‘MOURNING MOTHERS IRAN’ STAND WITH ACTIVIST MOTHERS WORLDWIDE
Women News Network
October 8, 2009
Weeping woman statue. Image: Luc De Leeuw 2009
A mother protecting her child isn’t anything unique. But in Iran,
humanitarian activist mothers are now becoming global icons for human
rights causes worldwide. In silent public protest, the ‘Mourning
Mothers of Iran,’ known locally in Tehran as the ‘Mothers of Laleh,’
stand together each week, on Saturday evening vigils in Tehran’s
Laleh Park.
"I urge all women around the world to show their solidarity with the
Committee of Iranian Mothers in Mourning by assembling in parks,
in their respective countries, every Saturday between the hours
of 7 to 8 p.m., wearing black," said Nobel Peace Prize Laureate,
Shirin Ebadi, in a plea made to women and activists worldwide at
a July 25 Iran pro-democracy rally in Amsterdam. Like the infamous
"Women in Black," and the ‘Madres de Plaza de Mayo,’ the Committee
of Iranian Mothers use methods of ethics and non-violence to bring
attention to the atrocity of their dead children.
Beginning in Jerusalem, in 1988, a group of almost 40 Israeli-Jewish
women of conscience formed ‘The Women in Black.’ To make their
point clear they wore black clothing and stood still in silent
public protests. They spoke against Israeli expansion into the West
Bank and Gaza on the heels of the beginning of the 1987 Palestinian
intifada. Soon Arab women from the northern region of Israel also
joined the Women in Black, asking for peace. Opposing war, injustice,
and militarism, Women in Black groups or their affiliates can now
be found in Australia, the UK, Serbia, Japan, South Africa, Italy,
Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, US, India, Nepal, Uruguay,
Argentina and the Philippines, to name a few.
Outside of Jerusalem, 1988 was also a very dark period for Iranian
history. In a few summer months, 21 years ago, an en lming number
of Iranian political prisoners were massacred. This left countless
Iranian mothers devastated.
According to Amnesty International, 4,500-10,000 Iranian political
prisoners were declared killed or missing inside the country that
year over a period that lasted barely two months. The families of the
victims were not allowed to receive the bodies of their dead loved
ones. They were also not allowed to hold any funerals. Instead, the
held bodies were dumped in places like Khavaran or what the regime
referred to as La’nat-Abad, ‘The Damned Place,’ a cemetery used for
burying non-Muslims.
Mass burials at Khavaran were later accidentally discovered by an
Armenian priest who had become curious as to why stray dogs kept
digging for bones at, what was later determined the location of the
mass graves.
"The deliberate and systematic manner in which these extrajudicial
executions took place may constitute a crime against humanity under
international law," said Human Rights Watch in 2005. Perhaps of all
the crimes against humanity in the last 30 years, the 1988 Iranian
mass executions continue to be the most revealing show of the regime’s
contempt and fear of political dissidents.
"In the recent events, the government in Iran has been fabricating
reports depicting an incorrect image of what has been going on in
the country," said Ebadi at the July 25 rally. "They do not want the
people to know the truth."
We may think this kind of protest is new in Iran, but Iranian mothers
have always spoken out against violence, disappearance and the
torture of their sons and daughters. Prior to the 1979 revolution,
only two mothers’ organizations existed in the country. Both were
affiliated with underground organizations involved in struggles for
democracy. They worked in opposition to the monarchy of the Shah’s
regime, who’s desperate tactics had turned to the jailing and torture
of intellectuals, feminists, students, and labour union advocates.
"I need to tell my story. No one can stop me. No Parvin Fahimi, an
active member of Mothers for Peace and the mother of slain 19 year
old Iranian protester, Sohrab Arabi, said recently in July. "My son
had been killed, but they refused to tell me," she continued.
Mothers of Plaza de Mayo
Mothers of Plaza de Mayo
On July 11, 2009, young Sohrab Arabi was identified as ‘Picture Number
12â~@² by his older brother at the Shapour Street Police Station
in Tehran. He had been missing for 26 days. On the realization,
his mother is beside herself with grief.
