As Government Kills More Children In Iran, Funerals Fuel Protests
Thursday was the third day of pre-announced nationwide protests in Iran, with numerous mourning ceremonies held for those killed in recent days.
Thursday was the third day of pre-announced nationwide protests in Iran, with numerous mourning ceremonies held for those killed in recent days.
In the past three days, the grassroot nature of the protests manifested itself in small towns, where people were almost unstoppable and brought the security forces to their knees.
Government forces have killed nearly 350 people since the protests began following the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in mid-September, and each death has fueled more protests since holding mourning ceremonies and funeral services is culturally important for Iranians.
No day passes without some event in honor of one or more protesters in cities across Iran. In addition, hundreds of families also hold ceremonies for their loved ones who were killed three years ago during the November 2019 unrest when security forces began firing at people from the first day of protests, killing at least 1,500 citizens. Every one of these ceremonies is an opportunity for people to hold gatherings and express their resentment against the regime. Thursday was no exception as many funerals and mourning gatherings morphed into protest rallies.
Another new low for the clerical regime is killing children, whose deaths enrage Iranians even more and their funerals and mourning ceremonies bring out larger crowds. According to human rights groups, over 40 children were already killed by government agents until this week when security forces killed several more. Some children take part in the protests but many simply happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, when riot police or government vigilantes open fire.
Mourning ceremonies for a 10-year-old boy in the city of Izeh, in Khuzestan province, was one of the main events of the Thursday protests in several cities, as social media exploded with depictions inspired by his death.
In addition to pockets of protests in large cities, which have been scenes of protests and clashes during the past two months, more protesters turned out in towns with less than 50,000 population, blocking streets, chanting antigovernment slogans and setting fire to government buildings.
Law enforcement forces in small cities normally tend not to respond violently to the protesters because people in such cities usually know each other’s families. Many of the people who are now members of Basij paramilitary forces are cracking down on people who used to be their classmates or neighbors while they were growing up. Therefore, the regime transfers forces from other cities, but the strategy is only partially useful because outside forces do not know the localities as well as its residents, so they are easily outsmarted by the protesters, making towns fall under the control of the people.
On Thursday, some towns were scenes of clashes that earlier were not hotbeds of protests. Semirom and Khorasgan in Esfahan province, Paveh and Sarpol-e Zahab in Kermanshah, Khomein in Markazi Province, Eyvanki in Semnan, Khonj in Fars, Qorveh in Kordestan, Khoy in West Azarbaijan, Sarableh in Ilam, and Masal in Gilan were some of the small cities and towns whose residents held remarkable protest rallies on Thursday.
The cities that have become well-known for the bravery of their citizens were also among the places of biggest demonstrations. People on social media say Sanandaj witnessed its largest rally in the past two months.
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The motion was ratified by a recorded vote of 80 in favor to 28 against, with 68 abstentions on Wednesday [Nov. 16]. The committee, which deals with human rights, humanitarian affairs and social matters, meets every year in early October and aims to finish its work by the end of November.
The United Nations General Assembly Third Committee -- also known as the Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee or C3 – also approved four other resolutions on Myanmar, Syria, North Korea, Crimea and one about the refugees and displaced persons in Africa.
In the resolution on Iran, the committee urged the Islamic Republic to cease the use of excessive force against protesters, who have been holding daily rallies across the country since Mahsa Amini’s arbitrary arrest and subsequent death while in ‘morality’ police custody.
According to Canada’s representative, despite “deplorable actions by Iranian authorities against protesters, mass peaceful protests continue into their eighth week,” noting that the killing of Mahsa Amini is just one instance of human rights atrocities in Iran. He added that “violent implementation of the hijab and chastity laws undermine the human rights of women and girls.”
Calling for accountability, he expressed deep concern over the authorities’ use of force, as well as the increasing use of the death penalty. He pointed to the systemic prosecution of minorities, alarming restrictions on the Internet and mobile data, and the generalized use of arbitrary detentions and enforced disappearances.
