14,000 Arrested In Iran Over Anti-Hijab Protests In Last 6 Weeks: UN

 

At least 14,000 people have been arrested in the Islamic Republic of Iran during protests over the last six weeks, according to the United Nations.

Javaid Rehman, Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, said, "Over the past six weeks, thousands of men, women, and children have been arrested in the country.” According to Javaid Rehman, over 14,000 people have been arrested in the country, including human rights defenders, students, lawyers, journalists, and civil society activists.

Rehman also said that the "unabated violent response of security forces" in the Islamic Republic has led to the reported deaths of at least 277 people. In an address to the UN Security Council, Rehman said that Iran's decision to hold public trials for 1,000 people also includes the charges of the death penalty.

Protests started in the Islamic Republic in mid-September after the death of a 22-year-old Iranian-Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, in police custody. The Iranian morality police arrested her on September 13 allegedly for not abiding by the country's dress code. They took her to a "re-education center" to teach her a lesson about hijab. However, she collapsed at the center. She died on September 16. Subsequently, protests started in Tehran. Her funeral ceremony took place on September 17 in her hometown Saqqez. Protests spread into other cities and districts of Iran on September 17.

Many people took to the streets in various cities. Women chopped off their hair and burned their hijabs on the road. Many women went out without wearing a hijab to protest against Mahsa Amini’s death. School students, university students, old women, teenagers and men also participated in the protests. Subsequently, Iranian security forces started arresting protesters. Rights groups claimed that Iranian security forces committed crimes by arresting protesters.