The Price Women Pay For Freedom In Iran
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(OPINION) The death of Mahsa Amini, 22, following her arrest by the so-called morality police shocked the world. According to a statement issued by the U.N., “Amini was arrested by the Iran’s morality police on September 13 for being perceived as wearing ‘improper hijab.’ Reports indicate she was severely beaten by members of the morality police during her arrest and transfer to the Vozara Detention Centre. …
“Amini fell into a coma at the detention centre and died in hospital on September 16. Iranian authorities said she died of a heart attack, and claimed her death was from natural causes. However, some reports suggested that Amini’s death was a result of alleged torture and ill-treatment.”
The morality police have used the threat of detention and violence to control women’s appearance and behavior in the public. Furthermore, Amnesty International reports that the morality police “routinely subject women and girls to arbitrary detention, torture and other ill-treatment for not complying with Iran’s abusive, degrading and discriminatory compulsory veiling laws.”
A woman holds up a sign depicting a picture of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, an Iranian woman who died. AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES.
Mahsa Amini’s death has sparked protests across Iran. Thousands of people have taken to the streets in cities throughout Iran, including Tehran, Ilam, Kermanshah, Mahabad, Sanandaj, Sari and Tabriz. They have been calling for accountability for Mahsa Amini’s death, an end to violence and discrimination against women in Iran and an end to their compulsory veiling.
The peaceful protests have been met with excessive use of force, which resulted in several fatalities. Sarina Esmailzadeh, 16, was allegedly beaten to death at a protest in Gohardasht in Alborz province on Sept. 23, 2022. Nika Shakarami, 16, was allegedly killed by Iranian security forces during a protest. Hadis Najafi, 23, was shot dead during a protest on the streets of Karaj.
These are only a few names of those who paid the ultimate price for defending the human rights of women in Iran.
According to Amnesty International, the Iranian security forces have killed at least 66 people, including children, and wounded hundreds after firing live rounds at protesters and bystanders in Zahedan, Sistan and Baluchistan province, on Sept. 30. Since then, another 16 people were killed in separate incidents in Zahedan.
On Oct. 12, 2022, a Norway-based nongovernmental organization, Iran Human Rights, reported 201 fatalities, including 23 minors.
The true scale and nature of the violence against protesters are yet to be uncovered. This is not an easy task, especially following the protests and, since Sept. 19, the U.N. reported prolonged internet disruptions in Tehran, Kurdistan provinces and other parts of the country.
In response to this violence, on Oct. 10, 2022, the U.K. government imposed sanctions on the “morality police”; its chief, Mohammed Rostami Cheshmeh Gachi; the head of the Tehran Division, Haj Ahmed Mirzaei; and senior security and political figures, including Gholamreza Soleimani, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Basij force responsible for internal security in Iran; Hassan Karami, the commander of the NAJA Special Forces Unit of the Iranian police; and Hossein Ashtari, the commander-in-chief of the Iranian police. As the U.K. government identified, “the Basij force, NAJA Special Forces Unit and the wider Iranian police have played a central role in the crackdown on protests across Iran in recent weeks, as well as the fuel-related protests in 2019.” The U.K. government also relied on reports of “live ammunition being used against protestors, including when students were blockaded by security forces at the Sharif University earlier this week, and the bodies of protestors killed by security services buried without the families’ knowledge.”
Other states must follow this approach of imposing targeted sanctions against those most responsible for the crimes. The international community must take all available steps to ensure justice and accountability for the violence against women and girls in Iran and the violence used against the protesters. Furthermore, as restated by U.N. experte, “Iran must repeal all legislation and policies that discriminate on the grounds of sex and gender, in line with international human rights standards.” This is for Mahsa Amini and many other women and girls who paid the ultimate price for seeking freedom.
Ewelina U. Ochab is a legal researcher and human rights advocate, doctoral candidate and author of the book “Never Again: Legal Responses to a Broken Promise in the Middle East” and more than 30 U.N. reports. She works on the topic of persecution of minorities around the world. This piece was republished from Forbes with permission.