International Desk: At least 326 people have been killed by security forces in ongoing protests over the death of Iranian teenager Mahsha Amini in police custody. The Norway-based human rights organization Iran Human Rights (IHR) reported the information on Saturday (November 12). This information was given in a CNN report.
According to the report, on September 13, the 22-year-old Kurdish girl Mahsha Amini was arrested from Tehran by the Iranian police for not wearing the hijab properly. He fell ill in police custody after his arrest.
He was then admitted to a hospital in Tehran. He died under treatment on September 16. People of Iran took to the streets claiming that Mahsha died in torture. These protests spread across the country.
The Oslo-based human rights organization said in a statement on its website that at least 326 people, including 43 children and 25 women, have been killed by security forces in protests across the country.
Today’s death toll has increased by 22 from the list released by the organization on November 5. According to the new list, 123 people from Sistan and Balochistan provinces are among the dead. In a week, the number of people killed there increased by 5 people.
Among these protests, the largest number of casualties occurred in Jahedan, the capital of Sistan and Balochistan province on September 30. After Friday prayers that day, the security forces opened fire to quell the protests. The protest was against a police commander. Protesters alleged that a 15-year-old girl was raped in police custody in the province’s port city of Chabahar.
Meanwhile, IHR director Mahmoud Amiri-Moghaddam called on the international community to take swift action to stop this repression. He said in a statement that an international investigation and accountability system should be established through the United Nations. These two initiatives will ease the process of holding perpetrators accountable in the future and make the Islamic Republic pay a heavy price for the ongoing crackdown.
Another human rights organization, Amnesty International, has called for similar measures. They have submitted an application with signatures of more than 1 million people in favor of it.
