Eyes for Freedom | Cheshm Baraye Azadi | چشم برای آزادی

The eyes of a revolution and the stories behind them | چشمان یک انقلاب و داستان های پشت آنها
فارسی

Our reality

Based on reports collated by multiple international organisations, news agencies and by the testimonies of witnesses, we have put together this list of 105 names of people who have had eye injuries from attending protests in Iran. From witness testimonies, we know that this is only a very small portion of the reality of the extent of people with injuries, and we hope that with this work we can encourage more victims to come forward.

To date, no one has been held accountable, and no damages have been paid to cover costs of repeated surgeries, medical appointments, loss of work or work hours, or for the psychological trauma caused by losing one or both eyes.

We hope that showing the extent of these injuries, their widespread nature, and allowing for victims to share their stories, we can demonstrate these systematic crimes and demand accountability.

Statistical Breakdown

A simple statistical analysis into the limited information available can give us some essential insight into the nature of the injuries.

Age range of victims

Witness accounts have told stories of victims as young as 17 months old to over 70 years. The reports we have found, the youngest victim was 5 years old and the oldest 60 years. This gives an average age of 33 years, a median of 25 years with a standard deviation of 9.

Of those injured, 50 per cent were between the ages of 20 and 29 (n= 51) with 29 per cent (n=30) being between 20-24 years old at time of injury (Figure 1 refers).

Figure 1: Number of cases by age range

Date of injury

Due to the highly publicised nature of the 2022 protests as well as the tireless advocacy of those who were injured, mass majority of the cases that we have recorded have been from those injured in late 2022. The majority of these injuries took place between September and November of 2022. November has the highest reported number of injuries with 35 per cent (n=36), followed by October and September with 28 per cent (n= 29) per month (Figure 2 refers).

Figure 2: Percentage of cases by year and month

Spread of reported injuries across Iran

The cases reported with eerily similar witness testimonies across Iran demonstrate the systematic nature of the injuries. Though a limited number of injuries have been reported. We have been able to identify injuries in 38 cities and provinces across Iran (Figures 3 and 4 refer). The majority of reported injuries were reported in the North West of Iran, including Tehran.

Figure 3: Spread of the injuries across Iran
Figure 4: A closer look

Weapons that caused injuries

Police, paramilitary Basiji agents, plain clothes officers and members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) were armed with kinetic-impact-projectile weapons, such as pellet guns, paintballs and gas canisters. These weapons are often labelled as “non-lethal” or “less-lethal” and are marketed as safe for use against protesters, given the police do not fire the weapons directly at protesters, and that they are fired at a distance. We have heard reports and seen countless videos of police using these weapons to cause life-long injury, disability and death.

The most frequent weapon used to blind people was pellet guns consisting of 80 per cent (n= 83) of all reported injuries, followed by injuries caused by paintballs making up 13 per cent (n= 13). Other weapons reported to have been used include tear gas canisters fired directly at the faces of people and brass knuckles (Figure 5 refers).

Figure 5: Percentage of weapons used to cause injury
Image 1: X-Ray showing pellets in the face and head 
Image 2: Example of pellets

Side of injury

The team is painfully aware that it is likely that a very high number of people who have had injury to both eyes are missed due to the severe nature of injury and lack of ability to self-advocate using technology such as Instagram to announce themselves and share their stories. We continue to endeavour to find as many of those who would like to be identified as possible.

Amongst reported cases, 44 per cent (n= 46) were injured in their left eye, 40 per cent (n= 41) in their right eye and 15 per cent (n= 15) were injured in both eyes (Figure 6 refers).

