‘Children tortured, abused and killed by Iranian security forces’

Human Rights Watch said in a statement on Tuesday that it and other NGOs have documented “the widespread use of lethal force against protesters, including children.” It investigated the abuse of at least 11 children between September 2022 (when mass protests occurred following the death of Iranian Kurdish woman Mohsa Amini, who was arrested for not following the strict dress code imposed on women) and February 2023. But an Iranian lawyer claims to be aware In 28 other cases, children were tried for obscure crimes (“enmity against God” or “corruption on earth”), punishable by death or amputation.

Human Rights Watch also learned of the case of two 16-year-old girls who were killed after participating in demonstrations in September. The parents found the body of one of them ten days later, and the other died after being beaten by the security forces. But Iranian rights groups say they have recorded the deaths of 68 children among the 537 people killed by security forces during the crackdown on protests.

“Iranian leaders have unleashed their brutal security forces to sexually abuse and torture children, and have not spared minors from their ridiculously biased trials,” said Tara Sepehri Far, Iran researcher at Human Rights Watch. “In the past seven months, the authorities have not hesitated to expand the state’s coercive means to silence even children,” she said.

ambiguous violations

The NGO notes that the authorities have also arrested, interrogated and prosecuted the children. Judges denied parents access to a lawyer of their choice to defend their children, and children were charged with vague crimes and prosecuted outside juvenile courts.

Therefore, Human Rights Watch calls on the United Nations to investigate the suppression of demonstrations, as well as to investigate the mistreatment of minors.