A group of protesters hold a sign reading

Investigating Violence Against Woman, Life, Freedom Protesters in Iran

Human Rights Investigations Lab Investigations 2023-2024
A woman holds her two fingers up in a victory symbol. In front of her, a tire burns. Her face is not visible.
A woman flashes the victory sign during a protest on October 1, 2022 in Tehran after the killing of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini by morality police. This photo was obtained by the AP outside Iran. Image credit: AP Photo/Middle East Images.

For Woman, Life, Freedom

On September 16, 2022, Mahsa “Jina” Amini, a 22-year-old woman from Iran’s historically marginalized Kurdish ethnic minority, died in police custody in Tehran after being in a coma for three days. She had been detained for allegedly donning an “improper hijab” while on a family trip, and was found to have sustained severe beating at the hands of Iranian security forces. Amini’s killing sparked nationwide protests. Young women took to the streets — burning their headscarves, dancing, and calling for an end to the regime. Wide swaths of Iranian society joined the movement, including parents, grandparents, ethnic and religious minorities, LGBTQ+ persons, and people representing all genders and socioeconomic backgrounds, supporting the demands for “Woman, Life, Freedom” and calling for an end to the four-decade rule of Iran by the Islamic Republic.

In response, we joined a coalition of organizations to contribute to the creation of the Iranian Archive, led by Mnemonic, to preserve the open source content people in Iran risked so much to share online and ensure that preservation complies with legal standards in order to maximize the value of that content for court. We have shared our findings with the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran, and initiated a series of reports based on the data collected to pursue accountability for specific crimes.

Iranian protestors on the Keshavarez Boulevard.

Report: Blinding of Protesters and Bystanders in Iran

Since protests began in September 2022, hundreds of people have been blinded or suffered other injuries in or around their eyes from metal pellets or rubber bullets. Our students collected hundreds of social media photos and videos posted by victims and witnesses, establishing victims’ names, genders, ages, the dates and locations where the violence occurred, and other details. They verified details of 124 blinding incidents. They also created profiles for each of the victims, and loaded all of their data into an interactive map.

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Partners

Together, these partners form the Iran Digital Archive Coalition. The Coalition was launched in March 2024 to support future investigations and accountability proceedings. Evidence collected by the Coalition includes information related to the blinding of protesters; forced disappearances and deaths of children; and targeted abuse based on gender, ethnicity, religion and sexual orientation, among other violations. The work of the Iran Digital Archive Coalition has contributed to the preservation of over two million pieces of content housed at Mnemonic, the investigation and findings of the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran, and has published reports verifying digital content indicating the commission of several different violations, including enforced disappearance and gender persecution.
Logo of Human Rights Center UC Berkeley School of Law
Atlantic Council
Mnemonic logo
Iran Human Rights Documentation Center
Azadi Archive
Amnesty International logo

Explore the Iranian Archive

Due to security concerns, the Archive, the platform hosting preserved information, is only accessible by request. If you are working on accountability work related to the violent crackdowns against civilians during the nationwide protests beginning in 2022 in Iran, and want to access the Archive or specific information preserved, you can contact the international organizations listed above, or directly contact the project manager of the Iranian Archive at Mnemonic by kelly@mnemonic.org and c.c. to rapid-response@mnemonic.org

News

Two young women look at the camera.

March 21, 2024

More than 120 protesters blinded by Iranian agents, probe confirms

Student team leads Maddi Wong and Melinda Zou. Image by Brandon Sánchez Mejia. HRC in the News — Berkeley News: More than 120 protesters blinded by

A woman speaks into a microphone.

June 16, 2024

Working Towards Justice

HRC in the News — California Magazine / Leah Worthington, Working Towards Justice, profiling HRC’s Investigations Lab and featuring an ongoing investigation into the

A group of protesters hold a sign reading

April 10, 2024

Ongoing 6-month investigation confirms 120 women’s rights protestors blinded by Iranian agents

Student team leads Maddi Wong and Melinda Zou. Image by Brandon Sánchez Mejia. Investigations Lab in the News — The Daily Californian: Ongoing

A collage of women and men wearing eye patches. Text reads:

March 23, 2024

Investigation Finds Dozens Of Iranian Protesters Lost Their Eyes

HRC in the News — Iran International: Investigation Finds Dozens Of Iranian Protesters Lost Their Eyes, profiling the Iran investigation supported by the Investigations Lab and HRC’s

Official Launch: Iranian Archive. Following the release of the UN Fact-finding Mission on Iran's report to the UN Human Rights Council, our coalition is announcing the launch of the Iranian Archive. This landmark archive forensically preserved 1,000,000+ vulnerable digital artifacts recording serious human rights violations committed by the Islamic Republic of Iran against Woman, Life, Freedom movement protesters. The Iranian Archive is intended to support future investigations and accountability proceedings.

March 18, 2024

Launching the Iranian Archive to Support Future Accountability Efforts

HRC in the News — Mnemonic: Launching the Iranian Archive to Support Future Accountability Efforts, announcing the Iran Archive – a joint effort by the Atlantic Council’s Strategic