New Arrests And "Disappearances" of Iranian Students
Seventy-seven Detainees or Missing Identified
The arrests of Iranian students in the wake of protests against the violent raid on Tehran University student dormitories on July 9 are continuing.
The Elected Council of Student Protesters has compiled a list of seventy-seven persons, almost all of them students, whom they believe to be among those still in detention or who are unaccounted for. The names of the seventy-seven -- which have not been previously published -- are attached to this press release.
The student leaders believe that between 200 and 600 persons, mostly students, remain in detention out of an estimated 1200 to 1400 who were picked up following demonstrations protesting a government crackdown on the independent press and the dormitory raid in the pre-dawn hours of July 9. Iranian President Mohamed Khatami, in a speech on July 28, gave a figure of 200 then still in detention. Most were arrested on July 13 and 14, but further arrests have continued since. Details regarding the seventy-seven listed here come in part from families who have approached the Elected Council seeking further information.
"We urge the Iranian authorities to immediately release anyone not charged with recognizable criminal offenses and to make public the names of the detained," said Hanny Megally, executive director of the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch. "The detained should have immediate access to visits from families and lawyers."
According to the Ministry of Information, four leaders of the Association of Islamic Students and Graduates-Saeed Javad Imami, Mohamed Massoud Salamati, Hassan Zarezadeh Ardeshir, and Mohamed Reza Kassrani-have also been detained. The ministry statement failed to specify whether they had been charged with any crime.