On Thursday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) released its annual report on Iran, which painted a grim picture of the country’s situation in the year 2022. According to the report; Hundreds of people, who were charged unjustly, were issued death sentences in summary and unfair trials.
The situation got worse in September, after the death of a young woman in custody of the morality police for not wearing the mandatory headscarf, sparked a wave of protests – mostly peaceful in nature. By November, human rights groups were investigating the deaths of at least 341 protesters, 52 of them being children.
The report also mentioned that Iran resorted to using bullets, assault rifles and firearms to suppress protests. 16 death sentences were issued and four were executed despite international demands for them to be cancelled. Further, it was reported that more than 15,000 protesters were held in overcrowded prisons without access to legal advice.
Additionally, the NGO authorities raised concerns regarding the difficulties women face in matters related to marriage, divorce, inheritance and decisions on parental authority. Cases of femicide were also highlighted while admonishing the lack of regulations to protect the survivors.
In this regard, HRW urged countries, especially those of the “global south”, to increase their pressure on Tehran to stop its repression.
