“این عکس یک پروفایل است”

This photo is a profile picture.
Behrouz Sadegh Khanjani

I first met Kian Rafiei in the winter of 1385 in cell 209 of Evin Prison. He was a young man who was trying to contribute to the advancement of human rights in Iran. I remember they transferred him to our cell alone and he had some conceptual paintings in his hands; all of Kian’s paintings showed his concern for human rights.

Despite all the dangers that existed during those years, Kian Rafiei tried to bring the voice of political prisoners to the outside world. At that time, social networks were not as strong as they are today, and people like Kian, with their limited abilities, tried to make the voice of prisoners heard by the world so that they would not be forgotten. As I mentioned, due to the lack of widespread use and power of social networks, it was common for civil, human rights, and political activists to be imprisoned and for no voice to leak out. Many were completely forgotten during those years and suffered a bitter fate. I think this was the need that led Kian and his friends to think about establishing a human rights activist group. A group that has been able to be the impartial voice of countless spectrums and groups. This group has confronted the countless executions of the Islamic Republic, which have terrified the international community, and has repeatedly denounced the oppression against religious and political groups, as

Regarding the dissemination of information about the situation of Christians in Iran, there were two active groups at that time. The first group was our friends and other Christians, who were mostly non-Iranian; but among the Persian and non-Christian media, the only group and source of news was the active community. This has been the case throughout these years and the community has always been able to make the voice of Christian prisoners in Iran heard. For example, in the same year of my own detention, about 15 Christian citizens were detained throughout Iran; at that time and in that chaotic news environment, the only media and group that considered our detention important and informed about it in Persian media was the active community.

This is a picture of a beautiful sunset over the ocean.
Efforts of a group of activists to support Kavon Rafiei – 1386 – Photo from the archive of human rights activists in Iran.

It must be said that the secret to the success of the group of activists is that they have made human rights their top priority and do not even have the slightest bias towards green or purple tendencies. Unfortunately, many Persian-language media outlets, with their own biases and agendas, sometimes sacrifice human rights. Additionally, this group of activists has been able to recognize the Iranian identity of all ethnicities and minorities without discrimination, and more importantly, they pay special attention to the rights that every human being deserves. For this reason, this group even pays attention to the rights of criminals that we all know, for example, drug traffickers. In this regard, the issue is not that the group of activists approves of drug trafficking, the issue is that they are seeking transparency in judicial proceedings and defending the rights of those who have committed a crime.

This humane and violence-free perspective is a great success for the group of activists, and I hope that all those who work with this group will become more successful and triumphant in their goals day by day.