By René Wadlow

Repression of protests in Iran continues. A wave of protests swept across the country in the wake of the September 2022 death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Jina Animi, an ethnic Kurd and Sunni Muslim. It is estimated that the Iranian security forces have killed over 500 protesters and arrested some 20,000 persons of all ethnic and religious backgrounds.

In response to the State-led violence, on November 24, 2022, the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council created the International Independent Fact-Finding Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran with the chairmanship of Sera Hossain of Bangladesh.

One aspect of the repression of protests is that religious leaders of the Sunni Muslim communities, especially in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchistan province and in the Kurdish provinces, are being increasingly targeted by the Islamic Republic’s authorities for arrest and imprisonment because of their peaceful criticism of the repression of protests. Iran is a majority Shia Muslim country, and Shiism is the official religion of the State.

Religious minorities include Sunni Muslims, Christians, Baha’is, Zoroastrians, Jews, and the Gonabadi Sufi community. Religious and ethnic identities in Iran often overlap. The Association of World Citizens (AWC) has repeatedly appealed to UN human rights bodies concerning the discrimination and repression of persons of the Baha’i faith.

Another aspect of the repression of protests has been the public hanging of some protesters. The AWC has repeatedly called upon governments for a moratorium on executions with a view of abolishing the death penalty – a penalty that extensive research has shown has little or no impact on the level of crime and too often opens doors to judicial errors and injustices.

The UN International Independent Fact-Finding Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran has called on Nongovernmental Organizations for direct information. The broader community of NGOs needs to keep public attention focused on events in Iran.

Prof. René Wadlow is President of the Association of World Citizens.