Human rights organizations call for the international community to intervene in Iran – details
A wide range of human rights organizations have called on the international community to intervene to stop the violations committed against unarmed Iranians by the regime’s security services.
More than 40 human rights organizations have condemned Iran’s bloody crackdown on protests sparked by the death of a young woman Mahsa Amini, as a security concern, and the EU’s imposition of sanctions on morality police.
Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other groups expressed “deep concern” in a joint statement published yesterday by Agence France-Presse about Iran’s “mobilization of the repression machine to wage a relentless campaign” of protests across the country.
The groups said evidence gathered shows “a shocking pattern of Iranian security forces firing live ammunition and metal bullets, including hammers, deliberately and illegally at protesters and bystanders, including children.”
The regime’s crackdown has led to “an increase in the number of dead protesters and bystanders,” including at least 23 children, during four weeks of unrest.
It called on the UN Human Rights Council to “act urgently and hold a special session, an independent investigative report and accountability mechanism,” which should “address the most serious crimes under international law and other human rights violations,” in the recent successive waves of repression of protests over the past few years.
“Without concerted collective action by the international community, countless men, women and children will be at risk of death and maiming, torture, sexual abuse and imprisonment, and evidence of serious crimes may disappear,” it said.
The organizations also condemned “discriminatory and abusive mandatory hijab laws that perpetuate violence against women and girls in Iran and deny them their right to dignity and physical independence.”
“Meanwhile, EU foreign ministers approved sanctions against Iranian officials, including morality police officials involved in the regime’s crackdown on protests sparked by the death of a young woman, Mahsa Amini.”
The list of sanctions published in the Official Gazette of the European Union includes 11 Iranian officials, including Minister of Technology, Information and Communications Issa Zarpour, and four agencies, including the Ethics Police. The list includes the Iranian Minister in charge of Internet Restrictions, the Cyber Department of the Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Basij paramilitary forces of the Revolutionary Guard, as well as individuals responsible for these forces, according to Reuters.
The 11 listed individuals and the 4 sanctioned entities will be denied visas to enter the European Union and assets freeze.
The sanctions approved by EU ambassadors last week in Brussels also include the head of Iran’s morality police, Mohammad Rasamati Cheshmeh-Kaji.
