ABS Community Research, Inc.

Marina Nemat was raised as a Russian Eastern-Orthodox Christian in Tehran. On January 15, 1982, at age 16 she was arrested and imprisoned for her views against the revolution. Marina was tortured in the notorious Evin Prison, and sentenced to death. Under threats of persecution of her family, and to guarantee her continuing safety, she converted to Islam and married Mousavi, a prison guard. She was forced to marry a man she nonetheless hated, and to experience being raped by the Iranian prison guard as part of marriage. After over two years of imprisonment, Mousavi's family obtained her release so that she could live with the prison guard as his wife. This Iranian government employee was later assassinated by a rival faction of prison guards. Marina then secretly married Andre Nemat in a Christian church. Nemat was her teenage love and an electrical engineer. Together they escaped to Canada in 1991 and now have a family of two sons. In 2005 an article was published about her experiences in the magazine Sunday Star. Marina's book "Prisoner of Tehran" was published in 2007 by Penguin and is being translated into 13 languages. - Wikipedia

Zahra (Ziba) Kazemi-Ahmadabadi (1949 - 2003) was an Iranian-Canadian freelance photographer, residing in Montreal, Canada, who died in the custody of Iranian officials following her arrest. Iranian authorities insist that her death was accidental and that she died of a stroke while being interrogated. However, Shahram Azam, a former military staff physician who used his purported knowledge of Kazemi's case for seeking asylum in Canada in 2004, has stated otherwise. Shahram examined Kazemi's body and observed obvious signs of torture: including a skull fracture, broken nose, crushed toe, missing fingernails, broken fingers, signs of brutal rape, marks from flogging, deep scratches on her neck, and severe abdominal bruising. Iranian officials claimed that Azam had been afflicted with mental health issues and that he had been discharged before Kazemi's death. The Canadian government, as well as Kazemi's family and supporters, consider her death to be state-sanctioned murder. The incident was the first time an Iranian's death in custody attracted major international attention. Because of her joint citizenship and the circumstances of her murder, Kazemi has since become an international cause célèbre. - Wikipedia

Taraneh Mousavi (1991 - 2009) was a young Iranian woman who reportedly died after being sexually abused while in custody, after being arrested for protesting the 2009 election results. Mousavi was reportedly arrested at a protest rally close to the Ghoba mosque in Tehran on June 28, 2009. Some weeks later, her mother received an anonymous call from a government source informing her that her daughter had been hospitalized for "rupturing of her womb and anus in an unfortunate accident". The Islamic Republic came up with a video purporting to identify the real Taraneh Mousavi. It is generally not accepted on multiple counts.. First, it claims that there are only three Taraneh Mousavis in Iran, which is highly unlikely. Second, it claims that Miss Mousavi's relatives never heard of the story, which is also highly unlikely. Third, if the story was a hoax in the first place, why would the hoaxsters choose a real identity to perpetrate it on? Karubi, one of the cadidates of the rigged election has revealed that the state TV report was produced by Taeb, the head of Basij forces. There are alegations that Taeb himself has raped Taraneh and has then left her to other prison guards who raped her and burned her body so that she doesn't get identified.

- FB Group for Sexual Assault Victims in Iran

Maryam Sabri, a 21 year old Iranian woman was arrested in Behesht-e Zahra, the largest cemetery of Tehran. Maryam was participating in the protest marking the 40th day of Neda Agha Soltan's death. She was arrested with another young woman and a group of men. For two weeks Maryam was kept in a prison which she believes was neither the notorious Evin nor Kahrizak. She remembers having walked down numerous steps after entering the prison. During two weeks in jail, she was investigated, tortured, threatened to death by hanging, and raped five times by prison officials. Investigators made threatening phone calls to her for days after her release. To save her life, Maryam has left Iran to help stop rape and torture in Iranian prisons. Maryam has bravely spoken about her time in prison, including interviews with VOA and Radio Farda. The photo posted here was taken from her the same day as she was arrested by Basij members, and was posted in a blog that supports Ahamdinejhad.

- FB Group for Sexual Assault Victims in Iran

Saeideh Pour-Aghaei, daughter of a deceased Iran-Iraq war amputee, was arrested by Basij for chanting in protest on a rooftop. While in prison, Saeideh was violently raped, killed and then burnt with acid to hide the signs of rape. She was murdered within 20 days of her arrest. Saeideh is one of 44 victims whose bodies were piled in a mass grave by secret burial by the regime in the main cemetery in Tehran.

- Anonymous Family Members

Ebrahim Sharifi ~ Please see his interview in Farsi

www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjP2SKHrrsI

See RAHANA for daily stories of atrocities against innocent Iranian political prisoners

• Reporters and Human Rights Activists of Iran
• English: www.rhairan.net/en
• Farsi: www.rhairan.net