Amnesty International Report on the Persistence of Torture and Repression in Iran in 2021

Amnesty International says in its annual report that in 2021, repression of dissidents, women, LGBT people, protesters, and political opponents, as well as torture and actions against the media, journalists, and freedom of expression, continued in Iran.

Amnesty International's annual report on the human rights situation in Iran, the Middle East and North Africa in 2021 mentions Iran as a country that continues to commit human rights violations, torture and severe repression.

The human rights organization, which published its report on Tuesday, March 29, criticized the way the coronavirus outbreak was managed in Iran and said that the vaccination campaign in the country had proceeded without transparency and coordination.

Vaccination against Covid-19 in Iran was delayed in particular because the Islamic Republic's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, strictly prohibited the import of vaccines from the United States and Britain in January 2021.

The Iranian judiciary even arbitrarily arrested and tried six people who had made statements about the need for legal action against those involved in preventing citizens from accessing vaccines.

In Iran, vaccination of prisoners began in August 2021, and in addition to mistreatment of prisoners, punishments of flogging, amputation, and blinding have also continued.

Use of violence in demonstrations 

According to Amnesty International, the right to freedom of expression has also been violated in Iran in the past year, and the blocking of online social networks has continued.

There have also been reports of security forces illegally confronting mostly peaceful demonstrations and resorting to excessive and unnecessary violence against protesters. Live ammunition and shotgun pellets were used against demonstrators, killing at least 11 people and injuring hundreds. Some of the injured were left blind.

In addition, security forces have arbitrarily detained large numbers of people at the demonstration site and blocked the internet during the protests.

The report also states that in many countries in the Middle East and North Africa, cruel and inhumane treatment of detainees continues. In addition, in some cases, the denial of medical care has been used as leverage to punish prisoners for their dissent.

In at least 18 countries in the Middle East and North Africa, individuals in formal and informal detention centers have been tortured to extract confessions, and solitary confinement continues to be used for this purpose.

In Iran, Egypt, Libya, and Saudi Arabia, no investigation has been conducted into the causes of suspicious deaths, even when there have been allegations of torture and lack of medical care.

Impunity for past and ongoing crimes against humanity and the killing of political prisoners in 1988 and other internationally defined crimes has also continued in Iran.

Amnesty International points to the election of Ebrahim Raisi, the former head of Iran's judiciary and one of the main defendants in the 1988 massacre case, as president, and considers this case an example of organized impunity for such crimes.

Violation of women's rights and discrimination against them have also continued in legal arenas and at various levels, as well as discrimination against ethnic and religious minorities and LGBT people.

Media and journalists continue to face severe repression, and threats against political opponents and journalists abroad, as well as kidnappings of political opponents and their transfer to Iran, have also become common.

Continuation of the death penalty

According to Amnesty International's annual report, the death penalty continued in Iran in 2021, and some defendants were sentenced to death for criminal acts they committed when they were under the age of 18.

On March 17, Javed Rehman, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, reported the execution of 280 people in Iran last year and called on the country's authorities to be held accountable for widespread human rights violations.

According to him, 10 of the executed women were women, three were underage at the time of the "crime" and at least 80 of them were related to drug cases.

Source: DW