The Australian representative also condemned the disproportionate use of force against protesters and called on the Islamic Republic to establish a moratorium on all executions and to cease its long-standing oppression of the LGBTI community and its discrimination against ethnic and religious minorities. “Sovereignty is not a shield” for human rights violations, she added.
The UK representative described the death of Mahsa Amini “a shocking reminder of the oppression faced by women in Iran,” condemning the enforcement of the hijab and chastity laws by the so-called morality police. He also voiced concern over the situation of 14,000 arrested protestors and the death sentences. Expressing support for the UN Human Rights Special Rapporteur’s work on Iran’s oppression of minority groups and media freedom, he said “the Iranian people have suffered enough.”
The US envoy highlighted the deteriorating human rights situation in Iran since last year and recalled listening to experts tell of egregious violations during a recent Security Council meeting. Detailing the torture of activists and protestors as well as recent death sentences, she said that Iran obscures its acts by limiting access to the Internet, intimidation and refusing access to the Special Rapporteur. She described the resolution as a message of support to the Iranian people and welcomed the specific language on the death of Mahsa Amini.
Rejecting the draft, the Islamic Republic’s delegate denounced the co-sponsors -- including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Israel and Germany. She claimed that women and girls in Iran are fully aware of their rights and how to interact with the government, adding that there is no need for Western countries to advocate for them. She made the remarks while around 350 Iranian protesters have been killed in the current wave of protests and about over 14,000 have been detained with the judiciary sentencing several of them to death in sham trials.
The UN Human Rights Council will also adopt a resolution aimed at holding the Islamic Republic accountable on November 24.
"Various security services, Israel and some Western politicians who have made plans for civil war, destruction and the disintegration of Iran, should know that Iran is not Libya or Sudan," Hossein Amir-Abdollahian tweeted, adding that Iranians would not fall for such plans.
Protests intensified this week when anonymous activists called for three days of demonstrations to commemorate the death of at least 1,500 people who were killed in November 2019 in nationwide protests. The overwhelming public response to their call on Tuesday and Wednesday and the death of more people resulted in a new announcement to extend the demonstration until November 21.
State media presented the death of seven people during protests in the southwestern city of Izeh on Wednesday as a “terrorist attack” and drummed up the narrative that antigovernment protests were being inflamed and partly controlled by “enemies”.
Iranian officials have been insisting on this narrative for weeks, as popular protests that began with the killing of Mahsa Amini in ‘hijab police’ custody have turned into a full-fledged anti-regime movement.
So far, the authorities have not presented any tangible evidence except detaining some foreigners, possibly dual nationals, claiming they were foreign intelligence agents. The government has not revealed any names, but France acknowledged last week that two more of its citizens were arrested in Iran.
What happened in Izeh is not clear. Armed men opened fire on people in the streets, killing seven adults and children. The government says “terrorists” riding on motorcycles opened fire, but it could well have been plainclothes agents and vigilantes the government uses against protesters. They often appear on motorcycles, beat people in the streets and shoot at protesters.
Reports say at least 8 people were killed in Esfahan Province on November 15 and 16, and government media alleges that these were also attacks by terrorists, although Esfahan is in the center of the country and far from regions where infiltration would be relatively easy.
Fars news website affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard squarely blamed “separatists” on Thursday, as a last-ditch argument the Islamic Republic has used before to justify violence against protesters and spread fear among Iranians who are overwhelmingly committed to the territorial integrity of the country.
So far, security forces have killed around 350 people and detained up to 15,000 without being able to control the uprising. In fat, protests this week have been the most intense since the uprising began in September.
In fact, people of various ethnicities and religious backgrounds have been remarkably united in the past two months, from the Sunni majority in Zahedan, close to the Pakistani border to the capital Tehran and Kurdish and Arab regions in the west and southwest. Protesters routinely chant slogans such as, “From Zahedan to Tehran, My life for Iran.”
The killing of Mahsa Amini, who was a Kurdish woman, triggered the nationwide protests because most Iranians regard all ethnic groups as part of a diverse country.