Addressing the Harassment of Children under the Guise of Welfare Assistance
347
Signatures
500
Goal
To: The State Welfare Organization of Iran
Author: Nafas Rahimi
Date: June 14, 2023
Twenty-four homeless children living in a so-called "charity" center in Tehran have been enduring abuse for several months, while the government authorities have yet to intervene or penalize the abusers. A disturbing report by Etemad Daily, a Tehran-based publication, has exposed the horrifying practices at the Zanjireh Mehr Mandegar Center - a place supposedly dedicated to the care and welfare of these children.
According to the report, these children have been subject to regular punishment and mistreatment. A particularly egregious instance involved a seven-year-old child whose hands and feet were seared with a hot iron as punishment for bedwetting. Subsequently, the child was confined for a week in the restroom of a decrepit, cockroach-infested building and given nothing but dry bread and water. Multiple reliable sources have corroborated these allegations and notified the state-sponsored Welfare Organization of Tehran. (Etemad Online, June 11, 2023)
The Zanjireh Mehr Mandegar Center, under the guise of childcare, consistently exploits these children for religious propaganda. For instance, the Center coerces children into hosting Imam Hussein's mourning ceremony, known as 'Tassua,' or partaking in recitation ceremonies to learn narratives of victory in the Iran-Iraq War and "martyrdom." These actions facilitate fund collection from affluent religious families and mosques. Notably, the instructors of this institution are Shiite seminary students, further indicating that religious indoctrination is prioritized over ensuring the psychological well-being of these vulnerable children.
As per Etemad's report, the Zanjireh Mehr Mandegar Center fails to provide a full-time psychologist for these traumatized children. Instead, it merely attempts to keep the 24 children and teenagers "controlled" in a cramped two-story, thousand-square-foot building. The Center frequently resorts to food deprivation, beatings, and verbal threats to maintain order. Regrettably, Hamed Haqqi, the CEO and co-founder of the Center, not only evades responsibility but also proudly states, "On Eid night, our children were present at Iftar with the country's President. Mr. Qalibaf (Speaker of the Parliament) visited us ... we are a model center." He further insists that "our children do not have the right to talk to reporters."
As signatories to this petition, we urgently demand the revocation of the operating license for Zanjireh Mehr Mandegar Center due to their blatant violation of children's rights, negligence, and abuse of children. The children currently residing in the Center should be swiftly relocated to a safe haven where child psychologists and empathetic educators can oversee them.
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Province Number of signatures Alborz 6 Ardabil 1 Bushehr 2 Chahar Mahaal and Bakhtiari 0 East Azerbaijan 4 Fars 3 Gilan 2 Golestan 0 Hamadan 0 Hormozgan 2 Ilam 0 Isfahan 11 Kerman 1 Kermanshah 1 Khuzestan 3 Kohgiluyehv And Boyer Ahmad 0 Kurdistan 0 Lorestan 0 Markazi 0 Mazandaran 3 North Khorasan 2 Qazvin 1 Qom 0 Razavi Khorasan 5 Semnan 2 Sistan and Baluchestan 0 South Khorasan 2 Tehran 45 West Azerbaijan 2 Yazd 0 Zanjan 1 This petition has received 347 signatures so far. Approximately 83% of signatures come from Iran. Approximately 17% of signatures come from outside of Iran. Learn how Daadkhast generates signature maps. -
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Nafas Rahimi started this petition
حمایت از حقوق کودکان