The United Nations has called for an independent investigation into the death of a young woman who died in police custody in Iran, calling it a “tragic death” and ” allegations of torture and ill treatment” on the part of the authorities. The U.N.’s Al-Nashif expressed alarm at Amini’s death “and the violent response by security forces to ensuing protests.
The security forces in Iran stopped people from protesting on Monday. This was after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini was arrested and killed for not following the country’s dress code.
Kurdish woman Amini was arrested by Iran’s morality police last week for not covering her hair with a headscarf. She collapsed at a detention center and died three days later.
Iranian police said that Amini died of a heart attack and then released footage that apparently showed the moment she collapsed. Her family told local media that she had no history of heart trouble and said that witnesses reported seeing her shoved into a police car.
Her father, Amjad Amini, told an Iranian news website that authorities pressured him to bury his daughter at night when fewer people would be around to protest, but the family was able to bury her in the morning.
Thousands of protesters across the country protested after Amini’s death. This included those in her home city, Saqez, where she was buried Saturday. Police arrested several demonstrators and used tear gas in Saqez and gunshots and water cannons to break up crowds in Iran’s capital city, Tehran, according to videos shared on social media by Iranian journalists.
Women in Iran are protesting the forced wearing of hijabs by taking them off in public. This has been happening since the Islamic Revolution in 1979. In 2017, even more women started taking part in this protest.
At least five people were killed, 75 were injured, and several were arrested during protests on Monday, according to the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, a human rights organization that monitors the Kurdish areas in western Iran.
“Mahsa Amini’s death needs to be investigated to see if she was tortured and if so, who did it. This should be done by people who are not connected to her case and are good at their jobs. Her family should also have the chance to get information about what happened and to get justice.” Al-Nashif said. “The authorities should stop going after women who do not wear the hijab.”
The United States and the Iranian people mourn her. The Iranian government should end its systemic persecution of women and allow peaceful protest.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian rejected the criticism and said that Amini’s death is being investigated by the judiciary and a parliamentary committees. Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi, who departed for New York on Monday to address the U.N. General Assembly, said that he had told Amini’s family in a phone call that he has ordered an investigation and vowed to pursue the case.
The police in Iran have been bothering women more lately if they think the women’s hijab is not tight enough. This includes saying mean things and also physically hurting them, according to what the United Nations said.
The U.N. Human Rights Office said it has received numerous verified videos of women being slapped across the face, beaten with batons and thrown into police vans for not properly wearing the hijab. The office said there are reports Amini was hit on the head with a baton and her head was struck against a vehicle during her arrest.
Mehdi Forozesh, the director of Iran’s Forensic Medical Organization, said that the results of Amini’s autopsy would be publicized after further review by medical experts.
Elvira Olson is a news reporter for the ABC News affiliate in Los Angeles. She has more than 20 years of experience in journalism and has won numerous awards for her work, including an Emmy.