The Collective Psychology of Anger/ Mehdi Anbari

In both narratives, there is a moment when time seems to stop—a moment when the individual or the family realizes they can no longer wait. In one case, a doctor loses his life at work; in the other, a child who should have been within the safest circle of life becomes the victim of profound […]...

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The Role of the State in Controlling Violence/ Sina Yousefi

Public trust in the judiciary is one of the fundamental indicators of achieving justice, and its absence paves the way for the emergence of personal justice-seeking. Personal justice-seeking is a behavior in which individuals, instead of referring to legal authorities, take matters into their own hands to obtain rights and punish violators. Such an approach […]...

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From Mahmoud Ansari to Qaisar; Media Heroism and the Return of the Logic of Revenge / Morteza Hamounian

In Yasuj, the capital of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province, a doctor is murdered. The accused of the murder says that this doctor (Masoud Davoudi) is to blame for his brother’s death and that he committed medical negligence. So he takes action and kills the doctor. The accused of the murder is sentenced to self-retribution by […]...

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The Child Left Between Rape and Revenge/Fereshteh Goli

Lost in the chaos of Iranian news, a story with catastrophic depth was the story of an old man raping a boy in Tabriz, which led to personal revenge by the boy’s family, who sent the old man to the hospital and into surgery; revenge whose instrument was a wooden sofa leg. In this note, […]...

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Can restorative justice replace revenge? / Totia Partovi Amoli

We witness countless court cases every day that result in the issuance of a verdict and ultimately the punishment of the offender. However, experience has shown that in today’s world, the issuance and execution of sentences does not necessarily mean the realization of justice. In many cases, the victim is still dissatisfied after the end […]...

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The erosion of law and the birth of street justice/Pardis Parsa

In the turbulent transition of the fifth decade after the 1979 revolution, Iran is facing a fundamental challenge in the field of public order and security that can be called the “erosion of the authority of the law.” The increasing statistics of street fights and personal conflicts in recent years only reveal the tip of […]...

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Femicide in Iran: Unequal Law, Violent Structures, and the Cycle of Impunity / Maryam Hosseini

Femicide in Iran is a crisis phenomenon that reflects deep gender inequalities, legal gaps, and a culture of male dominance. The increase in the number of women being murdered, along with the absence of a strong legal framework that specifically addresses the killing of women based on gender, has raised concerns that some of these […]...

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Naser Ghavami: Most Executions Are the Result of Pressure from Governing Institutions on Judges/ Ali Kalaei

With the increasing implementation of public executions in Iran, debates around this form of punishment have intensified. Supporters consider it a necessary tool for deterrence and public example, while critics emphasize its contradiction with the principle of human dignity, human rights standards, and its harmful psychological and social consequences. In this context, Peace Mark Monthly […]...

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Mahmoud Alizadeh Tabatabaei: The Default Rule is the Prohibition of Public Punishment / Pedram Tahsini

Seyed Mahmoud Alizadeh Tabatabaei, a licensed attorney, political activist, and member of the board of directors of the Central Bar Association, was also a representative in the first term of the Islamic City Council of Tehran (1997–2001). He has represented many Iranian political figures and senior officials, particularly those affiliated with the reformist movement, including […]...

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From Execution Square to the Square of Distrust/ Majid Shia’Ali

After several decades of failure in economic development, democratization, and the strengthening of human rights observance, our society is now looking back at its previous experiences. Our society sees that despite experimenting with various revolutionary and reformist strategies, from parliamentary methods to violent confrontations, and experiencing multiple revolutions and social movements, it has still not […]...

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Selfie with Death: A Question/ Pooya Moheb

On a cold morning, the city square is filled with people. A large crane stands in the middle of the square. The rope hanging from the crane sways in the wind. Everyone is in a hurry to find a good spot to watch. A mother gives her child a chocolate to calm them down. Above, […]...

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The Voice of Science Against the Voice of Violence/ Morteza Hamounian

The issue of capital punishment has always been a highly contentious matter in Iran. This punishment has been enforced by governments both before and after the February 1979 Revolution, and has consistently been the subject of criticism. At its core, the death penalty is a form of state-sanctioned killing—an act of violence inflicted upon the […]...

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