Committee of Concerned Scientists

An international non-profit organization of scientists, physicians, engineers and scholars dedicated to protecting the human rights and scientific freedom of our colleagues around the world.

An independent non-profit organization of scientists, physicians, engineers and scholars dedicated to protecting the human rights and scientific freedom of our colleagues around the world.

Iranian Students Subjected to Physical and Sexual Assault and Forced Disappearances for Alleged Protesting

Multiple Iranian university students have been subjected to
physical and sexual assault and forced disappearances for allegedly
participating in recent protest movements surrounding the country’s
treatment of women. In particular, the cases of Sahra Rezaei, Soha
Mortezei, and Melika Gharegozlou are particularly egregious.

https://iranhumanrights.org/2022/12/iran-protests-detained-university-students-subjected-to-sexual-assault-disappearances/

December 28, 2022

Ebrahim Raisi
President of the Islamic Republic of Iran
The Presidency,
Pasteur Street, Pasteur Square
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: media@rouhani.ir

Dear President Raisi:

The Committee of Concerned Scientists is an independent organization of scientists, physicians, engineers, and scholars devoted to the protection and advancement of human rights and scientific freedom for colleagues all over the world.

We are writing in regard to Sahra Rezaei, Soha Mortezei, and Melika Gharegozlou, just three of the many students who have been violently assaulted or even disappeared for allegedly participating in recent protests about women’s rights.

Sahra Rezaei is an Afghani journalism student at Allameh Tabataba’i University in Tehran who cannot be located anywhere. The CCS is concerned that she was secretly imprisoned – or worse – by your government ahead of a visit by a government spokesman to that university. Her lawyer cannot confirm her presence anywhere, dead or alive.

Melika Gharegozlou, another student at that same university, appears to have been taken to a psychiatric hospital against her will where she was subjected to torture. The CCS is concerned that the conditions she is being held in will lead to her death under the pretense of mental health treatment, as she is in poor health and has undertaken a hunger strike. The CCS is also concerned that her family has been intimidated into not speaking out on her behalf.

Soha Mortezei is a former student at Tehran University who has been subjected to physical and sexual assault while en route to Evin Prison. She has been banned from completing a PhD in Political Science. She appears to be currently detained in Qarchak Prison. The CCS is concerned that she has been tortured in retaliation for her peaceful activism.

We write to urge your government to release these students as well as all other students being held because of their alleged roles in protests against the government. These students should be released on bail and granted medical treatment and proper legal defense. They should also be given access to both family and friends.

Thank you for your attention to this serious matter. We will be closely following developments in this case.

Sincerely,
signatures
Cc:
Saeed Iravani
Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran
to the United Nations
622 Third Avenue, 34th Floor
New York, NY 10017
Phone: (212) 687-2020
Fax: (212) 867-7086
Email: iran@un.int

Antony J. Blinken
Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20520 USA
Phone: (202) 647-4000
Twitter: @ABlinken

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Imam Khomeini Street, Imam Khomeini Square,
Tehran, Iran
Email: info@mfa.gov.ir

Who We Are

Co-chairs

Joel L. Lebowitz, Rutgers University

Walter Reich, George Washington University

Eugene Chudnovsky, Lehman College

Alexander Greer, Brooklyn College

Vice-chairs

Biology – Max E. Gottesman, Columbia University

Chemistry – Zafra Lerman, MIMSAD Inc.

Computer Science – Rachelle Heller, The George Washington University

Engineering – Philip Sarachik, NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering

Computer Science – Jack Minker, University of Maryland, College Park

Mathematics – Simon Levin, Princeton University

Honorary Board Members

Nancy Andrews, Duke University

Myles Axton, Chief Editor, Genetics and Genomics Next

David Baltimore, California Institute of Technology*

Alan J. Bard, University of Texas

David Gross, University of California, Santa Barbara*

James Langer, University of California, Santa Barbara

Peter Lax, New York University

Giorgio Parisi, Roma I University La Sapienza

John C. Polanyi, University of Toronto*

Stuart Rice, University of Chicago

Sir Richard J. Roberts, New England Biolabs*

Maxine Singer, Carnegie Institution of Washington

Alfred I. Tauber, Boston University

Myrna Weissman, Columbia University

Former Honorary Board Members

Jacob Bigeleisen (deceased), SUNY, Stony Brook

Raoul Bott (deseased) Harvard University

Owen Chamberlain (deceased), University of California, Berkeley

Stanley Deser (deceased), Brandeis University

Edward Gerjuoy (deceased), University of Pittsburgh

Pierre Hohenberg (deceased), New York University

Walter Kohn (deceased), University of California, Santa Barbara*

Louis Nirenberg (deceased), New York University

Marshall Nirenberg (deceased), National Institutes of Health*

Myriam Sarachick (deceased), City College of New York

Harold Scheraga (deceased), Cornell University

Sylvan Schweber (deceased), Brandeis University

Steven Weinberg (deceased), University of Texas, Austin*

Rosalyn S. Yalow (deceased), Mount Sinai School of Medicine*

* Nobel laureate

Committee of Concerned Scientists

c/o Alexandra R. Bender, Executive Director
P.O. Box 273
Mountainhome, PA 18342
abender@concernedscientists.org