Founded by former political prisoners, Keyvan Rafi'i, in March 2006, HRAI promotes human rights and democracy in Iran. The group covers a wide range of issues such as ethnic and religious minorities, prison conditions, labor, and student-related issues. HRAI works as a membership-based organization and chose to publicly identify its members to avoid accusations of illegal underground activities. In 2009 the organization created a news agency, HRA-NA. Many of the organization’s members and collaborators are student activists. The authorities have targeted the organization due to HRA-NA’s reporting during the post-election protests in summer 2009. By early March 2010, more than 40 of its members and collaborators were in prisons around the country.