On Monday, the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran (FFMI), a body empowered by the UN, declared that the death of Mahsa Amini, while detained by Iranian authorities, was illegal and a result from violence. As legal professionals may know, the international legal framework has strict parameters against unlawful deaths while in custody.
The mission was established by the Human Rights Council in November 2022 with an express mandate to investigate alleged human rights abuses in Iran. Its primary focus was the examination of protests ignited by the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian-Kurdish woman who died while in the custody of the morality police.
Sara Hossain, Chairperson of the mission, pronounced to the UN Human Rights Council: “Our findings, based on examination of medical documents and patterns of treatment towards women in similar situations, demonstrate that Mahsa Amini’s death was unlawful, and we hold the state accountable.” Despite requests for access and attempts to engage with the Iranian government, the mission was refused entry into the country and received no response to their meeting requests.
In the aftermath of Mahsa’s death, protests erupted throughout the country, amplifying into the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement. Young women and school children were often at the frontline, with many publicly removing their hijabs as an act of defiance against long-established discriminatory laws and practices. Iranian state authorities, the mission concluded, were answerable for severe human rights violations linked to these protests.
The use of firearms by security forces, including assault rifles and metal pellets, resulted in numerous fatalities and widespread injuries. According to the team’s findings, Iranian security forces performed mass arbitrary arrests of protesters. Although the Iranian government announced the pardon of 22,000 individuals in relation to the protests, this implies that a significantly larger number of people were detained or charged.
Sara Hossain urged the Iranian government to promptly implement measures to halt executions, release all arbitrarily detained individuals associated with the protests, cease judicial harassment against victims and their families, provide them with redress, truth, justice, and reparations, and dismantle the oppressive system enforcing such laws and policies.
More on the report can be found on the original article.