The month of Esfand in 1394 coincides with the 10th anniversary of the establishment and activity of the “Iranian Human Rights Activists Group”; an organization that has endured many ups and downs and has been able to withstand immense pressures while also leaving a positive impact. Undoubtedly, in the course of its activities, this organization has also had weaknesses and mistakes that require self-criticism. In this writing, as the founder and head of this organization over the past decade, I will attempt to shed light on lesser-known aspects of its history in order to promote transparency and share our experiences.

Before anything else, let us return to the beginning of our work. Ten years ago, after experiencing multiple imprisonments and engaging in civil activities, myself and my friends and like-minded individuals formed a “we” as young revolutionaries with idealistic demands in a state of frustration with political activity and increasing disbelief in the possibility of making an impact on our surroundings through political-party activities. We became familiar with the concept of human rights and saw it as a vessel for achieving our ideals, which were essentially societies based on human values.

This summary, in the month of Esfand 84, put an end to my several-month journey, which may be considered as a greater opportunity to become familiar with human rights and related concepts. As of this date, the “Iranian Human Rights Activists Group” was officially formed with the publication of statements.

“We began our activities in the post-revolutionary civil society of Iran, with minimal levels of freedom and security, at a time when the world of communications in Iran was on the verge of a major transformation.”

It is very important to consider that in the early days and perhaps the initial years of our activity, the speed and penetration rate of the internet in Iran was not comparable to today. In fact, the internet was not a service available to everyone as an internal and external communication highway for our group. The very slow speed of receiving or sending information (an average of a few hundred kilobits per second) at that time now seems ridiculous. In addition to the lack of technical facilities, the low penetration rate and underdevelopment of the internet in Iran compared to now, social networks also did not have a serious presence as a transformative element in communications in today’s world and were mostly not even established. For example, Facebook, as an initial and prominent example of today’s social networks, had only been in operation for two years and of course did not have a proper position in Iran.

In such conditions, our communication and information capital, with our knowledge and resources, was only summarized in emails during the first few weeks. Later, it was replaced by a free blog. However, launching a website in today’s sense took us at least two years, and even after that, we had to manually update different posts on the site using a special software to create HTML files and then upload them directly to the server via FTP. I remember the time when we had to use an old computer overnight just to update the website with a few simple news, and we would leave the news to upload overnight and the site would be updated in the morning. If there was a power outage or internet interruption during this process, it would mean repeating these painful hours all over again.

Add to this communication situation that in the early years of our activity, even the mobile network was only summarized in “Hamrah Aval” (the first mobile network in Iran), which was not even widespread. With mentioning these brief explanations, I believe that these ten years and the developments in the field of communications should be considered a hundred-year journey.

“When we first started our activities, we were inexperienced, and trial and error was a part of our growth process throughout all these years. If political activists could learn from the experiences of revolutions and other previous parties, and reduce the chances of their own mistakes, it wasn’t the case for us. Our time for human rights activism within Iran was very short and limited, and if there was any specific experience, it wasn’t accessible to us as young newcomers. Therefore, we had to rely on our analytical skills and mental abilities. As the leader of the group, I turned to books from the 1950s and 1960s to understand how to build and maintain a structure and develop it. The result was the creation of a complex organization for a civil society, which had its own advantages and disadvantages. On one hand, it helped our group grow and survive in difficult security conditions, but on the other hand, it limited our communication and made it harder for observers to understand the nature of

This is a caption.
The images of the covers of some books published by the collection – from 1384 to 1387.

In the early years of our activity, the years of gaining experience and establishing structures and enforcing group work regulations with the seasoning of idealism and idealism in our growing organization. We realized that without order, planning, and creating a cohesive structure, we cannot have faith in the survival of our work. Through studying and gaining experience, we established principles; positive characteristics that the absence of each of them would be considered the end of our work. In general, the most prominent organizational and intellectual characteristics of ours were as follows:

• Youthfulness.

  The average age of our group was very low, probably due to the initial members who were a young and enthusiastic population. This led us to have a capable executive force and a creative intellectual core. The young and idealistic forces were more proactive and could take more risks; although not having experienced forces alongside us, practically increased our error rate.

