Students hold series of demonstrations following death of Mahsa Zhina Amini

Students and community members gathered at a series of demonstrations at UC San Diego in late September and early October in remembrance of Mahsa Zhina Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman who died after reportedly being tortured while in custody in Tehran, Iran. Organized by the Persian American Student Association (PASA) and the Iranian Graduate Students Association (ISTA), the gatherings strove to honor Amini and draw attention to discriminatory laws against women in Iran.

On September 13, Amini was arrested by Iran’s morality police — the country’s law enforcement branch that enforces laws against immodesty — for allegedly wearing a hijab improperly. She was taken to a detention center and ordered to undergo a “briefing class.” In an interview with Sky News, Amini’s cousin reported that co-detainees told him she was tortured and insulted while being transported to the detention center. Shortly after her arrival at the detention center, she fainted and an ambulance was called. On September 16, Mahsa Amini died in the intensive care unit of Kasra Hospital in Tehran.

Hours after her death, anti-government protests erupted at Kasra Hospital. Over the next few days, protests expanded across Iran, prompting the government to cut off internet service in the nation to quell the movement. Protests quickly turned deadly following clashes with security forces. Iran Human Rights reports that at least 215 people have been killed in the protests as of October 17.

Mahdi Rouhi, a third-year Mathematics-Economics Major who attended PASA and ISTA’s solidarity rally on September 29, noted that these anti-government protests have been occurring for decades since the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

“For the past 43 years, this is what we’ve been going through. We’ve lost so many, so many, so many people. Every time we protest, they just kill us, they just murder every single one of us. Nobody is hearing us, but this time is different,” Rouhi told The Triton.

Protests in solidarity with Iranians have occurred across the world in the past couple of weeks. Locally, San Diegans have held demonstrations at Balboa Park, Crown Point Park, and San Diego State University.

“We are actually being heard for the first time … Non-Iranians paying attention,” Rouhi added.

At a nighttime vigil outside UCSD’s Geisel Library on September 26, mourners gathered to honor Mahsa Amini and the lives lost in anti-government protests in Iran. Around 100 people stood around a candlelight memorial paying their respects.

On September 29, ISTA and PASA held a solidarity rally at the Graffiti Art Park outside of Mandeville Auditorium. The vice president of PASA shared with The Triton that they are “hoping that our voices are being heard by UCSD faculty and students.” To raise awareness, demonstrators handed out flyers with information about the protest and recent events in Iran to students passing by. Later, students rallied to chant “Zan, Zendegi, Azadi” — a Kurdish slogan that means “Woman, Life, Freedom” — in support of women’s freedom in Iran.

As the chants continued, Hossein Rahmanian, a Ph.D. student in Electrical and Computer Engineering, painted the Iranian flag with “Mahsa Amini” inscribed in red paint on one of the plywood canvases at the Art Park.

The vice president of PASA welcomed students to pay their respects at either memorial outside Geisel Library or at Graffiti Art Park.

Students demanded the University to release a statement standing in solidarity with Iranian students. At the September 29 rally, the vice president of PASA shared with The Triton, “We are expecting a letter … stating that they stand with us and are against the violence happening with the women and every other minority in Iran.”

PASA later shared a statement on October 2 via Instagram that read, in part, “we need the official support of UCSD administrators … UCSD cannot continue to remain silent on this issue.”

On October 3, Chancellor Pradeep Khosla shared in an email to all students, staff, and academics at UCSD that “We stand in solidarity against the use of violence, repression and discrimination” and provided resources for those impacted by the unrest in Iran.

Iranian student organizations across the UC system requested in a joint statement on October 5 for action to be taken on a systemwide scale.

The statement, posted on Instagram, shares how students at Sharif Institute of Technology in Tehran were “locked in and attacked on their campus.” It goes on to add that “the very students being targeted in Iran today are prospective students of every University of California campus and deserve to be heard for the difficulties they are experiencing at this moment.”

The group of organizations specifically asked for UC President Michael Drake to consider an application fee waiver due to uncertain economic circumstances, an application extension, and a policy modification to accept unofficial transcripts for those directly impacted by the recent events in Iran.

As their demands went unheard by UC President Drake, PASA organized a third demonstration outside Geisel Library on October 10 where students and community members chanted “Justice for Iran!” and “Regime change for Iran!”

UC President Drake has yet to respond to the statement or any of the organizations’ requests.

Liam Winstead is an Assistant News Editor for The Triton.