Severe Crimes Against Protestors in Iran
The winds of revolt are blowing in Iran after the death of 22-year-old Zhina “Mahsa” Amini, 3 days after she had been allegedly beaten to death in the Vozara Detention Center. Mahsa had been arbitrarily arrested and taken into custody on September 13th by Iran’s “morality” police (gasht-e irshad) in Tehran for not complying with the strict compulsory veil wearing laws. Testimonies from Mahsa’s family and fellow detainees exhibit evidence of violent treatment against the young woman, while Iran’s government denies any implication and claims that the young woman suffered a stroke after her arrest. Despite the government’s attempt to muzzle the information, protests exploded erupted in several Iranian cities, especially across Iranian Kurdistan, Mahsa Amini’s home region . Those protests have been met with live ammunition, pellet guns, and teargas. Reports show that more than 185 civilians have been killed in the riots so far, including 19 children. Hundreds have been arrested. Deaths at the hand of police have been recorded in 17 of the 31 Iranian provinces.
In the city of Zahedan, the capital of Sistan and Baluchestan Province, a protest against the rape of a 15-year-old girl by a police chief has turned into a bloodbath as at least 90 protesters were gunned down by security forces. Students protesting in Sharif University in Tehran have been raided, injured and trapped in the building by riot police. Despite the shutting down of the internet service in several parts of the country, a number of videos have been shared on social media (examples here, here and here) illustrating the degree of violence against manifesters.
According to Amnesty International, the crimes against protesters fall into a pattern of “denial, distortion and cover-up”. Leaked documents obtained by the NGO suggest that the crimes committed against manifesters are not mere instances of police brutality, but are manifestations of orders coming directly from the General Headquarters of Armed Forces. Through those guidelines, the Iranian authorities command their military and police forces to “severely confront […] troublemakers and anti-revolutionaries”. Armed forces in the Mazandaran province have been ordered to “mercilessly” confront and “to go as far as causing deaths”.
International Human Rights law requires that state authorities respect and preserve the right to life and restrict the use of lethal weapons as a very last resort. Non-lethal incapacitating weapons use for riot control are allowed despite them being advocated against by Human Rights lawyers. The Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials, adopted by the United Nations in 1990, forbids the systematic use of lethal weapons. Such weapons need to be used with the utmost restraint and under strict control. Abusive and/or arbitrary use of lethal force should be punished as a criminal offence. Moreover, the Convention on the Rights of the Child requires that States provide maximum protections to children from all forms of physical and mental violence. The death tolls and leaked documents previously established suggest that the Iranian law enforcement authorities did not respect, and continue not to, International Human Rights law and are acting with cruel disregard for human life. The recent events arguably qualify as crime against humanity of murder according to the International Criminal Court (Elements of Crimes).
While the slogan “death to the dictator” is being shouted out in the streets and a hashtag “#IranRevolution” has been created to convey information about the protests, the Iranian regime is actively fighting against any revolutionary discourse through severe human rights violations. Moreover, Ayatollah Khamenei, Iran’s leader, has accused the United States and Israel to be responsible for the riots, which may further weaken the already fragile relationship between Iran and the Western world.