IRAN: PROTESTER DESCRIBES POST-ELECTION IRIG INTIMIDATION

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 RPO DUBAI 000327

NOFORN
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 8/11/2019
TAGS: PREF PGOV PHUM IR
SUBJECT: IRAN: PROTESTER DESCRIBES POST-ELECTION IRIG INTIMIDATION
TACTICS

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CLASSIFIED BY: Timothy Richardson, Acting Director, Iran
Regional Presence Office, DOS.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)

1. (C) Summary: An Iranian woman from Shiraz seeking refugee
status in the West spoke with IRPO regarding the IRIG harassment
she faced after participating in post-election protests. Her
background made her a likely target for the IRIG; she is an
English teacher, has friends in the US and UK, and participated
in the State Department's Democracy video challenge. Following
her participation in the protests, IRIG security forces alleged
she was the "main" organizer of the protests and would be
arrested soon. In describing rumors-which she took as
facts-regarding the security service's efforts to track and
arrest protesters, she conveyed a sense for the climate of fear
and intimidation the IRIG has created. Her mindset also
explains why the number of protesters has dwindled since the
days immediately following the election: the government has
scared many off the streets. Although some have suggested that
Iranians' fear of the government is dissipating, that fear
remains strong for some.



English Teacher, Facebook User and Democracy Advocate




2. (C) The refugee seeker is a 30-year-old single woman from
Shiraz and was working as an English teacher and translator.
Ahead of the election, she was an avid user of Facebook, which
she accessed via anti-filter technology before the IRIG stopped
blocking the site. She mainly used Facebook to keep up with her
friends, but she had written many harsh comments about the
government on her page. And to help her friends find her entry
in the State Department's Democracy Video Challenge, she
included a link the competition's Youtube page. She provided
IRPO with the video's website address; the video is roughly
three minutes, contains little dialogue, and seems to portray
the futility of searching for democracy within Iran. The teacher
is the main actress in the movie and her name appears in the
movie's credits.




3. (C) She did not participate in the election because she did
not want to sully her shenasname, or identity papers, with the
official election stamp and because she did not the think the
election, even had Mousavi won, would change Iran. On her
Facebook page she said she wrote that in Iran, "elections are
like the rings of a chain and that the lord of the rings (i.e.,
the government) will win this game."



Participation in Post-election Protests Prompts Harassment




4. (C) Immediately following the election, the teacher joined
her sister for protests at Eram Square, Shiraz. She described
the protest as very large, but could not tell us the number of
protesters. She left without incident. A few days later, while
shopping, she was caught in another, ongoing protest. A
baton-wielding Basiji struck her legs as she tried to escape the
crowd. She attended no other protests. Then, on July 1, she
received an anonymous text message advising her to delete any
incriminating evidence on her computer, including everything
from her Facebook page. Hoping the text was simply a friend's
prank, she immediately called the text's sender. The man who
answered explained that he works for her internet provider and
the Basij had been seeking information about her due to her
online activity. (Comment: The teacher consistently referred to
her tormenters as the Basij, but the Basij's actual role in
investigating and tracking down dissidents is unclear.) She
proceeded to close her Facebook account, open a new, "clean"
Facebook account, and delete items from her computer.




5. (C) A few days later she received an automated phone call
asserting that she had been identified as one of the "main"
organizers of the protests, that she had been seen at several
protests, and that she would be arrested if seen at any more.
Several of her friends received the same automated message, but
unlike them, she received a subsequent, personal call. She said
the caller was extremely rude and said they had been monitoring
her phone and that she had been in contact with people in the UK
and the US and accused her of receiving suspicious text

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messages. When she admitted to having received a bland text
about an protest in Iran from the UK, her interlocutor
immediately said that she had confessed and that they would be
coming to arrest her soon. She left Iran shortly thereafter.



Rumors and Arrests Heighten Climate of Fear




6. (C) In describing her circumstances, the teacher relayed
other rumors and incidents-which she took as facts-that seem to
have increased her fear that she was under surveillance and soon
to be arrested. Among them, she said that her mobile phone
displays the text IR_TCI on its screen but she had heard that
when it is displayed without the underscore (i.e., IR TCI),the
phone is "controlled, " or monitored, by the security forces.
Because her phone lacked the underscore, she believed her phone
was monitored. Additionally, she was convinced that non-Iranian
Arab speakers had attacked the dormitories of Shiraz University
and arrested nearly 100 students, both male and female, though
she had not seen them herself. (Comment: The presence of
non-Iranians among the security services in Iran is an
oft-repeated allegation. IRPO is not aware of any compelling
evidence to support these allegations, but the number of
Iranians who believe the claim is notable.) She also asserted
that none of her UK-based friends had sent her the text message
regarding the Iranian protests and alleged that it must have
been sent by the security forces in order to frame her.




7. (C) A friend of the teacher's had also been
arrested-literally dragged out of her home-in late July, long
after the friend had participated in any protests. She
attributed her arrest to her prominence in one of the many
mobile-phone videos of the protests circulating the internet.
Continuing, she said the IRIG is reviewing these videos and
arresting those they can identify. She passed along a website,
www.gerdab.ir, where the government is asking for help
identifying such individuals. (Note: IRPO was not able to access
the website and verify these claims; however, a Google search
for "gerdab " generates several websites with instructions on
how to "take down " www.gerdab.ir because it is posting pictures
of protesters and asking for help identifying them, supporting
the teacher's story.)




8. (C) She had also been told of a friend's cousin who, on the
day of a protest, had been arrested while going to therapy for a
knee ailment. While arrested, he was tortured with electric
shocks and now-he has since been released-can no longer walk and
has burn marks on his tongue.



Comment:




9. (C) We have received several inquiries about refugee status
from Iranians who feel threatened because of their involvement
in protests or other activities. The teacher's story is
credible and probably representative of the experience of many
others in Iran. She calmly described these events and was
extremely appreciative for the opportunity to do so.
Unfortunately, her background makes her a compelling target for
the IRIG, given her contacts abroad, democracy video entry, and
anti-government remarks. Her case highlights the tactics used by
the government against its citizens to instill fear,
particularly among those like the teacher, in order to prevent
further protests. It is also notable that she is from Shiraz,
not in Tehran at the center of the protests, and yet still
experienced repeated harassment from the IRIG. The rumors she
conveyed-perhaps grounded in truth and perhaps not-reveal a
measure of the personal fear and paranoia that the IRIG's
tactics have created. Her mindset also explains why the number
of protesters has dwindled since the days immediately following
the election; the government has scared many off the streets.
Although some have suggested that Iranians' fear of the
government is dissipating, that fear remains strong for some.



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10. (C) The teacher was unsure of what she would do next. She
feared returning to Iran, though it is unclear if the IRIG
intends to follow through on its threats or if it merely
intended to scare her into submission. We referred her to the
United Nations High Commission for Refugees office in Abu Dhabi,
as we have done with similar cases that have approached us.
RICHARDSON