Iran: Event/memorial in Tehran in July 2000, organized by students, to commemorate the student demonstrations of July 1999; response by security forces

There were several reports of events in Tehran in July 2000, organized by students, to commemorate the student demonstrations of July 1999. One source reported that several hundred students organized a "poetry-reading evening" at Tehran university late on 7 July 2000 (AFP 8 July 2000).

On 8 July 2000, student groups distributed flowers around Tehran (BBC 8 July 2000b; RFE/RL 17 July 2000; Independent 10 July 2000). In addition to people on the street, flowers were reportedly given to the families of "leading jailed reformers, writers and political activists" (AP 9 July 2000), as well as "senior hard-line clergymen," the security forces and the "state-run broadcast media" (Christian Science Monitor 10 July 2000).

Another planned event to commemorate the student demonstrations of July 1999 was a meeting on the theme of non-violence, which took place at Tehran University on 8 July 2000 (BBC 8 July 2000b; IRNA 8 July 2000; AFP 9 July 2000). The BBC reported that "various rival events" were organized by right-wing activists, although nothing specific was described (BBC 8 July 2000b).

Several sources report that a student demonstration was held outside Tehran University on 8 July 2000 (CNN 8 July 2000; RFE/RL 17 July 2000; BBC 8 July 2000b; AP 9 July 2000; AFP 9 July 2000). Reporting early the next morning, CNN stated that the demonstration began at about 16:00 on 8 July 2000 (CNN 8 July 2000). Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) estimated that 200 students were involved (RFE/RL 17 July 2000).

There are conflicting reports about the reasons for the student demonstration. Two sources stated that the students were commemorating the anniversary of the July 1999 police raid on the student dormitory (CNN 8 July 2000; BBC 8 July 2000b). Other sources said that the students were chanting in support of reforms (RFE/RL 17 July 2000; AP 9 July 2000) and demanding political freedoms (ibid.). RFE/RL noted that the students were demanding the release of Heshmatollah Tabarzadi, leader of the Islamic Union of Students and Graduates (17 July 2000).

At 16:21 on 8 July 2000, the BBC reported that riot police had moved in to disperse the protesters, making several arrests (BBC 8 July 2000a). RFE/RL stated that the students were

attacked by hardline vigilantes. The police stood by until the fighting ended, at which point they arrested some of the wounded students (RFE/RL 17 July 2000).

Several sources indicate that a renewed protest and response by security forces occurred sometime later on 8 July 2000 (AP 9 July 2000; RFE/RL 17 July 2000; IRNA 8 July 2000; CNN 8 July 2000; Keesings July 2000, 43689). Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) stated that, following the initial student demonstration, "[o]ther citizens joined the student demonstrators in Tehran, and the crowds swelled" (RFE/RL 17 July), The Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) stated that, at 17:30, clashes began, soon spreading to the streets near Enqelab Square (8 July 2000). Soon after, IRNA reports, riot police dispersed the "troublemakers" (ibid.). CNN, however, reported that students began chanting slogans against former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani at about 17:45 and the demonstration turned violent at about 18:00 (CNN 8 July 2000). At this point, reported CNN, some students escaped to the main street and mixed with non-students (ibid.).

Following fighting between protestors and the vigilantes, AP reported that "[t]housands of people soon began rampaging through area streets, damaging shops and smashing bus windows" (9 July 2000). Reuters reported that the crowd "dispersed and moved off in several directions through the city, leaving a scattered trail of broken shop and bank windows," although there were no reports of looting (8 July 2000).

However, AP and IRNA did not make mention of students in relation to the apparent second phase of the demonstration (AP 9 July 2000; IRNA 8 July 2000). IRNA referred instead to "troublemakers" and stated that the clashes occurred "between a group of people who marched in support of Iran's system and another group who showed reaction to the move and protested at the marchers" (ibid.). The Office for Fostering Unity, described by AP as the largest pro-reform student group, later claimed that the demonstrators were not students (AP 9 July 2000) and denied responsibility for the violence (AFP 9 July 2000).

Agence France Presse (AFP) stated that the clashes were between "supporters of President Mohammad Khatami and partisans of the fundamentalist movement Ansar Hezbullah" (AFP 9 July 2000), while AP noted that "hundreds of people" clashed with hard-line vigilantes (AP 9 July 2000). Two sources specifically indicated that students were a minority in the crowd at this point. The Independent reported that students "were believed to account for only 10 per cent of the crowd" (10 July 2000) while Keesing's Record of World Events stated: "It was reported that ordinary citizens far outnumbered students amongst the protesters" (July 2000, 43689). Estimates of the size of the crowd ranged between "hundreds" (AP 9 July 2000) and "2,000 to 3,000" (CNN 8 July 2000); however, Iran Liberation, which describes itself as the "News Bulletin of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran," stated that 50,000 students and Tehran residents demonstrated (10 July 2000).

