“The UN Human Rights Office has received numerous, and verified, videos of violent treatment of women, including slapping women across the face, beating them with batons and throwing them into police vans.”
UN Human Rights Office in a statement reacting to the death of an Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini, who reportedly died from injuries after being arrested and beaten by Iran's "morality police."
Published on
sep 20, 2022
Why It Matters: Protests have ignited in Iran in the wake of Amini's death — reportedly due to a violent arrest for not properly wearing a hijab (head covering common for Islamic countries).
- Reports: 5 people dead, 75 injured in the protests following this event.
- Challenging the Iranian government can lead to severe consequences — even death.
- Government security forces have violently confronted protestors; government officials have also accused the protestors of violence.
- Protests like this, against the authoritarian government, show the people willing to risk their lives to challenge those in power; questions remain about whether or not the public could lead to a real change in leadership.
- The Iranian government says it is investigating the death of 22-year-old Amini.
- Acting UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said of this incident, “The (Iranian) authorities must stop targeting, harassing, and detaining women who do not abide by the hijab rules." The UN asks "for the repeal of all discriminatory laws and regulations that impose mandatory hijab." All of this comes into focus on the same week that Iran is expected to participate in the UN General Assembly, the annual UN meeting in New York City.
Mahsa Amini: Acting UN human rights chief urges impartial probe into death in Iran
