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.
Zeinab Sekaanvand Lokran…
got married when she was only 15 years old and was abused verbally and physically by her husband repeatedly.
He had written on the independence of judges and the presumption of innocence and was ready to defend himself, if tried. In Revolutionary Courts, however, defendants were presumed guilty and judges mandated to kill.
Abdol-Rahman Qasemlu (Ghassemlou)…
He took up arms to defend his people's rights, but he knew that the solution for the Iranian Kurdish problem had to be political and not military.
He had written on the independence of judges and the presumption of innocence and was ready to defend himself, if tried. In Revolutionary Courts, however, defendants were presumed guilty and judges mandated to kill.
Jamshid Siyavushi…
Mr. Siavoshi was a trustworthy, pious, and charitable man. His life had been threatened and his property had been looted for promoting the Baha’i religion, and he had therefore been forced to leave his place of residence on numerous occasions and rebuild his life elsewhere.
He had written on the independence of judges and the presumption of innocence and was ready to defend himself, if tried. In Revolutionary Courts, however, defendants were presumed guilty and judges mandated to kill.