Women in Iran are going without hijabs as the 2nd anniversary of Mahsa Amini's death approaches

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00:00Now, it's been two years since protests broke out in Iran following the death of Masa Amini.

00:04The 22-year-old died in custody after she was detained by morality police for improperly

00:10wearing her veil. The months-long mass protest movement which ensued shook the Islamic Republic

00:16to its core, but a heavy-handed crackdown soon followed. We can now bring in Naseem

00:22Papajani, Iran campaigner at Amnesty International. Thank you so much for joining us here

00:28on France 24. Now, in the aftermath of Masa Amini's death in police custody, there was a

00:33heavy-handed crackdown in a bid to snuff out those protests. Where do things stand now in Iran?

00:40So, two years on from the start of the Women, Life, and Freedom uprising, what we have seen

00:45is that victims, survivors, and their families are still reeling from the devastating crackdown

00:51that the Iranian authorities carried out both during the time of the uprising and in the

00:55aftermath. There has been no effective, impartial, independent investigation into

01:02the serious human rights violations Iranian authorities carried out both at that time

01:06and the aftermath. And those family members who have been trying to seek truth and justice for

01:11the unlawful killings of their loved ones themselves have been facing reprisals from

01:17the authorities, including death threats, arbitrary detention, and unjust prosecution,

01:23and essentially a relentless harassment by the authorities as well.

01:27Nasim, in the aftermath of Masa Amini's death, for months and months, we saw this sort of defiance

01:33out on the streets, particularly of Iran's capital, Tehran. Is that defiance still continuing?

01:40During the uprising, there were nationwide protests across the country, protesting,

01:45and with people protesting against decades of oppression and gender-based discrimination.

01:52And since that time, we have seen that the powerful women's rights movement, which started

01:57before the death in custody of Gina Amini, but continued and has grown stronger, with many women

02:03and girls still appearing in public, defying draconian and discriminatory force bailing laws

02:09without their mandatory headscarves in public, riding the metro, walking in public. And this

02:15movement really very much continues inside the country. So the movement continues. I want to

02:20talk about the change of leadership at the top, because of course, since Masa Amini's death,

02:24Iran has a new president now. Massoud Pazeshkian is seen as a reformer. He's even named a critic

02:32of the country's notorious morality police as his vice president for women and family affairs.

02:38Is that just for optics, or is there a real change happening on that front?

02:44Well, what we can see inside Iran is what's happening inside the country. And what is

02:49happening inside the country is, one, the bill that has been in the works since last year,

02:55since spring of 2023, the bill to promote the culture of chastity and hijab, which will

03:02increase prison sentences against women and girls who appear unveiled in public, amongst other

03:07penalties, will expand and deny women their economic rights, as well, has continued to progress.

03:15It's now with the Guardian Council for review of amendments. And once it comes back to Iran's

03:21parliament, it is expected to pass. So nothing there has changed. What we've also seen is that

03:26the enforcers of Iran's discriminatory force bailing laws continue to enforce it in the streets.

03:32In August, there was a social media video that went viral on Persian language social media,

03:39showing two 14-year-old girls who had no headscarves on their heads, violently being

03:45beaten. And afterwards, one of the 14-year-old girls gave an interview to media in Iran describing

03:51how she had been beaten so severely. And the concept basically described her torture and

03:58other ill treatment. So really, we haven't actually seen anything on the ground to indicate

04:04the situation has changed. If anything, the authorities' commitment to implementing compulsory

04:11bailing in public spaces very much seems something that they remain committed to,

04:18based on the situation on the ground. Nassim, we see that there have been calls for the

04:25international community to take more action. But what does action really look like,

04:30considering sanctions and stuff doesn't really influence what's going on inside the country?

04:36So this is a really important question. One action that the international community can broadly take

04:42is that since the uprising, we have seen that the authorities have resorted to ever-increasing

04:48use of the death penalty as a tool to essentially terrorize the public and instill fear.

04:54There have been increased numbers of executions. 2023 marked the highest number of executions

05:00carried out in Iran in the last eight years. All indications for 2024 also show distressingly that

05:06that pattern is set to continue onwards. So one could be taking action, calling on the Iranian

05:13authorities to immediately implement a moratorium on all executions with a view to abolishing the

05:18death penalty. Speaking out against their use of the death penalty puts them under pressure.

05:23But also beyond that, because there is no domestic prospect for justice inside Iran,

05:29as family members who've been seeking truth and justice repeatedly have demonstrated,

05:33what can happen is, and this is what Amnesty International is calling for, for states to

05:38initiate criminal investigations into suspected Iranian officials who are suspected of committing

05:44crimes under international law. And once there's sufficient evidence, issue arrest warrants and

05:51seek prosecutions against those officials to send a clear signal to the Iranian authorities that the

05:55international community will take action against the crimes that they've been carrying out and

06:01serious human rights violations. Nassim Papayani, we're going to have to leave with that. Thank you

06:05very much for joining us on the program today. Thank you.

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