A special United Nations mission has released its findings that Iran continues to severely punish people suspected of taking part in mass protests that erupted in the country last year after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini.
Last November, the UN Human Rights Council voted in a special session to launch a high-level inquiry into the deadly crackdown on protests in Iran that sparked the death last September Mahse Amini.
A 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman was arrested for allegedly violating the strict dress code based on Islamic Sharia law and later died in police custody.
Head of an independent international fact-finding mission Sarah Hossain reported today to the UN Human Rights Council that after ten months “the Amini family’s right to truth and justice remains unfulfilled”, and pointed to the lack of transparency in the investigations into Mahsa’s death.
According to Iranian authorities, 22,000 protesters have been pardoned, which the UN estimates suggests that many more have been detained or charged. Hossein added that they have no official information on those convicted, detained or charged in connection with the protests.
“They are still severely punishing protestors, even for exercising rights protected by international law,” said the head of the UN mission. She noted that seven people had already been executed in hasty procedures marred by irregularities, including confessions obtained through torture.
Calls to stop executions
The UN mission called on the Iranian authorities to halt the executions of individuals and release all those detained for peacefully assembling and reporting on the protests. Hossain also called on Tehran to cooperate in the investigation.
Secretary General of the Iranian Human Rights Council Kazem Garib Abadi however, he responded by saying that the protests in Iran were fueled by Western countries and that “terrorists entered the scene”. He added that more than 7,000 members of the security services were injured in the protests.
He also drew attention to the recent demonstrations against police violence and riots in France, where he said there was excessive use of force against peaceful protesters, large-scale arbitrary arrests and restrictions on the use of the Internet and social media.
“It would make sense for the UN Human Rights Council to convene a special session now to examine the situation in France,Abadi said.
Source: Rtvslo