• Life and social foundation within the country.

  It was very important for us to establish an organization within the country in a self-sufficient manner, without any intellectual connection to any faction or group, and to be able to carry out our activities without causing sensitivity in the security apparatus. By being present within the country, we increased the sense of security in citizens towards cooperation and had the opportunity to attract forces, have a physical presence in current events, and also have the ability to analyze and understand current issues more accurately.

• The principle of equality and prevention of discrimination.

  Our lack of intellectual and organizational dependence on any movement or institution, including political, religious, governmental groups and the like, has led to the belief in non-discrimination towards individuals, which stems from our understanding of the nature of human rights, to always remain a fundamental and unchangeable principle in the dominant thinking of the remaining group. On the other hand, as individuals who started our activities from places other than Tehran, we had an internal and amplified tendency to highlight the demands and problems of the voiceless.

• Courage;

  Not being afraid to experience and believe in innovation has made us bold and instead of repeating others, we believe in ourselves; the types of organization, fields of study, and forms of thought that we have created have not caused us to fear if these mechanisms were to challenge the accepted conditions in any aspect.

• Innovation and creativity.

  Our mind was creative; we were curious and idea-oriented and enjoyed what we were doing and took it seriously. According to our belief, a group that cannot be creative and innovative will be doomed. Therefore, we showed our utmost creativity from the beginning, from inventing reporting methods that brought undeniable changes in the field of human rights in Iran in recent years, to acquiring new skills or making optimal use of technology.

• Independence.

  Independence for a civil or even political institution is like living in freedom. Of course, this has its own advantages and disadvantages; on the negative side, you will be left alone without practical experience and resources, but on the positive side, when you believe in long-term activity and this independence allows you to take risks, innovate, and be flexible. In general, your interests will not be limited to the organization’s interests within the framework of the goal you are pursuing, which means ensuring the continuation of moving in the right direction.

• Believing in your own unconsciousness;

  Our belief in humility and ignorance, both in theory and practice, was one of the most positive qualities within our organization. By fully accepting our ignorance, we not only did not resist learning, but also sought to gain knowledge and experience from others; we viewed criticism positively and tried to update ourselves with the latest teachings. We spent our free time in prison and outside preparing educational materials for ourselves and our colleagues.

• Determination and tirelessness.

  All full-time members of the group sometimes had 20 hours of mental and physical activity per day and still do. We would go to prison and endure the lack of basic necessities, knowing that we were inexperienced and that every failure was a learning experience. We made our hope the foundation for perseverance and tirelessness, or as they say, resilience in our work. With this resilience and a desire for life and continued activity, we got through the toughest days and conditions.

• The experience of sacrifice;

  As the founder of the group, I had experience in prison and knew the members who joined the group from this same experience. Therefore, the initial and main core of the group consisted of individuals who had a history of being victims of human rights violations, specifically imprisonment for peaceful activities. This put us in a position to establish better and easier communication with activists and incident-prone communities in society. We also had a proper understanding of the process and costs of our activities, and our forces were more willing to take risks with a better understanding of potential costs. On the other hand, we gained the trust of others with less difficulty.

• Selflessness.

  Selflessness and sacrificing personal interests for the greater good has been a fundamental principle of our work during our years of activity. Keeping individuals anonymous and disregarding personal achievements has always been a defining value in our mindset. Understanding the importance and necessity of selflessness in daily activities, we have strived to strengthen this element in our collective efforts.

• More pressure at a higher level.

  The main principle of our organizational work was that anyone with responsibility must endure more hardship and difficulty in order to convince their subordinates to accept challenges. Therefore, at the highest level of the group, including myself, we always tried to have the most pressure and effort, for example, I only asked my colleagues to work long hours when I had worked more myself that day, and in the same way, other managers and levels of work would adjust their relationship with their subordinates. We endured sleeplessness, fatigue, and difficulties, and even when we were forced to leave our homeland, we were not willing to give up our work for the sake of our families’ security, and we paid the price for this perseverance. For us, being responsible meant enduring more hardship and bearing more wounds; the more snow on the roof, the more snow on the shovel!

