The repression of protests in Iran after the death of young Masha Amini due to the misuse of the Islamic headscarf has left 92 dead, the non-governmental organization Iran Human Rights (IHR) announced on Sunday.
The Norway-based organization also said that in addition to the Amini-related protests, Iranian security forces killed 41 people on Friday in Zahedan, a town in southeastern Sistan-Baluchistan province.
“The killings of protesters in Iran, especially in Zahedan, constitute a crime against humanity,” IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said, quoted by the French news agency AFP.
“The international community has a duty to investigate and prevent further crimes from being committed by the Islamic Republic,” he added.
Protests in Zahedan were sparked by allegations that a police chief in the port city of Chabahar, in the same province, raped a 15-year-old girl from the Sunni Baluchi minority, the NGO said.
Bordering Pakistan, Sistan-Baluchistan is one of the poorest regions of Iran and home to the Baluchi minority, whose members in greater numbers adhere to Sunni Islam rather than the Shia religion that dominates the Islamic Republic.
The identities of the dead have been confirmed by the regional NGO Baluch Activists Campaign (BAC), according to the IHR.
In two weeks of protests in Iran, 133 people were killed, the Oslo-based organization said.
Iran has been rocked by a wave of protests following the death of 22-year-old Masha Amini on September 16, three days after she was detained by the moral police for violating the strict code of wearing women’s clothing under Iranian law. Republic, especially the use of the veil.
Her family said that Amini was beaten to death while in detention.
Police said the young woman died of a heart attack and denied using violence, while official officials announced the incident was under investigation.
The protests have now spread to more than 80 Iranian cities.
More than 1,400 people were arrested, including public figures such as former football player Hossein Mahini, singer Mona Borzoui and singer-songwriter Shervin Hajipour, according to the Spanish agency EFE for supporting the protests.
The young woman’s death also sparked protest demonstrations in many countries, including Portugal.
Iran’s parliament met in closed session today to discuss the wave of protests in the country, the official IRNA agency reported.
Source: DN
