Amnesty International Report on Iran in 2019: Freedom of Speech, Assembly and Association Severely Suppressed
Amnesty International stated in its annual report on the state of human rights that authorities of the Islamic Republic in 2019 “severely” suppressed the Iranian people’s “right to freedom of speech, assembly and association.”
According to the report, the Islamic Republic’s security forces used lethal force to suppress protests, killing hundreds of people and arbitrarily detaining thousands of protesters in violation of legal safeguards.
The report states that more than 200 human rights defenders in Iran have been arbitrarily detained, and in many cases these individuals have been sentenced to imprisonment and flogging.
Amnesty International in its report also noted the issue of granting citizenship to the children of Iranian women and emphasized that during this period “women continued to face widespread discrimination.”
The suppression of women’s rights advocates who struggle and campaign against mandatory hijab laws is also among the issues noted in this year, which authorities intensified.
The report also notes that “ethnic and religious minorities faced institutionalized discrimination. Ethnic minorities, including Arabs of Ahvaz, Azerbaijani Turks, Baluchs, Kurds and Turkmen,” and states that these minorities faced institutionalized discrimination that limited their access to education, employment and adequate housing.
Last year, by the order of Islamic Republic authorities, a large number of people were executed, and Amnesty International states that “among them were those who were under 18 years old at the time the crime was committed. Some execution sentences were carried out in public.”
Furthermore, Iranian authorities and officials have continued to commit the crime of “forced disappearance” on a widespread and organized scale through cover-ups regarding the fate and burial locations of thousands of political opponents and dissidents who were secretly executed in the 1980s, which constitutes a crime against humanity.
Amnesty International previously also called the human rights situation in Iran a “year of shame” in its 2018 report and stated that Iranian officials in 2018 pursued a shameful campaign in suppressing protesters and widespread detention of critics.
Iran has faced widespread protests in recent months. The November protests in Iran, which initially started over gasoline price hikes, saw protesters in various cities chanting slogans against the Islamic Republic government from the early days while blocking roads and streets.
Amnesty International, regarding the November protests in Iran, reported 304 deaths between November 25-28 and stated that among the dead were 12 children.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump also addressed the issue of Iranian protesters and American support for the Iranian people several times, saying that “protesters in Iran are seeking freedom and we fully support them.”
The United States has also repeatedly condemned institutionalized financial corruption and the plundering of Iran’s natural resources by regime affiliates, considering them among the main factors of Iran’s economic and financial problems. For example, recently U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted about Islamic Republic officials, saying that instead of helping the people, they have become engrossed in corruption.
Source: Voice of America
