COPENHAGEN, OCTOBER 25 (IPS) – It’s been more than a month since Bayan, a 30-year-old Persian language teacher, last left home in the Kurdish city of Piranshahr, 730 northwest of Tehran. Her parents believe they must protect her from what might happen to a protester in Iran.
“I told them that I am ready to die now in this war, not languish in this country,” the woman told IPS by phone. Like the rest of the interviewees from the Danish capital and living in Iran, she did not want to reveal her identity for fear of reprisals. She added that her family is very afraid of detention, torture and especially the possibility of sexual violence by security forces inside the prisons.
Following the tragic death of Mahsa Amini – a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd who died in police custody after she was detained in Tehran for “inappropriate attire” -, thousands of young women and men has been chanting “Women, Life, Freedom” in the streets of Iran since mid-September. However, there were many unseen Iranian women among the protesters. Like Bayan, many people yearn for freedom but cannot leave their home.
Without a doubt, it’s easier for the men. Despite the brutal crackdown by riot forces, Soran, Bayan’s younger brother, said he took part in most of the protests in the city. His parents also warned him of the possible consequences, but they couldn’t stop him from leaving the house.
“I tried to convince my parents to let my sister join, but they wouldn’t let me. So we figured out a safer way to get in,” the 24-year-old Kurd told IPS. Together, they made contact lists of many foreign journalists.
“My brother goes out to join the protests and also gather news. I reach out to the journalists on the list to let them know what’s going on here: I send them videos, photos and the names of people we think have been detained by security forces,” he said. Bayan explained. “I hope what I do helps somehow.”
According to the state news agency IRNAMore than 1000 people including journalists have been arrested across Iran, but the actual number is estimated to be much higher.
No official data on the number of people arrested in recent Iranian protests, On October 18 reportThe United Nations warned of “mass arrests of protesters,” including the detention of at least 90 civil rights activists, human rights defenders, lawyers, artists and journalists.
Iranian journalist Niloofar Hamedi was among those arrested. On September 16, Hamedi was admitted to Kasra Hospital in Tehran, where Mahsa Amini was being treated after she was detained by the ethics police. Hamedi later released a photo of Amini’s parents hugging and crying in the hospital. The photo quickly went viral along with Hamedi’s report of Amini’s death, which eventually turned into nationwide protests.
In the country’s capital, Tehran, 38-year-old mother-of-two Neda does the same. From the beginning, she sheltered dozens of protesters who were chased by security forces and needed a place to hide.
“It first happened on the second night of protests in Tehran. A group of six young women and men are slamming doors for help as police chase them down the street. It was before midnight. I open the door as fast as I can and close it even faster. The kids woke up and we all panicked. I was so moved that I cried and hugged one of the girls. Some of them also cried. I can’t forget their childish innocent faces,” the Iranian woman told IPS over a phone conversation.
Since that night, Neda has been available whenever there is a protest in their neighborhood. She provides food, water, medicine or whatever else is needed to protesters who are hiding from riot forces.
“One night, a boy was shot in the right leg. I called a friend of mine who is a doctor to treat him at my place. We cannot risk taking him to the hospital for security reasons.”
Neda says all she wants is to see the end of the Islamic Republic’s power. “I look forward to seeing my children grow up in a country where women are respected, free and equal. I just want to see the demise of this regime with my own eyes.”
However, she found it difficult to convince her husband to let her out of the house and join the street protests.
“Everybody wants a mother of two to stay at home with the kids. I feel like I’m on fire. I stayed at home while these young people risked their lives on the street. Sometimes I feel so helpless and guilty,” she admits.
Behind the slogan
As of October 15, at least 215 people including 27 children have been killed in protests in Iran, said the Norway-based Iran Human Rights group. report.
“Reckless state violence even against children and prisoners, coupled with false statements by officials of the Islamic Republic, led the international community to establish an independent mechanism under the supervision of the Islamic Republic. United Nations to investigate and hold the perpetrators of such egregious human rights violations accountable,” the organization’s director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, said in a statement. report.
On October 17, Amnesty International also Is called The UN Human Rights Council held a special session on Iran “as a matter of urgency” and called on the Council to establish “an independent mechanism with investigative, reporting and accountability functions to deal with the most serious crimes under international law and other gross violations of rights that have occurred in Iran.”
Iranian authorities have blamed the West for inciting the unrest. “Who would have believed that a girl’s death was so important to Westerners?” The country’s foreign minister, Hussein Amir Abdollahian, speak on October 15.
Despite the growing crackdown by Iran’s security forces, protests continue to spread across the country thanks to the likes of Hana, 41. She lives with her husband and their two children in Bukan, 478 kilometers west of Tehran, in the province of Azerbaijan. The city of about 200,000 people has seen a wave of protests and strikes over the past month. However, she could not join the protesters on the street.
“I stayed at home to take care of the children, but my husband protested. He believes the kids need me more than they need him in the event of detention, injury or even death due to the brutal crackdown by security forces on protesters,” Hana told IPS. by phone.
She owned a women’s clothing store and she joined all the strikes to show protest against the state. Security forces broke the windows of her shop and many other shops in the city as a tactic to force them to end the strike.
“I don’t give up. It was the least I could do to contribute to the uprising,” said the Iranian woman. “Women, life and freedom,” she emphasizes, is more than just a slogan.
“It is a lifelong goal for most Iranian women, who have been subjected to all kinds of pressure from family, from society and above all from the state and the country’s anti-women laws.”
© Inter Press Service (2022) – All rights reservedOrigin: Inter Press Service
