Amnesty International has called on Iranian authorities to allow the commemoration of the first anniversary of those killed during "Women, Life, Freedom" protests in 2022 amid a campaign by security forces marked by "harassment and intimidation" against victims’ families "to enforce silence and impunity."
The rights group said in a statement released on August 21 that a new research report shows that Iranian authorities have been subjecting victims’ families to arbitrary arrest and detention, imposing "cruel restrictions" on peaceful gatherings at grave sites, and destroying victims’ gravestones.
Meanwhile, no officials have been held to account for the "unlawful" killing of hundreds of protesters by security forces since they launched a "brutal" crackdown following the unrest sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini on September 16 last year while she was being held in custody by morality police for an alleged dress code violation.
“The international community must support victims’ families by pressing the Iranian authorities in private and in public to respect their right to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly," said Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International's deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa.
"The families must be protected from arbitrary detention, threats and other reprisals. States must also call on the Iranian authorities to release all those who were detained for advocating for truth and justice over the deaths, quash all unjust convictions and sentences against them, and drop all charges against those facing reprisals for speaking out,” Eltahawy added.
In the report, Amnesty detailed the situation of 36 families from 10 provinces in Iran who have suffered human rights abuses in recent months at the hands of Iranian law enforcement.
Thirty-three of the cases involved families who had loved ones killed by security forces during the protests, two that lost a relative who was executed arbitrarily, and one family of a torture survivor who took their own life after being released from detention.
The August 16 arrest of 12 women's rights activists who are accused of planning events ahead of the anniversary of Amini's death have intensified concerns that officials will stop at nothing to try and quell any unrest following a year of protests that have posed the biggest challenge to the country's leadership since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
Iranian officials have attributed the protests to Western instigation and have pledged a more aggressive crackdown. Over 500 individuals have lost their lives since the start of the protests, which also led to the arrests of thousands, including demonstrators, journalists, lawyers, activists, and digital rights defenders.
Eltahawy said that, given the reprisals families have faced and the "systematic impunity" of officials in Iran, the international community must "exercise universal jurisdiction and issue arrest warrants for Iranian officials, including those with command responsibility, who are reasonably suspected of criminal responsibility for crimes under international law committed during and in the aftermath of the uprising.”