The NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) has denounced on Wednesday that Iran’s security forces have used «excessive and illegal lethal force» against demonstrators between October and November this year.
«Iranian authorities have unleashed alarming violence against protesters in Sanandaj since September,» lamented Tara Sepehri Far, senior Iran researcher at HRW.
«Both the protests and the government’s brutal response to them reflect the government’s longstanding repression of the cultural and political freedoms of the Kurdish people,» she added.
She urged the UN fact-finding mission on Iran to investigate the abuses as part of a report on human rights violations against «mostly peaceful» protesters across the country.
HRW investigators have noted that security forces officers used excessive and lethal force against anti-government protesters in violation of international human rights law, according to analysis of videos and photographs posted on social media during the period in question.
In addition, the organization has interviewed 14 victims and witnesses, including three former detainees and relatives of detainees.
The agents, who allegedly used shotguns and assault rifles, allegedly fired live ammunition, pellets and tear gas at protesters and homes, destroying private property.
Security forces may take appropriate action against specific demonstrators who commit acts of violence, but this does not justify the security forces’ excessive use of force, the NGO denounced.
Meanwhile, the organization has documented abuses against detainees, including women and children. These violations include arbitrary detentions, torture, ill-treatment, threats or sexual assaults.
«Iranian authorities have drastically escalated abuses against protesters in custody,» Sepehri Far lamented, before noting that governments seeking to hold Iran accountable for rights violations should pay particular attention to abuses against detainees.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)