Iranians protesting regime refuse to back down despite threats of arrest and execution

Read the Full Transcript

• Amna Nawaz:

  The anti-regime protests in Iran have been quieter in major cities following an intense crackdown. Protests do continue in Northern Kurdish provinces.

  And, across Iran, families are mourning the deaths of their loved ones. Students and activists inside Iran are vowing to continue their resistance and have shared details of brutal abuse and torture with special correspondent Jane Ferguson.

  To protect their safety, we have disguised their personal features. And just a note: Some images and accounts in this story are disturbing.

  (SCREAMING)

• Jane Ferguson:

  There are few words to express the pain of a child being killed. Sometimes, sounds come closer.

  Across Iran, families gather to mourn these days at an increasing pace, as the regime steps up its crackdown on protesters. Two more young men were hanged at dawn on Saturday. Mohammad Mehdi Karami was 22 years old and a karate champion. Seyed Mohammad Hosseini, a children's martial arts coach, was 39. They were hanged for killing members of the security forces.

  Karami's father also attended Hosseini's burial. Their trials have been described by human rights observers as a sham, confessions forced by torture. Their executions are designed to send a message to other protesters. As news of the hangings made its way to family and friends, they were devastated.

• Protester (through translator):

  The regime is carrying out a very violent crackdown with executions and lots of arrests. Prisons are full of people. This morning, we woke up to the terrible news that they executed two more people.

  They're trying to stop us from protesting by threatening us with these executions and intense violence.

• Jane Ferguson:

  Several dozen other protesters remain on death row, according to human rights groups. Some 14,000 are believed to have been jailed in the last few months, and over 500 killed by security forces.

  Despite the recent uptick in killings, and perhaps because of it…

  Does it increase people's fear?

  … Iranian-American activists like Masih Alinejad believe the regime is seriously spooked this time.

  Masih Alinejad, Iranian American Journalist and Activist: This is the tactic of the Islamic Republic. Create fear within the society that can survive — help Islamic Republic to survive.

  When I see that people are fearless, when I see that, immediately, when teenagers are getting killed, their parents leading the protest and saying, I'm not scared of you. For 40 years, we had the fear inside us. Now this is the Islamic Republic, scared of its own teenagers, scared of its own people. So, that means this is the tipping point.

• Jane Ferguson:

  The repression, however, is, to some extent, working. The rising risks of going to protests have caused their numbers to fall.

• Student (through translator):

  My friends and I were out protesting at night, and we were arrested. We were tortured, sexually abused, and beaten.

• Jane Ferguson:

  This young woman says she is a Tehran University student. The protests have been less frequent, she admits, as the youngsters are crushed under the weight of Iran's repressive surveillance state.

• Student (through translator):

  All of us who go to the protests are being watched by the cameras of the regime. They put cameras in all the street corners and neighborhoods. They come to our front doors. They beat or kidnap us in front of our houses.

  There are many spies in the cities. They are in every neighborhood. They spy on the houses and the youth especially. And there are some who act like protesters and they join us, but, later, they share the information with the regime.

• Jane Ferguson:

  The Iranian regime's spies are even in the classrooms of the students, attempting to reach into the minds of the country's young free thinkers.

• Kurdish Activist:

  They used to send some agents to the classes, and, suddenly, they would start some arguments about whether Khomeini was good or bad. And if a student would talk about him, they would make a lot of problems. So, they have eyes and spies and agents everywhere.

• Jane Ferguson:

  Even when demonstrators are injured by security forces, seeking treatment can be dangerous.

• Iranian Medic (through translator):

  When protesters went to the hospitals, the regime arrested them. One 16-year-old boy died because he was hiding in his home with serious untreated injuries when the security forces came to arrest him and take him away.

• Jane Ferguson:

  This young man says he is a medic who was living in his Kurdish homelands in the northeast of Iran when the protests erupted there. He got together with colleagues and began treating wounded protesters in secret.

  Kurdish areas, long resistant to Tehran's rule and pushing for autonomy, have seen some of the most enduring protests, and, with them, violent responses.

• Iranian Medic (through translator):

  I tried my best to help them. My friends and I did it together. If we asked for medication or bandages at the main medical centers, we would be arrested, so we had a team delivering them from other, calmer cities.

  They were confiscating medicines at checkpoints, so we used mountain and village paths. Some people were injured with handguns, shotguns, and AK-47s. Some were shot by sniper bullets. One guy was shot in the chest in Oshnavieh city by a sniper. I couldn't save him. He died instantly.

• Jane Ferguson:

  He says, eventually, one of the patients he treated was detained and gave up his name.

• Iranian Medic (through translator):

  When I was arrested, they had prepared a written statement. It said that I was the director of a terrorist group that kills people. And they forced me to sign the paper by torturing me for 21 days.

  They cut me with a knife, hit my back with something heavy, and spilled freezing water on me. They electrically shocked my genitals and burned my body with lighters. Then they threatened my family members. They said they would arrest and kill my younger brother and rape my mother.

• Jane Ferguson:

  He now works to get medical equipment to those who need treatment. As the brutality increases, people like Alinejad are pushing for more of a response from Western governments to isolate Iran diplomatically.

• Masih Alinejad:

  What we need is concrete actions first. I mean, it's not too much to ask that, when the regime is killing people, torturing people, 50 people are on the death row, then this is the time, this is the time that the leaders of democratic countries must get united and recall their ambassadors.

• Jane Ferguson:

  Social media has played a huge role in organizing protesters and helping spread word of the demonstrations. In turn, the government has blocked Internet access, censored activists from various sites, and prevented news and information about what is really going on from spreading.

  Members of the regime themselves, however, enjoy full access.

• Masih Alinejad:

  You cannot allow Ebrahim Raisi, Khamenei, the leaders of Islamic Republic, to have Instagram account, Twitter account, Facebook account, verified account, while they are banning 80 million people to use the same social media. I don't get that.

• Jane Ferguson:

  The Iranian regime's executions appear highly calculated, a cruelty doled out slowly as a warning to the resistance. It's an exercise in fear. And either side could still win.

• Kurdish Activist:

  You know, as a young person who lived his entire life here, honestly, I would say we have nothing to lose anymore. We have had enough.

• Jane Ferguson:

  For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Jane Ferguson.

Improved audio player available on our mobile page