LBC News Story
Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, director of the non-profit human rights organisation Iran Human Rights, has told LBC that at least 185 people have been killed by Iran's authorities in the protests that are sweeping the country.
Mr Amiry-Moghaddam’s findings come from research undertaken by Iran Human Rights. The demonstrations in Iran had begun on September 16, when furious crowds gathered to demand justice for the murder of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini at the hands of Iran’s 'morality’ police.
The nation-wide protests have since grown into a demand for fundamental human rights, women’s freedoms, and an end to the corrupt, theocratic regime that has kept grip of Iran for 43 years.
“At least 185 people have been killed by the authorities [in this series of protests],” said Mr Amiry-Moghaddam. “And they are still coming out onto the streets".
In an exchange with LBC's Andrew Castle, Mr Amiry-Moghaddam said: “What we are seeing is a revolution of dignity done by women, we had Rosa Parks, now we have Iranian girls giving their lives to get fundamental rights and the world is watching as it is happening”.
While the regime’s authorities have applied brutality to deter the peaceful protests, restricted internet access, and spread disinformation, Iran's 'women life freedom' movement has prevailed.
Though, this has not been without further tragedy, as two 16-year-old’s Sarina Esmailzadeh and Nika Shakarami who joined the protests against the regime were killed by authorities. It has been reported that dozens of children have lost their lives during the uprisings.
Iranian authorities quickly declared that Shakarami had died by falling from a building, insinuating that she may have been pushed by workmen. It has been widely circulated by Iran's people that it took Shakarami's family many days to learn about her fate and receive her body.
The statement made by the Iranian authorities has been unanimously discredited, with Shakarami's own mother expressing that her body appeared largely unhurt expect for the presence of a large skull fracture at the back of her head. This seriously challenges the regime's claim that Shakarami had fallen from a building.
Amid fear and pressure from the government to support its claims, members of Shakarami's family were silenced from revealing their true thoughts on the circumstances surrounding her death.
Yesterday, in a breakthrough, Shakarami's mother Nazrin sent a video to the US-funded media outlet, Radio Farda, which denounces the regime’s claims and details her late daughter's skull fracture.
“This is not just a mother talking under normal circumstances," said Mr Amiry Moghaddam. "She is risking her life by telling the truth as the authorities try to cover it up".
He continued that Shakarami's family members have been threatened, and that some of them have been forced to come on television to "confess" that their daughter had committed suicide.
Mr Amiry-Moghaddam went on to paint a picture of the general mood in Iran, the approach of the protesters, and outlined the universal appeal of the movement for regime change.
“We are talking about the young, the old, and all parts of society coming onto the streets empty handed, asking for their fundamental rights and they are largely protesting in a very civilised way."
“On the other side we have the armed security forces, you can compare them to ISIS, they have that kind of ideology, they have been shooting at the people, and Nika and Sarina had been beaten in the head by batons."
Castle went on to ask Mr Aminy-Moghaddam what he thinks that governments and people in the West should do to support the Iranian people in their demand for fundamental rights.
“Ordinary people have enormous power in democratic countries,” said Mr Amiry-Moghaddam.
He then asked the British public to offer clear support to the Iranian people, and called on the United Nations to establish a mechanism which investigates and holds those responsible for these and other domestic brutalities accountable.
Mr Amiry-Moghaddam noted that this is achievable, having been implemented in the context of the Syrian Civil War, but warned that it requires firm pressure from the public.
Who Was Mahsa Amini?
Mahsa Amini was arrested on the September 13 in Iran’s capital, Tehran, for supposedly flaunting a ‘bad’ hijab.
Under the Islamic Republic of Iran, headscarves are mandatory and all women and girls over the age of nine by law must cover their hair when outside of their homes. Miss Amini was swiftly separated from her brother, who was told that she'd be taken to a detention centre for a short 'education lesson' to learn how to wear her hijab 'appropriately' and respect the regime.
Hours later, Miss Amini was transferred from the police station, where she’d been held, and taken to a hospital. She soon fell into a coma and died three days later. Physical signs to show she'd sustained a head injury were reportedly present. The regime's authorities quickly announced that Miss Amini had died after experiencing a sudden heart attack in the police station.
However, eyewitnesses and other detainees combatted these claims and shared in unprecedented interviews that Miss Amini had been beaten inside the police vehicle she'd been transported away in. This comes after decades-long scrutiny and criticism of Iran's current regime and its morality forces, by both the Iranian people in private and its diaspora in public, for shows of abuse and violence and for not being representative of the Iranian people and their indigenous values.
Miss Amini's family have stated that she was a healthy young woman with no underlying medical conditions that could prompt sudden cardiac arrest. News of her death sparked fury. Protests have been sweeping Iran for three weeks now, with many demonstrations seeing women tearing off their mandatory hijabs, cutting off their hair, and setting their headscarves on fire as a bold act of regime denouncement.
Through tracing hashtag usage, foreign analysts learned that in Iran the internet has been restricted. Still, Iranians continue to defy these rules and have shared videos of the situation on social media, in hopes that they will gain traction and popular support in the West.
Many of the videos bare the slogan, ‘be our voice.’
READ THE FULL STORY HERE: https://www.lbc.co.uk/radio/presenters/andrew-castle/iran-human-rights-director-at-least-185-people-killed-by-authorities-so-far/
COVER IMAGE: Samin Pourkhalili Solum
THANK YOU FOR READING
Comments