On August 27, 2022, police arrested at least one student participating in a protest against Iran’s compulsory military service.

The Student Justice Movement organized the demonstration in front of Iran’s Public Conscription Organization office in Tehran. The demonstration was reportedly peaceful, with students holding posters that read “conscripts have no voice,” and “two years of forced imprisonment,” among others. Police arrested Mohammad Eskandari, the secretary of the Student Justice Movement.

Scholars at Risk is concerned about the arrest of a student in apparent retaliation for the peaceful exercise of the right to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly – conduct which is protected by international human rights instruments including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a signatory. In addition to harm to the immediate victim, such arbitrary arrests undermine academic freedom and democratic society generally.

Sources:
*SAR identified this incident in data made publicly available by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED)
https://www.iranintl.com/en/202208276373
https://www.en-hrana.org/students-and-reporters-arrested-in-tehran-protest/
https://www.radiofarda.com/a/protest-against-mandatory-military-service-iran/32007012.html
https://www.dw.com/fa-ir/بازداشت-حداقل-یک-نفر-در-تجمع-اعتراضی-به-سربازی-اجباری-در-تهران/a-62951494