History
HRA traces its roots to January 2006, when activist Keyvan Rafiee formally announced the formation of Human Rights Activists in Iran. Joined shortly afterwards by Seyed Jamal Hosseini, the new group focused on political prisoners and prisoners of conscience despite having no external funding or infrastructure. [4] [5]
In its first two years HRA organized family visits, street awareness campaigns and published its first educational booklet, positioning itself as a young, egalitarian organization committed to non discrimination. [4] [5]
Between 2008 and early 2010, a brief improvement in the civic space allowed HRA to register committees across the country, launch the first Persian language human rights news agency, HRANA, [6] and introduce more than thirty public officials and twenty five specialised committees. [7] Activities included nationwide "Right to Education" gatherings for Baháʼí students, the Peace Mark monthly magazine, and a global campaign to halt the execution of Kurdish teacher Farzad Kamangar. [4] [5]
In 2009, HRA also launched the HRA Study Center and Library, which operates as HRANA's subsidiary, and serves as the organization's digital library. [7]
The disputed 2009 presidential election in Iran brought a downfall, and on 1 March 2010, security forces arrested at least forty eight HRA members in coordinated raids, seized digital assets and aired televised "confessions." The resulting prison sentences exceeded one hundred years in aggregate. [8]
In the aftermath of the 2010 raids, the surviving members living in exile afer being forced to flee Iran restructured HRA as a U.S. registered 501(c)(3) charity. [9]
The rebuilt organization emphasised technology, data driven research, and international advocacy. It joined prominent global coalitions, including the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, [10] Civicus, [11] the World Organization Against Torture, [12] and the Coalition for the International Criminal Court.
The organization has presented evidence and briefings before the European Parliament, the U.S. Congress, [13] the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the UN Human Rights Committee, [14] and the UN General Assembly. [15] [16]
In 2010, the organization founded The Fourth Pillar Committee, an initiative to facilitate the free exchange of information and the development of a secure and cost-free internet by offering Iranian users technical services like VPNs. Later in 2010, it also launched a Statistics and Documents Center, a database archiving daily incident reports for quantitative analysis. [7]
In 2014, the United Nations special rapporteur, Javaid Rehman, cited HRA as one of the three leading Iranian human rights organizations. [17]
In 2019, HRA founded Kardanan, a labour rights legal clinic, and Spreading Justice, a database profiling thousands of alleged human rights violators. Later in 2023, it introduced Pasdaran Documentation Project (PDP), an initiative analysing the role of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in abuses. [7]
HRA operates under a collective management model overseen by an elected Board of Directors. Strategic guidance is provided by an Advisory Board comprising international jurists, civil society leaders and former political prisoners. The board members include Brian Currin, Sima Samar, Farhad Sabetan, Şanar Yurdatapan, and posthumously Tahir Elçi and Michael Cromartie. [18]
