At least 100 Iranians who have been arrested in the nationwide demonstrations against the regime are accused of crimes punishable by death, according to the Oslo-based organization Iran Human Rights (IHR). In a report, the IHR identifies 100 detainees facing the potential death penalty, including 11 who have already been sentenced to death. Five prisoners on this list are women. Iran has been rocked by nationwide demonstrations since September 16, after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in the custody of the morality police. People in Istanbul, Turkey participate in a protest against the regime in Iran. Photo: DILARA SENKAYA / Reuters – More anger towards the authorities According to the organisation, many of those arrested have limited access to legal assistance. – By issuing death sentences and executing some of them, the authorities want to get people to go home, says director of the IHR, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam. – It has a certain effect, but what we observe is more anger towards the authorities. Their strategy of spreading fear through executions has failed, he says. According to Iran Human Rights, at least 488 people have been killed in the demonstrations so far. Over 18,200 are said to have been arrested. Facts about the ongoing demonstrations The demonstrations arose shortly after Mahsa Jina Amini died in the custody of the morality police in September. At Amini’s funeral in her hometown of Saqqez, women took off their hijabs and shouted slogans such as “death to the dictator” and “women, life, freedom”. The Human Rights Activist News Agency estimates that at least 502 have been killed in the demonstrations since September. Iran Human Rights estimates at least 469. The extensive anti-regime demonstrations are described as the biggest challenge to the country’s governance system since the Islamic revolution in 1979. Described as a leaderless movement whose main goal is to depose the current regime. Composed of religious and non-religious, ethnic minorities, all social classes, with correspondingly different wishes about what the regime should look like after the current one. At least 39 protesters have received the death penalty or are awaiting sentencing, while at least 14,000 have been arrested as a result of the demonstrations. The regime has cracked down hard on the demonstrations, especially in the provinces where ethnic groups other than Persians live. In Baluchistan, 66 protesters are said to have been killed in one day, in what is now called “Bloody Friday”. There have been reports of strikes, demonstrations in prisons, schools and universities, as well as so-called “flash mob” demonstrations throughout Iran. Sources: HRANA, Reuters, NTB, CNN, BBC, Kjetil Selvik (NUPI), Banafsheh Ranji (NTNU), Mikael Naghizadeh (Oxford) Executions in December On December 8, the regime executed Mohsen Shekari (23), who had been sentenced to death for for injuring a member of the security forces with a machete and for blocking a street in Tehran. A few days later, Majidreza Rahnavard (23) is said to have been publicly hanged from a crane after being sentenced to death for killing two security guards with a knife. The extensive actions against the regime are described as the biggest challenge to the country’s governance system since the Islamic revolution in 1979. At least 14,000 people have been arrested in the country since the demonstrations broke out, the UN said in November. Iran There are over 85 million inhabitants in Iran. Most are Persian, but Turkmen, Kurds, Arabs, Baluchis, Armenians and other ethnic groups are also represented in the population. The highest religious leader in the country is also head of state for life. Right now, the leader is 83-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who took over after Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s death in 1989. Ruled according to a very strict Shiite interpretation of the Koran. Dancing, physical contact in public, contraceptives and music are prohibited, among other things. Iranian law gives men the right to decide over the women in their lives – whether they should be allowed to work, travel, get an education and get a passport. Women are also subject to strict dress codes, including the hijab requirement. The Revolutionary Guard was founded by Khomeini in 1979, and is considered one of the most powerful units in the Iranian defense. It has a militia of volunteers, basij, who help control the population on the farm’s behalf. The country is regularly accused of human rights violations against ethnic groups, women and the rest of the population by civil society and authorities worldwide. In connection with the demonstrations, several sanctions have been imposed by, among others, the EU. The UN Commissioner for Human Rights is among those who have criticized how Iran has cracked down on the demonstrations this autumn, and the country has been kicked out of the UN Women’s Commission. The economy and population in Iran have long been affected by sanctions from the US and other countries. Sanctions were lifted from 2015 through the international nuclear agreement, which partially collapsed when the US withdrew from the agreement in 2018. New negotiations have so far not led. For years, Iran has been in conflict with the outside world because of the country’s nuclear program, which according to Iran has exclusively peaceful purposes. Sources: World Bank, Human Rights Watch, NTB, Time Magazine
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At least 100 protesters risk the death penalty in Iran – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
