The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Amid ongoing protests across Iran in the wake of the death of a 22-year-old woman, who was arrested for having “improper clothing”, the UN Human Rights office (OHCHR) today expressed strong concerns about the violent response by security forces to protests.
Speaking to media at the United Nations in Geneva, OHCHR’s spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said that “we at the UN Human Rights office are very concerned by the continued violent response by security forces to protests in Iran, as well as communications restrictions affecting landline and mobile usage, the Internet and social media platforms”. Ms Shamdasani added that “thousands have joined anti-government demonstrations throughout the country over the past 11 days, security forces have responded at times with live ammunition.”
Many Iranians have been killed, injured and detained during the protests which erupted following the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amina. She was arrested on 13 September for allegedly not wearing a hijab in full compliance with Iran’s mandatory requirements for how women must dress.
“The women have been protesting against the compulsory hijab for four decades now, and this time around, there has been a real outpouring of support from people from all walks of life, from many different provinces across Iran”, said Ms. Shamdasani. “Women human rights defenders who have protested the use of the hijab or who have taken steps to remove it, they have for many years been targeted, intimidated, harassed, arrested, beaten up.”
OHCHR calls on Iranian authorities to ensure the rights to due process and to release those who have been arbitrarily detained during the protests now in their tenth day.
“Due in part to restrictions on telecommunications, it is difficult to establish the precise number of casualties and arrests. On 24 September, State media put the number killed at 41. Non-governmental organisations monitoring the situation have reported a higher number of deaths, including of women and children, and hundreds injured across at least 11 provinces.”
OHCHR stressed that firearms must never be used simply to disperse a demonstration. In the context of an assembly, they should only be used in cases of an imminent threat to life.
“Reports indicate that hundreds have also been arrested, including human rights defenders, lawyers, civil society activists and at least 18 journalists », said the OHCHR spokesperson. «The Government has not announced the overall number of arrests. But in the province of Gilan alone, the police chief said 739 individuals had been arrested, including 60 women during three days of protests.”
OHCHR also expressed its concern about the persistent impunity with respect to human rights violations in Iran, including the recurring deaths of protesters due to the alleged use of lethal force by security forces in November 2019, July 2021, and May 2022.
-ends-
- Medium shot, UN Geneva flag alley.
- Wide shot, press room with panel of speakers.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) OHCHR Representative, Ravina Shamdasani: “We at the UN Human Rights office are very concerned by the continued violent response by security forces to protests in Iran, as well as communications restrictions affecting landline and mobile usage, the Internet and social media platforms. Thousands have joined anti-government demonstrations throughout the country over the past 11 days. Security forces have responded at times with live ammunition.”
- Close up shot, journalists taking notes.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) OHCHR Representative, Ravina Shamdasani: “The women have been protesting against the compulsory hijab for four decades now, and this time around, there has been a real outpouring of support from people from all walks of life, from many different provinces across Iran. Women human rights defenders who have protested the use of the hijab or who have taken steps to remove it, they have for many years been targeted, intimidated, harassed, arrested, beaten up.”
- Medium shot, speaker speaking.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) OHCHR Representative, Ravina Shamdasani: “Due in part to restrictions on telecommunications, it is difficult to establish the precise number of casualties and arrests. On 24 September, State media put the number killed at 41. Non-governmental organisations monitoring the situation have reported a higher number of deaths, including of women and children, and hundreds injured across at least 11 provinces.”
- Wide shot, Pan over press room with
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) OHCHR Representative, Ravina Shamdasani: “Reports indicate that hundreds have also been arrested, including human rights defenders, lawyers, civil society activists and at least 18 journalists. The Government has not announced the overall number of arrests. But in the province of Gilan alone, the police chief said 739 individuals had been arrested, including 60 women during three days of protests.”
- Close up shot,
- Medium shot, cameras with camera people.
- Medium shot, speaker speaking.
- Close up shot, hands of speakers at the podium.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence on deadly attacks by the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , OHCHR , UNITED NATIONS , WFP , WHO
Gaza: Famine “irrefutably” confirmed, UN humanitarians unite in plea for aid access
Famine has been confirmed in Gaza Governorate by the world’s top authority on food security and will spread further within the Strip unless fighting stops and much more aid is allowed in, UN humanitarians said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence on the eighth anniversary of military assault on the Rohingya in Myanmar
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence on the declared famine in Gaza Governorate
3
36
1
2
Edited News , Statements , Images , Conferences | HRC , OCHA , UNOG
A record 383 aid workers were killed last year with hundreds more wounded, kidnapped and detained, the UN’s top aid official said on Tuesday in a call for accountability, at a solemn ceremony in Geneva to mark World Humanitarian Day.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan made the following statement at today’s biweekly press briefing in Geneva:
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
“In Gaza, the Israeli army has intensified its attacks in the north of the strip,” UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan told the biweekly press briefing in Geneva on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , OCHA
Gaza: Aid insufficient to avert ‘widespread starvation’ as Israeli military ramp-up forces more people to flee
The small trickle of aid entering Gaza is totally insufficient to alleviate starvation and displacement in the Strip, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Gaza: Hospitals continue to overflow with people injured while seeking food - WHO
As besieged Palestinian civilians face widespread malnutrition and starvation, hospitals in the Strip are increasingly overwhelmed by the influx of victims of shootings and other injuries at food distribution areas, warns the World Health Organization.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR , WHO , UNMAS
Urgent help is needed to halt a deadly cholera outbreak that is sweeping across Sudan, UN agencies said on Friday, while warning that communities continue to be terrorized by parties to the conflict even as they flee violence.
2
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News , Images | UNEP
Negotiations got under way at UN Geneva on Tuesday to agree on a legally binding treaty to curb plastic pollution, with delegates from nearly 180 countries attending.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNICEF
Gaza: Hundreds of trucks per day of free aid needed “for months”, in addition to commercial supplies - OCHA
Despite the tactical pauses Israel introduced last week to allow some safe passage for humanitarian convoys, the amount of aid that has entered Gaza remains by far insufficient for the starving population, and UN trucks continue to face impediments on their way to delivering aid.