• Organization;

  Based on our research, from the very beginning, we deeply believed that the secret to longevity and progress in this work of human rights is teamwork; a teamwork or collective effort that in a secure space like our country, it may be better to use the old term “organization” for it. An organized, united and flexible organization that can ensure the life of an organization as a whole. We were passionately committed to this idea and made serious efforts to create a unified structure and framework.

In those social, political, and security conditions, “Iranian Human Rights Activists” began their work based on the principles mentioned and went through ten years of ups and downs. In my belief, the time has come for some of these ups and important events in our work to be examined, even if in a general manner.

Farzad Kamangar, Butterflies in Fire.

“An image of a person standing on a mountain, looking out at the beautiful landscape.”
On the occasion of Farzad Kamangar’s execution, May 9th was declared Teacher’s Day – Kurdistan, Iraq – 2011.

Farzad Kamangar had officially joined our organization before his arrest, and there is an audio file from him explaining this matter in public. However, we have never claimed that Farzad had any serious cooperation with us during his few months of membership, or that his arrest was related to our organization. But our mutual understanding during the period before his arrest created a strong trust that lasted until the end. On a personal level, I was connected to Farzad and this relationship led to him writing his memoirs and sharing them with me. In fact, the campaign to save Farzad Kamangar, which could even be called a movement, found its public aspect through the publication of this account of torture. We were alongside the Kamangar family, Farzad, and his lawyer, playing a key role in advancing the executive and media aspects of the campaign.

The intention here is not to discuss the topic of Farzad Kamangar, the purpose of this brief explanation is to acknowledge that our continuous communication with Farzad and our work in his rescue campaign became a golden opportunity for our growth, allowing us to deeply institutionalize the issue of discrimination within our group. We were able to experience working with marginalized areas and oppressed regions such as Kurdistan; our experience in this area was able to be our guide in dealing with and establishing relationships in other similar areas. We were able to become better known and establish relationships through our activities in other sectors, topics, and areas with the help of the Farzad Kamangar campaign, gain trust, and put ourselves to the test.

“این عکس درست نیست”

“This photo is not correct.”
Gathering in front of the Iranian Interests Protection Office in DC to protest the execution of Farzad Kamangar and 4 other prisoners – May 11, 2010 – Photo from the archive of Iranian human rights activists.

We were given the opportunity to have extensive activities in Kurdish areas when the body and leadership of the “Kurdistan Human Rights Organization” under the management of Mr. Mohammad Sadegh Kaboudvand had suffered serious damages from the security apparatus and its first responsible was imprisoned. In such circumstances, in the vacuum created, with the trust of Kurdish citizens, we were able to expand our influence as one of the few non-Kurdish forces in the most remote villages of Kurdistan and later use this as a model for action in other parts of the country.

Education Rights Committee

“We, by emphasizing the principle of non-discrimination, as explained, were able to find our way to minority communities in Iran. The Baha’i community in Iran, despite its relatively small population, was considered a focal point in the issue of human rights in Iran. This community, with its young and educated generation, is considered a valuable asset in the path towards improving the human rights situation in Iran. We were able to gain the trust of the youth in this community by demonstrating our belief in equality and honesty, and turn the community into a platform for joint activities. Among these tireless and motivated Baha’i youth, who faced educational deprivation in Iran, their presence in the community was manifested through the Education Rights Committee, in order to demand this right.”

The presence of these friends provided an opportunity for a more extensive work experience and further development in this organization. However, ultimately due to differences in management opinions and the impact of the February 11th strike on the organization, we were unable to continue this activity in a cohesive manner. Nevertheless, the value and constructive impact of the work that was done in the past will not be diminished.

Jamal Hosseini.

About Seyyed Jamal Hosseini (Esfandiar Baharmas), his position and background, I have previously published a detailed note (1); however, without mentioning him, I see this writing as insufficient. Surely, when we consider the passing of a decade of his activities, his place next to us is more empty than anyone else’s.

