Iranians opposed to the regime of the Islamic Republic are commemorating on Saturday the first anniversary of the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, which sparked a vast protest movement, with activists denouncing a new crackdown underway to discourage any resurgence of demonstrations.
Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, died after her arrest on September 16, 2022, for allegedly violating the strict dress code imposed on women, one of the ideological pillars of the Islamic Republic since the fall of the secular shah in 1979.
Her family claims she died from a blow to the head, but authorities deny this version of events. Mahsa Amini’s death was followed by angry protests led largely by women who openly defied the regime and undermined the authorities of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
But after several months, they lost momentum in the face of a crackdown that saw 551 protesters, including 68 children and 49 women, killed by security forces, according to the Norway-based Iranian organization Human Rights (IHR), and more than 22,000 others arrested, according to Amnesty International. Seven men were also executed for acts linked to these demonstrations.
Activists say the crackdown has intensified as the first anniversary approaches, including targeting relatives of those killed during protests to ensure they do not speak out.
Family members of at least 36 people killed or executed during the crackdown were questioned, arrested, prosecuted or sentenced to prison in August, the NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.
“Iranian authorities are attempting to stifle dissent to prevent public commemoration of the death in custody of Mahsa Jina Amini, who has become a symbol of the government’s systematic oppression of women, injustice and impunity,” said Tara Sepehri Far, Iran researcher at HRW.
The two journalists who most followed the case, Niloufar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi, have been imprisoned for almost a year, while another, Nazila Maroufian, who interviewed Mahsa’s father, Amjad Amini, has been detained Many times.
Mr. Amini told Persian media based outside Iran that he intended to hold the commemoration of his daughter’s death in their Kurdish-populated hometown of Saqez in northern Iran.
Media outlets including Prague-based Radio Farda said he was summoned by intelligence officials after the announcement. He was not arrested but one of Mahsa Amini’s uncles, Safa Aeli, was arrested in Saqez on September 5.
According to the NGO Hengaw which monitors the situation of the Kurds, the government has sent additional security forces to Saqez and other towns which could become sensitive areas this weekend.
“Security forces” were deployed around the Amini family residence in Saqez, Hengaw said on Saturday. The NGO published on cities of the Kurdistan province.
Separately, a bill known as “Support for the Culture of Hijab and Chastity” providing for much harsher penalties for violating existing laws is now before the Iranian Parliament.
Amnesty International has accused Iranian leaders of having committed a “litany of crimes under international law to eradicate any challenge to their iron grip on power”, deploring that no official has been the subject of an investigation into the death of Mahsa Amini or into the repression.
On the eve of this anniversary, the United States, Iran’s sworn enemy, and its Western allies including the United Kingdom and the European Union, imposed new sanctions on Iran over the repression of protests. .
By announcing these measures, US President Joe Biden took the lead in international calls for solidarity with the Iranians on the anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death.
Reacting to these new sanctions, Iran denounced on Saturday “interventionist declarations” and “ridiculous and hypocritical spectacles”.
16/09/2023 09:44:12 – Paris (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
