Item Summary

Asra - Asra Panahi was a 15-year-old schoolgirl who died in Ardabil, a city in the northwest of Iran. She was one of several students who were beaten by security forces during a raid on her school, when they refused to sing an anthem praising the supreme leader, Ali Khamenei. She died later in hospital from her injuries, on October 13, 2022.

Aylar - Aylar Haghi was a 23-year-old medical student from Tabriz, Iran. She was killed on November 16, 2022, during the crackdown on protesters in Tabriz following the police killing of Mahsa Jina Amini in September 2022.

Baluch - The Baluch minority in Iran's Sistan and Baluchistan province has faced prolonged discrimination. In September 2022, protests erupted in Zahedan following the alleged rape of a 15-year-old girl by a police officer. The demonstrations aimed to express solidarity with nationwide protests and demand accountability for the reported assault. On September 30, 2022, Iranian security forces violently cracked down on protesters, bystanders, and worshippers in Zahedan, using live ammunition, metal pellets, and tear gas. Reports, including from human rights organizations, indicate that at least 82 Baluchi protesters and bystanders were killed during the crackdown, with an additional 16 people killed in separate incidents amid an ongoing clampdown on protests.

Evin - Evin Prison, founded in Tehran in 1972, has been a place for political prisoners, and symbolizes the Islamic Republic's strict rules and lack of tolerance for dissidents. During the protests following the police killing of Mahsa Jina Amini — a period during which the Islamic Republic arrested thousands of protestors — on October 15, 2022, a fire broke out, continuing into the early hours of October 16, 2022, accompanied by explosions and gunfire. This incident led to the deaths of at least four prisoners, with 61 others getting injured.

Gasht - Gasht-e-Ershad, also known as the Guidance Patrol or Morality Police, is an Islamic religious police force and vice squad within the Law Enforcement Command of the Islamic Republic of Iran. They are responsible for upholding Islamic dress codes, particularly ensuring that women in Iran wear hijabs, as part of their enforcement of Sharia law. Since its formation in 2005, the Guidance Patrol has faced accusations of human rights abuses, including harassment, beatings, and arbitrary arrests.

Khodanoor - Khodanour Lojei, a 27-year-old Baluchi protester from the southeastern Iranian city of Zahedan was killed during the Zahedan massacre on September 30, 2022. A photograph circulated widely, showing him with his hands tied to a flagpole while a cup of water sat out of his reach. The Iranian authorities posted this image online with the intention to further humiliate him.

Kian - Kian Pirfalak, was a nine-year-old boy from the southwestern Iranian city of Izeh in Khuzestan Province. He was shot and killed by the security forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran on November 16, 2022, while he was inside his parent's vehicle during a protest staged in response to the police killing of Mahsa Jina Amini. A video capturing Kian testing his hand-made boat and uttering the phrase "in the name of the God of rainbows'' gained immense attention online. This symbolic reference to rainbows has since emerged as a significant motif within the various memorials honoring Kian.

Mahsa - Mahsa Jina Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman from the northwestern city of Saqqez, hailed from Kurdistan, Iran. She was arrested by the Morality Police on the accusation of not wearing the “proper” hijab, She ultimately lost her life due to torture while in police custody. Amini's death sparked the Woman, Life, Freedom movement, originating in Saqqez and Kurdistan before spreading across Iran and beyond. The movement's rallying cry, "Jin, Jiyan, Azadî," meaning "Woman, Life, Freedom" in Kurdish (and was also translated as “Zan, Zendegi, Azadi” into Persian), has become a symbol in the fight for justice and liberation.

Ronaghi - Hossein Ronaghi, an Iranian activist and political prisoner, actively participated in the Woman, Life, Freedom movement, enduring arrest and hunger strikes to protest prison conditions and torture. Despite facing pressure and harassment, he continues to advocate for justice and freedom.

Van - Gasht-e-Ershad, also known as the Guidance Patrol or Morality Police, is an Islamic religious police force and vice squad within the Law Enforcement Command of the Islamic Republic of Iran. They are responsible for upholding Islamic dress codes, particularly ensuring that women in Iran wear hijabs, as part of their enforcement of Sharia law. Since its formation in 2005, the Guidance Patrol has faced accusations of human rights abuses, including harassment, beatings, and arbitrary arrests.