The toll of the repression of the protest movement that has shaken Iran since September continues to grow. According to a statement from the NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR), “At least 326 people, including 43 children and 25 women, have been killed by security forces during protests across the country.”
The NGO also specifies that it is a “minimum”adding that he did not take into account “a large number of reported deaths” which she is still checking. The latest death toll from the non-governmental organization was 304 a week ago. IHR includes those killed in the province of Sistan and Balochistan (southeast), bordering Pakistan, or at least 123 victims, according to its count. Among the latter, more than 90 died on September 30 during a demonstration in Zahedan, capital of the province, to protest against the rape of a 15-year-old girl attributed to a senior police officer in the city. Chabahar port.
IHR Director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam called on the international community to act to end the repression in Iran. “The establishment of an international investigation and accountability mechanism by the UN will both facilitate the process of holding perpetrators accountable in the future and increase the cost of the Islamic Republic’s continued repression”he said.
Iran has been the scene of protests since the September 16 death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, three days after she was arrested by vice squad for allegedly breaking the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code. The protest, part of the rejection of these dress restrictions imposed on women and the indignation raised by the death of the young woman, evolved into a movement directed against the theocracy in power in Iran since the Islamic revolution of 1979.