DUBAI: Iran is responsible for the “physical violence” that led to the death of Mahsa Amini in September 2022 and sparked nationwide protests against the country’s mandatory headscarf, or hijab, laws and its ruling theocracy, a UN fact-finding mission said Friday.
The stark pronouncement came in a wide-ranging initial report submitted to the UN Human Rights Council by the Fact-Finding Mission on Iran.
It also found that the Islamic Republic employed “unnecessary and disproportionate use of lethal force” to put down the demonstrations that erupted following Amini’s death, and that Iranian security forces sexually assaulted detainees.
The monthslong security crackdown killed more than 500 people and saw over 22,000 detained.
There was no immediate comment on the report from Iran. Iranian officials did not respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press on the mission’s findings.
The release of the report is unlikely to change the trajectory of Iran’s government, now more firmly in the hands of hard-liners after a low-turnout vote last week put them back in charge of the country’s parliament.
However, it provides further international pressure on Tehran amid wider Western concerns about its advancing nuclear program, Iran’s arming of Russia in Moscow’s war on Ukraine and the continued harassment and imprisonment of activists, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi.
“The protests were unprecedented because of the leadership of women and youth, in their reach and longevity and, ultimately, the state’s violent response,” the report says.
Amini, 22, died on Sept. 16, 2022, in a hospital after her arrest by the country’s morality police over allegedly not wearing her hijab to the liking of the authorities. She was brought to Iran’s Vozara detention facility to undergo a “re-education class,” but collapsed after 26 minutes and was taken to a hospital 30 minutes later, according to the report.
Iran has denied being responsible for her death or that she had been beaten. At times, authorities have pointed to a medical condition Amini had from childhood after a surgery. The UN report dismissed that as a cause of her death.
The panel “has established the existence of evidence of trauma to Ms. Amini’s body, inflicted while in the custody of the morality police,” the report says.
“Based on the evidence and patterns of violence by the morality police in the enforcement of the mandatory hijab on women, the mission is satisfied that Ms. Amini was subjected to physical violence that led to her death,” it said.
The report stops short, however, of blaming anyone specifically for harming Amini.
The protests that followed Amini’s death started first with the chant “Women, Life, Freedom.” However, the protesters’ chanting and cries soon grew into open calls of revolt against Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The UN report found Iranian security forces used shotguns, assault rifles and submachine guns against demonstrators “in situations where there was no imminent threat of death or serious injury” to them, “thereby committing unlawful and extrajudicial killings.”
It also found a pattern of protesters being shot intentionally in the eye.
“The mission notes the deterrent and chilling effect of such injuries, as they permanently marked the victims, essentially ‘branding’ them as protesters,” the report says.
Some of those detained faced sexual violence, including rape, the threat of rape, forced nudity, groping and electrocution of their genitals, according to the report.
“The security forces played on social and cultural stigma connected to sexual and gender-based violence to spread fear and humiliate and punish women, men and children,” the report says.
The panel also acknowledged it continued to investigate the 2023 death of teenager Armita Garavand, who died after falling on the Tehran Metro in what activists allege was an attack over her not wearing a hijab.
Geravand’s parents appeared in a state media video at the time saying a blood pressure issue, a fall or perhaps both contributed to their daughter’s death.
“In actions reminiscent of Ms. Amini’s case, the state authorities took measures to obfuscate the circumstances leading to Ms. Garavand’s death,” the report says.
It also noted a suspected spate of poisonings targeting Iranian schoolgirls, without drawing conclusions on what transpired in the incidents.
UN probe: Iran responsible for the ‘physical violence’ that killed Mahsa Amini in 2022
https://arab.news/2q3gp
UN probe: Iran responsible for the ‘physical violence’ that killed Mahsa Amini in 2022
- Islamic Republic employed ‘unnecessary and disproportionate use of lethal force’ to put down the demonstrations that erupted following Amini’s death
Netanyahu says Israel will continue to act against the Houthis
- On Thursday, Israeli jets launched a series of strikes against energy and port infrastructure in Yemen
- Response to hundreds of missile and drone attacks launched by Houthis since start of Gaza war
JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday Israel would continue acting against the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, whom he accused of threatening world shipping and the international order, and called on Israelis to be steadfast.
