Hardliners In Iran’s Parliament Hinder Discussion Over Killing Of Protesters

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk said Tuesday that the rising number of deaths from protests in Iran, including those of two children at the weekend, and the hardening of the response by security forces, underline the critical situation in the country.

“We urge your authorities to address the people's demands for equality, dignity and rights instead of using unnecessary or disproportionate force to suppress the protests,” said a spokesperson for UN human rights chief at a Geneva press briefing.

Iran has been gripped by nationwide protests since the death of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in morality police custody on September 16 after she was arrested for wearing clothes deemed "inappropriate".

The United Nations’ top rights body will hold an urgent meeting this week to consider launching an international probe into the deadly clampdown on protests in Iran.

The UN Human Rights Council is due to host a special session on Thursday on "the deteriorating human rights situation", following a request by Germany and Iceland.

At least 378 people, including 47 children, have been killed in the crackdown since Amini's death, according to the Norway-based group Iran Human Rights (IHR). Other human rights monitors say the number of protesters killed has surpassed 400.

Responding to a query, the ministry said journalists and media workers must freely do their job without political interference or intimidation.

“Freedom of expression, online or offline, is a fundamental human right, enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Journalists, activists and media workers are the cornerstone of any fair, strong and vibrant society and must be free to do their work without fear of reprisals. Any violence and intimidation against journalists or activists are completely unacceptable and must be condemned,” reads the statement.

Canada's spy agency has launched an investigation on what it calls multiple “credible” death threats against individuals on its soil by the Islamic Republic.

CBC News said Friday that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) is aware that some state agents of the Islamic Republic are “monitoring and intimidating” people inside Canada to silence those who speak against the regime.

On November 7, Iran International released a statement that its journalists have received “credible threats” from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. Some employees were informed of the threats by the Metropolitan Police.

After the publication of this statement, international organizations supporting journalists condemned any plots by the Islamic Republic against Iran International on British soil.

UK’s intelligence authorities also announced they have discovered at least 10 “potential threats” since January to “kidnap or even kill British or UK-based individuals perceived as enemies of the regime.”

Deputy commander of the Guards Ali Fadavi said Monday that the IRGC tried to appease and put up with those who were deceived and joined the protests, and that is the reason why the unrest has not ended, otherwise “it would not have lasted more than six days.”

Fadavi also claimed that sixty government agents have been killed during the suppression of protests that began in September following the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody. Some believe fewer government agents have been killed and the IRGC uses the identity of dead protesters as its own “martyrs”.

Once again linking the nationwide protests to foreign conspiracies, he said, “We were dealing with deceived people inside the country, and we put up with them.”

“Deceived” is a term that Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, has used many times to describe the people, especially the young protestors in the streets, emphasizing that the unrest is staged by “foreign enemies.”

Other officials have been repeating Khamenei’s allegations that foreign countries and conspiracies were behind fomenting the protests.

Fadavi, however, did not mention the killing of more than 400 protestors, including children, by government forces, including almost 50 children.

Security forces have killed at least 58 children as young as two in the past two months. Authorities say 54 security forces and regime loyalists were killed in clashes with protesters in the past two months. Many believe government casualties are much lower as in several cases authorities have tried to highjack the victims as their own “martyrs”.

One such victim was ten-year-old Kian Pirfalak who was reportedly shot by plainclothesmen in Izeh in the southwestern province of Khuzestan on November 16. Authorities have blamed “terrorists” for Kian’s death and used his photo in their propaganda posters.

Kian died and his father was seriously injured when the family including Kian’s younger brother came under fire in the family car on their way home on the street.

In a fiery speech at her son’s burial, Kian’s mother said she had no doubt about who had shot her family and implicitly accused Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei of responsibility for her young son’s killing. Authorities have put her under great pressure to retract her accusations.

One of the very first children shot dead by security forces was a two-year-old boy in Zahedan. The boy from a poor family has only been mentioned by his last name, Mirshekar. He was shot in front of his home in a poor neighborhood of Zahedan, capital of southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan Province, on September 30.

The two-year-old boy was one of the 13 children killed during the crackdown which has come to be known as the “Bloody Friday”. A total of 96 people protesting peacefully, and bystanders were shot dead in Zahedan.

Many Iranians on social media are now referring to the Islamic Republic as the “child-killing regime”. They have also created hashtags such as “Child-Killing Khamenei” and “Child-Killing Regime” which are quickly rising in popularity.

