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HAIL TO THE IRANIAN
WOMEN'S REVOLUTIONISTS FALLEN FOR FREDOM
against
the supreme leader, the arch-reactionary Ayatollah Ali Khomeini,
and his placeman president. The message of
the women when the former president visited a university was plain: <give way or
get lost> in 2023 and still is.
IN MEMORY OF ASRA PANAHI (16)- JINA MAMINI (22) - NIKA SHAKARAMI (16), SARINA ESMAILZADEH (16) HADIS NAJAFI (20), AND MORE WOMEN WHO WERE ASSASINATED SO
FAR BY THE IRANIAN AXIS OF EVIL.
Click here for a total list so far
(Updates
November 15, 2024)
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December 31,
2023 - Preface about the below 3 heroines of Iran by
Gino d'Artali : Beacons of hope and inspiration on the
road towards a long and free Iran . * Jina Amini,
our sister/daughter who martyred herself for freedom;
*Narges Mohammadi, our sister and as I call her 'mother
of a free Iran' and winner of the Nobel Prize of Freedom
2023 and sentenced five times to a total of 31 years in
prison and 154 lashes but who refuses to give in to the
mullahs' regime to wear a hijab or bow to their demands
and therefore is refused medical care although needing
it badly and bringing her live in danger but says "Victory
is not easy, but it is certain" * and Maryam
Akbari Monfared, our sister who's encarcerated since
15 years and refuses to bow down to the mullahs saying "Finally,
one day, I will sing the song of victory from the summit
of the mountain, like the sun. Tomorrow belongs to us"
Read all about them here and let them inspire you on
your road towards a long and free Iran or as we say in
the West: 'Three strikes and the mullahs' regime is out'
Be the finalizing strike dear and brave dissent |
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Vida Movahed
A more than brave woman who's
challenging the mullahs' regime and its
'dress-laws'
Please do read
the above and following articles about heroines who risk live and
limb for the women-led revolution and no matter what
they'll never give in nor up!and other stories: click on the underlined
November '24
topics:
About the mullahs' regimes'
hanging campaign against the dissent
&
About the possible regimes ban on
Women Riding Motorcycles
&
Ideological Screening in Teacher
Recruitment: Medieval Constraints
&
Systemic Psychological and Medical
Abuse
And earlier
Actual stories:
Commemoration of the Fallen for
Freedom
Part 4
And more commemorational stories
and
Click here for previous inspiring
stories and articles
incl. Red Alerts |
'New' topic: a regimes' re-newed method of
torture: denial of medical care
November 4, 2024
"UN Expert Highlights Alarming
Violations Against Women and Fundamental Freedoms..."
October 19-18 2024 - July 18, 2016
Health taken hostage
And read here more about the
'Nurses 'strike' back':
Other updates can be read in
the 'Actual News' section
August 30, 2024:
"Nurses can neutralize security
forces' efforts with unity."
and updates:
August 28, 2024:
Nurses' demands - "A nurse will
die, but will not accept humiliation,":
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"NO to executions"
campaign
In support - reflection and
updates:
Sept. 7 - August 20, 2024
Other updates can be read in
the 'Actual News' section
'The mullahs' regime / OHCHR* gallows' dance'
Other updates can be read in
the 'Actual News' section
July 8 - 4, 2024:
The-death-sentence-against-Sharifeh-Mohammadi
June 15, 2024:
Prisoner Swap with Iran is
Shameful Reward
June 5 - May 23, 2024:
It |Iran| puts people to death in
order to terrorize the population into silence.
and other stories
*OHCHR - UN Office of
the High Commissioner for Human Rights
Click here for earlier reports
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November 12 - 11, 2024
<<Women Prisoners in Evin
Protest Death Sentence for Activist Varisheh Moradi...
and <<Public Outrage in
Iran's Sistan and Baluchistan Over Cleric's Arrest (Molavi)...
and <<Exclusive: Iranian
Woman Detained After Confronting Soldier Who Harassed
Her...
and <<Outrage at Iranian
University After Student Dies from Delayed Treatment...
and <<Iran to Execute Man
Convicted of Assaulting Over 200 Women...
and <<Taraneh Alidoosti
Defies Iran's Hijab Laws Again, Sparking Social Media
Support...
and <<Seventy Students
Hospitalized After Suspected Food Poisoning at Tehran
University Dorm...