“Just as we acted forcefully against the terrorist arms of Iran’s axis of evil, so we will act against the Houthis,” he said in a video statement a day after a missile fired from Yemen fell in the Tel Aviv area, causing a number of mild injuries.
On Thursday, Israeli jets launched a series of strikes against energy and port infrastructure in Yemen in a move officials said was a response to hundreds of missile and drone attacks launched by the Houthis since the start of the Gaza war 14 months ago.
On Saturday, the US military said it conducted precision airstrikes against a missile storage facility and a command-and-control facility operated by Houthis in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa.
Netanyahu, strengthened at home by the Israeli military’s campaign against Iran-backed Hezbollah forces in southern Lebanon and by its destruction of most of the Syrian army’s strategic weapons, said Israel would act with the United States.
“Therefore, we will act with strength, determination and sophistication. I tell you that even if it takes time, the result will be the same,” he said.
The Houthis have launched repeated attacks on international shipping in waters near Yemen since November 2023, in support of the Palestinians over Israel’s war with Hamas.
Iraq PM says Mosul airport to open in June, 11 years after Daesh capture
- On June 10, 2014, the Daesh group seized Mosul
BAGHDAD: Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani on Sunday ordered for the inauguration of the airport in second city Mosul to be held in June, marking 11 years since Islamists took over the city.
On June 10, 2014, the Daesh group seized Mosul, declaring its “caliphate” from there 19 days later after capturing large swathes of Iraq and neighboring Syria.
After years of fierce battles, Iraqi forces backed by a US-led international coalition dislodged the group from Mosul in July 2017, before declaring its defeat across the country at the end of that year.
In a Sunday statement, Sudani’s office said the premier directed during a visit there “for the airport’s opening to be on June 10, coinciding with the anniversary of Mosul’s occupation, as a message of defiance in the face of terrorism.”
Over 80 percent of the airport’s runway and terminals have been completed, according to the statement.
Mosul’s airport had been completely destroyed in the fighting.
In August 2022, then-prime minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi laid the foundation stone for the airport’s reconstruction.
Sudani’s office also announced on Sunday the launch of a project to rehabilitate the western bank of the Tigris in Mosul, affirming that “Iraq is secure and stable and on the right path.”
Turkiye’s top diplomat meets Syria’s new leader in Damascus
- Hakan Fidan had announced on Friday that he planned to travel to Damascus to meet Syria’s new leaders
- Turkiye’s spy chief Ibrahim Kalin had earlier visited the city on December 12, just a few days after Bashar Assad’s fall
ANKARA: Turkiye’s foreign minister Hakan Fidan met with Syria’s new leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa in Damascus on Sunday, Ankara’s foreign ministry said.
A video released by the Anadolu state news agency showed the two men greeting each other.
No details of where the meeting took place in the Syrian capital were released by the ministry.
Fidan had announced on Friday that he planned to travel to Damascus to meet Syria’s new leaders, who ousted Syria’s strongman Bashar Assad after a lightning offensive.
Turkiye’s spy chief Ibrahim Kalin had earlier visited the city on December 12, just a few days after Assad’s fall.
Kalin was filmed leaving the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, surrounded by bodyguards, as broadcast by the private Turkish channel NTV.
Turkiye has been a key backer of the opposition to Assad since the uprising against his rule began in 2011.
Besides supporting various militant groups, it has welcomed Syrian dissenters and millions of refugees.
However, Fidan has rejected claims by US president-elect Donald Trump that the militants’ victory in Syria constituted an “unfriendly takeover” of the country by Turkiye.
International sanctions on Damascus must be lifted “as soon as possible” to allow Syria to get back on its feet and refugees to return home, Fidan said.
“The sanctions imposed on the previous regime need to be lifted as soon as possible,” he said, adding: “The international community needs to mobilize to help Syria get back on its feet and for the displaced people to return.”
