Last Thursday, the Human Rights Council adopted a historic resolution: the UN body decided to set up a fact-finding mission on the human rights violations committed during the demonstrations which began on September 16 in Iran.
The deadly crackdown on the popular uprising in Iran, sparked by the September 16 death in custody of Mahsa Amini, comes in the wake of a cycle of violent attacks by authorities once morest people who have been voicing their legitimate grievances since December 2017.
More than two months into the popular uprising, systematic impunity has emboldened Iranian authorities to deploy lethal force. They also use the death penalty as a tool of intimidation and political repression. Since the end of October, authorities have handed down the death penalty in unfair trials once morest at least 21 people, all charged in connection with the protests. Worrying calls have been made by a majority of parliamentarians, the head of the judiciary, Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, the attorney general, Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, and senior police officials to speed up proceedings and execute those convicted in public.
Since protests erupted in mid-September, Amnesty has registered the names and contact details of more than 300 people, including at least 41 children, killed by security forces. Members of oppressed ethnic minorities in Iran, including Baluchis and Kurds, have been most affected by the crackdown. Investigations into the identity of those killed are continuing, and the actual number of victims is certainly much higher.
“Since the protests erupted, Amnesty has recorded the names of more than 300 people killed by security forces.”
In a bid to weaken international support for the special session and the establishment of a fact-finding mechanism within the Human Rights Council, the Iranian authorities claimed that they were easing their repression and carrying out investigations. However, during the week preceding this session alone, Amnesty International recorded the deaths of 53 men, 2 women and 5 children killed in 10 Iranian provinces, the majority (42) in areas populated by ethnic minorities.
Amnesty International has worked for years to establish an international investigative mechanism in Iran. More than a million people have signed our petition to this effect. This fact-finding mission should have been carried out much sooner, but last Thursday’s vote at the Special Session of the Human Rights Council marks a long-awaited turning point in the fight once morest systematic impunity. It sends a clear message to the Iranian authorities: they can no longer commit crimes under international law without fear of consequences.
It was Germany and Iceland that had requested the holding of an extraordinary session of the Human Rights Council on Iran. Together with 44 other countries, Switzerland had supported the request, albeit belatedly. In the Iranian context, it is important that our country publicly affirms its commitment once morest the death penalty and for the protection of human rights defenders, and that it expresses active solidarity with the demonstrators. Our authorities can also make a concrete contribution by observing the trials of people who risk the death penalty for their participation in demonstrations.
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– Iran: a turning point in the fight once morest impunity
Nadia Bohlen – Spokesperson for Amnesty Switzerland