Further details of the clashes were provided in several different accounts. Several sources indicated that "hard-line vigilantes" clashed with (AP 9 July 2000; Christian Science Monitor 10 July 2000) or attacked (CNN 8 July 2000; BBC 8 July 2000a) the crowd. In several reports, the vigilantes were specifically identified as Basij Mobilization Forces (AFP 9 July 2000; RFE/RL 17 July 2000) and Ansar-e Hezbollah (AFP 9 July 2000; RFE/RL 17 July 2000; Keesing's July 2000, 43689; Independent 10 July 2000). One source indicated that riot police attacked the crowd (CNN 8 July 2000) while another stated that riot police dispersed the "troublemakers" (IRNA 8 July 2000). The number of injuries reported ranged from "several" (BBC 8 July 2000a) to "dozens" (Keesing's July 2000, 43689; The Guardian 10 July 2000).

There were also conflicting reports regarding the actions of the vigilantes and the role of the police. RFE/RL stated that after beating up protestors, the Basij Mobilization Forces and the Ansar-e Hezbollah "turned them over to waiting police vans" (17 July 2000). Keesing's reported that Ansar-e Hezbollah vigilantes attacked the demonstrators while police stood by (July 2000, 43689). The Independent said that Ansar-e Hezbollah members were handed clubs and electric cable from government vehicles (10 July 2000), while a later report claimed that "riot police parted ranks to allow vigilantes to attack protesters" (12 July 2000). AP stated that, as people were "rampaging through the streets," Basij volunteer militia "roamed the streets on motorcycles and in vans, wielding clubs and working alongside police" (AP 9 July 2000).

An IRNA report relayed by AP stated that police also arrested a number of students at a demonstration outside the dormitory (ibid.). According to the IRNA report, the demonstration took place without Interior Ministry permission (ibid.). No further mention of a demonstration outside the dormitory could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Agence France Press (AFP). 9 July 2000. "Iran's Supreme Leader Gather Rival Factions Together." NEXIS.

_____. 8 July 2000. "Iranian Students Rally in Commemoration of Last July's Campus Unrest." NEXIS.

Associated Press (AP). 9 July 2000. "Iranian Police Open Fire as Unrest Intensifies." Telegraph Herald [Dubuque, IA]/NEXIS.

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). 8 July 2000a. "Violence at Iran Student Protest." [Accessed 18 July 2001]

_____. 8 July 2000b. "Students Stage Pro-Reform Protest." [Accessed 18 July 2001]

Cable News Network (CNN). 8 July 2000. "Police and Hard-Liners Put Down Unrest in Tehran." [Accessed 23 July 2001]

Christian Science Monitor [Boston]. 10 July 2000. "Peace Rally in Iran Turns Wild."

The Guardian [London]. 10 July 2000. "Mainstream Iran Joins Student Protests." [Accessed 23 July 2001]

The Independent [London]. 12 July 2000. "Iranian Show Trial Clears Police Chief of Campus Rampage." NEXIS.

_____. 10 July 2000. "Dissatisfied Students Turn to Violence Over Khatami's Failure to Reform Iran." NEXIS.

Iran Liberation. 10 July 2000. "50,000 Demonstrate in Tehran, Chant Slogans Against Khamenei and Khatami." [Accessed 3 August 2001]

Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) [Tehran, in English]. 8 July 2000. "'Troublemakers' Clash With Police Near Tehran University." (BBC Summary of World Broadcasts 10 July 2000/NEXIS)

Keesing's Record of World Events [Cambridge]. July 2000. Vol. 46, No. 7. "Demonstrations on Anniversary of Police Raid."

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). 17 July 2000. "Protests Persist." RFE/RL Iran Report, Vol. 3, No. 27.

Reuters. 8 July 2000. "Street Clashes Shatter Iran's Year Old Truce." [Accessed 24 July 2001]

Additional Sources Consulted

Internet sites including:

Amnesty International

Human Rights Watch

IranMania.com

United Nations. General Assembly. 8 September 2000. "Situation on Human Rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran." [Accessed 17 July 2001]