Amnesty International said in its latest statement on December 16 that the number of those killed in the November protests had jumped to 304, reporting thousands have been detained, including children under the age of 15, In the absence and lack of information, the detainees are threatened with tortured.
According to Amnesty International, Iranian authorities have carried out a vicious crackdown following the outbreak of nationwide protests on 15 November, arresting thousands of protesters as well as journalists, human rights defenders and students to stop them from speaking out about Iran’s ruthless repression,
Amnesty International said the report was based on interviews with dozens of citizens inside Iran who described how, in the days and weeks during and following the protests, the Iranian authorities have held detainees incommunicado and subjected them to enforced disappearance, torture and other ill-treatment.
Video footage verified by Amnesty’s Digital Verification Corps, backed up by witness testimony, shows Iranian security forces opening fire on unarmed protesters who did not pose any imminent risk
“Worrying statements by witnesses indicate that, more or less immediately after the killing of protesters by security forces, they have launched large-scale and coordinated crackdowns to heighten fears and intensify fears,” said Philip Luther, Middle East and North Africa Research Director
The organization cited a recent UN report that at least 12 children were among the dead
According to Amnesty International investigations, two of them are described as follows: Mohammed Dastanhkhah, 15 years old, who was shot in the heart while on his way home from school while he was passing by protesters in Shiraz. And Alireza Nouri, 17 years old, who was killed in Shahriar in Tehran province
Phillip Luther has since called for investigations into cases of “forced disappearances” and reports of “torture” of detainees.
According to him, “The international community must take urgent action, including through the UN Human Rights Council holding a special session on Iran to mandate an inquiry into the unlawful killings of protesters, horrifying wave of arrests, enforced disappearances and torture of detainees, with a view to ensuring accountability.”
Amnesty International has warned against statements by Islamic Republic officials, including Supreme Leader, about the protesters and describing them as “villains” and the like, as well as statements published on “Seda and Sima”, on the possible sentence of death penalty for detainees.
In the past few days, state-run Islamic Republic Radio and Television has even broadcast statements by a “religious expert” demanding that the detainees be “tormented”. Statements that were widely reflected in cyberspace and internal and external media.
Amnesty International has also warned against the detention of journalists, students, human rights activists, minority rights activists, workers and Iranian citizens of various ethnicities.
The organization also quoted witnesses, and documentary evidence, of the torture of some detainees. One person said that a family member who was released on bail emerged with bruises and cuts to his face and head and is so traumatized from his experience.
Credible sources have informed Amnesty International that in Raja’i Shahr prison in Karaj, Alborz province, hundreds of detainees, including children, were brought in trucks to the prison. They say that handcuffed and blindfolded detainees have been punched, kicked, flogged and beaten with batons by security forces on a daily basis.
The report also says, “In dozens of cases reported to Amnesty International, detainees have had little or no contact with their families since their arrest”
The report also refers to “enforced disappearance” and the relatives of the missing have told the organization they have gone to police stations, prosecutors, revolutionary courts, prisons and other places to search for their loved ones who have been forcibly disappeared, but authorities have not provided any information.
According to the organization, children under the age of 15 are among those detained in prisons such as Fashafuyeh.
The organization has also spoken of attacks on hospitals and detention of the wounded.
Security officials have forced a hospital manager in Khuzestan to provide a list of all those recently admitted to the facility, a news source said.
Human rights watchdogs have also warned against the detention of some detainees, saying detainees have had little or no contact with their families since their arrest
Philip Luther, director of research for West Asia and North Africa at Amnesty International, said
“The world must not stand by in silence as the Iranian authorities continue to commit widespread human rights violations in their ruthless bid to crush dissent,”
