At first, I need to explain how I came to know HRA, which happened in two ways:
The first, goes back to the years I was in prison. At the time, I shared a ward with a few young activists of HRA. Even though these youth were not professional political activists, they were so committed to their path and beliefs that they stood by them and insisted on the rightness of their cause the whole time during their detention. Therefore, meeting these young people was very interesting to me.
The second way I got to know HRA was from the non-discriminatory news published by its news agency. Indeed, for all of us whether when we were in the prison and transmitted news out (I worked for Kalame news agency during and before my imprisonment, and one of the charges against me was related to this activity) or now, it has always been considered important to us that a news agency without any political direction covers the news of violations of human rights, so it could be trusted. HRANA certainly matches the description.
It should be noted that HRA and HRANA have been of great importance and have had great impact as an independent source of the human rights news in Iran for the past 10 years, coinciding with the civil protests and movements in the country. As far as I know, HRANA started its activism in 2009 close to the time of the people’s protests and movements in Iran and has been active for more than 6 years. The emergence of many powerful websites with strong political and economic backing such as Kalame, Jonbesh-e Rah-e Sabz (JRS), and Rooz that put in a great effort has not diminished HRANA’s influence. As journalists, we appreciate all their efforts and consider their work significant. As all media should be able to stand strong against the waves and turbulences that comes with the struggle, HRANA has been the foremost example in doing that.
Considering my 20 years of experience in journalism and media, I am aware of the difficulties and issues with establishing an independent news agency, such as financial, organizational, and human resources. I have wondered how a news agency without a significant budget has survived for years, and this is exactly what HRANA has done. Personally, I think it is because of its strong beliefs Those who work in this field, genuinely believe in their work, and such beliefs, compassion, and organization could not easily be created.
It is interesting that HRA has organized the activists’ efforts and directed them all towards a good news agency; and the result is the website of HRANA. In this regard, the organization should be thanked for creating and continuing such an organized organization. I would like to specifically mention Jamal Hosseini, who has been the editor of HRANA for many years and put in many efforts regarding human rights before passing away. In the history of the media, he is remembered as an influential and reputable person and for standing by these professional work principles, I bow and tip my hat to him.
