/ IHRights#Iran: Hossein Amaninejad and Hamed Yavari were executed in Hamedan Central Prison on 11 June. Hossein was arrested… https://t.co/3lnMTwFH6z13 Jun

Reuters: 1500 Killed In Iran Protests- IHR Calls For UN Urgent Action

23 Dec 19
Reuters: 1500 Killed In Iran Protests- IHR Calls For UN Urgent Action

IRAN HUMAN RIGHTS, DECEMBER 3, 2019: According to a special report published by Reuters on Monday, December 23, 2019, about 1,500 people were killed during the recent nationwide protests that started on Nov. 15 in Iran. The numbers, provided to Reuters by three Iranian interior ministry officials, included at least 17 teenagers and about 400 women as well as some members of the security forces and police.

Iran Human Rights (IHR) repeats its call for an urgent reaction by the international community including the UN. IHR's Director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said: "There are no excuses to postpone an urgent session by the UN Human Rights Council. Mass-killing of protesters committed by the Iranian authorities is an international crime and the Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and others responsible for this crime must be held accountable."

 

According to Reuters, the bloodiest crackdown of the protesters since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, was set on notion after an order by the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei issued to the top security and government officials saying: "Do whatever it takes to stop the protests". That order is confirmed by three sources close to the supreme leader’s inner circle and a fourth official, according to the report by Reuters. 

The number of 1,500 killed protesters is significantly higher than the figures published by human rights organizations. According to a report published by IHR on Friday, December 20, at least 324 protesters were killed under the November protests in Iran, including 14 children. The IHR report said: "Iranian authorities have refused to officially announce the death toll so far. Since authorities have imposed a dreadful pressure on the victim’s family members to keep quiet, the actual number of those killed under the protests might be even higher."  The report provided some evidence showing that even bystanders were targeted by the security forces' lethal weapons. 

According to IHR, more than 10,000 people were arrested during and after the protests and many of the detainees are being held under inhumane conditions, under pressure to give televised confessions. Witnesses have told IHR that many of the detainees have been severely tortured. One witness from Rajai Shahr Prison told IHR: “We can hear shouting and crying of the detainees under torture from the wards they are held in. I have seen one of them at the prison’s medical center with smashed palm and fingers. Authorities were going to send him to a hospital for amputation of his hand.” Many of the detainees are at risk of being sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Courts.