Amnesty International Report: Torture and Repression Continue in Iran in 2021
Amnesty International stated in its annual report that in 2021, the repression of dissidents, women, LGBTQ+ individuals, protesters and political opponents, as well as torture and actions against media, journalists and freedom of expression continued in Iran.
In Amnesty International’s annual report on the human rights situation in Iran, the Middle East and North Africa in 2021, Iran was mentioned as a country that continues to commit human rights violations, torture and severe repression.
The human rights organization, which released its report on Tuesday, March 29 (Farvardin 9), criticized the management of the coronavirus outbreak in Iran and stated that the vaccination campaign in the country proceeded without transparency and coordination.
Vaccination against COVID-19 in Iran was particularly delayed because Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, strictly prohibited the entry of vaccines from the United States and Britain in January 2021.
Iran’s judiciary even proceeded to arbitrarily arrest and try six people who had made statements about the necessity of legal action against officials who prevented citizens’ access to vaccines.
In Iran, vaccination of prisoners began in August 2021, and in addition to prisoner mistreatment, punishments of flogging, amputation and blinding also continued.
Use of Violence in Protests
According to Amnesty International’s report, freedom of expression was trampled in Iran last year and the blocking of social media networks continued.
It was also reported that security forces illegally confronted mostly peaceful demonstrations and resorted to excessive and unnecessary violence against protesters. Military bullets and buckshot were used against demonstrators, killing at least 11 people and wounding hundreds. Some of the wounded have been blinded.
Beyond this, security forces arbitrarily arrested a large number of people at protest sites and blocked the internet during protests.
In the report of the human rights organization, it was also stated that in many Middle Eastern and North African countries, cruel and inhumane treatment of detainees continued. Moreover, in some cases, the denial of medical care was used as a tool of pressure to punish prisoners for being dissident.
In at least 18 Middle Eastern and North African countries, individuals were tortured in official and unofficial detention facilities to extract confessions, and the use of solitary confinement for this purpose continued.
In Iran, Egypt, Libya and Saudi Arabia, investigations were not conducted to find the causes of suspicious deaths even when allegations of torture and denial of medical care existed.
Impunity from punishment for previous and current crimes in the area of crimes against humanity and the massacre of political prisoners in 1367 (1988) and other internationally defined crimes also continued in Iran.
Amnesty International points to Ibrahim Raisi becoming president, the former head of Iran’s judiciary, who is one of the main suspects in the 1367 massacre case, and considers this an example of systematic impunity against such crimes.
The erosion of women’s rights and discrimination against them in legal spheres and various levels, as well as discrimination against ethnic and religious minorities and sexual minorities, continued once again.
Media and journalists continued to face severe repression, and threats against political opponents and journalists outside the country, as well as the abduction of political opponents and their transfer to Iran, became widespread.
Continuation of Capital Punishment
According to Amnesty International’s annual report, capital punishment continued in Iran in 2021, and some accused individuals were sentenced to death for criminal acts committed under the age of 18.
Javaid Rehman, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, reported on March 17 the execution of 280 people in Iran last year and called for accountability from the country’s officials for widespread human rights violations.
According to him, 10 of the executed were women, three were below the legal age at the time the “crime” was committed, and at least 80 of them had cases related to narcotics.
Source: DW