Jamal Hosseini’s role in the valuable and prominent activities of the group is significant; however, until his passing, he was not as active as he was known. Our admiration and reason for insisting on introducing him widely and accurately also stems from this issue. Surely, the record of the group’s activists is not solely the result of Jamal’s activities, but it was these activities that made a mark in the anonymity and tirelessness of these activities. However, the death of Jamal Hosseini in a tragic incident in Turkey has led to further recognition of him as a valuable example and role model in our work.

Jamal, true friendship, brotherhood, and invaluable collaboration were all present in his role in the execution of work from the very first day until his passing on August 5, 2014. Although the mechanisms and policies of the Hrana news agency, of which he was the editor-in-chief, were always determined by the organization as a whole and not by any specific individual, it is still difficult for us to imagine reaching our current position without his tireless efforts day and night.

November 11th

88.

Eighty-eight.

On the 11th of Esfand 1388 (March 2nd, 2010), was a pivotal moment for our organization. It marked the beginning of a widespread effort by the Iranian government’s security apparatus to stop our organization. We have had members who were arrested and even sentenced before, but the major difference on the 11th of Esfand was the organized and extensive attacks aimed at immediately stopping our group’s activities. From the 11th of Esfand until the end of the month, nearly 46 members, affiliates, or collaborators of our organization were arrested and taken to security detention centers. The security apparatus, in contrast to the few officials like myself who were not arrested due to being out of the country, resorted to detaining and even taking family members hostage in order to pressure and intimidate us. As a result, family members were also detained for a period of time. Ultimately, these arrests led to the issuance of at least 60 years

On the eleventh of Esfand 88, we realized that the possibility of public or semi-public activities, like before, does not exist and we have to accept that in more secure and dangerous conditions, we must continue on our path. This event has brought about significant changes in our structure and methods of operation.

Political bias accusation.

During these years, the difficulties imposed on our organization by the critical or opposing forces of the Iranian government were not limited to just pressure. The reason for this is clear: the lack of a culture of dialogue, a utilitarian view of human rights, and a lack of belief in the independent existence of a civil institution.

“متن راست چین شده”

“Right-aligned text”
Rap song covers produced by the collection with human rights content – 1387.

“When the security apparatus inside the country wanted to push our activities to the margins with the least cost, they would accuse us of being involved in old strategies. They would summon our colleagues and tell our Baloch colleagues that our organization was collaborating with the Jundallah group. They would tell our Kurdish colleagues that our organization was collaborating with the Peshmerga party or other Kurdish parties. They would also try to divide our national forces and label us as separatists. In this way, even though the volunteer forces knew these accusations were false, they would take these warnings as serious ultimatums and would try to at least keep their cooperation with us hidden if they didn’t cut it off completely.”

This same pattern of security measures in the month of Esfand 88, taken from the space of protests after the presidential election, sparked a debate in the tenth term of the presidency. It presented itself in the form of detaining forces and eliminating facilities on one hand, and on the other hand, waging a soft war against us using propaganda. These strange and illogical claims were repeatedly broadcasted by the most influential media outlets, known as national media, based on the decisions of security institutions. One day, our affiliation was to the Mujahedin-e Khalq organization, and the next day, our affiliation was to its opposite, the Monarchy and Aristocrats Association. The following day, our affiliation was to Western countries or espionage institutions, and the next day, our affiliation was to ethnic and Baloch groups, and so on. Even promotional films were made with these same false themes, but when they were in Persian and for domestic audiences, they were made with different topics.

“Image caption: A beautiful sunset over the mountains.”
“Press conference of the activist group with the presence of the head of the Human Rights Watch organization and a representative from Amnesty International – America – 1388 – Photo from the archive of the human rights activist group in Iran.”

