Iranian Crackdown After Woman Dies in Police Custody

The death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini on September 16 in a hospital in Tehran after being arrested by the “morality police” for wearing an “improper hijab” has sparked protests in several cities and universities in Iran.

Videos circulating on social media and accounts from witnesses indicate that authorities are using teargas to disperse protesters and have apparently used lethal force in Kurdistan province.  

Tara Sepehri Far, senior Iran researcher at Human Rights Watch, said the following:  

“Cracking down with teargas and lethal force against protesters demanding accountability for a woman’s death in police custody reinforces the systematic nature of government rights abuses and impunity. Mahsa Amini should never have been arrested. Iran’s abusive ‘morality police’ should be abolished and compulsory hijab laws and others that violate women’s rights should be rescinded immediately.”