Iran is cracking down on protesters, unlawfully detaining human rights activists, including new Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi, and carrying out an “alarming” number of executions, the UN independent investigator on human rights in the Islamic Republic said in a report circulated Friday. The wide-ranging report by Javaid Rehman, covering the period from October 2022 through July, was written before the announcement early Friday that the Nobel Peace Prize had been awarded to Mohammadi, a longtime campaigner for women’s rights even from her current cell in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison. Rehman, a Pakistani-born professor of international human rights law at Brunel University in London, singled out Mohammadi among lawyers and human rights defenders imprisoned for their work in the report to the General Assembly. He was highly critical of the “excessive and lethal use of force” unleashed by Iranian authorities in reaction to nationwide protests following the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old member of the Kurdish minority who was arrested for wearing an “improper hijab” or head scarf. For more on the UN human rights report and the alarming situation in Iran, France 24’s Rochelle FERGUSON BOUYAHI is joined by Tara Kangarlou, Author, Award-Winning Journalist and Professor at Georgetown University.
Source: France24.com