As I mentioned before, the source of these pressures in the past decade has not been and is not solely the security apparatus, but there has also been a counterpoint, a complement. For example, when we, as a pioneering and creative group, established a prison network and perhaps for the first time published the voice of a political prisoner sentenced to death (Valiollah Feyz Mahdavi – Spring 85), long before the first rise of the security apparatus to confront us, there were some forces claiming to be in conflict with the government of Iran who, in the first months of our activity, began promoting and accusing us of being affiliated with the security apparatus. The reason was simple: parties and movements outside the country, frozen in the forms of activities of the 1950s and 1960s, could not easily believe in the emergence of a new generation in Iranian society and the increasing maturity of civil society. They could not even believe that it was possible for a political prisoner

In 2009, both before and after, we were put in situations where the security apparatus directly or indirectly pressured us to take positions against opposing political groups. We were directly asked to take positions, for example, on tensions between Hezbollah and Israel, against the Mujahedin-e Khalq, and on clashes between Pajak and Sepah forces, and so on. Although we had no ideological or organizational ties with these groups, we believed that if we were to succumb to these demands, which fundamentally contradicted our principles, goals, and framework, not only would we act against the dignity and prestige of our organization, but in the long run, we would become more vulnerable to the pressures of the security apparatus. Therefore, we did not accept these demands, which were usually transmitted through our imprisoned friends, and of course, we paid a heavy price for our commitment to our principles in retaliations by the security apparatus.

The explanation of our ten years of pain and suffering from political forces against and against the Iranian government is beyond the scope of this brief; I only emphasize that neither the Iranian government nor some of its opponents have unintentionally or intentionally repeated this matter, and at the same time, our organization has no affiliation with any political, religious, or governmental entity.

Financial matters.

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Talesh Group for Establishing a Branch in America – 2010 – Photo from the Archive of Human Rights Activists in Iran.

The financial cycle of the organization’s activists from 2006 to 2011 was at its highest level, solely funded by its main members and from personal capital, with only a few hundred dollars per month. However, after the events of December 11th, due to severe damage to the structure and facilities, the loss of many experienced personnel, the departure of some members from Iran, and the importance of finding activities and living outside the country while maintaining complete independence, the organization has been using financial assistance from the National Endowment for Democracy, a non-governmental organization in the United States. The current annual financial cycle of this organization, with all its functions, is less than the income of an average employee in America, and the majority of these expenses are spent on various services. This organization has not yet paid any salaries or employed any personnel, and unfortunately, the maximum support it has been able to provide to its full-time personnel has been in the form of financial assistance to cover only the

Hirana News Agency.

The group of activists primarily began its activities with reporting on the human rights situation, and this reporting has always been the focal point of its activities over the past decade. Until 2009, the group only published its exclusive news on its website; however, the observation of a gap in the coverage of human rights by media and human rights organizations, as well as our interest in expanding other sections of the group and specializing our activities, led to the establishment of “Hrana News Agency, as the first specialized human rights news agency in Iran” in February 2009. The launch of this news agency was mainly aimed at collecting reports from other organizations and media outlets on human rights in Iran and creating a reliable news source alongside the continuation of the group’s exclusive reporting, following the same approach. This activity continues to this day.

I’m sorry, there is no Farsi text provided. Please provide the text so I can translate it for you.

Due to repeated damages to the databases of the group, it is difficult to provide a specific statistic on the activities of Hrana or the reporting of the organization, especially for the first four years of its activity. However, at least from 2012 until the time of writing this note, it can be said that Hrana has extracted at least 24,000 reports on the human rights situation in Iran specifically or collected them from other public sources.

During the years of activity of this news organization, dozens of executive forces and hundreds of volunteer reporters at various levels have collaborated with it. The editor-in-chief of this media was Syed Jamal Hosseini from its establishment until August 2014, Behrouz Javid Tehrani took over as acting editor-in-chief from October 2014 to February 2015, and Ali Ajami has been serving as the editor-in-chief since March 2015 until today.

A look at the timeline of the series:

• 2006-2007 – Beginning of work, trial and error, gaining experience.

• 2007-2008 – Focus on structuring, attracting, and organizing forces.

• 2008-2010 – The peak of our organizational development, during this time we had created more than 30 specialized committees and the number of registered members (not necessarily active) had reached over two thousand volunteers.

• 2010-2012- The impact of year 88, reconstruction of the group from the impact and clarification of policies and new strategies in line with the new conditions.

• 2012 – Today – Developing and strengthening the group with a strategy of reducing quantity and adding quality. Ultimately, the collection consolidated its specialized departments into 5 sections.

