How Iran Crushed Dissent

http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/12/13/iran-activists-fleeing-assault-civil-society

Iran: Activists Fleeing Assault on Civil Society

Steady Stream Seeking Refuge Abroad

December 14, 2012

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  An Iranian dissident looks out the window of a high-rise apartment he shares with several other refugees from Iran in Ankara, Turkey, Jan. 21, 2010.
  © 2010 Andrea Bruce/Noor/Redux

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  Clockwise from top left: Mohammad Olyaeifard, Shahram Bolouri, Rebin Rahmani, Abbas Khorsandi
  Clockwise from top left: © Mohammad Olyaeifard, © Rebin Rahmani, © Abbas Khorsandi

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• Kaveh Kermanshahi, Iranian Activist
  December, 2012
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(Beirut) – The space in Iran for civil society has been shrinking since the crackdown following the disputed presidential election in 2009, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Three-and-a-half years after government forces brutally suppressed largely peaceful anti-government demonstrations, hundreds of activists have sought temporary refuge and an uncertain future in neighboring Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan in the face of harassment and detention at home.

The 60-page report, “Why they Left: Stories of Iranian Activists in Exile,” documents the experiences of dozens of rights defenders, journalists, bloggers, and lawyers whom security and intelligence forces targeted because they spoke out against the government. Some who took part in anti-government protests after the 2009 election had never been politically active before, but suddenly found themselves in the crosshairs of security and intelligence forces.

“The post-2009 crackdown has profoundly affected civil society in Iran,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “The images of police beating protesters mercilessly may have faded from television and computer screens, but many Iranian activists continue to make the painful choice to abandon homes and families.”