Iranian protesters feeling the full force of state resistance

Iran’s security and judicial authorities have stepped up their campaign against dissent and countrywide protests by concocting dubious charges and conducting unfair trials of detainees, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has claimed.

“Iran’s vicious security apparatus is using every tactic in its book, including lethal force against protesters, arresting and slandering human rights defenders and journalists, and sham trials to crush widespread dissent,” said HRW senior Iran researcher Tara Sepehri Far in the organisation’s latest bulletin on anti-regime protests in Iran and the security crackdown that has followed. “Yet every new atrocity only reinforces why Iranians are demanding fundamental changes to a corrupt autocracy. Human rights groups are investigating the reported deaths of at least 284 people, including 45 children. Dozens of security forces have also reportedly been killed, according to state media,” said HRW.

The human rights campaigning group said it “has documented [Iranian] security forces’ unlawful use of excessive or lethal force including shotguns, assault rifles, and handguns against protesters in largely peaceful and often crowded settings in 13 cities across the country”.

Detainees have endured physical and psychological torture and other ill-treatment, it said. Two women arrested during protests in Kurdistan province told HRW they were beaten with batons and subjected to “electric shocks, sexual assault, verbal assault, and threats”.

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Tehran province’s judiciary has issued about 1,000 indictments of protesters and the country’s intelligence ministry and the Revolutionary Guard Corps’ intelligence branch have accused two women journalists of taking part in a training course provided by “US-intelligence backed entities”.

“The authorities did not publish any evidence to support that allegation,” said HRW.

The journalists, Niloufar Hamedi amd Elaheh Mohamadi, were the first to report the September 16th death of Mahsa Amini while in the custody of Tehran’s morality police for failing to wear her head covering properly. Coinciding with Ashura, the highly emotional Shia commemoration of the seventh-century martyrdom of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson Hussein, her death precipitated unprecedented protests.

Mass arrests

HRW cited an informal network of activists tracking developments inside Iran as saying that “as of October 30th, in addition to mass arrests of protesters, intelligence agencies have arrested 130 human rights defenders, 38 women rights defenders, 36 political activists, 19 lawyers, and 38 journalists”, the majority of whom remained in detention.

According to the network, 308 university students and 44 children have been arrested while the security forces have repeatedly attacked university campuses over the past three weeks and arrested students. University authorities have barred dozens of students from campuses for participating in the protests.

HRW said the authorities had also reportedly “summoned, interrogated, or confiscated the passports of dozens of public figures who supported the protests, including directors, actors, singers, and football players”.

Iran’s foreign affairs ministry spokesman did not respond to a request from The Irish Times for comment on the HRW report.