Strategy, sections, and methods.

Currently, the group of activists organizes their field forces and areas of activity into 5 sections and in 5 different ways (3). A complete explanation of these methods and sections is beyond the scope of this brief text; however, it is necessary to mention a few examples for the better understanding of the readers:

Hirana News Agency:

As mentioned earlier, as our news organization, despite all limitations, we continue to independently extract and publish at least half of the reports on the human rights situation in Iran.

“بهترین راه برای پیشرفت، شروع کردن است.”

“The best way to progress is to start.”
Cover image of the first issue of Khat-e-Solh monthly magazine – Esfand 87.

“Peace Line Monthly Magazine”

As a specialized human rights journal, after starting its work in 2009, it faced a two-year hiatus; however, since 2012, it has been regularly published every month as our theoretical platform on human rights, with a focus on the domestic space and activists. In addition to its electronic publication, this journal is also printed and distributed within the country with a limited circulation.

Fourth Committee:

A part of the group that focuses on combating censorship and filtering. This committee began offering proxy and VPN services in 2011 and has been providing free VPN services to Iranian citizens since 2012. The provision of VPN services by this committee was suspended in August 2014 due to financial problems, while in the final months of its operation, it created an average of 2 to 3 million secure and free visits for Iranian citizens each month. From that date until now, this committee has been more focused on education, information dissemination, and research, and it is hoped that it will soon provide new and indigenous services to combat censorship and filtering.

There is no Farsi text provided to translate. Please provide the Farsi text for an accurate translation.
Interior image of the workspace of the Human Rights Activists in Iran Statistics Bank.

Statistics Bank

A group of activists has been working since 2012 on developing specialized software for archiving daily reports on human rights in this sector. Thousands of reports are entered into the software annually, enabling the organization to generate statistical outputs and conduct analysis. The data from this organization is used by human rights watchdogs to monitor the situation of human rights in Iran.

Final word; today.

The human rights activists group in Iran, a decade after its establishment, is still alive and continues its path with enthusiasm, hope, and a wealth of experience. Today, due to the closed conditions in our country, we are forced to find new ways to continue our activities. For the same security reasons, instead of using a large number of volunteers and amateurs, we have turned to using fewer but more trained and professional forces.

We are definitely eager to collaborate and cooperate with other experienced and professional human rights organizations in the process of moving forward, and we will make efforts to continue focusing on our activities within the country.

We hope that in the years ahead, we will enhance our capacity to report on the human rights situation and continue to provide legal services to victims of human rights violations. We will strive to produce and disseminate educational content and pursue our overall strategy of “costing human rights violations for violators” by developing civil activities within the country. We also aim to utilize the capacity of the international community as a complement to improving the human rights situation in Iran.

No text is provided. Please provide the Farsi text to be translated.
Cultural activities – Celebration poster, Celebration of Cooperation and Solidarity of People – 1387

At the end, as someone who has had the most responsibility for the shortcomings of this organization in the past decade, I pay my respects to Farzad Kamangar, Jamal Hosseini, and Taher Ilchi, who have made great efforts to support this institution and today their absence among us is more noticeable than ever. I also bow down in admiration to the many former or current companions of this organization who, in anonymity, without recognition, and at the peak of honesty and selflessness, have endured heavy costs but did not give up their ideals and beliefs. I am also grateful to all the dear and honorable individuals who have supported us during these difficult years and their words have been a guiding light in our darkest moments.

Returns.

1- Rafiei, Keyvan, A Brief Description of the Life and Death of Jamal Hosseini, Hrana News Agency, August 5th, 2015.

2- Referring to: Statement of the Activists’ Group on the First Anniversary of the Event: “Sixty Years of Imprisonment and Dozens of Victims – A Year in Review of the Security Apparatus’ Scenario against Human Rights Activists in Iran”, the group’s website, 12 Esfand 1389 (2 March 2011).

3- Ref: Statute of the Human Rights Activists Group in Iran on the group’s website.

4- You can follow more information about legal activities, domestic executive affairs, publications, etc. on the website of the collection.