Statement by 55 journalists: Khuzestan's internet has been disrupted to prevent people's narratives

A group of journalists inside Iran have issued a statement calling for an "end to violence" against the protesting people of Khuzestan and have condemned "the suppression of the voice of protest against the rights of the people of Khuzestan and the suppression of the voice of the media that is trying to present an honest account of the people's pain and desires."

55 journalists have signed the statement, which states, "Inefficient managers who have been subjecting the media to censorship for years and harassing independent journalists and reporters; after silencing the media, they have disrupted the internet in Khuzestan to this time prevent people from telling their stories about the dark days of Khuzestan."

Over the past 10 days, widespread protests have taken place in Khuzestan, focusing on the problem of water shortages, which security forces have violently responded to. There is still no exact figure on the number of deaths and injuries. According to official state media, four protesters and one police officer have been killed so far. Amnesty International, however, says at least eight people have died in the protests.

The Islamic Republic has been cutting off the internet in Khuzestan in recent days, and reports indicate that "hundreds" of people have been arrested.

Reza Dehaki, Setareh Lotfi, Mohammad Aghazadeh, Masoud Rafiei Taleghani, Mehdi Eliasi, Mehdi Mahmoudian, Mira Ghorbanifar, Milad Alavi, Milad Fadaei-Asl, Elnaz Mohammadi, Niloufar Hamedi, Nima Afshar Nadari, Elaheh Mohammadi, and Yaghma Fashkhami are among the journalists who have signed this statement.

The signatories of this statement have accused some journalists of publishing a "manufactured and customized narrative" as the narrative of Khuzestan.

It seems that they are referring to the journalists dispatched by Tasnim, Fars, and Mehr news agencies who have traveled to Khuzestan in recent days and published reports on the normal situation in Khuzestan under the title "Khuzestan Narrative."

In recent days, reports have been published about the spread of protests in Iran and the holding of protest rallies in Tabriz, Isfahan, Yazd, Tehran, Saqqez in Kurdistan, Bojnourd in North Khorasan, and Alborz Province.

"Instead of resorting to violence, rebuild Khuzestan"

Meanwhile, a group of institutions and activists in the field of children and adolescents have called for a halt to violence in response to the protests in a statement and warned: "The events that are happening today in Khuzestan and other parts of this border region to vulnerable children and adolescents will have no consequences for them and the dear Iranian nation except institutionalizing violence and a spirit of revenge."

The statement calls on the country's officials to "instead of resorting to violence, pay attention to the legitimate demands of the heroic people of Khuzestan and the future of their children and adolescents, and spend the country's financial and human resources, through specialized and coherent scientific planning, on restoring the environment, improving livelihoods, and meeting the basic needs of the people of that province."

The Council for the Development of a Culture of Peace for Children, the Children's Cultural Development Center, the Rasm Al-Kahadi Cultural and Artistic Institute, the Rasm Al-Solsh Quarterly, the Flying Turtle Award Jury, the Afra Foundation, and the Creative Growth Center are among the signatories of this statement, who believe that "the continuation of violent methods of confrontation and the uncontrollable accumulation of various types of social abnormalities will sooner or later engulf the entire Iranian society."

Masoud Jafari Jozani, Emad al-Din Baghi, Shahla Moazami, Saleh Noghrekar, Ali Asghar Seyedabadi, Mehdi Khaki Firouz, Zahra Ali Akbari, Claire Joubert, and Mostafa Rahmandoost are among the other signatories of this statement, who have warned that with the current approach, "it is not too late for us to face a flood of migration of children and adolescents to large cities such as Isfahan, Shiraz, Mashhad, Tehran, and other places, and to witness more and more homeless children and adolescents on the streets, scavengers, addicts, and the spread of marginalized life."

The water crisis in Khuzestan, which has intensified this summer, has caused serious damage to agriculture and livestock farming, which are the source of income and livelihood for many households in this region, in addition to the lack of access to drinking water for the citizens of this province.