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In September 2022, the death of Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish woman who died in police custody after being detained by the morality police for “improperly wearing the hijab”, sparked widespread protests across Iran. Authorities claimed Amini died of a heart attack while in custodywhile her family said she was beaten up. Demonstrations over her death quickly turned into of wider dissatisfaction with the regime.
In the six months since, Iranian security forces have routinely used draconian tactics to try to quell protests, going so far as to arrest children. In a report released Thursday, Amnesty International revealed that children arrested during and after the protests were subjected to electric shocks, had their heads held under water, were sexually assaulted and threatened with rape. Many of the children were released only after they signed letters of “repentance” and promised not to participate in further protests, according to the human rights group. The Iranian government did not respond to the report and did not immediately respond to BuzzFeed News’ request for comment.
A mysterious wave suspected poisoning more than 1,000 schoolgirls are in hospital across the country. Iran’s Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi, whose department leads investigations into reports of poisoning, said in early March that 90% of hospitalizations came from “stress and worry caused by the news.” Many Iranians rejected that explanation, calling Vahidi’s claim “ridiculous” and criticizing the regime for not acting on the reports despite widespread surveillance by residents.
In a press release on Thursday, the United Nations invited the poisonings are “deliberate” and she condemned the government for failing to protect the girls and investigate the cases quickly.
“There is a stark contrast between the rapid deployment of force to arrest and imprison peaceful protesters and the months-long inability to identify and arrest the perpetrators of large-scale, coordinated attacks on young girls in Iran,” UN experts said.
