By Azita Carlson
Since Friday 15th November, people across Iran have been participating in the most significant uprising that the mullahs have ever had to deal with. The regime is well aware that the people are a real threat to the regime’s survival and that they will continue to push back against the regime until it collapses.
For this reason, the regime has responded to the protesters with extreme violence and brutality. Many of the people that have been killed, of which there are said to be more than 1,500, were shot in the head, chest or a vital organ. Amnesty International has said that this is a clear indication that the security forces in Iran are “shooting to kill”.
So far, the protests have spread to almost 200 cities. The movement is nationwide and it shows an overwhelming desire on the part of the people to see regime change. The courage of the people who risk being arrested, injured or even killed, is a testament to their determination.
There have been thousands upon thousands of people arrested, described by Amnesty International as a “horrifying wave of arrests”. There are calls on the part of Amnesty International and the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) for the United Nations to look into the situation in Iran urgently to address what has happened in the country in the past month.
The President-elect of the NCRI, the main opposition to the Iranian regime, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, has called on the relevant authorities to urgently act to put an end to the regime’s violent crackdown on the people. She said that the regime is responsible for this shocking crime that she describes as “undoubtedly one of the most horrific crimes of the 21st century”.
Over 1,500 killed in the Iranian people’s nationwide uprising, This shocking crime is undoubtedly one of the most horrific crimes of the 21st century and by any measure amounts to a manifest case of crimes against humanity #Iranhttps://t.co/pT8KZoHNkr pic.twitter.com/1yNfpdRBYu
— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) 15 december 2019
The regime, in its crackdown on protesters, is trying to prevent the rest of the world from finding out what is happening inside the country. It is pressuring and threatening the people into silence and – to reinforce this further – has been blocking the internet so that the rest of the world has trouble getting information from inside Iran.
Internet shutdowns are also a way for the regime to prevent people from communicating with each other. Last week, state media outlets were reporting on the failure of the Minister of Communication to implement any internet shutdowns in the initial 24 hours of the uprising. Many officials have criticized his slow response, saying that this gave the Iranian opposition more than enough time to organize the protests and urge people to take to the streets.
However, the people’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), or the Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) as it is also known, has overcome much more than an internet block in the past few decades.
Philip Luther of Amnesty International said that it is the Iranian regime’s “systematic use of torture” that goes against the obligation to protect every detainee from all forms of ill-treatment. He said that UN officials and other authorities must be granted access to prison and detention centers in order to assess the situation accurately. “Without urgent international pressure, thousands will remain at risk of torture and other ill-treatment.”