"Please hear my painful story as a resident of Tehran. I lost my
son on Monday 25 of Khordad (15 June) during a peaceful rally that
was taking place to protest the election results. With the crowds
estimated at a minimum of 3 million, many people were lost and I too
lost my son. The mobiles were cut off and I couldn’t reach him –
I searched everywhere for him and went back home and found he was
not there either so I went back to Azadi Square to keep searching
for him. The atmosphere was terrible, so much tear gas everywhere,
it felt more like a battle ground and I have been sick ever since
with chest problems. I couldn’t find my child and I returned home
and together with the sons of my relatives. As we searched every
hospital and police station we didn’t get a response. My son did not
have his ID card with him; he just had a bit of money on him to go
and buy test papers at Enghelab Sqaure to prepare for the university
entrance exams coming up…
That night I still did not hear of my son. The next morning when I
called 110 (the emergency police call number) they told me to refer to
my local police station. I went to the local police station and filed
a missing persons report and they started the search process. No one
had the guts to tell me than that maybe my son was killed; some people
said he was probably arrested and some said he may be injured. I
found out that 7 people were killed that day (at the protests)
of those, 5 had been identified and 2 had not. The 2 that had not
been identified were apparently older. The sons of my family members
went to see the 5 that were identified and they confirmed that none
of them was Sohrab. I was relieved to hear that and thought that my
son was therefore arrested. I knew that he wasn’t injured because I
searched every single hospital. I am aware that some hospitals would
not give me a clear answer, but others did.
So I headed out for the Revolutionary Court (Evin Prison) to follow up
on his arrest. They told me to return home and I told them I couldn’t –
I am a Mother – I couldn’t even eat. To this date I have a hard time
eating. My throat just closes up. I have kept myself going through
liquids only in the past few weeks. I can’t tell you how much time
I spent at the Revolutionary Court… if I were to write the story
it’d make a very thick book. . .
How can a 19 year old that has yet to sit at the University entrance
exams, and has yet to fulfill any one of his dreams, be killed? By
whom; and on whose orders; and for what? I ask the City Council, what
did my son ask of you? What did he ever ask of the government? What
did he ask of his country? …We wanted nothing but peace, tranquility
and a freedom of thought – that’s what’s important to us, is that my
son thought about whom he voted for and where his vote goes. He didn’t
ask for anything else. Just because he was a supporter of Mr. Mousavi,
he must be killed? For what crime? On the basis of what guilt? My son
was year old, who never fulfilled his dreams. As a mother, I ask God
day and night to put an end to this injustice."
– Parvin Fahimi, mother of slain protester, Sohrab Arabi (Partial
testimony given during a Tehran City Council meeting July 23, 2009)
The exact circumstance surrounding the death of Sohrab Arabi continues
to be unexplained. According to the International Campaign for Human
Rights Iran, when the family received Arabi’s body, his death appeared
to be from the result of a gunshot wound to the chest, but no one
knows when this injury occurred. An official, but inconclusive,
report was made by the Coroner on June 19.
The lives of the mothers of global activists, who are often called
‘prisoners of conscience,’ are often filled with endurance and
courage in spite of the grief they carry. From the mothers of slain
reporters working in Iraqi Kurdistan or the Ukraine, to the mothers
of missing activist children in Iran or Argentina, the mothers of
those who have who have ‘gone missing’ or have shown up dead create
a common experience. Global mothers have the same fear, grief, anger
and frustration seeking answers about their dead or missing children.
"I begged the gunmen to kill me instead, and they pushed me away
and told me that they wanted her not me," said Kurdish mother of
slain Iraqi journalist Sara Abdul-Wahab in May 2008 during a May
2008 Associated Press interview. In spite of her mother’s attempt
to save her life, Sarwa was fatally shot twice in the head by
kidnappers. Tragically, her mother felt she could do nothing save
her daughter. Sarwa was the only breadwinner for her widowed mother,
her sister and brother. She was a strong defender of human rights,
a Kurdish lawyer and activist in Iraq, who continued to work in spite
of threats against her life.