Some have highlighted remarks by an extremist regime ideologue, Ali-Akbar Raefipour, who in one of his speeches claimed Israel used child killing as a strategy to break and subdue Palestinians.

“When you are facing popular forces instead of an army you will have to kill people, kill women and children, deliberately. Kill so many that people try to stop those who are fighting [against Israel] and tell them it’s enough, let go,” Raefipour said in the speech.

Probably in reference to such views, and the large number of children killed in such a short time, one per day, many are saying the regime is employing the same tactic and “systematically” targeting children to inspire fear and suppress the protest movement.

Over twenty prominent Iranian rights defenders urged the United Nations to condemn Iran's government for killing, wounding, and arresting children in a letter Sunday a copy of which Iran International has received.

The letter which is addressed to the secretary general of the United Nations and other UN officials, including secretary general and the chair and members of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, United Nations Human Rights Council, and UNICEF.

The signatories of the letter are all prominent lawyers and rights defenders with a strong record of criticizing human rights violations by the Islamic Republic. They have called for adoption of an international mechanism to document human rights violations by the regime and urged UNICEF to use all the tools at its disposal to make the Iran’s government abide by the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) to which it is a state party.

According to the latest report by Iran Human Rights Activists (HRANA) Saturday, security forces shot or beat to death a total of 402 protesters until Friday. The number of those arrested during this time, including children, is over 16,700 HRANA said in its report.

Monday was a day of mixed emotions for many Iranians while disturbing footage were released on social media showing the atrocious clampdown on protesters in Kurdish-majority regions as well as sparks of joy among people who – quite counterintuitively – were happy that the country’s national soccer squad suffered its worst ever defeat in a World Cup against England in Qatar. 

In many cities across Iran – such as Zanjan, Bandar Abbas in Hormozgan province, and as well as numerous neighborhoods in the capital Tehran, people poured into streets dancing and celebrating with slogans against the regime. Clashes were also reported on Monday night in the city of Karaj, near Tehran. 

Many Iranians, who say the Team Melli does not represent the people of Iran but the clerical regime due to their lack of solidarity with the nationwide protests, held gatherings on Monday night and chanted slogans in support of the people in Kurdish cities, who have been struggling against a new level of regime violence, with heavy weapons being used to quell the rallies. 

Players of the team, however, remained silent when the Islamic Republic anthem was played at the beginning of the match but people on social media say their show of support is too little, too late. Iranian fans at the stadium were shouting while the anthem was being played and some made thumbs-down gestures in an apparent act of protest against the Islamic Republic. In several videos posted on social media, people can also be heard cheering with each goal England scored. After the match, a group of Iranians held a gathering outside the stadium and chanted “Death to Khamenei.”

According to videos trickling online under a widespread Internet shutdown, the Islamic Republic has started using heavy weapons and modern antiriot techniques against the protesters in Kurdish cities.

In the past few days, the Islamic Republic has intensified its repression on Kurdish-majority cities and towns in western provinces of the country following reports that parts of some small towns have fallen into the people’s hands. The majority of Iran's 10 million Kurds live in the western parts of the country. It has also launched repeated attacks against Iranian Kurds sheltering in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Whenever people think the Islamic Republic’s inhumane acts cannot get any worse, some report of ruthlessness proves them wrong. In a report released on Monday, CNN revealed 11 cases of sexual violence against male and female protesters including boys, in Iranian detention centers, almost all of which occurred in Iran's Kurdish areas. It has also documented rapes that were taped for blackmail. 

Confirming the veracity of the claims, one of CNN’s sources said about a case, “When she first came in, (the officers) said she was hemorrhaging from her rectum… due to repeated rape. The plainclothes men insisted that the doctor write it as rape prior to arrest.”

Also on Monday, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said “there will be no direct contact between the Parliament and Iranian officials until further notice,” adding that the Islamic Republic must stop its oppression of legitimate protests. In reaction to the death sentences imposed on protesters, Metsola urged Iranian authorities to “stop, here and now”. 

Earlier in the month, The UN’s Third Committee approved a draft resolution on Iran’s human rights situation, expressing concern at the alarmingly high frequency of the death penalty in the country. Moreover, the UN Human Rights Council will also adopt a resolution aimed at holding the Islamic Republic accountable on November 24.