and <<Three Iranian
Political Prisoners Begin Hunger Strike as Executions
Loom...
and <<11-Year-Old Girl Dies
After Severe Abuse by Foster Parents in Iran...
and <<Prisoners Join Forces
in the 42nd Week of the "No to Executions Tuesdays"
Campaign...
and <<Roshanak Molaei
Alishah, opponent of mandatory Hijab, arrested by
security forces
and more actual and fact-finding news |
November 10 - 8, 2024
<<Femicide: Mansureh
Ghadiri Javid, IRNA Journalist, killed by her husband...
and <<Varisheh Moradi, Kurdish political prisoner,
sentenced to death...
and <<Democracy at a crossroads: The Persian-centric
state and the "Jin, Jiyan, Azadi"...
and <<Iran: Brutal Killing of Four Women and the
Suicides of Two Teenage Girls...
and <<Iran: Death row prisoner Pakhshan Azizi's
cellmates demand justice for her...
and <<Lakan Prison in Rasht: Execution of a Woman Amid
Unprecedented Rise in Female Executions...
and more actual and fact-finding news |
When one hurts or kills a women
one hurts or kills hummanity and is an antrocitie.
Gino d'Artali
and: My mother (1931-1997) always said to me <Mi
figlio, non esistono notizie <vecchie> perche puoi imparare qualcosa da
qualsiasi notizia.> Translated: <My son, there is no such thing as so
called 'old' news because you can learn something from any news.>
Gianna d'Artali.
Armita Abbasi
Iranwire - Nov 14, 2024 - by Aida Ghajar
<<Armita's Story: Iran's Generation Z Rebellion Against the Ayatollahs
The autumn breeze rustles through maple trees, scattering golden leaves
across the park bench where Armita Abbasi sits. She rolls down her socks
in Munich park to reveal tattoos that span her feet. Her fingers,
adorned with delicate ink patterns, danced as she traced the edge of her
socks. She speaks about the tattoos on her feet. The late afternoon
light caught the silver rings on her fingers, turning the tools of her
trade into armor. I traveled to Germany to meet Armita Abbasi, a
20-year-old woman whose torture and rape in prison turned her into one
of the most famous protesters of the Mahsa Movement. Two months before
our interview, she left Iran, and only last week, she arrived in Munich
with support from the Munich Circle, an organization aiding Iranian
refugees. To me, Armita represents one of the symbols of Generation Z's
uprising against the Islamic Republic.
Armita is part of a generation born over two decades after the 1979
Islamic Revolution, a generation familiar only with the discrimination,
suffering, and hatred from Iran's ruling establishment. Her story
unfolds as one of a Generation Z protester, an artist, and a survivor -
a young woman who joined her peers in rallying for freedom after Mahsa
Amini's death in custody. Her pursuit of freedom led to her arrest,
torture, and rape by an interrogator, hospitalization, and months of
imprisonment, leaving her spirit and body scarred.
Even after her release, she continued to face attacks.
Before our interview in Munich, Armita told me over the phone, "Only
now, for the first time after two years of horror, do I finally feel
safe." In Iran, Armita worked as a tattoo artist. She embraced art from
a young age, and as her skills developed, she transferred her work from
canvas to skin.
When our interview begins, she shares stories about her tattoos. She
pulls down her sock, revealing a tattoo of a girl as a skeleton. "The
digital art and paintings portrayed me as a brave hero," she says. "But
this tattoo reflects my reality at that time: a skeleton, dead. I wasn't
in a good state back then. I connected deeply with this design - my real
self at that time had become very frail," she recalls. Reviewing
Armita's photos and videos clearly demonstrates generational defiance
against the Islamic Republic's vision - a dark, mournful world the
clerical establishment has promoted as an ideal and superior culture
since 1979. "People often called me a rule-breaker just because I always
had a unique style," Armita says. Standing out isn't easy in a
traditional society with rigid social standards. She embraces bold hair
colors, diverse tattoos covering her skin, and symmetrical piercings on
her face. Armita's generation grew up with social media, creating
Instagram accounts as early as 13 or 14, accessing a freer world despite
the Islamic Republic's relentless efforts at censorship and filtering.
Her questions began to take shape back then.
