Human Rights Watch: UN Should Investigate Bloody November Crackdown

Human Rights Watch, expressing concern over the lack of follow-up on the bloody suppression of November 2019 protests by Iranian authorities, called on members of the UN Human Rights Council to immediately take action to investigate these crackdowns.

More than three months after nationwide protests in November 2019 across Iran, many international organizations and human rights bodies are waiting for Iranian authorities to break their silence and transparently announce the number of deaths and detainees from these protests.

Human Rights Watch on Tuesday, February 25, 2020, issued a statement criticizing the Iranian authorities’ delay in holding perpetrators accountable and published a report on human rights concerns regarding the fate of detainees and the killed.

In this statement, stating that “Iranian authorities have not held security forces accountable for their unlawful and excessive use of lethal force in response to the widespread November protests,” it called on members of the UN Human Rights Council to take immediate action to investigate this severe crackdown.

Human Rights Watch stated that based on “photographs and videos of protests published on social networks” which are also verified by the human rights organization, it found that special forces under the supervision of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and special forces belonging to the Law Enforcement Force (NAJA) played a “major role” in the bloody November crackdowns across the country.

The nationwide protests in November 2019 began in many Iranian cities following a sudden increase in gasoline prices, resulting in the deaths of many citizens and the arrest of many others. Iranian authorities have so far refused to announce the exact number of deaths and arrests from these protests. Reuters news agency recently reported, citing informed sources in the Islamic Republic government, that the number of deaths was 1,500 people.

Human Rights Watch in its statement, citing Amnesty International, put the number of deaths at least at 304 people and citing Hrana news agency, put this number at over one hundred people and continued: “An Iranian parliament representative estimated the number of deaths at 170 people, but official media reported the death of at least 5 security personnel during the protests. A parliament representative said around 7,000 people have been arrested.”

Iran’s government spokesman, last week, after Hassan Rouhani, the president, and the head of the Forensic Medicine Organization each blamed the other for announcing death toll statistics, said that these statistics “will be announced soon and by the relevant authorities.”

Use of “Unlawful Violence with Intent to Kill”

Human Rights Watch also stated that “interviews with victims and eyewitnesses, examination of photographs and videos of protests, and analysis of satellite images strongly show that security forces in at least three instances used unlawful violence with intent to kill.”

Meanwhile, Michael Page, deputy director of the Middle East division of Human Rights Watch, said: “Iranian authorities have systematically suppressed dissent for decades and are now confronting popular protests with a surprising level of violence.”

He added: “Credible international voices must send a clear message that Iran cannot commit extrajudicial killings of protesters with impunity.”

Javaid Rehman, UN human rights rapporteur on Iran, and 15 other UN experts issued a statement on Friday, December 20, 2019, stating that reports of mistreatment of detainees from these protests were shocking and they are deeply concerned about the disproportionate use of violent tools by Iranian security forces in killing protesters.

Human Rights Watch, in another section of its statement, referring to the fact that the suppression of protesters in Iran occurred after receiving a “green light” from Iranian authorities, stated that after these crackdowns, Ayatollah Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, said that blood money should be paid to families of people killed who did not participate in the protests, and detained protesters should be treated with “Islamic mercy.”

Human Rights Watch added: “However, no part of Khamenei’s response to the events indicated that security forces would be investigated for their unlawful and excessive use of force.”

Earlier, 23 human rights organizations called for a special session of the UN Human Rights Council to launch independent investigations into the critical human rights situation in Iran during and after the November protests.

“Beating of protesters in prison, issuance of death sentences for at least three protesters, and threatening families not to speak with media” are among other issues that Human Rights Watch, citing some reports, has addressed after the bloody suppression of protests.

Source: DW