A new UN report claims that Iran’s police repression even affects “children and young people”, and talks about crimes ranging from rape, murder and kidnapping. The Iranian ambassador denied the accusations.
The United Nations Organization (UN) believes that Mahsa Amini’s death was the result of police violence and not, as the Iranian authorities say, due to “natural causes”. These are the conclusions of a report, presented this Monday in Geneva to the UN Human Rights Council, which even says that the violent repression of the protests over the death of the young woman constitutes “crimes against humanity.”
The UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran said he had evidence that security forces killed Mahsa Amini and criticized the position of the Iranian regime, whose “alleged investigations were neither credible nor transparent.”
Javaid Rehman called the response to the protests “brutal,” stressing that police violence has been indiscriminate and has even targeted children. “The security forces have responded with ammunition, bullets and metal projectiles directly against unarmed and peaceful protesters, including many children and youth who did not pose a direct threat to life or injuryas well as against passers-by and people who were fleeing,” he said.
The severity and scale of the crackdown, Rehman argued, “points to the practice of international crimes, namely crimes against humanity”. Among the crimes discovered by the UN are cases of homicide, wrongful imprisonment, forced disappearances, torture, rape, and violence and sexual persecution.
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Iranian Ambassador Ali Bahraini has already come forward to refute the United Nations report. The diplomat said the report resembled “a tragic novel” without any basis in reality, and accused the UN rapporteur of relying on versions of Western governments, the media and “terrorist groups” who “try to let their imagination It is the reality of humanity.” rights situation in Iran.
Iran’s official position, remember, is that Mahsa Amini died of natural causes — version contradicted by several witnesses who claim that the young woman was brutally attacked by the Iranian “morality police” for allegedly using the hijab (Islamic headscarf) incorrectly.
Various activist and human rights groups have been denouncing the repression by the police authorities during the demonstrations over the death of Amini, which have been going on for several months. Independent reports suggest that at least 530 protesters were killed and tens of thousands were arrested. More than 100 have been sentenced to death for their participation in the demonstrations., and several of the death sentences have already been carried out. Recently, the Iranian authorities announced the release of 22,000 of the protesters arrested in recent months.
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Source: Observadora