"I'd go to school, and the girls would secretly shave their arms to look
more feminine to impress their boyfriends. I'd always wonder, 'Why do
they need to shave?' That question stuck with me," she recalls. Curious,
she turned to Google and discovered feminism, realizing that her
differences stemmed from her mindset. "I started researching, learning
more, and eventually decided to use my page to raise awareness that
women can be free-and without hijab," she adds. Armita's understanding
of women's rights grew, as did her conviction that her actions needed to
match her words. "So I became the person I wanted others to see - a girl
in Iran who could live freely. Many people need to start a revolution in
their own homes."
Armita's network grew through her social media activity, connecting her
with like-minded individuals in Tehran. Eventually, she moved to Karaj
to live independently - a decision her family initially opposed, as they
felt a 19-year-old girl living alone was too unconventional. But Armita
convinced them, determined to build a life on her terms. "I was
rebellious," she recalls. "I told my mom, 'I want to live with my
friend. I'll work for a while and learn a skill.' I had a roommate for a
while, then I took a tattoo course." In September 2022, Armita was
living in Karaj when Mahsa Amini was arrested by the morality police and
died in custody. Like millions of women in her generation, she joined
the Woman, Life, Freedom movement.
"I kept thinking, 'What is my role in this? A girl was killed right
here. If they can kill her and we say nothing, they'll kill us too.' I
protested for an entire month, sometimes alone and sometimes with
friends." A month later, Armita and two friends went to Gohardasht to
spray paint protest slogans. Security forces stopped them, but they
managed to escape. They returned to Armita's home to lay low until
things settled down. Armita had materials for making Molotov cocktails
at home, some partially assembled. When asked what she intended with the
Molotov cocktails, Armita responded, "I wanted to distribute them among
the people." What would they do with them? Where would they use them?
She explained that people would use them "wherever they felt in danger."
"Gohardasht had become terrifying. All the alleys were open, and the
security forces would corner us like fish in a trap, arresting people.
Even during Chaharshanbe Suri [the festival of fire], people crafted
makeshift explosives to create smoke and scatter security forces when
they arrived." During the Mahsa movement, IRGC intelligence forces took
an aggressive role in suppressing protests, and they tracked Armita down
after capturing someone who had sought refuge in her home. Social media
was soon flooded with posts about a missing young woman as her family
desperately searched for her. According to both Armita and official
documents, the IRGC arrested her on October 11, 2022. "They sat me down
there," she remembers. "Someone sat in front of me, and the insults and
humiliation began: 'You went out dressed like a slut. What are these
clothes? Living alone? You're corrupted. You're immoral. You even look
like an addict. Your generation should be killed. The one we killed was
just like you.'" Armita was kept blindfolded in an unknown location,
unable to move or speak. If she made any sound, they struck her head and
ears. Hours passed before the agents demanded her phone passcode. She
resisted, relenting only when they promised she could speak with her
mother. Every time she mentioned her mother in our interview, her eyes
filled with tears. "I kept saying all I wanted was for my mom to know. I
always told her when I was going to a protest. But my poor mother had no
idea where I was." An IRGC officer promised Armita a call to her mother
if she gave up her phone passcode. He responded with mocking laughter
when she handed it over, making her realize she'd been deceived. Her
mother searched day and night without word on her only child's
whereabouts.
Alongside her advocacy for women's rights, Armita was also an animal
rescuer. She "rescued cats," as she put it, even saving a cat stuck in a
tree during the protests one night. While Armita was held blindfolded,
another IRGC team raided her home. "They went into the house. I was told
the furniture was overturned and items scattered everywhere. My three
cats hadn’t been fed for three days. They beat the cats, throwing them
against walls, mocking me, and saying, 'Are these what she called her
children?'" The IRGC's treatment left the cats so traumatized that one,
already sick, worsened, and another cat suffered a fractured hip, which,
due to its age, failed to heal.
Both cats died.
In prison, Armita assumed her cats were safe. "This is just one part of
my life they took from me. Besides my babies, they took all my gold.
They must have had a gold detector, as all my costume jewelry was left.
They even took my makeup and the clothes they liked. If you're that
desperate, I get taking the gold, but why take my clothes? Who did you
take my makeup for? Your wife? What kind of people have we fallen into
the hands of that they're so desperate?" In Armita's case file, a copy
of which IranWire holds, the items confiscated from her home included
"one birth certificate, two empty Irancell SIM card holders with one SIM
card, one knife, a Sony laptop, two 1.5-liter bottles of petrol, ten
Molotov cocktails, a laptop charger, one mouse, and five lighters."
