The UN Secretary General, António Guterres, expressed his “concern about the excessive use of force for scattered peaceful protests” in Iran, while calling to respect the rights of Iranian women
At least 76 people have died in the demonstrations violently suppressed by the Iranian authorities, which erupted more than a week ago due to the death at the hands of the moral police of the young Mahsa Amini, according to the NGO Iran Human Rights. (IHR), based in Norway.
“According to information collected by Iran Human Rights, at least 76 people died in the demonstrations” in 14 provinces of the country, the organization said in a statement, specifying that “six women and four children” are among the dead.
IHR said it had obtained “videos and death certificates confirming fired with live bullets at protesters“, although he pointed out that the internet cuts make it difficult to confirm the victims of the protests, extended to several cities.
“We call on the international community to take practical steps in a united and determined manner, to end the killing and torture of protesters,” said the organization’s director, Mahmood Amiry Moghaddam.
According to the NGO, the province of Mazandaran, in the north of the country, concentrates the highest number of dead demonstrators with 25. In Tehran three died.
The Oslo-based organization also said that most families were “forced” to discreetly bury their loved ones at night, “and were pressured not to hold public funerals.”
“Many families were threatened with legal consequences if they publicized the deaths” of their relatives, the organization’s report said.
The official count of the Iranian authorities has reported 41 deadincluding several members of the security forces.
On the other hand, the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, showed on Monday, September 26, his “concern about the excessive use of force for scattered peaceful protests” in Iran, while calling for respect for the rights of Iranian women. .
Secretariat spokesman Farhan Haq also said that the Iranian authorities must “respect the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association,” referring to protests that have been going on for ten days.
Haq did not independently confirm the death toll or arrests, but called on Iranian security forces to exercise restraint and “not use force disproportionately.”
He then pointed out that the Iranian police and authorities must “respect the rights of women and eliminate all forms of discrimination against women and girls (…) in accordance with international standards.”
Although he was not mentioned in the press conference, the spark that lit the flame of the protests was the arrest on the 13th and subsequent death at a police station in Mahsa Amini22, for wearing the wrong headscarf, which is compulsory in all public spaces in Iran for all women who have passed puberty.
The president of Iran, the ultra-conservative Ebrahim Raisi, promised a “decisive action” against the wave of protests that has shaken the country since the death of the young Kurdish Mahsa Amini in the custody of the morality police.
Raisi described the protests as “riots” and urged to take “decisive measures against those who oppose the security and peace of the country and the people”, speaking with the relatives of a Basij militiaman killed in the city of Mashhad, in a call telephone on Saturday, according to his office.
Security forces have fired live ammunition, rights groups say, while protesters have thrown stones, set police cars on fire, set fire to state buildings and shouted “death to the dictator.”
The protests are the most serious to shake Iran in recent years, and the images of the demonstrations have gone around the world despite the restrictions on the internet imposed by the government with the apparent purpose of hiding the extent of the discontent.
With information from agencies
Post Views:
148
