Iran responsible for ‘physical violence’ that killed Mahsa Amini in 2022, UN finds
A U.N. fact-finding mission says Iran is responsible for the “physical violence” that led to the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022 and sparked nationwide protests against the country’s mandatory headscarf laws and its ruling theocracy
abc News, March 8, 2024
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran is responsible for the “physical violence” that led to the death of Mahsa Amini in September 2022 and sparked nationwide protests against the country’s mandatory headscarf, or hijab, laws and its ruling theocracy, a U.N. fact-finding mission said Friday.
The stark pronouncement came in a wide-ranging initial report submitted to the U.N. Human Rights Council by the Fact-Finding Mission on Iran that concluded Tehran committed “crimes against humanity” through its actions.
It also found that the Islamic Republic employed “unnecessary and disproportionate use of lethal force” to put down the demonstrations that erupted following Amini’s death and that Iranian security forces sexually assaulted detainees.
The monthslong security crackdown killed more than 500 people and saw over 22,000 detained.
Iranian officials did not respond to multiple requests for comment from The Associated Press on the mission’s findings.
The report is unlikely to change the trajectory of Iran’s government, now more firmly in the hands of hard-liners after a low-turnout vote last week put them back in charge of the country’s parliament.
However, it provides further international pressure on Tehran amid wider Western concerns about its advancing nuclear program, Iran’s arming of Russia in Moscow’s war on Ukraine and the continued harassment and imprisonment of activists, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi.
“The protests were unprecedented because of the leadership of women and youth, in their reach and longevity and, ultimately, the state’s violent response,” the report says.
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