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Witness Testimony: Hassan Zarezadeh Ardeshir |
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Kidnapped by State:Hassan Zarezadeh Ardeshir, a human rights activist and journalist, and former spokesperson for the United Student Front, describes his multiple arrests and the mistreatment he suffered in unlawful detention facilities in Iran. The interview was conducted by the IHRDC in Washington D.C. on November 23, 2009.
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Witness Testimony: Parviz Dastmalchi |
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Murder at Mykonos: Parviz Dastmalchi, a human rights activist and expert on Iran’s political system, survived the 1992 assassination of Iranian-Kurdish opposition leaders by Iranian agents at the Mykonos restaurant in Berlin. He recounts his experience in this interview conducted by the IHRDC in Washington, D.C. on November 25, 2009. |
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Witness Testimony: Kianoosh Sanjari |
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You Must be Silent. Kianoosh Sanjari, an Iranian journalist and a human rights activist, testifies about his ten arrests, his mistreatments in Iran's prisons, and his hope to return to Iran one day without fearing imprisonment and torture for peaceful expression of his opinion. The interview was conducted by the IHRDC in Washington, D.C. on November 24, 2009.
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Witness Testimony: Morad Mohktari |
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What is My Crime? Morad Mokhtari, a convert from Islam to Christianity, testifies about the persecution he suffered in Iran after he converted in 1988. The interview was conducted by IHRDC in Connecticut, USA on December 3, 2009.
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Witness Statement: Saye Sky |

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Saye Sky: A lesbian rap musician describes the persecution she suffered that forced her to flee Iran and seek refuge in Turkey. |
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Witness Statement: Farideh |

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Farideh, an opposition supporter, describes her experience in the post-election protests of Summer 2009. |
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Witness Statement: Tania Ahmadi Kaliji |

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Ahmadi Kaliji is a web blogger, and a vocal and outspoken critic of Iran’s death penalty. Her articles criticizing the stoning of women attracted the attention of the Iranian authorities, and led to her multiple arrests. In her witness statement, she describes how the same Iranian regime that executed her mother, a prominent leftist combatant, arrested her twice in the wake of the June 2009 elections. After her last arrest, she was thrown into a room where she was drugged and brutally tortured. Ahmadi Kaliji left Iran in February 2010. |
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Witness Statement: Soraya |

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“Soraya” is a young mother of two who converted to Christianity more than a decade ago. In her witness statement, she describes how she ran an illicit church out of her home and was arrested on multiple occasions for changing her religious beliefs. Although she played no major role in the post-election protests in Iran last summer, the authorities summoned her for interrogation and alleged that she had connections to foreign groups that wanted to overthrow the Islamic regime. Fearing for her life, she left Iran in September 2009. |
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Witness Statement: Mahdis |

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“Mahdis” was a student activist and a follower of Ayatollah Kazemeyni Borujerdi. She participated in the Student Day demonstrations of 2002 and was arrested along with around 50 other participants. In Evin prison, her interrogators accused her of being in contact with the Mojahedin and repeatedly raped her. She was finally released from prison and served a suspended sentence but was called back to appear in court five years later. Fearing further prosecution and detention, she left Iran in August 2007. |
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Witness Statement: Ali Kantoori |

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Ali Kantoori, socio-political activist, describes his mistreatment and torture in solitary confinement in Evin prison due to his efforts to improve working class conditions, and abolish the compulsory veil and inequality between men and women in Iran. |
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Witness Statement: Maryam and Her Son |

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Maryam and her Son: A mom and her son explain the problems they face after converting from Islam to Christianity in exile. |
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Witness Statement: Mahmoud Roghani |

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In this witness statement, Mahmoud Roghani describes his imprisonment in Iran from 1983 to 1989. Roghani was a member of the Tudeh Party, a leftist organization, when he was arrested. He suffered severe mistreatment and was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment. In this statement, he describes his experiences during the summer of 1988 when thousands of political prisoners were summarily executed. |
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Witness Statement: Amir Atiabi |

