The history of suppression in Iran has always been lost between dry statistics and official statements; however, the truth of the tragedy must be sought not in numbers, but in the “entrusted blood on the body of a young man.” The letter before you is the unmediated voice of a generation that stood amidst tear gas and live ammunition—not only for “freedom” but to defend the “essence of humanity.” This narrative is a document of the systematic violation of the right to life and the desecration of human dignity, representing a “crime against humanity” in its most naked form, beyond mere military suppression.
This is not just a letter, but a historical testimony from a young protester in the heart of Tehran. Let us read:
“Greetings from the heart of days where breathing itself is a form of resistance. I want to write to you about this period; of nights that were no longer ordinary and days that smelled of blood and death. I will never forget the first night; the night two of my friends were hit—one wounded and one killed. When I reached home, my entire body was drenched in blood; blood that partly flowed from my own wounds, and far more of it entrusted to me from the bodies of friends who no longer breathed..
From that night on, the streets were no longer just streets; they were the stage for the confrontation of unarmed people against an armed tyranny. The youth stood with empty hands and voices trembling with rage and hope. They stood not for destruction, but for the sake of breathing. But the response was bullets, batons, and relentless pursuit. The youth were withered one by one, like branches whose time to bloom had not yet come.
In that same chaos, there was something that prevented us from surrendering and dispersing: the empathy and unity of the people. Amidst the smoke, the screams, and the onslaught, if you saw someone whose eyes were burning from pepper gas, a hand would appear. Someone would light a cigarette and gently blow the smoke toward their faces to soothe the burning, or they would burn newspapers. During chases in the alleys, the doors of houses and garages would open to the fleeing protesters so they wouldn’t fall into the hands of the henchmen. A simple act, yet lifesaving. Strangers leaned on one another, and courage was passed hand-to-hand.
But the second night… the second night was different. It was as if they had become emboldened. As if they had decided to lead humanity to the slaughterhouse in the middle of the streets. Violence, naked and overt, needing no justification. The streets bore witness as the true essence of humanity was beheaded; not just lives, but dignity, security, and the right to breathe. The sound of gunfire came incessantly, and the screams grew shorter. That night, Death walked with tranquility.
The days were no better than the nights. In the squares and at the crossroads, whenever the forces of repression appeared, their tongues struck the first blow—insults and threats—long before any physical blow landed. Vile profanities, overt desecration, addressing the people with the most vulgar terms; men and women, old and young, without any boundaries. It was as if humiliation was part of the mission. Their words inflicted wounds; wounds that were unseen but sank deeper than the batons. They trampled human dignity to break the spirit before breaking the body.
The youth were withering one by one; youth whose dreams had not even found the chance to be expressed. The struggle for freedom became a crime, and standing up carried a cost as high as one’s life. In the midst of this, the atrocity and brutality of the mercenaries and repressive forces showed itself more nakedly than ever. It was as if the boundary between duty and crime had been erased. I was wounded myself, but staying at home was impossible for me. With that same wounded body, I went back. Not out of heroism, but because when you see so many young people standing for ‘life,’ retreating feels like a denial of yourself!
Here, tyranny does not just shoot; it humiliates, it insults, it seeks to crush the human beings before taking their life. The streets are full of youth who stood with empty hands and were answered with bullets. They hit us, killed us, terrified us, but we did not back down. Courage circulates among the people, and even death has not been able to stop it. This voice rises from the heart of repression; the voice of a generation that has learned freedom is never given, it must be taken back, not with empty hands, but this time with the fire of armed resistance, the readiness to fight back. Hoping for the day when these writings are only memories.”
The Blood that is a Trust — A Responsibility that is Universal
The narrative of this young Tehrani is not just a personal memory; it is a “Document of the Violation of the Right to Life” and human dignity. The blood he carried as a trust on his body has today become a trust in the hands of the world’s awakened conscience and international institutions. Silence or inaction in the face of this magnitude of atrocity is not only a betrayal of the Iranian people but an injury to the credibility of all the values upon which the United Nations was founded.
These spilled bloods and these lives pushed to the brink have no demand today other than “Justice and Accountability.” The world must know that safeguarding human dignity in the streets of Tehran and other cities of Iran is the ultimate test for the efficacy of international law in the present century. Every moment of delay in an executive response is an invitation to tyranny to further trample upon humanity.
The letter of this protester is not just an image of courage; it contains legal codes indicating that the regime has systematically violated not only “human rights” but the “moral foundations of international law.” To transform this “human narrative” into an “executive movement,” the following axes must be urgently turn to decisive measures by global forums:
Duties of International Organs and Legal Axes
- Safeguarding the “Right to Dignity” and Confronting Verbal Torture: The letter explicitly reveals the vulgar profanities and universal desecration (men, women, old, and young). This organized behavior is a clear manifestation of “degrading and inhuman treatment” prohibited by international conventions. Human rights institutions must document and condemn this “policy of humiliation” as a tool to break a nation’s civil resistance.
- Investigating Extrajudicial Killings: The direct shooting of unarmed youth during the first and second nights of the uprising is a flagrant violation of Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The UN Human Rights Council is obligated, based on these testimonies, to mandate the Fact-Finding Committee to identify the perpetrators and commanders who ordered direct fire at these specific points in the capital.
- Referral of the Case to International Courts and Universal Jurisdiction: When a country’s judicial system turns into an arm of suppression instead of justice, the duty falls upon the international community. International organs must, by documenting these naked atrocities (as seen in this letter), steer the cases of senior commanders toward the International Criminal Court (ICC). Furthermore, UN member states must utilize the principle of “Universal Jurisdiction” to issue international arrest warrants for the officials responsible for these crimes to shatter their “Impunity.”
- Diplomatic Accountability for “Crimes Against Humanity”: The boundless atrocity and systematic killing of the youths go beyond simple human rights violations and constitute “Crimes Against Humanity.” The United Nations must, instead of normalizing relations, reclaim the credibility of its Charter by expelling the representatives of a regime that tramples human dignity in the streets.