Figure 6: Side of injury

Some of the cases that we have been able to identify and verify

NameAgeDateCity / ProvinceWeaponSide
August 2018
Koroush Kia21August 2018KarajPaintball GunRight
November 2019
Meti3317 November 2019TehranPellet GunLeft
Matin Hassani2017 November 2019BukanPellet GunLeft
Mohammad Hossein Erfan2417 November 2019TehranPellet GunBoth
April 2022
Hamid Ghasempour Farsani37April 2022FarsanPellet GunRight
September 2022
Mostafa31September 2022Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari ProvincePellet GunLeft
Mohammad Parsa Sehat2217 September 2022SaqqezPellet GunBoth
Nachirvan Maroufi1817 September 2022SaqqezPellet GunRight
Kian Derakhshan2217 September 2022SaqqezPellet GunRight
Massoud Rahimpour3319 September 2022SaqqezPellet GunRight
Matin Mannani2520 September 2022SariPellet GunBoth
Hamidreza Heydari2520 September 2022ShirazPellet GunRight
Yaser Alvandiani3420 September 2022HamedanPellet GunLeft
Elaheh Tavakolian3420 September 2022MashhadPellet GunRight
Hossein Nouri Nikou2520 September 2022TehranPellet GunLeft
Nemat Afshar3620 September 2022QazvinPellet GunLeft
Nima Khoujmali2020 September 2022Gonbad KavousPellet GunLeft
Abbas Ali Maghboun4920 September 2022KishPellet GunRight
Mehdi “Metty” Meighani1920 September 2022ArakPellet GunRight
Hossein Abedini2021 September 2022TehranPellet GunLeft
Erfan Mousavi1921 September 2022TabrizPellet GunRight
Ali Mohammadi2221 September 2022HamedanPellet GunLeft
Hamid ParsaUnknown21 September 2022TehranPellet GunBoth
Erfan Shakouri1321 September 2022RezvanshahrPellet GunRight
Mohammad Vakili3121 September 2022HamedanPellet GunRight
Mohammad Farzi3222 September 2022TehranPellet GunRight
Ali Tahoune3422 September 2022KarajPellet GunBoth
Zara1822 September 2022TehranTear Gas CanisterRight
Hamed Ali Mohammadi3722 September 2022KarajPellet GunRight
Milad Safari3522 September 2022KarajPellet GunLeft
Hirsh NaghshbandiUnknown22 September 2022SanandajPellet GunLeft
Amir Velayati2424 September 2022TehranPellet GunLeft
Kimia Zand2624 September 2022TehranPaintball GunRight
Maryam BabayiUnknown24 September 2022TehranPellet GunLeft
Mojtaba FadayiUnknown24 September 2022JunghanPellet GunLeft
Yasin1230 September 2022ZahedanBulletBoth
October 2022
Iman34October 2022LorestanPellet GunBoth
Zoha Mousavi251 October 2022IsfahanPaintball GunLeft
Asal Jazideh171 October 2022RashtPellet GunLeft
Saman Pouriyaghama302 October 2022TehranPaintball GunLeft
Ali Zarei237 October 2022TehranPellet GunRight
Hossein Ashtari229 October 2022KarajPaintball GunLeft
Ahmad Naeim Hirmandzad599 October 2022HirmandBrass KnucklesLeft
Bahman2110 October 2022MahabadPellet GunRight
Ayoub Abdollahi2311 October 2022SaqqezPellet GunRight
Kosar Eftekhari2212 October 2022TehranPaintball GunRight
Parviz Javani2712 October 2022KermanshahPellet GunLeft
Ahmad Pirhaghir2612 October 2022SaqqezPellet GunRight
Vahed Rouznavard2112 October 2022MahabadPellet GunLeft
Kamal Pishvand4112 October 2022MahabadPellet GunLeft
Matin Chakav1812 October 2022AbadanPellet GunRight
Younes Rigi2614 October 2022ZahedanPellet GunRight
Mersedeh Shahinkar3815 October 2022TehranPaintball GunRight
