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In September 2022, the death of Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody after she was arrested by the morality police for wearing an “improper” hijab, sparked widespread protests in Iran. Authorities claim Amini died of a heart attack while in custody, while his family says he was beaten. Demonstrations over his death quickly turned into discontent with the regime.
In the six months since, Iran’s security forces have regularly used draconian tactics to try to quell the protests, going so far as to arrest children. In a report released Thursday, Amnesty International found children arrested during protests and after protests were subjected to electric shocks, had their heads held underwater, were sexually assaulted, and were threatened with rape. Many of the children were released only after signing letters of “repentance” and promising not to participate in protests again, according to human rights organizations. The Iranian government has not responded to the report and did not immediately respond to BuzzFeed News’ request for comment.
A mysterious wave of suspected poisoning across the country has also left more than 1,000 schoolchildren in hospital. Iran’s Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi, whose department led the investigation into the poisoning reports, said in early March that 90% of hospitalizations stemmed from “stress and anxiety caused by the news.” Many Iranians rejected the explanation, calling Vahidi’s claims “ridiculous” and criticizing the regime for not acting on the report despite citizen scrutiny.
In a press release Thursday, the United Nations called the poisoning “deliberate” and condemned the government for failing to protect the girls and investigate the case quickly.
“There is a stark contrast between the rapid deployment of forces to arrest and imprison peaceful protesters and the impossibility of counting months to identify and arrest the perpetrators of large-scale, coordinated attacks against young girls in Iran,” said the UN expert.
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