Iranian security forces have killed at least 326 people since protests across the country erupted two months ago, the Norway-based Iran Human Rights NGO group (IHRNGO) said.
That number includes 43 children and 25 women, the group said in an update of its death toll on Saturday – saying its published number represented an “absolute minimum”.
THE CNN cannot independently verify the case as non-state media, the Internet and protest movements in Iran have been suppressed. The death toll varies according to opposition groups, international human rights organizations and journalists following the ongoing protests.
Iran is facing one of its biggest and most unprecedented displays of dissent following the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman detained by moral police allegedly for not wearing her hijab correctly.
Public anger over his death has combined with a series of grievances against the Islamic Republic’s oppressive regime to fuel the demonstrations, which continue despite lawmakers urging the country’s judiciary to “show no mercy” to the protesters.
Despite the threat of arrests – and harsher punishments for those involved – Iranian celebrities and athletes have come out to support anti-government protests in recent weeks.
The IHRNGO urged the international community to take “firm and timely action” on the rising death toll and reiterated the need to establish a mechanism to “hold the Islamic Republic authorities accountable for their serious violation of human rights”.
“Establishing an international investigation and accountability mechanism by the UN will facilitate the process of holding perpetrators to account in the future and will increase the cost of continued repression by the Islamic Republic,” said IHRNGO Director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam.
Since the start of the protests, deaths have been recorded in 22 provinces, according to IHRNGO. Most were reported in Sistan and Balochistan, Tehran, Mazandaran, Kurdistan and Gilan provinces.
Iranian authorities have also charged at least 1,000 people in Tehran province with their alleged involvement in the protests.
The human rights group said dozens of protesters faced “security-related charges” and were at risk of execution.
On Friday, United Nations experts urged the Iranian authorities to “stop indicting people on charges punishable by death for participating, or alleged participation, in peaceful demonstrations” and “stop using the death penalty as a tool to suppress protests.
Source: CNN Brasil
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