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Amir Atiabi, who was a political prisoner in Iran, narrates his experiences during the summer of the 1988 when thousands of political prisoners were summarily executed. |
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Witness Statement: Arash Sigarchi |
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Arash Sigarchi, a journalist and blogger, was arrested in 2004 for his allegedly illegal blogging activities. In this witness statement, he describes his mistreatment and forced confession while in prison during the reform period of President Muhammad Khatami.
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Witness Statement: Ali Afshari |
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Ali Afshari, a political analyst, human rights advocate and former leader of the student movement in Iran, describes his numerous arrests and torture he suffered in prison in Iran during the reform period of President Muhammad Khatami.
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Witness Statement: Bahman Rahbari |
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Bahman Rahbari was arrested in 1980 in connection with an attempt by military officers to overthrow the newly installed Islamic Republic. He spent five years in prison where he endured torture and abuse. He describes his experiences and the conditions of Iran’s detention centers for political prisoners during the early years of the Islamic Republic.
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Witness Statement: Ensafali Hedayat |
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Ensafali Hedayat is an independent journalist who has reported extensively on human rights violations, particularly in the Iranian provinces of Ardebil, Western and Eastern Azarbaijan. In this witness statement, Hedayat briefly explains the history of secret prisons in Iran and describes his own experiences in Iran’s prisons.
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Witness Statement: Fariba Davoodi Mohajer |
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Fariba Davoodi Mohajer Tehrani is a writer, journalist and prominent Iranian women’s rights activist. She was one of the founders of the One Million Signature Campaign and the Campaign to End Stoning. In this witness statement, Davoodi Mohajer describes her February 2001 arrest by plain clothes agents at her home in Tehran and her experience in solitary confinement in an undisclosed men’s detention facility.
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Witness Statement: Kourosh Sehati |
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Kourosh Sehati is a human rights activist and former member of several student groups in Iran. He was expelled from university because of his political activities and helped organize the July 1999 student protests. In this witness statement, Sehati describes his numerous arrests between 2000 and 2004, and his experiences in illegal detention facilities.
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Witness Statement: Mohsen Sazegara |
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Mohsen Sazegara is a political analyst, writer and a founder of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps who later supported Iranian student demands for reform. In this witness statement, he describes his experiences in Evin Prison, including interrogations, lengthy periods of solitary confinement and a hunger-strike.
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Witness Statement: Shahram Rafizadeh |
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Shahram Rafizadeh is a poet, investigative journalist and blogger. On September 7, 2004, Rafizadeh was arrested allegedly because of his writings for Gooya News and Emrooz, two well-known reformist websites. He was held in solitary confinement for 73 days in an unknown detention facility. In this witness statement, Rafizadeh describes formation of parallel intelligence agencies, his arrest and mistreatment in prison, and his forced confession.
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Witness Statement: Shahrara |
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Shahrara was convicted for her political activities in 1983 when she was sixteen years old. She was not released from imprisonment after completing her sentence in the early spring of 1988 because she refused to repent. In this witness statement, Shahrara describes her experiences in prison, and the massacre of political prisoners during the summer and fall of 1988.
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Witness Statement: Hassan Zarezadeh Ardeshir |
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Hassan Zarezadeh Ardeshir is a human rights activist and journalist who has written extensively on human rights and politics in Iran. He was a spokesperson of the United Student Front and a co-founder of the Student Committee for Defense of Political Prisoners, a student human rights organization in Iran. In this witness statement, Ardeshir describes his multiple arrests by plain clothes agents affiliated with Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence, and the mistreatment he suffered in unlawful detention facilities.
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Witness Statement: Houshang Bouzari |
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Houshang Bouzari, a Ph.D in physics from Turn University, former Advisor to Iran’s Oil Minister on international affairs and Iranian ambassador to Venezuela in 1984, describes the formation of the parallel intelligence agencies during the reform period of President Khatami.
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Witness Statement: Witness A |
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Witness A: In this witness statement, a former member of the Intelligence Protection Organization of the Iranian Army describes the formation and structure of the parallel intelligence agencies that operated unlawfully during the reform period of President Khatami. For security reason, the witness’s identity is withheld.
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