Omid Memorial
The men and women whose stories you can read on this page are now all citizens of a silent city named Omid ("hope" in Persian). There, victims of persecution have found a common life whose substance is memory.
Omid's citizens were of varying social origins, nationalities, and religions; they held diverse, and often opposing, opinions and ideologies. Despite the differences in their personality, spirit, and moral fiber, they are all united in Omid by their natural rights and their humanity. What makes them fellow citizens is the fact that one day each of them was unfairly and arbitrarily deprived of his or her life. At that moment, while the world watched the unspeakable happen, an individual destiny was shattered, a family was destroyed, and an indescribable suffering was inflicted.
Mehdi Karami…
The Karamis lived in the northwest ofTehran, in a neighborhood called Jannat-Abad. The family lost him one evening, three days after the election, not far from home.
Shirko Ma'arefi…
Even at the time of my arrest, I was not willing to use my gun and shoot. The feelings I carried within me were not terror, fear and violence; on the contrary, my heart was filled with love for humanity and a desire for freedom