What do we know about protests in Kurdistan-Iran?
Let’s start with Jina (Mahsa) Amini being killed by the Iranian Morality Police! What is this entity and what is the legal basis of their mission?
A Legal Analysis Part 1:
Let’s start with Jina (Mahsa) Amini being killed by the Iranian Morality Police! What is this entity and what is the legal basis of their mission?
Gashte-e-Ershad (Morality Police) literally translated as ‘Guidance Patrols’ is a unit of the Iranian police forces which monitors and forces Iranian women to respect and wear full hijab in public. Surprisingly there is no explicit legal text about their qualifications, tasks, and missions, even no clear-cut legal definition about hijab in the Iranian legal system.
On the 16 September 2022, Jina Amini, a Kurdish woman from Saqqez-Kurdistan, had traveled to Tehran with her family for holidays. In front of a subway Station (Shahid Haqqani), she was stopped by the morality police and accused of unproperly covered hijab and was subsequently forced into the police van. After a couple of hours and while being at Vozara detention centre, Jina Mahsa Amini’s unconscious body was transferred to hospital where she was announced dead three days later.
According to eyewitness accounts, Jina had been brutally beaten by the morality police forces before taken into the detention centre. However, this has been continuously rejected by the Iranian police.
After publicizing her death, large protests have erupted in almost all cities across Iran, especially in Kurdistan. The peaceful protests of people in Saqqez and Sanandaj turned violent upon the intervention of the security forces.
Day by day, the protests were extended to other Kurdish cities including Mahabad, Kermanshash, Mariwan, Divandareh, Dehgolan, and Oshnavieh along with other cities across Iran. From the very first days, dozens of people have been killed because of the brutal violence of the Islamic regime’s security forces on the streets; while most of the victims among teens and young people. According to statistics by Hengaw , 36 protesters have been killed and more than 1500 injured in Kurdish cities by the security forces. In addition, around 2500 Kurds have been forcibly disappeared by the security forces.
Horrifying on-ground footages from Kurdistan indicate the regime’s brutality and deadly crackdown on protesters during ongoing four-week-long protests. According to videos verified by Hengaw, I would like to represent a widespread and systematic use of warfare weapons by the IRI forces against civilians on a case-by-case analysis of evidence:
CONTENT WARNING:
These videos contain violent contents.
In this video, on 11 October 2022, in Sanandaj, the security forces are using crew-served weapons. It shows how the bullet has passed through the double-glazed window and a 20cm-thick wall, as shown in the video.
This video shows various cartridge case being fired in Sanandaj by the security forces on 10 October 2022.
This video shows heavy sheeling in Sanandaj by the security forces on 10 October.
This video shows a protester who has been directly shot by the IRGC forces in Sanandaj and died after being transferred to Hospital, on 8 October 2022.
This video shows a 52-year-old Kurdish man shot by the security forces, on 6 October 2022, in Piranshahr.
This video shows one of the protesters injured by the security forces in Bukan, on 2 October 2022.
This video shows a 15-year-old teenager shot dead by the security forces in Kermanshah.
This video shows clearly that the security forces are using AK-47 against protesters in Dehgolan, on 9 October 2022.
This video shows a 10-year-old teenager severely injured by direct gunshot from IRGC forces in Sardasht, on 26 September.
This video shows another teenager, a sixteen-year-old boy from Oshnavieh shot dead by the security forces, on 21 September 2022.
Another video shows the bloody night of Oshnavieh, during which four protesters shot dead by the security forces, on 21 September 2022.
This video shows a Kurdish protester shot dead by the security forces in Saqqez, on 20 September 2022.
The Video evidence will be updated
According to the latest videos and news received by Hengaw, the IRI security forces continuously intensify violence against people in Kurdistan especially in Sanandaj, Saqqez and Kermanshah. The state has shut down public and private internet servers in order to prevent people and journalists from informing others as well as the international community.
Faraz Firouzi Mandomi, LL.M.
Legal Advisor of Hengaw Organization for Human Rights
14th October 2022, Hamburg
