Iran
A photo of the late Mahsa (Zhina) Amini with a standoff between security forces and protestors. Photo: Amnesty International
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Amnesty International on Wednesday slammed the use of gender-based violence and the killing of protestors in Iran during the Islamic republic’s crackdown on demonstrations in the country over the suspicious death of a Kurdish woman, calling for the killings to be “urgently investigated.”
The death of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini in Tehran at the hands of the so-called morality police sparked outrage in the country as thousands of young Iranian men and women took to the streets protesting and condemning her killing. The protests triggered a violent crackdown by Iranian authorities, arresting and wounding thousands of people and subjecting them to beatings, sexual violence, and other acts of oppression.
“Iran’s discriminatory laws, decades of repression of any form of dissent, and systematic impunity for unlawful killings during protests and behind prison walls, have triggered this unprecedented nationwide outrage,” Amnesty chief Agnes Callamard said, calling on people worldwide to sign their petition.
Amnesty further lashed out at Iranian authorities for committing acts of sexual violence against protestors for removing their headscarves, mandatory in Iran following the Islamic revolution in 1979.
Reports of live ammunition, heavy beatings, and sexual assault have also been uncovered by Amnesty during their investigations, as well as widespread internet censorship to prevent the spread of demonstrations and international coverage.
Amini, 22, was arrested by Iran’s morality police for allegedly wearing a lax hijab. She died in police custody three days later while in hospital, with authorities claiming that the cause of death was a heart attack, while human rights activists and eyewitnesses say she was beaten in the police van.
Protests sparked a day after she was pronounced dead. Crowds fueled with rage and frustration took to the streets chanting “death to dictator,” referring to the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Videos have surfaced on several social media platforms of women burning the hijab, cutting their hair, and dancing in public. The protests are ongoing as of Thursday night.
Kurdish human rights organization Hengaw said that at least 18 Kurdish protesters have been killed with nearly thousands wounded. The exact number of how many people have been detained is not clear but Kurdish Human Rights Network put the number at hundreds.
Thousands of people including actors, lawyers, journalists, and women’s rights activists have been detained across the country and in Iran’s Kurdish areas (Rojhelat).
The international community has strongly condemned Tehran’s stance against the demonstrators. The US sanctioned Iran’s morality police earlier in September, slamming the Iranian regime’s security services and saying they “routinely employ violence to suppress peaceful protestors.”
Germany’s foreign ministry later summoned the Iranian ambassador and called on Iranian authorities to allow peaceful protests and refrain from the use of violence against protestors.
In a tweet on Friday, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said he spoke with US-based Iran women’s rights activist Masih Alinejad about US support for protestors in solidarity with Amini.
“We will continue to support Masih and other Americans targeted by Iran,” he said.
Iran attacks Kurdistan Region
The authorities in Tehran have been in a state of panic since the Kurdish opposition groups based in the Kurdistan Region called for a general strike across the Kurdish areas in western Iran on September 19, setting off the recent wave of unrest across the country.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) attacked the Kurdistan Region’s Erbil and Sulaimani provinces on Wednesday in an operation codenamed “the Prophet of God”, targeting the bases of Iranian-Kurdish opposition groups with around 73 ballistic missiles and dozens of suicide drones, accusing the groups of encouraging protests in Iran.
At least 18 people were killed and over 50 injured in the attacks, according to the Kurdish health ministry.
One of the casualties was Rayhan Kanaani who lived in a camp in Erbil province with her husband, Zanyar Rahmani. Both were members of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI). Kanaani, who was pregnant, died in hospital later on Wednesday, while doctors were able to save her baby whose due date was October 3.
However, the baby, who was named Wanyar by his parents, died late Thursday in an Erbil hospital.
“I will bury the dead bodies of my child and wife together,” Rahmani said in front of the hospital, carrying the dead body of his one-day-old baby.
By Zheen Saman
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