trials are used as “weapons” against dissent. But Tehran continues to repress

The High Commissioner for Human Rights denounced the “brutal” use of force carried out by the Islamic Republic. The magistracy disavows Khamenei and imposes harsh punishments on women who do not wear the headscarf correctly. From Evin prison, an activist speaks out about torture and brutality. The 38-year-old Christian woman who was arrested before Christmas has been released on bail.

Tehran () – The Iranian government uses trials and the death penalty “as a weapon” to “punish” pro-democracy protesters and to “instill fear” in a population fighting for freedom and rights, for the purpose of suppressing dissent. The complaint by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, was released yesterday in a statement that strongly condemns the “brutal repression” that the leaders of the Islamic Republic have imposed against the demonstrations in the streets. The popular revolt is already in its fourth month and was triggered by the murder of the young Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini, 22, at the hands of the moral police for not wearing the Islamic veil correctly.

The execution in the last month of four young people involved in the demonstrations, continues Türk, as a result of “summary trials that did not comply with the minimum guarantees of a fair and equitable process” constitutes a clear violation of human rights.

“The government of Iran – concludes the senior UN official – would better serve its interests and those of its people if it listened to their claims and carried out the necessary legal and political reforms.” The objective should be “to guarantee respect for the diversity of opinions, the rights to freedom of expression and assembly, and full respect and protection of the rights of women in all areas of life.”

Despite the repeated calls and condemnations of a large part of the international community, human rights NGOs and activist movements, Tehran continues with its iron fist against the protests that, after the latest executions and death sentences, have remained silent. In recent days, the supreme guide, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had used conciliatory words about the use of the hijab -perhaps trying to stop the wave of protests- and affirmed that women who do not wear it correctly are also “our daughters” and not They must be marginalized.

However, in these hours a note has arrived from the high police command ordering to punish “forcefully” women who do not wear the veil according to the dictates of the sharia, which establish that it must completely cover the head and hair. The Islamic Republic’s “Hijab and Chastity” law requires women and girls over the age of nine to wear a headscarf in public. “Removing the hijab is a crime – says Deputy Attorney General Abulsamad Khorramabadi, quoted by the semi-official Mehr agency – and it is the obligation of law enforcement to arrest those who commit crimes and bring them before the judicial authorities so that they receive their just punishment” .

Trials, death sentences, hanged demonstrators and the exhibition of their lifeless bodies suspended from cranes have generated immense terror in the population, which had taken to the streets – with the women in the front row – to fight for their freedom and their rights. . According to some analysts, the “success” in the use of force to repress the most imposing demonstrations of a political and social nature in recent years could reinforce the leaders’ decision to repress all forms of dissent. However, the apparent victory could also further fuel the resentment of the population, of civil society and especially of young people, who see their hopes for a future of greater freedom vanish, in the context of a critical economic situation, unemployment and lack of prospects.

Violence is also revealed in one of the rare stories from prison that has managed to evade censorship filters. The activist is studying law in prison. In the letter she describes how the “cultural” wing of Evin – where she takes her exams – has become a space of “torture and interrogation” and she has seen with her own eyes young people subjected to peremptory questions, intimidation and violence. physical and psychological. “The room – she writes – is full of young people, women and men, and the screams of the torturers can be heard”. According to reports from the Hrana activist movement, at least 519 protesters, including 69 children, have been killed so far and another 19,300 have been arrested. In recent days, however, the 38-year-old Christian Bianka Zaia, arrested at the end of November for “participating” in street demonstrations and for “anti-state propaganda”, who was detained in Evin prison, He has been released after posting bail.