Throughout the Mahsa movement, the Islamic Republic accused protestors
of being foreign spies, with IRGC agents pressuring Armita to confess to
leading the protests in Karaj, pointing to her half-assembled Molotov
cocktails and her 10,000 Instagram followers as supposed proof. Armita
spent six days in the Karaj Azimiyeh Intelligence Office, undergoing
relentless IRGC interrogations by day and returning to the detention
center each night. "If you lose focus for even a moment, fall for their
tricks, or give the wrong answer, it's over. They ask targeted questions
to get the confession they want. Sometimes, under pressure, you start
questioning whether you did what they accuse you of. They even showed me
fake chats." According to Armita, her case file labeled her as a
<trained intelligence leader.> Documents reviewed by IranWire show that
her case file repeatedly states, "Armita did not accept any charges
during all questioning." The expert opinion section noted, "Despite
sufficient evidence of criminal actions, the named individual rejects
them and uses anti-interrogation techniques." One of these
"anti-interrogation techniques" was a simple precaution: marking the
beginning and end of each statement with crosses to ensure no one could
alter her words. In the first document she received, Armita refused to
speak without a lawyer, marking the start of her battle with her
interrogator. This confrontation included her interrogator bringing his
young child into the room, exposing the child to his mistreatment of
detained protesters. On November 21, 2022, CNN released a report on the
sexual torture experienced by protesters at the hands of Islamic
Republic agents. The report, based on statements from a medical
professional, described an IRGC intelligence agent's sexual assault of
Armita, which caused her to bleed anally. I asked whether the "sexual
assault" referenced in reports about her was indeed "rape." Armita
confirmed CNN’s account, stating, "I'd rather just say that I fully
confirm CNN's report about the rape that happened, and I don’t want to
discuss any part of it." When I asked about its emotional impact, she
folded her arms tightly around herself, her gaze lowered. After a pause,
she said, "I try to think it never happened." The moment was thick with
her tears, trembling, and a deliberate pause to reach for a tissue,
perhaps a way to put distance between herself and the memory of that
violence.
That was the last we discussed the assault. Later, Armita disclosed that
the rape took place in the bathroom of the interrogation room, where,
every time she went, she was monitored by a guard. CNN's report, citing
a source at the Imam Ali Hospital in Azimiyeh, Karaj, noted that on
arrival, Armita's bleeding was documented as a result of repeated sexual
assault. The CNN source emphasized that security forces pressured
doctors to attribute her injuries to an internal illness. One hospital
staff member's text about the incident summed up the dynamic of 45 years
of the Islamic Republic's treatment of its citizens: "To make it short,
they screwed up. They screwed up, and they don't know how to put it
together again."
After her severe injuries from the rape by the IRGC officer, Armita's
bleeding was so intense that the interrogator had no choice but to bring
her to the hospital. To avoid raising suspicion, the agents presented
themselves as her family and covered her handcuffs with a cloth,
concealing her condition as if she were an ordinary patient. Armita's
condition upon arrival at the hospital was so severe that she drew the
attention of the staff and other patients. "I was handcuffed and had a
cloth thrown over my hands to hide them. They put a cap on my head and
wrapped a conservative scarf over me like a chador, further humiliating
me. I felt so weak and could feel people staring. They put me on a
general ward bed and pulled the curtains around me. The nurses kept
finding excuses to come by my bed, but I wasn't allowed to answer their
questions. A female IRGC agent stayed by my side constantly to prevent
any contact." When one guard was occupied, Armita used the silent
"domestic violence" hand signal to alert an intern to her situation; the
only way she could silently signal that she was being abused. Responding
quickly, the intern returned, pretending that Armita needed a catheter.
