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student protests in tehran

by sara (sara [at] ocf.berkeley.edu)
thousands rally to commemorate the third anniversary of the tehran university coup incident wherein pro-reform students were attacked, murdered, and jailed.
Yesterday, 9 July 2002 (18th of Tir), thousands gathered outside the Tehran University campus to commemorate the third anniversary of the July 1999 "University Coup" wherein radical Islamic vigilantes raided a T.U. dorm, murdered at least one student and injured scores of others. The raid was in response to student protests over the closing and banning of pro-reform newspapers. The incident sparked several days of riot and unrest that was, and is, hoped for by many to be the springboard for radical regime change.

3 years later, after a poorly staged puppet theatre investigation into the murders and attack, those responsible have yet to be brought to justice. The seeming immunity of such right-wing groups like Hezbollah (Party of God) was sorely evident in yesterday's protest. Eight students (the official number) still remain in prison despite frequent assurances of their imminent release.

The length of Enghelab Street, from Enghelab Square to Vali Asr was full of both pro-reform, irate Iranians and also gangs of Hezbollahi thugs. The police were also exceptionally plentiful, both regular officers (Iranian) and also riot police (Lebanese and Palestinian). The foreign riot police have been brought in in the past to deal with street uprisings, most recently after the Iran-Bahrain soccer riots. The police and these foreign thugs have been cracking down on the youth for "social crimes" in the past few weeks, in preparation for the 18th of Tir. General fear tactics. The foreign mercenaries do not speak the languange of the people they are blindly and visciously swingly their batons at, and thus their sense of compassion and compatriotism cannot be appealed to. Honestly, to make this report a bit personal, I've never felt more dehumanized nor have been more scared as when I was amidst this foreign, merciless police force.

The protesting crowd was surprisingly mixed in terms of age, with old women cursing the regime with long-controlled rage. Unfortunately, I would guess that women totaled less than 20% of the crowd, and being alone, I found myself attaching to any group of females I saw. It was made clear to me that, according to some, my place was not on the streets. Without provocation, thugs charged us, pushing screaming, and punching, calling us broken women and whatnot. The police did nothing to impede these violent attacks.

Hezbollahi vigilantes, chanting "Mushallah Hezbollah," long live the revolution, and death to basically everyone, would suddenly charge the crowd, indiscriminately attacking people and screaming at people to leave. Similarly, the riot police would, without warning, decide to clear a particular area by charging the crowd with their batons swinging. Stampedes ensued but panic quickly subsided as people began to sing "Ay Iran" - the beautiful former national anthem.

There was a good deal of videotaping, assuredly for further persecution of particpants, and the foreign press seemed scarce. One woman with a press badge had her camera confiscated by a Hezbollahi thug, after having been charged and roughed up. Her entire body trembled as she demanded her camera back.

The Iranian news reported the incident in the last 20 seconds of their broadcast, citing no context, simply stating that people were disturbing the order and peace around Tehran U.

As night fell, all the major squares in Tehran, (Tajrish, Madar, Vanak, Vali Asr, 7 Tir) were all full of people. Despite the fact that the Ministry of whatever denied the students' a protest permit, thousands poured out in the streets, and have vowed to continue to protest each night until of 23rd of Tir (July 14 I think).

Meanwhile, Rafsanjani and Khamenei yesterday fled to Khark, an island in the Persian Gulf.
I have no idea how many people were arrested or disappeared, and I heard of no serious injuries, but information is difficult to get here. Thanks for reading this and take care.
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