Ali Khaleghi2415 October 2022KermanPaintball GunLeft
Sajad Rahmatipour2517 October 2022AbdananPellet GunLeft
Niloofar Aghaee3126 October 2022TehranPaintball GunLeft
Sadegh Sufi2726 October 2022BukanPellet GunRight
Helia Babayi1626 October 2022IsfahanPellet GunRight
Hosein Shahi2426 October 2022TehranPaintball GunLeft
Mohammad Reza3026 October 2022IsfahanPellet GunRight
Hamed Davoudi3026 October 2022IsfahanPellet GunRight
Zaniyar Tondro1727 October 2022PiranshahrPellet GunBoth
Arvin Salimi2227 October 2022DehgalanPellet GunLeft
Mohsen Kafshgar3128 October 2022AmolPellet GunLeft
Kiyarash Pour Rasoul2729 October 2022Lasht NeshaPellet GunLeft
November 2022
Mohammad Azad46November 2022TehranUnknownRight
Hossein Naderbeigi223 November 2022KarajPellet GunBoth
Majid KhademiUnknown3 November 2022KarajPellet GunLeft
Sara213 November 2022KarajPellet GunLeft
Reza Ezati473 November 2022KarajPellet GunRight
Ziba Mostafazadeh353 November 2022HashtgerdPellet GunLeft
Elham3511 November 2022HormozganPellet GunLeft
Behrouz Hosseini2115 November 2022IsfahanPellet GunLeft
Benita Kiani Falavarjani515 November 2022IsfahanPellet GunRight
Ghazal Ranjkesh2115 November 2022Bandar AbbasPellet GunRight
Farid Rashidi3015 November 2022Bandar AbbasPellet GunLeft
Hamid Reza Khajepoor2415 November 2022KermanPellet GunRight
Rahele Amiri2915 November 2022KermanPellet GunRight
Ali Delpasand4315 November 2022RashtPellet GunRight
Sepehr Khaleghi2815 November 2022TehranTear Gas CanisterRight
Mostafa Motalebi3415 November 2022TehranPellet GunLeft
Hamidreza Panahi2715 November 2022TehranPellet GunLeft
Soheil2915 November 2022ShirazPellet GunBoth
Karu Feizi2015 November 2022BukanPellet GunBoth
Salar Vatankhah2315 November 2022KarajPellet GunRight
Nazanin1615 November 2022Bandar AbbasPellet GunLeft
Meisam Dehghani2815 November 2022Bandar AbbasPellet GunRight
Erfan Ramizipour1915 November 2022Bandar AbbasPellet GunRight
Vahid Abbasi Piani2815 November 2022IzehPellet GunUnknown
Hossein Bagherpour2415 November 2022KermanPaintball GunRight
Amirhossein2316 November 2022TehranPaintball GunLeft
Samane Hosseini2516 November 2022TehranPaintball GunRight
Farideh Salavatipour~4016 November 2022SanandajPellet GunBoth
Artin Ahmadi1817 November 2022SanandajPellet GunLeft
Hossein Hosseinpour2517 November 2022MahabadPellet GunRight
Saman Hemati2218 November 2022AbadanPellet GunRight
Seyed Mohammad Hosseini PayizUnknown18 November 2022UnknownPellet GunRight
Ali Mohammad Rezaei6018 November 2022AbdananPellet GunLeft
Mohammad SafiariUnknown19 November 2022TehranPellet GunBoth
Shahin Milan2219 November 2022KhoyPellet GunLeft
Parsa Ghobadi1821 November 2022KermanshahPellet GunBoth
Adnan Hosseini2521 November 2022SanandajPellet GunRight
Firouz Mirani2929 November 2022PavehPellet GunBoth
December 2022
Danial481 December 2022TehranProjectile through carwindshieldLeft
Mahbanou Khoshnoudi279 December 2022KermanshahPellet GunLeft
Mani Haji Hassan1629 December 2022TehranTear Gas CanisterRight
Unknown
Mostaneh23UnknownPiranshahrPellet GunLeft
Mohammad Hassanzadeh28UnknownBukanPellet GunLeft
Table 1: Cases that we have been able to identify to date.