43 human rights organizations, among them the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI), urged the UN Human Rights Council on October 17 to urgently hold a special session that should establish a separate mechanism with investigative, reporting, and accountability functions to address the most serious crimes under international law and other flagrant human rights violations committed in Iran.

Protests across Iran

Demonstrations throughout the country have gathered momentum following the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who had been arrested by morality police in Tehran on September 13 for an alleged breach of the country’s strict dress code for women.

Ensuing protests naturally demanded accountability for Ms. Amini’s death while also condemning the underlying enforcement of mandatory hijab laws. It did not take long before the now-familiar chants of “death to the dictator” could be heard in every major Iranian city and in every district of the capital Tehran, including those that had once been considered strongholds of support for the clerical leadership. According to MEK, the crackdown on protests in 191 cities over 33 days resulted in approximately 400 deaths and 20,000 detentions.

 

 

Security forces fire live ammunition

“Evidence gathered by a number of the undersigned organizations shows a harrowing pattern of Iranian security forces deliberately and unlawfully firing live ammunition and metal pellets, including birdshot, at protesters and bystanders including children.

Undersigned organizations are documenting growing numbers of protesters and bystanders killed, with some already reporting over 200 deaths, including at least 23 identified children, in Sistan and Baluchistan, Kurdistan, and other provinces throughout Iran, as well as hundreds of others injured to date in the ongoing crackdown. The actual numbers, though, are likely to be much higher and growing,” the statement read.

 

 

The longstanding pattern of systemic impunity

“This latest round of bloodshed in the context of protests in Iran is rooted in and fueled by this deep and longstanding pattern of systemic impunity for the most serious crimes under international law which, given the scale and severity of past and ongoing human rights violations, the UN Human Rights Council has not sufficiently addressed.”

“In this context, we urge the UN Human Rights Council to hold a special session as a matter of urgency. At that session, the Council should establish an independent mechanism with investigative, reporting, and accountability functions to address the most serious crimes under international law and other gross human rights violations committed in Iran, including in the context of successive waves of protest crackdowns.”

 

 

The “new Iranian Revolution,”

More than a month into the new wave of uprisings, and on the verge of a spectacular change dubbed by many observers the “new Iranian Revolution,” it is clear that international support is both critical and insufficient. And, despite the most severe sanctions imposed in the last two decades, the regime has never neglected its security forces. As popular calls for change grow and threaten the Supreme Leader’s rule, the bloody crackdown will only intensify and outpace international pressure.

“The father of Milan Haghigi, a 21-year-old man killed by security forces on 21 September, said: “People expect the UN to defend us and the protesters. I, too, can condemn [the Iranian authorities], the whole world can condemn them but to what end this condemnation?”  Meaningful action by the international community, in the form of the creation of an independent, investigative, reporting and accountability mechanism, is long overdue,” the statement concluded.

 

 

MEK Iran (follow us on Twitter and Facebook), Maryam Rajavi’s on her site, Twitter & Facebook, NCRI  (Twitter & Facebook), and People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran – MEK IRAN – YouTub