World
Protesters in Istanbul show support for Iranian demonstrations triggered by death of Zhina Amini in Iranian custody. Date: September 20, 2022. Photo: AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A United Nations report released on International Women’s Day said that women and girls have been “severely deprived” of their basic rights in Iran where institutionalized discrimination was evident in Tehran’s crackdown on the Jin Jiyan Azadi (Woman Life Freedom) protest movement.
Many of the violations committed by Iranian authorities in its response to the Jin Jiyan Azadi protests amount to “crimes against humanity,” the UN mission concluded.
“Pervasive and deep-rooted structural and institutionalized discrimination against women and girls, permeating all areas of their public and private lives, was both a trigger and an enabler of the widespread serious human rights violations and crimes under international law committed against women and girls in the Islamic Republic of Iran, as well as others advocating for equality and human rights, in the context of the 'Woman, Life, Freedom' movement,” read the report from by the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The Jin Jiyan Azadi protests were sparked by the September 2022 death of a Kurdish woman, Zhina Mahsa Amini, in the custody of the morality police after she was detained for reportedly not correctly wearing a hijab, in violation of Iran’s strict dress code.
Calling her arrest “arbitrary,” the UN mission said the mandatory hijab laws “fundamentally discriminate against women and girls.”
Condemning Amini’s death, women and girls led massive, nationwide protests that were the greatest existential threat to the Islamic Republic since its founding more than four decades earlier. The demonstrators were met with lethal force. At least 551 protesters were killed, including 49 women and 68 children, according to the UN report. Thousands more were arrested.
In detention, women were subjected to sexual violence by security forces who labelled the women as “prostitutes” because they were “willing to get naked” when they chose to not cover their hair under a hijab, the report stated.
In the wake of the protests, authorities have strengthened laws and regulations that govern women’s rights and freedoms. Punishments for non-compliance with the hijab have increased and women are closely watched by new cameras in public spaces. Some women were also expelled from universities and warned they could be deprived of health care if they violate the hijab law.
”Given the deeply rooted institutional discrimination against Iranian women and girls, they are owed transformative reparations that guarantee their full, free and equal participation in all spheres of Iranian society. Given our findings, this would entail, among other measures, an overhaul of criminal and civil laws, a reform of the justice system, and measures for accountability,” said Viviana Krsticevic, a member of the UN mission.
Many of the violations committed by Iranian authorities in its response to the Jin Jiyan Azadi protests amount to “crimes against humanity,” the UN mission concluded.
“Pervasive and deep-rooted structural and institutionalized discrimination against women and girls, permeating all areas of their public and private lives, was both a trigger and an enabler of the widespread serious human rights violations and crimes under international law committed against women and girls in the Islamic Republic of Iran, as well as others advocating for equality and human rights, in the context of the 'Woman, Life, Freedom' movement,” read the report from by the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The Jin Jiyan Azadi protests were sparked by the September 2022 death of a Kurdish woman, Zhina Mahsa Amini, in the custody of the morality police after she was detained for reportedly not correctly wearing a hijab, in violation of Iran’s strict dress code.
Calling her arrest “arbitrary,” the UN mission said the mandatory hijab laws “fundamentally discriminate against women and girls.”
Condemning Amini’s death, women and girls led massive, nationwide protests that were the greatest existential threat to the Islamic Republic since its founding more than four decades earlier. The demonstrators were met with lethal force. At least 551 protesters were killed, including 49 women and 68 children, according to the UN report. Thousands more were arrested.
In detention, women were subjected to sexual violence by security forces who labelled the women as “prostitutes” because they were “willing to get naked” when they chose to not cover their hair under a hijab, the report stated.
In the wake of the protests, authorities have strengthened laws and regulations that govern women’s rights and freedoms. Punishments for non-compliance with the hijab have increased and women are closely watched by new cameras in public spaces. Some women were also expelled from universities and warned they could be deprived of health care if they violate the hijab law.
”Given the deeply rooted institutional discrimination against Iranian women and girls, they are owed transformative reparations that guarantee their full, free and equal participation in all spheres of Iranian society. Given our findings, this would entail, among other measures, an overhaul of criminal and civil laws, a reform of the justice system, and measures for accountability,” said Viviana Krsticevic, a member of the UN mission.
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