currently being pursued to file a law suit against Mousavi and Karoubi, whom the government refers to as the leaders of the unrest.

9. Ramin Ramezani

Ramin Ramezani was a 22 year old young man serving his military obligations when on June 15, 2009 he died from a direct gun shot wound. The “Where Is My Vote” website published an interview with his mother a few months later. Ramin’s mother had expressed her disbelief that her son was killed in a rally. She had never imagined her son would die as a result of attending a protest. When Ramin’s mother stayed up late that night awaiting her son’s return, she finally received a call from his cell phone. She answered the phone with excitement but heard a stranger’s voice who talked about arranging [a time for the family] to pick up Ramin’s body at the hospital. When his mother heard the word “body”, she placed the phone down, screamed, and fainted. According to the report, Ramin’s parents picked up his body on his birthday. Also, none of their complaints have been answered.

Ramin’s father Mehdi Ramezani has said he saw the bullet that had destroyed his son’s kidney and lungs.

10. Davoud Sadri

On June 15, 2009, Davood Sadri, 26, was shot dead in front of the Meghdad Basij building on Azadi Street.

A video of him being shot was spread on the internet. The videos showed that he had been shot in the heart while people tried to carry his dead body on their shoulders.

State-run media introduced Davoud Sadri as a member of Basij. Davoud’s father Ahmad Sadri told Jaras: “My son was not a member of the Basij. Iranian newspapers once interviewed me via telephone but then wrote whatever they wished. Whom should we trust? In return for 30 years of sincere service to my country, my young son is murdered. And then at Bonyadeh Shahid I was told that I had to be proud of my son because he was a member of the Basij. I told them: ‘Why should I lie when my son wasn’t even a member of Basij? My son was an ordinary worker who was killed.’ And now it is to the interest of the state that his murderer should be prosecuted.”

He also said, “I went twice to the location where my son had been shot and personally investigated the incidents on June 15, 2009. Witnesses say that agents on the roof of the Meghdad Basij building opened fire on the people. A person who witnessed how a mother and daughter had been showered with bullets in a child care center revealed everything to me. Local residents say that the reason why people suddenly poured onto the streets was that they heard the sound of gun shots. My son was out running an errand. But even if he had participated in the demonstrations, should the reply to “Where is my vote” be a bullet? Could they not wait until people returned to their homes? Did they have to end the demonstrations with shootings?”

Iranian relatives of Fatemeh Rajabpour and her daughter, who were both killed on June 15 violent protest, mourn over their grave at the Behesht-e-Zahra cemetery in Tehran on June 17, 2009. (AFP/Getty Images)

11-12. Soror Boroumad and Fatemeh Rajabpour

Soror Borumand, 58, and her 38 year old daughter Fatemeh Rajabpour had taken refuge in a child care center while military forces were shooting at the people on June 15, 2009,. According to Soror’s husband, they were killed by direct gun shot wounds.

Based on the reports of the state-run media, Ebrahim Rajabpour, Soror Borumand’s husband said: “They had shot my wife and daughter in the throat and in the back. When we arrived they were both soaked in blood. The doctors believe that they had been killed in the shooting.”

State-run media, including Fars News Agency, claimed that these two Iranian citizens had been killed by the protesters and that these two women had proved to the world that they were ready to sacrifice their lives for the Velayat-e-Faqih.

13. Hesam Hanifeh

Hesam Hanifeh, 19, was shot dead in front of Meghdad Basij building on June 15, 2009. State-run media, including Fars News Agency and the Keyhan newspaper, claimed that Hesam’s family had pressed charges against Mir Hossein Mousavi, but, in an interview with Rooz Online, Hesam Hanifeh’s mother rejected this claim. She said: “We demanded that the murderer of our son be introduced. We did not press charges against Mr. Mousavi or anyone else. We don’t know who the killer is. We complained to the criminal court and asked them to find the killer of our son and to tell us who shot him. Bonyad Shahid authorities told us that they have accepted Hesam as a martyr and have issued a card for him. They said Hesam had been accidentally shot and that he had not participated in the demonstrations. Well, all we want is to find the killer whose bullet accidently shot Hesam.”

14. Hossein Akhtarzand

Hossein Akhtarzand was a 32 year old man born in Isfahan, Iran. He was among the protesters against the fraudulent Iranian 2009 Presidential election. He was beaten and killed by the Iranian governmental militia forces on June 15, 2009.

Witnesses released the videos and photos of him on websites the same day. Coming back from work at the end of the day, he arrived to the Darvazeh Shiraz neighbourhood, the center of protests and clashes. He was running away from the crowd and attempted to enter a physician’s building through the parking lot in order to hide from the militia forces. He was captured on the roof of the building and beaten by some of the regime forces. He was then thrown down to his death from the three-story building.

Hossein Akhtarzand’s family kept quiet about Hossein’s death to the media. Finally, after two years, they told Jaras that their investigations have proven fruitless. They said they have no choice but keep quiet about it, so they may live safe and survive in the city.

One of the Isfahani citizens who got to know Hossein told Jaras that Hossein’s family attempted to investigate the death in court, but received no response. Police officers and judiciary and security officials announced to his family that Hossein fell to his death by stepping on a damaged part of the roof by accident.

The Isfahani citizen added, “The officials said the reason that Hossein fell off the roof is because he was under the influence of drugs. But the judiciary medical investigations team only announced “clash with a hard object” as the reason for his death.

15. Kianoosh Asa