Iran maintains crackdowns, executions over protests — UN probe

See more Times of Israel on Google - add us as a Preferred Source

By AFP 5 July 2023, 2:58 pm 1 Edit

A demonstrator holds up a sign reading 'Stop Executions in Iran' as Iranian opposition protesters carry their national flags in Paris during a rally to protest against the visit of the Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, in France, January 28, 2016. (AP Photo/Zacharie Scheurer)

Iran is still meting out harsh punishments on people suspected of involvement in mass protests, including “chilling” executions, a United Nations fact-finding mission says.

Iran was rocked by demonstrations sparked by the September 16 death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd who had been arrested for allegedly violating the strict dress rule for women based on Islamic sharia law.

At a special session in November, the UN Human Rights Council voted to create a high-level investigation into the deadly crackdown.

Reporting to the council, Sara Hossain, chair of the independent international fact-finding mission, says that 10 months on, the Amini family’s “right to truth and justice remains unfulfilled.”

“The lack of transparency around the investigations into her death is further evidenced by the arrest and continued detention of the two women journalists, Nilufar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi, who first reported on the event,” she adds.

Iran has said that 22,000 people have been pardoned in connection with the protests — which “suggests that many more were detained or charged,” Hossain says.