By Atousa Pilger
The bodies of a further four women have been identified by the Iranian Resistance after they were murdered by the Iranian regime’s security forces in the crackdown on the nationwide protests that have spread to 189 cities across the country.
Maryam Nouri and Marzieh Abbaszadeh were killed in Robat Karim, Tehran. Parisa Seifi was killed in Kamyaran and Ziba Khoshgvar in Sanandaj, both cities in Iranian Kurdistan. Their identification brings the total number of women known to have been murdered by the regime during these protests to at least 24, while the number of identified martyrs totals 355.
#Iran
Four new names of women among martyrs of the Iran uprising https://t.co/ntHDyZWDa7— NCRIWomen’sCommittee (@womenncri) December 4, 2019
The total number of those murdered during the uprising is over 1,000, but it is difficult to get exact figures because of the regime’s enforced secrecy. The security forces have been removing the bodies of those killed from hospitals and from the streets, burying them in mass graves without informing the families or keeping any sort of records. The fate of some victims may never be known.
The regime’s crackdown on unarmed protesters, who were calling for regime change after 40 years of corruption, is one of the greatest crimes against humanity of the 21st century. They’ve used military–grade weapons to attack protesters and arrested over 12,000 people, who are facing the death penalty.
Still, they cannot stop the protests.
Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), urged the United Nations Security Council, the European Union, and the member states of both, to condemn this massacre and take urgent action to end the killings and release those arrested.
She said that the international community’s inaction regarding the massacre is inexcusable, saying that the mullahs will see this as a green light to continue their crimes, which will leave a deep scar on the conscience of humanity. She said the international community must banish the regime from the community of nations and bring to justice Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, President Hassan Rouhani, and the regime’s other officials.
Rajavi called on the UN Secretary–General to immediately send a fact-finding mission to investigate the killings and visit detention centers in Iran. She also called on the UN Security Council and its president to declare the massacre a crime against humanity and to bring all those responsible to justice.
Impunity for the mullahs has never worked out well, only leading to more violence. A firm response is the only way to stop the regime.