"I need to take a urine sample immediately," she said, then looked at me
and asked, 'Do you need to use the restroom?' I knew I had to follow her
plan, so I said no." During this visit, the hospital intern discreetly
dropped a piece of paper on Armita's bed. Amrita quickly wrote her
mother's number on the paper, and this act of support from the medical
staff allowed her mother to locate her. Though her mother found the
hospital and her daughter's room, security agents wouldn't allow them to
meet. Armita could hear her mother calling out, "Wherever they take you,
I will find you ... I am here with you," while Armita was forced to stay
silent and could only cry. It was some time before Armita, still
detained, could hear her mother's voice and meet with her. But news of
the IRGC officer's rape of a 20-year-old woman had reached international
media, with CNN's report bringing worldwide attention to her case. The
security agents were surprised by the news of Armita's rape being
publicized. Following the Islamic Republic's forty-year-old playbook,
they forced her to make a coerced confession and deny the truth. Armita
says, "The other political detainees, free to make calls, had heard
about the CNN report. Some prisoners' mothers had seen me on the 8:30
news broadcast. I only knew that some news about me had leaked." "They
summoned me for interrogation again. I thought maybe my family or I had
informed someone," she says. They said, <Anti-regime media are spreading
nonsense.> State TV cameras confronted her immediately after her first
meeting with her mother. "They adjusted my hijab and told me the video
would go to the head of the judiciary. I was under so much pressure I
couldn’t even remember what day it was or how long I'd been there. They
told me exactly what to say, and I repeated it." Has she ever wanted to
file a complaint against the interrogator who assaulted her? "Complain
to the police about the police?" "It would lead nowhere. No, because I
was certain it would only bring more trouble. After my release, I
already had enough legal issues. I just wanted to get away from them."
During the Mahsa movement, the Islamic Republic killed over 500
protesters, many of them young people of Armita's generation: Sarina,
Nika, Hadis, Hananeh, and hundreds of other Iranians. Among them, Armita
feels the closest bond with Nika Shakarami. "After everything that
happened to me, I gave up my claim to justice. I thought about Nika
being killed, about Mahsa, Sarina, Hadis, and so many others whose names
aren't mentioned.
I kept thinking the hardships I endured were nothing compared to those
who gave their lives or to the families who lost their loved ones,"
Armita says.
Nika Shakarami - A daughter of Iran
Among the fallen of Woman, Life, Freedom, Armita once sang in honor of
Nika: "If I were tied like the body of Iran, if I were the final moment
of humanity, your memories would still keep me alive in the most
desolate corners of prison..."
I asked Armita, Why Nika? Tears filled her eyes.
She took a breath and explained, "Nika was one of the main reasons I
knew I had to leave. I felt I had to seek justice for her. She was
younger than me, and among the well-known protesters, she was the most
like me. She had a different style, clashing with the norms of Islamic
society. She sang; I sang too. Later, I learned she painted. I also
painted at that age. After I was released, people often told me I
reminded them of Nika. I didn't know whether to feel heartbroken that I
was here and she was gone or glad that people could see we were truly
alike." "One day, we'll walk together, accepting each other as we are,"
I say. After a pause, Armita adds, "I reached a point of mental collapse
and even thought about how to end it, but thankfully, something always
happened to stop me."
Have you ever regretted it? I ask.
"Not at all," she replies. "I had a goal-I made as much impact as
possible. I believe in myself and who I am. Maybe I did more than my
share as a 20-year-old, but I have no regrets. I'm not a political
analyst, nor do I claim to have absolute knowledge, but I believe this
change will happen sooner or later. Maybe it didn't happen when we
expected; maybe it won't come solely from the people. Right now, I don’t
think our methods will succeed, but they've created a foundation for
bigger change. The world knows now that people are unhappy with this
regime, and if the people can't change things, then one day, the world
will. I'm sure that one day they will be overthrown." So you believe
that one day, Iranian women like you will be able to be who they want? I
ask. "'Woman, Life, Freedom' was always about that," she says. "For us
to live freely without a dictatorship. For me to be who I want without
harming you, and for you to do the same. But the regime has pitted us
against each other. People forget that the real problem is someone else
sitting elsewhere. I hope one day we can walk side by side without
judging each other based on appearance or lifestyle."
After four months of interrogation, torture, and mistreatment, Armita
was granted "general amnesty." Yet even after her release, the
harassment persisted. Security agents continued their intimidation,
ultimately pushing Armita to leave her homeland in search of safety.
First, she fled to Turkey, but even there, the pressure felt unending,
leading her to seek asylum in Germany.>>
Source:
https://iranwire.com/en/special-features/136074-armitas-story-irans-generation-z-rebellion-against-the-ayatollahs/
Women's Liberation Front 2019/cryfreedom.net 2024
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