UN rights body to hold an urgent session on Iran amid crackdown on protests

 

The UN's top human rights body will hold an urgent session on the Islamic Republic of Iran in the wake of the government's deadly crackdowns on protesters.

Germany and Iceland sent a diplomatic request to the Human Rights Council to hold a session on Iran. Reportedly, the UN's top human rights body will hold the session either on November 21 or November 24.

Germany sent a letter to the council offices on Friday "to address the deteriorating human rights situation in Iran, especially concerning women and children."

According to Human Rights Activists in Iran, at least 328 people have been killed in the Iran protests and 14,825 others arrested by the Iranian security forces. Iran Human Rights also said that "dozens" of arrested Iranian protesters could also be sentenced to death.

The United States and European Union have already imposed sanctions on Iran for its crackdown on anti-government protesters. The US has repeatedly accused the Islamic Republic of violating human rights and women’s rights.

The anti-government protests have entered the eighth week. The protests have spread across social classes, universities, factories, the streets and schools.

The protests erupted after the death of a 22-year-old Iranian woman Mahsa Amini. On September 13, Amini was arrested by the country’s morality police for breaching strict dress rules for women. The Iranian morality police took her to the re-education centre to teach her lessons about hijab.

Various Iranian human rights activists and groups claimed that the morality police hit Amini’s head with a baton at the centre. They also said that Amini was arrested for allegedly wearing a loose hijab. On September 16, the doctors at a hospital in Tehran pronounced Amini dead. Subsequently, huge demonstrations erupted in various cities in the Islamic Republic. The protests have evolved into the biggest challenge for the Iranian leadership since the 1979 revolution, with many people demanding the downfall of the Iranian leadership.