During a joint press conference, Al-Sharaa said that all weapons in the country would come under state control including those held by Kurdish-led forces.
Armed “factions will begin to announce their dissolution and enter” the army, Sharaa said during a press conference with Fidan, adding “we will absolutely not allow there to be weapons in the country outside state control, whether from the revolutionary factions or the factions present in the SDF area,” referring to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.
Syria alone was responsible for overthrowing Bashar Assad, Fidan also said.
“This victory belongs to you and no one else. Thanks to your sacrifices, Syria has seized a historic opportunity,” he said. Turkiye has repeatedly dismissed claims it had any hand in the lightning 12-day rebel offensive that ended with Assad’s overthrow on December 8.
Druze leader Jumblatt paves way for Lebanese-Syrian relationship without Assad
- Ahmed Al-Sharaa: ‘Syria’s interference in Lebanese affairs was negative’ in the past
- Walid Jumblatt said Assad’s ouster should usher in new constructive relations between Lebanon and Syria
BEIRUT: Syria’s new leader, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, vowed in a meeting in Damascus on Sunday not to negatively interfere in neighboring Lebanon.
A major political and religious delegation headed by prominent Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt met with Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham leader Al-Sharaa at the People’s Palace.
This marks the first visit of a Lebanese political figure to Syria following the fall of Bashar Assad’s regime.
Al-Sharaa made a series of unprecedented statements about Lebanese-Syrian ties following decades of strained and sometimes bloody relations with the former Syrian regime.
Al-Sharaa said, “Syria was a source of concern and disturbance for Lebanon, and its interference in Lebanese affairs was negative,” adding that “the former Syrian regime killed Kamal Jumblatt, Bashir Gemayel, and Rafik Hariri.”
He emphasized that Syria, in its new era, would “stay at equal distance from everyone in Lebanon” and no longer engage in “negative interference in Lebanon.”
Al-Sharaa said that “Lebanon needs a strong economy and political stability that Syria will support” and called on the Lebanese to "erase from their memory the legacy of the old Syria in Lebanon.”
The international community was unable to solve the Syrian problem over 14 years, Al-Sharaa said.
“We took a different path because we believe that people can claim their rights by taking matters into their own hands only,” he added.
Commenting on Hezbollah’s years-long involvement in Syrian affairs in support of Assad’s regime, he said: “This is a new chapter with all components of the Lebanese people, regardless of previous stances.”
Jumblatt saluted the Syrian people for their “great victories and for getting rid of oppression and tyranny.”
He said: “We have a long way to go, and we are suffering from Israeli expansion, so I will present a memorandum on Lebanese-Syrian relations on behalf of the Democratic Gathering.”
Jumblatt believes that “the crimes committed against the Syrian people are similar to those committed in Gaza and Bosnia-Herzegovina and constitute crimes against humanity,” adding that “it is worth referring the matter” to international inquiries.
The delegation headed by Jumblatt included Sheikh Akl of the Unitarian Druze Community, leader of the Progressive Socialist Party Dr. Sami Abi Al-Muna, Taymour Jumblatt, Druze MPs and religious figures.
Jumblatt said: “We hope that Lebanese-Syrian relations will return through the embassies and that all of those who committed crimes against the Lebanese will be held accountable.
“We also hope that fair trials will be held for all those who committed crimes against the Syrian people.”
Also on Sunday, the Lebanese Public Prosecution said that it received a telegram from the American judiciary regarding the arrest of Maj. Gen. Jamil Al-Hassan, director of administration for the Air Force Intelligence under the collapsed Assad regime.
Unconfirmed reports suggest that several officers from the Assad regime fled to Lebanon in the early hours following the collapse of the regime, utilizing illegal crossings managed by Hezbollah.
Those who entered Lebanese territory illegally included members of the Fourth Division, previously led by Maher Al-Assad, including officers of various ranks.
Security reports indicated that “several of them were apprehended while in possession of hundreds of thousands of dollars and quantities of gold, and the detainees were subsequently handed over to the Lebanese General Security.”
Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi confirmed last week that “some Syrian figures crossed overland into Lebanon, and some of them traveled via Beirut airport.”
He also said that photos of wanted Syrian officers had been disseminated to Lebanese air, sea, and land ports for their capture.
In a telegram circulated through Interpol, the US judiciary accuses Gen. Hassan of “war crimes, including genocide committed against the Syrian people by dropping explosive barrels.”
The international warrant has been disseminated to security services, which, as stated by a security source, are currently engaged in efforts to “ascertain whether Hassan is present in Beirut, in anticipation of his arrest and subsequent transfer to the judiciary.”
In a related incident on Sunday, unknown gunmen kidnapped Col. Ahmed Khair Beyk of the Syrian army on the Beirut Airport Road.
A security source linked the kidnapping to “drug and Captagon trafficking,” stating that “the perpetrators are a gang involved in the drug trade.”
Beyk had previously served as an aide to Brig. Gen. Ghassan Bilal in the Syrian army’s Fourth Division.
In other developments, the issue of detainees and opponents of the Syrian regime, held in Lebanese prisons for years, has resurfaced following the fall of the Assad regime in Syria.
Their families held a sit-in in downtown Beirut on Sunday to demand general amnesty.
The protesters called for “speeding up trials and releasing their sons, notably the religious leaders among them.”
The number of detainees stands at 350, including 180 Lebanese and 170 Syrians, many of whom were arrested for supporting the Syrian opposition and labeled as terrorists.
On the other side of the border, the Lebanese Red Cross received seven Lebanese citizens at the Naqoura crossing.
They had been kidnapped by Israeli forces that infiltrated Lebanese territory and subjected them to interrogation.
The Israeli army claimed through its spokesperson Avichay Adraee that the forces of the 188th Brigade uncovered a large Hezbollah combat complex that contained eight weapons depots above and below ground, connected through a network of underground tunnels.
Communication and electrical devices, anti-tank missiles aimed at northern Israeli towns, explosives, computers, and other items were found, said the spokesperson.
The complex was destroyed, and the weapons were seized.
Pope Francis again condemns ‘cruelty’ of Israeli strikes on Gaza
- Comes a day after the pontiff lamented an Israeli airstrike that killed seven children from one family on Friday
- ‘And with pain I think of Gaza, of so much cruelty, of the children being machine-gunned, of the bombings of schools and hospitals. What cruelty’
VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis doubled down Sunday on his condemnation of Israel’s strikes on the Gaza Strip, denouncing their “cruelty” for the second time in as many days despite Israel accusing him of “double standards.”
“And with pain I think of Gaza, of so much cruelty, of the children being machine-gunned, of the bombings of schools and hospitals. What cruelty,” the pope said after his weekly Angelus prayer.
It comes a day after the 88-year-old Argentine lamented an Israeli airstrike that killed seven children from one family on Friday, according to Gaza’s rescue agency.
“Yesterday children were bombed. This is cruelty, this is not war,” the pope told members of the government of the Holy See.
His remarks on Saturday prompted a sharp response from Israel.
An Israeli foreign ministry spokesman described Francis’s intervention as “particularly disappointing as they are disconnected from the true and factual context of Israel’s fight against jihadist terrorism — a multi-front war that was forced upon it starting on October 7.”
“Enough with the double standards and the singling out of the Jewish state and its people,” he added.
“Cruelty is terrorists hiding behind children while trying to murder Israeli children; cruelty is holding 100 hostages for 442 days, including a baby and children, by terrorists and abusing them,” the Israeli statement said.
This was a reference to the Hamas Palestinian militants who attacked Israel, killed many civilians and took hostages on October 7, 2023, triggering the Gaza war.
The unprecedented attack resulted in the deaths of 1,208 people on the Israeli side, the majority of them civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli figures.
That toll includes hostages who died or were killed in captivity in the Gaza Strip.
At least 45,259 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory military campaign in the Palestinian territory, the majority of them civilians, according to data from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.
Those figures are taken as reliable by the United Nations.