When Ukrainian Prosecutor General Mykhaylo Potebenko issued a
statement saying that DNA tests were delayed due to the illness of
Lesya Gongadze, mother of the missing and presumed dead human rights
reporter Georgy Gong a complete lie and deception," she told Ukrainska
Pravda, the Web newspaper that her son founded. "I wasn’t that sick,
not so much as to be unable to give my blood for analysis. I was even
insisting on it because I wanted to know the truth," she added.
The nine year Gongadze case has been rife with confusing facts and
government shuffle. Georgy Gogandze’s mother, Lesya Gongadze has
been struggling to expose the facts from the moment her son went
missing. Faced with great frustration and the dilemma of not trusting
DNA tests made by the Ukrainian authorities for an unidentifiable
body that was found in 2000, Lesya continues to ask questions and
demand clarity on the true circumstances surrounding the murder of her
son. To date, she has not been satisfied with the answers given her.
Continue reading…..
Prostest poster from International Womens Day – Paris, 7 March,
2009 Image: Hugo de C
Prostest poster from International Women’s Day – Paris, 7 March,
2009. Image: Hugo de C
In Argentina, mothers of missing activists ask the same questions,
questions in a cry that has lasted almost 33 years. In 1977, they
came together in Buenos Aries calling themselves the ‘Madres de Plaze
de Mayo (Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo).’ Ignoring a law prohibiting
more than 3 people from gathering in one place, they began walking the
plaza two by two as heroes do under the threat of arrest. They began
as 14 mothers who publically protested the disappearance of their
children. Their protests began during what has been called the ‘Dirty
War’ of Argentina, a war beginning with the military dictatorship of
General Jorge Rafael Videla.
"By the end of the year (1977), thousands would be illegally detained,
tortured, assassinated or disappeared," says a now declassified
document at the US National Security Archive.
In panic under the sudden disappearances of Argentine labour advocates,
students and social activists, the mothers began to speak out to
demand answers. A military coup had taken over Argentina with a ven
years with what has been counted today as up to 30,000 missing or dead.
In 1978, "A recent dramatic occurrence was the abduction, in December,
of five ‘mothers of the disappeared’ and two French nuns, whose bodies
were reportedly discovered washed ashore," continues the declassified
US National Security Archive report.
"One of the things that I simply will not do now is shut up. The
women of my generation in Latin America have been taught that the
man is always in charge and the woman is silent even in the face of
injustice… Now I know that we have to speak out about the injustices
publicly. If not, we are accomplices. I am going to denounce them
publicly without fear. This is what I learned," says Mother of Plaza
de Mayo, MarÃa del Rosario de Cerruti.
Since 1977, the bereaved mothers have gathered to walk around the
Plaza de Mayo in central Buenos Aires for 30 minutes every Thursday
afternoon. Wearing white headscarves as a symbol of peace, the simple
action of the mothers walking in a circle for peace caught the world’s
attention. Their movement has inspired families of the disappeared
and victims of human rights violations in many parts around the world
to engage in similar peaceful protests in public places.
On June 27, the Mothers of Lelah made a formal statement to the world
that echoed the grief of all mothers worldwide.
"What crime have they committed to deserve death? Why do we Iranian
mothers have to bear this enormous grief? What is our crime? We
will never let this crime against us and our children pass by
unnoticed. From now until the release of all detained demonstrators,
the cessation of violence and until our children’s killers receive
their punishment, we will every week gather in silent mourning near
the place where our beloved martyr Neda died at Park Laleh. We urge
all parents who are concerned about their daughters and sons, the
future capital of our country to join us."
– The Committee of Mothers Iran (Mourning Mothers of Laleh) 2009
To date, the Argenti ajor international awards for their work with
human rights; the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, the United
Nations Prize for Peace Education and the United Nations Prize in the
Field of Human Rights. It is expected that the Committee of Mothers
Iran (The Mourning Mothers of Laleh) will follow the legacy of Madres
de Plaza de Mayo with special award and recognition.
"Holding on to memory is the way to fight the remains of the past
regimes who want the whole story of the disappeared to vanish,"
said Morea, one of the Plaza de Mayo mothers.
"If you want justice and freedom, you have to put everything else
on hold," said Iranian mother Parvin Fahimi, recently in a Sept
2009 interview.