The Iranian Writers Action Committee (IWAC) hereby officially announces the commencement of its collective operation as a united front against Iran regime’s suppression; IWAC consists of a group of Iranian writers working together in the form of an underground network to fight against the increasingly violated freedom of expression and human rights of the literary and cultural communities of Iran. Although this is the official declaration of IWAC, the initiation of its collective acts of resistance against the suppressive machinery of the ruling regime has not come into fruitarian overnight. The precedents of this writers collective can be traced back to a time prior to the outbreak of the bloody protests in Iran in response to the brutal state-murder of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old Iranian-Kurdish woman killed by the state’s so-called morality police. In the face of an unprecedented state crackdown on Iranian writers, this collective operation has been in progress for quite some time in a series of acts. One such activity was releasing a statement backed by over 400 signatories against the state-murder of Baktash Abtin, an Iranian poet, documentary-maker, and member of Iranian Writers Association, who tragically succumbed to Covid-19 on 8 Jan 2022. Baktash Abtin died in custody due to a deliberate refusal of providing medical treatment by prison authorities. Other similar activities include organizing marches in response to Abadan protests in response to the collapse of Metropol Tower and Khuzestan and Isfahan protests in response to shortage of clear water, electricity, and overnight surge in gas price. 

Today, the scale of regime’s brutal oppression has been manifested through draconian measures taken by the security forces of the regime across the country to silence any act of defiance and civil disobedience leading to the most ruthless bloodshed which remains unprecedented since the notorious mass execution of political prisoners in summer 1988. A quick glimpse at the present situation reveals astonishing number of casualties within only 110 days: at least eighteen thousand protestors have been arrested and kidnapped; severe forms of capital punishment including mass execution of Baluch and Kurdish citizens have been conducted on a daily basis with the shockingly high number of 84 executions since the outbreak of the current protests to this day (5 January 2022); the equally shocking number of protestors murdered by the state mostly in Kurdish towns amounting to at least one fifth of the total number of victims throughout the country. 

Moreover, the daily release of information regarding the status of abducted, tortured, and murdered protestors in these regions has become increasingly more difficult in the face of regime’s full-scale campaign against free circulation of information through nationwide internet blockade. The alarmingly high number of student detainees dismissed university professors, and the brutal crackdown on university campuses and schools has been unprecedent in the history of the Islamic Republic. More than 600 university students have been detained, kidnapped, and transferred to unknown locations. Dozens of university professors have been dismissed from their position over the course of the past 110 days and hundreds of students have been banned from pursuing their education. School girls and teenagers have been raped in detention centers and killed by several blows of a baton on the head. The long list of over 80 children who have been gunned down throughout the country by regime’s security forces in the last three months has created an international outrage against the atrocities of the Islamic Republic. 

Like most of Iran’s population, cultural circles across the country have not been safe from regime’s atrocities. So far, over 300 specific cases of direct violation of basic rights of members of these circles have been recorded by IWAC. The violations include unlawful arrests and abductions of cultural figures followed by baseless, harsh sentences which violates Iran’s own legal framework. Prisoners have been denied access to fair legal aid. In the absence of independent lawyers, prisoners have been forced to confessions following relentless physical and mental torture. Outside prison walls, members of the opposition have been subject to cyber life-threats and terrorist assassinations in exile, particularly in neighboring countries such as Turkey. Many outspoken protesters have been banned from leaving the country or having any activity whatsoever on social media. To further punish prisoners, some have been exiled to prisons in remote regions with less or no access to basic needs.

IWAC anticipates the exponential rise of human costs caused by state-sponsored oppression machinery in the future and for this reason it is committed to carry out immediate and collective actions to further accelerate the total collapse of the regime. Considering the critical situation on the ground, IWAC defines its main objectives as follows:    

For the most part, IWAC intends to remain anonymous and operate as an underground organization for two main reasons: first, given the unprecedented security-driven situation risen at this historical momentum in Iran, which, by essence, compromises the safety of its members and their affiliates; second, IWAC is not willing to risk its operational sufficiency which is proved to be far more successful if remained anonymous and underground.

IWAC will constantly monitor the condition of those members of the literary community who have, in any way, fallen victim to the political order in Iran. It will seek help from international literary networks to raise awareness about their case and to campaign for their release.

IWAC assists literary circles inside Iran by producing content, organizing events, and echo their voice as ways to help them meet their objectives.

IWAC will actively post updates about its activities on its official social media platforms (Instagram, Twitter, Telegram, Facebook, and its official website) and through indirect sources (mass or minor media, Iranian and otherwise). The aim is to support the collective struggle and resistance of the Iranian literary community against the regime inside Iran.

As testified by its activities thus far, IWAC aims to go beyond the literary community to address regime’s acts of violation directed towards journalists and artists.