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Iranian women, defying the mandatory hijab rule, take to the streets during nationwide protests that started after 22-year-old Mahsa (Jina) Amini died on September 16, 2022 in the custody of Tehran’s “Morality Police,” October 1, 2022.
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(New York) – Iranian authorities’ brutal repression against women has only continued in the two years since the death in morality police custody of Mahsa Jina Amini sparked nationwide protests, a dozen human rights organizations including Human Rights Watch said in a statement released today.
Iranian authorities have continued their brutal repression of peaceful dissidents, civil society, women, and religious and ethnic minorities, while failing to hold those responsible for torture, rape, and unlawful killings accountable. The Iranian authorities should immediately and unconditionally release all the women human rights defenders imprisoned in Iran and end all systematic violence and discrimination against women.
“The authorities have failed to answer for the killing of hundreds and the arrest of thousands, and they have systematically continued their suppression of opponents, civil society, and human rights defenders,” said Nahid Naghshbandi, acting Iran researcher at Human Rights Watch. “A change in government and a new president have so far done nothing to alter the authorities’ repressive actions towards dissent.”
Iranian authorities have intensified their suppression of women in public spaces by reintroducing the morality police under the so-called “Noor Plan” and carrying out punitive measures, such as impounding vehicles of women not wearing the compulsory hijab. A “Bill for the Protection of Chastity and Hijab Culture” is on the verge of being approved by Iran’s parliament. If passed, this law will formalize the repression of women and girls who defy mandatory wearing of the hijab, significantly widening the gender gap.
The authorities have also sought to intimidate and silence women by issuing severe prison sentences to women human rights defenders. Despite this, women have continued their resistance against the abusive state-imposed dress codes, while imprisoned activists and human rights defenders carry on this defiance from within prisons across Iran.
Since early September 2024, Iranian authorities reportedly have escalated security measures, particularly in Kurdish regions such as Saqqez, Amini’s hometown. Reports from local human rights organizations say that security forces are tightly controlling the roads surrounding the Aichi cemetery, where Amini is buried. Security agencies have summoned numerous political, civil, and human rights activists. The Kurdistan Human Rights Network reported that the General and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office in Sanandaj has filed cases against 14 teachers’ union activists from Kurdistan. The summonses accuse the activists of “gathering and colluding with the intention of disrupting national security,” “propaganda against the state,” and “disturbing public order and peace.”
Imprisoned women in Iran are reviving the “Women, Life, Freedom” movement through hunger strikes, protest letters, and sit-ins, continuing their activism despite severe sentences. They have exposed poor prison conditions and fought for better living standards for all inmates. At least dozens of women human rights defenders are jailed, with many more facing trials, risking being forgotten as global attention on Iran wanes.
Narges Mohammadi, an imprisoned human rights defender and Nobel Laureate, said in a statement published on her Instagram account that on September 15, 34 women political prisoners went on hunger strike to commemorate the second anniversary of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement and the killing of Mahsa Amini.
According to the Human Rights Activists in Iran news agency, 15 Baha’i women will be retried in the first branch of the revolutionary court of Isfahan on September 25. They were initially sentenced in May on charges of “educational and promotional activities against Islamic law” and were each sentenced to five years in prison, fines, and travel and social service bans.
Despite increasing pressure, including arrests, threats, and intimidation, the families of those killed during the protests continue to seek justice for their lost loved ones. In recent days, several of these families have issued statements. Mustafa Gheisari, the brother of Mohsen Gheisari, killed by the security forces, has demanded transparency regarding the details of his brother’s death and the identification of those responsible for the killing.
According to Kurdistan Human Rights Network, on September 15, 2024, Ahmad Hassan-Zadeh, the father of Mohammad Hassan-Zadeh who was shot and killed by the security forces in Bukan in November 2022, was detained by security forces in the city of Bukan and transferred to an unknown location.
“International pressure on the Iranian government must persist to hold them accountable for their actions during and after the 2022 protests. All nations should demand answers from Iran for the killing, injuring, and arresting of countless protesters, ensuring justice for the victims,” Naghshbandi said.
