17/11/22: Amnesty’s latest research has revealed that the Iranian authorities are seeking the death penalty for at least 21 people in sham trials designed to intimidate those taking part in protests, and deter others from joining protests. Shockingly, the authorities are also calling for speedy trials and public executions. We can’t let people be sentenced to death for taking part in protests. Please, take action today.
Nationwide protests sparked by the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa (Zhina) Amini are being brutally quashed by the Iranian authorities. As the death toll rises, Iranian authorities have shut down the internet to hide their crimes. Call on the international community to take action now.
On 13 September 2022, Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini was arrested in Tehran by Iran’s so-called “morality” police. Eyewitnesses reported seeing her being violently beaten in a police van. Within hours, she was taken to hospital in a coma, and three days later the 22-year-old died.
The “morality” police routinely subject women and girls to arbitrary detention, torture and other ill-treatment for not complying with Iran’s abusive, degrading and discriminatory compulsory veiling laws.
Mahsa’s death sparked widespread protests across Iran. Iranian forces are responding with deadly violence: firing live ammunition and metal pellets, misusing tear gas and water cannons, and severely beating people with batons. Dozens of people have died, including children.
The UN Human Rights Council must send a strong message that those responsible for crimes under international law will not go unpunished. Impunity in recent years has emboldened the Iranian authorities to kill hundreds of protesters and torture and ill-treat thousands more without fear of consequences.
Sign the petition and call on Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong to urgently do all she can to ensure an independent UN mechanism now to investigate and ensure accountability for the most serious crimes under international law in Iran.