Dozens Arrested as Iranian Security Forces Attack a University Campus | Iran

Iranian security forces launched a series of attacks on college students at universities across the country in which dozens of students were arrested. According to the Iran Students’ Union.

According to student organizations and human rights groups, attacks on universities intensified this week as young people gathered to celebrate their 40th day. maha amini He died in Iranian morality police custody in September. The killing of the 22-year-old woman sparked eight weeks of nationwide protests against the regime. The highly symbolic fortieth day marks the end of mourning.

Student Union Iran It has documented more than 40 arrests of university students and is collecting reports of arrests and raids on university campuses by security forces across the country on its Telegram channel.

The Norway-based Hingau Human Rights Organization, which reports on Kurdish areas in western Iran, said the fate of dozens of young men arrested last week and dozens of others arrested by security forces for their participation in previous protests is still unknown.

Anousheh*, a student at a Tehran university, told the Guardian that she was violently assaulted by security forces last weekend when she left her campus.

“One of my best friends was arrested off campus this weekend and I still don’t know where he is,” she said. “[After the protests] The security forces were waiting for the students to leave the university and started beating us with batons.

“We all ran for our lives,” Anousheh said. We have been warned by our faculty to stop the protests immediately to avoid arrests [but] We don’t stop.”

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University students in Mashhad also said they were attacked by security forces this week Videos appear online To show plainclothes officers dragging students into vehicles.

Karim* said he was part of a group of about 200 students who gathered on October 26 to mark the 40th day of mourning for Mahsa Amini.

Moments after his arrival, Karim claims that security forces closed the gates and blocked the exits. He said the students were arrested and beaten as they tried to leave.

“Three hours later, with security forces using tear gas and batons, I was able to get out but at least seven of my friends were arrested this week. Once I take them away, no one knows where they are. University officials are helpless.

I don’t know of a single friend who has not witnessed a kidnapping or arrest or helped rescue an injured friend. The student unions here in Mashhad believe that at least 50 students have been arrested in our city alone.”

Another student from Mashhad, who said he was attacked on October 29 while participating in a demonstration, said security forces beat unconscious youths and prevented them from getting medical help.

“One of my close friends was so badly beaten that I spent the past four days caring for him in the hospital,” he said. “We waited for hours to get to the university and take him to the hospital.

I know more students were arrested over the course of the week. We don’t know where they are or if they are safe. Next time they lock us up, they will kill dozens of us.”

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Some of the students who were arrested at the start of the protests have not been heard from since their arrest. According to the student union, the young woman, Zainab Nasiri, a sociology student from the University of Isfahan, was arrested on 2 October outside her home and taken to Dowlatabad prison. It is not known what happened to her or the charges she faces.

On October 30, Human Rights Watch estimated that at least 308 university students had been arrested by regime forces since the protests began. Human rights in Iran IHRNGO denounced the mass arrests and “encroachment” on university campuses by Iranian security forces. The group said that the special police forces – plainclothes officers who were reported to be armed – “attacked and kidnapped the students from their dormitories”.

The international human rights organization warned of the possibility of executing dozens of protesters, including university students, after the Iranian authorities began accusing detainees of security-related crimes, including “enmity against God” (fight) and “Corruption on Earth” (spoiling in rice).

Hadi Ghaemi, CEO of Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI), it said in a statement: “Issuing death sentences against protesters – after the Iranian authorities illegally arrested tens of thousands of peaceful protesters and killed hundreds through the indiscriminate use of lethal force to suppress protests – is a blatant attempt to terrorize the Iranian people by silencing them. It will enhance the standing of the republic. Islamic law as an outlaw state that does not respect the law or life.”

On October 31, the head of the judiciary in Tehran province said they had issued at least 1,000 indictments against those arrested on charges related to the protests. According to the latest reports, at least 277 people, including 40 children, were killed in the nationwide protests.

According to human rights groups, Nadhila Meroviana Tehran-based journalist from Mohasa Amini’s hometown, was arrested and transferred to Evin Prison in Tehran after publishing an interview with Amini’s father about used online news site.

According to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, 51 journalists have been arrested in the crackdown, with 14 confirmed bail so far.

Names have been changed to protect identities.

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