A Dispatch From Saqqez – Where Anger Runs Deep

Saqqez is not a familiar name to most outside Iran. And yet the city has played a central role in the anti-government protests that have convulsed the country for the last month.

Saqqez is a mid-sized city in the province of Kurdistan, in the north-west of Iran. Like the ethnic minority regions at the other end of the country, the region has long been a stronghold of resistance to the Islamic Republic. This month, it has also seen more than its share of protests, strikes and extensive security pressure on its people. Many have been arrested or threatened by the security forces.

Saqqez was the home of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old woman who was forcibly arrested on a family visit to Tehran for not wearing a hijab in accordance with Iran’s strict dress code. She collapsed and died in custody – and her death sparked the subsequent month of protests.

Today, IranWire brings you a dispatch from the city from our local citizen correspondent, Tara Orami.

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On Wednesday, for the sixth time, most traders in the city bazaar shut their shops to express their anger, not only with the murder of Mahsa Amini, but also with 43 years of repression, and the government's failure to listen to the people in a peaceful manner.

All the same, some shops and market stalls kept trading. Perhaps the lack of solidarity from businesses in other parts of Iran discouraged them from joining the strike. But violence and threats are also powerful deterrents.

Many protesting citizens have been arrested in Saqqez over the past month. One of them, who was released on bail, told IranWire that the judge said to him: "Go and thank God that there is not much evidence against you and that you were just a simple rioter."

But the body of this person, and another detainee who was also kept in the detention center for 13 days, bears the marks of torture.

"We were told that they would keep us for a week, but it seemed that they kept us longer so that the marks of the beatings and torture on our bodies would disappear," this person told IranWire.

Photographs of a young woman's body covered with wounds further inflamed public anger in the last few days. The people of Saqqez have made their feelings clear by painting statues in the city center with blood.

No official authority has yet said anything about the number and names of Saqqez detainees. Some have been identified as ringleaders. Others have been released on bail until they appear in court, but it seems that in these cases, they were not subjected to the kinds of torture that leaves marks on the body.

Another raging issue in Saqqez is the arrest of teachers and school students. These two groups have been prominent on the streets alongside other protesters over the past five weeks. But we know less than we should about the young people who have been detained. Families, fearing for their children in custody, stay silent rather than speak out.

Some students have said that teachers have threatened them. They say that fewer classrooms now display photos of the leaders of the Islamic Republic on the walls. Either the students have removed the photos, or the school principals have removed them to prevent vandalism and fire.

Security forces seize not just the liberty and health of protesters, but also their personal belongings, including cars, motorcycles, and mobile phones. In some cases, the detainees have not managed to receive the stolen items even after they are released from detention. No one in authority ever gives them an answer about what happened to their belongings.

In Saqqez, the standoff between the people and the regime continues.