Instead of suppressing protesters, the Iranian government should focus on resolving the water crisis.
The violent suppression of protesting people in Isfahan by security and military forces once again showed that the Islamic Republic of Iran's government knows no other way than to suppress, arrest, distort, and deny the existing reality when faced with the demands and demands of the protesting people.
The government's record in dealing with popular protests and the increasing use of violent methods against protesters is a clear sign of the government's intolerance of any voice of protest that has no choice but to take to the streets to claim their basic rights.
Hadi Ghaemi, director of the Human Rights Campaign in Iran, referring to the Isfahan protests, said: "The protests of various segments of society are against the government's inefficiency in resolving fundamental crises, and the suppression of protesters shows that the government has no will or plan to resolve the people's suffering and problems."
According to Hadi Ghaemi, "The authorities of the Islamic Republic are primarily responsible for the lives and health of protesters who have been injured and arrested in recent protests."
The Campaign for Human Rights in Iran strongly condemns the government’s brutal crackdown on protesters and calls on the authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran to recognize the people’s right to protest the water shortage crisis. The Campaign for Human Rights in Iran also calls for the legal prosecution of the perpetrators and those who ordered the violent crackdown on protesters protesting the government’s ineffectiveness in solving the water shortage crisis in Isfahan. Instead of listening to the people’s protests and finding solutions to solve the problems, the authorities issue and execute orders to shoot protesters.
Farmers' protests against the water shortage crisis in Isfahan province began in mid-November, gradually becoming wider and wider, and a larger group of people joined these protests in support of the farmers and protested and went on strike in an unprecedented gathering on the dry bed of the Zayandeh River. In the early days, state media such as the Iranian Broadcasting Corporation also covered these protests and in a way tried to confiscate them in favor of the government, but after a while, on Wednesday, December 2, government agents set fire to a number of tents of protesters who had been sitting on the bed of the Zayandeh River, and the Isfahan prosecutor announced the arrest of a number of people protesting the collection of the tents. It was after this that clashes between military and security forces escalated, and at the same time, news of a widespread internet outage in Isfahan province was published.
At a time when the Islamic Republic violates the obvious principles of human rights with its behavior, the international community must not ignore these behaviors and examine and evaluate the government's repression and violent confrontations with protesters as part of the systematic violation of human rights in Iran.
Shooting at protesters and arresting children
Despite the recognition of the people's peaceful protests in Article 27 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the government has practically placed military and security forces on the front lines of dealing with the Isfahan protests and has stained Zayandeh-Rod with blood!
Although ordinary people and farmers participated in these water protest gatherings empty-handed and without any weapons, in practice, the government's intolerance of any voice of popular protest caused the military and security forces to be at the forefront of dealing with the Isfahan protests, and the use of these forces' violent methods caused the scene of the protests and strikes to turn into a bloody scene. The beating of people by the officers resulted in injuries to many protesters, and a number of citizens were also arrested by the security officers.
In an interview with Iran TV News, Isfahan Police Commander Mohammad Reza Mirhaidari spoke of the “cooperation of the police, Basij, IRGC, and intelligence agencies” to suppress and arrest protesters. Published photos and videos of the protests show that military and security forces fired shots at the protesters. Published photos of some of the injured show that the protesters were also shot in the head and face with shotgun pellets. According to some reports, at least 19 of the injured are hospitalized in the ophthalmology wards of medical centers, and official sources have stated that the condition of two of the injured is critical.
Concerns about the condition of detainees
According to reports from human rights organizations, at least 214 people, including 13 children, were arrested during the protests in Isfahan over the past few days. There is no exact information about the condition of some of the detainees. However, some news reports indicate that a number of detainees have been transferred to Isfahan Prison, Khomeini Shahr Prison, and Isfahan Women's Penitentiary.
Previously, Hassan Karami, commander of the NAJA Special Forces, had announced the identification and arrest of 67 of the main instigators of the protests by the special forces' invisible intelligence agents.
The police commander of Isfahan province, referring to the arrest of some people, claimed that: "Some people were armed with small arms and in this regard, people have been arrested, and a decisive judicial response to the collective will awaits them."
The commander of the Isfahan provincial police force refused to provide an exact number of detainees, but said that the police force, the Revolutionary Guards, and the judiciary would announce the number of detainees.
The Iranian Human Rights Organization reported that a number of detainees were transferred to Dastgerd Prison on the afternoon of Saturday, December 25. The organization, citing an informed source, wrote that among these individuals were those who had been wounded by “shotgun bullets” or seriously injured by beatings by officers.
Source: Iran Human Rights Campaign
