8 min read
Amin stood up for women's rights in Iran. Now in Australia, he fears for brave protesters
Rights groups say Iranian authorities are cracking down on dissent in the lead-up to the anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death. One protester who fled to Australia after clashing with Tehran police fears for those who remain.
Published 9 September 2023 6:40am
By Sandra Fulloon
Source: SBS News
Image: Amin fled to Australia, but remains concerned for protesters in Iran amid a further crackdown on dissent. (Supplied / Amin)
Amin is an Iranian protester who fled to Australia this year. The asylum seeker feared being imprisoned in his home country after clashing with authorities in the capital Tehran.
“It was in a public park in Tehran. I was with a group of friends and the women did not cover their hair. Plain clothes police came over and began to challenge the women about their clothing," he told SBS News.
“I got very angry and raised a fist, saying, ‘You have no right to arrest us.’
“The police used pepper spray in my eyes, and pushed me in the chest, and I fell backwards."
Amin was "blinded" by the pepper spray but was able to escape the clutches of police after a stranger in the park helped him to his feet, he said.
Amin believes he will never be able to safely return to Iran. Source: Supplied / Amin
Several weeks later, Amin flew to Australia. While he's grateful to live in relative safety here, he remains fearful for those he left behind.
“After the event in the park, one of my friends was arrested. He spent 10 days in detention," he said.
"They beat him with wood or metal batons and kept him in solitary confinement. But he never gave them my name.”
Rights groups say Iranian authorities have recently re-arrested and sentenced and given amnesty following last year's anti-government protests over .
In this photo taken by an individual not employed by the Associated Press and obtained by the AP outside Iran, Iranians protests the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after she was detained by the morality police, in Tehran, 1 October 2022. Source: AAP / AP
“I am really sad and angry for my country, especially young people, because they have a lot of pressure. You do not see people with a smile on their face in Iran," said Amin.
“If you speak out against the government, you face going to prison. In fact, we call Evin prison the ‘university’ because there are so many academics and intellectuals there."
Among those who have paid the ultimate price is 35-year-old Javad Rouhi. Officials say Rouhi died on 31 August after suffering a seizure in prison.
Rouhi was seen on social media, dancing in the street at a protest after Amini’s death.
Javad Rouhi, 35, in Iran. Source: Supplied / Amnesty International
Amnesty International "has documented that [Javad Rouhi] was tortured while in detention”, the organisation’s Australian campaigner Nikita White said.
“It's really concerning that he has died after suffering this torture after being in detention in horrible conditions for nearly a year," she said.
"And we know that the Iranian authorities do not independently investigate deaths in custody.”
Iran's security forces this week detained Mahsa Amini's uncle Safa Aeli. The family does not know his whereabouts. Amnesty International says he is among many protester families being targeted to deter protests around the one-year anniversary of her death.
“Amnesty is witnessing a lot of harassment of the families of those who have been killed during these protests,” White said.
“We have documented them being surveilled or detained and charged, because they are mourning the deaths of their family members.”
Amnesty International is due to report next week on human rights abuses in Iran since protests began. White said female activists are being targeted, some over breaches of Iran's compulsory veiling laws.
“We hear reports of many women being tortured, being held in solitary confinement, being denied healthcare (and) not having access to adequate food and water.
“And again, this is used to wear women down so that they either confess to a crime or that they no longer want to speak out against the regime.”
Australian academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert was kept in solitary confinement during her 804 days in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison.
“Shutting a person up in a very confined space, with no natural light and no access to fresh air, for 23 hours out of 24, with nothing to occupy their mind, is a form of psychological torture,” Moore-Gilbert said.
Kylie Moore-Gilbert begins her journey towards freedom, November 2020. Source: AAP
“I had kind of a static noise that was coming into my cell 24 hours a day in addition to the lights being on and basically over days or weeks, months or even years exposed to noise in such a confined space, your brain can not handle it.”
Jamshid Sharmahd is a 68-year-old American resident, detained and sentenced to death in Iran. The outspoken dissident was abducted in 2020 on a stopover in Dubai and taken to an Iranian jail.
Jamshid Sharmahd is detained in an Iranian prison. Source: Supplied / Amnesty International
“It is torture, it is absolutely torture to be in solitary. You don't see the light of day, you don't know what time it is.
“You don't know how long you've been there, so you go insane. That's how they break you.”
As the anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death approaches, Sharmahd, like other relatives of those under death sentences, is waiting anxiously for news.
Mahsa Amini died in custody in September last year. Source: EPA / Abedin Taherkenareh
“They will execute him by hanging him in public from a crane for 20 minutes, to put fear and pressure on everybody who's trying to stand up for the people of Iran, like my dad did for 16 years,” she said.
Jamshid Sharmahd was born in Iran but lived most of his adult life in Germany. The businessman moved to the United States more than 20 years ago, where he later worked as a journalist and radio host.
“My dad was always campaigning for the freedom of the people of Iran: freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of religion, any kind of human rights.
“He set up a website where activists inside of Iran could make an account and (share) uncensored reports about what was going on in Iran, and that made him a major target."
The Iranian regime attempted to take down the website, Sharmahd said.
Jamshid Sharmahd with his children in Europe. Source: Supplied / Gazelle Sharmahd
The US government is negotiating a deal with Iran, in which billions of dollars of Iranian funds will be unfrozen in exchange for five American hostages.
However, at this stage, Jamshid Sharmahd is not included. White described his situation as precarious.
“We are really concerned about the conditions of his detention, particularly given his health," White said. "He suffers from Parkinson's disease and he's not receiving adequate medical treatment."
Despite the risks, White praised the resilience of Iranian dissidents, particularly women calling for greater freedoms.
Nikita White, campaigner at Amnesty International Australia. Source: Supplied / Amnesty International
“Fear does not stop them from being human rights defenders. And I think that is a testament to these women and to the Iranian people that in the face of this repression they have not backed down.”
Global rallies are planned for 16 September, marking the anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death. As the date approaches, activists including Gazelle Sharmahd are calling for tougher action from the international community.
“We have to help the people of Iran who are putting their lives in danger, and help to give them a voice,” she said.
Amin doubts he can ever return to his homeland, and hopes to become a permanent member of Australia’s 70,000 Iranian diaspora. Even so, he has no plans to stop calling for change there.
“The world needs kindness, the world needs peace. And we must help each other," he said.
"I want to do that all my life because I want my country to be free.”
