IHRDC Press Conference
NEW YORK, NY The Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (IHRDC) released Violent Aftermath: The 2009 Election and Suppression of Dissent in Iran at a press conference and panel discussion at Hughes, Hubbard & Reed LLP. The report is the most comprehensive record to date of human rights abuses committed in Iran since last summers disputed presidential election. The report documents in detail dozens of human rights abuses of Iranians and foreigners — including beatings, kidnappings, rapes and murders — and analyzes the perpetrators liability under Iranian and international law.
Violent Aftermath: The 2009 Election and Suppression of Dissent in Iran draws upon dozens of interviews IHRDC conducted with activists, experts and victims of government suppression, most of whom have chosen to remain anonymous for security reasons. Personal accounts of the protests after the June election and the mass show trials that followed identified unambiguous cases of use of excessive force, failure to protect right to life, and murder by members of the Iranian government named in the report. Given the Iranian governments concerted efforts to hide and distort the record, this report also analyzes and compares witness testimony with reports in the official Iranian press and the international press.
The clear evidence of human rights abuses contained in Violent Aftermath: The 2009 Election and Suppression of Dissent in Iran demands serious consideration. To examine the reports implications, IHRDC turned to a pair of uniquely qualified minds, Shadi Sadr and Payam Akhavan. Ms. Sadr and Mr. Akhavan discussed the legal options available in Iran and internationally, as well as the costs and benefits of attempting to hold the perpetrators accountable for their crimes.
Ms. Sadr is an Iranian attorney who defended activists and journalists facing execution before she herself was abducted and jailed on July 17, 2009. Now in exile, she joined the release of Violent Aftermath: The 2009 Election and Suppression of Dissent in Iran via live video conference. Mr. Akhavan served as the first legal advisor to the Prosecutors Office in The Hague, where he played a key role in the development of the international tribunals for both Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia. He co-founded the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center in 2004.
