CNN
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Five people were killed by Iranian security forces’ bullets during protests that erupted with the death of Mahsa Amini, who was in police custodyaccording to the Human Rights Watch.
Hingau Human Rights, a registered Norwegian organization that monitors human rights violations in Iran, said five people were shot dead during demonstrations in Iran’s Kurdish region on Monday. It added that 75 others were injured in other cities over the weekend.
Acting United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Nada Al-Nashif issued a statement on Tuesday expressing concern over the “violent response by [Iranian] Security forces’ over the demonstrations.
Meanwhile, Tehran’s governor, Mohsen Mansouri, accused the protesters of attacking police and destroying public property, claiming in a tweet on Twitter Monday night that the protesters were “fully organized and trained to cause unrest in Tehran.”
CNN was unable to independently verify reports of deaths and injuries.
Protests erupted after the death of Amena 22-year-old Iranian woman who died in Tehran after being arrested by Iran’s morality police last week.
Iranian officials said that Amini died on Friday after suffering a “heart attack” and fell into a coma following her arrest last Tuesday. However, her family said she did not suffer from a heart condition, reported “Extension News,” a pro-reform Iranian media outlet that claimed to have spoken to Amini’s father.
Modified security camera footage released by Iranian state media showed Amini collapsing at a “re-education” center where she was taken to receive “instruction” on her clothes.
Iran’s morality police are part of the country’s law enforcement and are tasked with enforcing the Islamic Republic’s strict social rules, including a dress code that obliges women to wear a headscarf in public.
The UN human rights office said in its statement on Tuesday that the morality police have expanded their street patrols in recent months and subjected women believed to be wearing “loose headscarves” to verbal and physical harassment and arrest.
She added: “(OHCHR) has received and verified several videos of violent treatment of women, including slapping women in the face, beating them with batons and throwing them into police trucks.”
Al-Nashef said Amini’s death and allegations of torture and ill-treatment should be “promptly, impartially and effectively investigated by an independent competent authority.”
Iranian police said Amini’s death was an “unfortunate accident” and denied that she was physically harmed while in custody, the semi-official Fars News Agency reported on Monday.
Iranian officials said they had conducted an autopsy on Amini’s body. Speaking on Saturday on state TV, the director of Iran’s Forensic Medicine Organization, Mahdi Foruzesh, said the results would be announced after further examination by medical experts.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Greater Tehran Police Chief Hossein Rahimi said the police “did everything” to keep her alive.
But the protesters did not accept the explanations given by the police. The United Nations said thousands of people took to the streets in cities including Tehran, Isfahan, Karaj, Mashhad, Rasht, Saqees and Sanandaj to demand justice and accountability.
The semi-official Fars News Agency reported that the protesters were “not convinced” of the police’s justification of Amini’s death and claimed that she died “under torture”.
After Amini’s funeral ceremony on Saturday, security forces fired tear gas at protesters in her hometown of Saqqaz, in Iran’s Kurdistan region, according to Iran’s Fars Agency, while Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency said protesters were demanding answers from police and allegedly threw stones at the protesters. Governor’s office.
Fars Agency also published a video clip showing demonstrators demonstrating in the capital of the Kurdistan region, Sanandaj, late on Sunday evening, chanting slogans against the officials.
One of the videos released by the Free Union of Iran Workers showed protesters in Sanandaj chanting “Death to the dictator.” Another video showed women taking off their headscarves and waving at them in protest in Tehran.
Separately, internet watchdog NetBlocks said Monday that its real-time data shows “near-total disruption of internet connectivity in Sanandaj”.
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