Statement from Iran: “Be Our Voice: Women, Life, Freedom”
Over the past two weeks, the streets of Iran have been witnessing countless accounts of wounds, bloodshed, and arrests following the public rage from the murder of Ms. Mahsa Jina Amini, a Kurdish-Iranian 22-year-old woman who was detained by the morality police for the improper wearing of the hijab.
For two weeks, Iranians have come to the street from all the 31 regions of Iran and in over 150 cities in the world with clear demands and numerous grievances. They are enraged by all the injustices and oppression as a result of 43 years of a dictatorship disguised as a religious democracy called the Islamic Republic. In the midst of an internet shutdown and under open fire, as women cut their hair and set their headscarves on fire, the most chanted slogans are Women, Life, Freedom and Down with the Dictator. Journalists, athletes, activists, artists, actresses, and academic figures have been arrested and detained without any trace.
At a time when very few Member States have taken the initiative to go beyond condemning the murders and arrests, and content with amplifying each other’s messages, Iranian youth urge the world to be their voices. It has been decades that Iranians have been isolated due to the imposed sanctions. Targeting the people, these sanctions have been extremely harmful to the economy and have caused a rise of above 60% in the inflation rate. They have left no access to international media or independent journalists, no international banking to collect donations, and no safe platform to connect to the internet. Iranians go through extremely difficult measures to obtain visas from most countries. They are second class citizens in their own country and abroad. All of this is destructive for any Youth, Peace and Security (YPS) agenda to exist let alone thrive in Iran.
It is in this context that international organisations are urging for an independent investigation into the death of Mahsa Jina Amini and expressing concern for the human rights violations, including the right to protest. In the past week, the atrocities have gone beyond human rights violations.
- On 28 September 2022, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards fired missiles and drones at militant targets in the Kurdish region of neighboring northern Iraq, where authorities said 13 people were killed, including a pregnant woman and her child, as well as over 50 wounded.
- On 30 September 2022, the provinces of Sistan and Baluchistan faced a massacre during which 58 people were announced dead and many others in critical conditions as armed forces opened fire on people after the Friday prayer.
- On 2 October 2022, following their protests for the release of their classmates, hundreds of students were taken hostage in the parking lot of Sharif University, a prestigious university in Tehran. They were trapped inside the university for over 12 hours under open fire as many of them got arrested and taken to unknown places.
- The government of Iran has also denied the entry of Javaid Rehman, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
While there have been numerous videos of young women cutting their hair and burning their scarves, this movement is not about abolishing religion or partitioning Iran, a multi-ethnic country. It is a symbol of resistance, fighting for freedom of choice, and having a decent life. It is for having a safe and thriving civic space, bodily autonomy, access to international resources, accountability, and good governance, which are the pillars of a peaceful and just society.
The events of the past two weeks are extremely traumatising for young Iranians, especially young women, who have experienced at least one run in with the morality police or who have suffered in one way or another due to the specific injustices that they face: namely, the need to seek notarised permission to travel from their father or husband; not having the right to divorce; restrictions to enrolling in certain university courses; inability to report cases of sexual assault; inequality in blood money (Diya); and the disparate value given to men’s testimonies over women, among many other things. These instances of direct, cultural, and structural violence, and the absence of platforms to share their experiences, make these days heavier for them.
International celebrities, athletes, artists, and activists have recognised the courage of Iranians and have been resharing footage, music, and images that have been produced in the past weeks to amplify the voices of Iranians and prevent another massacre like the killing of 1,500 people in November 2019 during the first internet shutdown. It is time to pull Iranian people out of isolation.
As the movement enters its second week, tensions are increasing, and it is becoming a regional issue with gender and human rights dimensions. As primary agents of change, young Iranians invite international organisations to recognise that the movement in Iran is both a YPS and a Women, Peace and Security issue. UN Security Council resolutions on YPS are clear about national governments and authorities’ first responsibility to build/sustain peace and protect young people’s rights. When they are the violent perpetrators and rights violators, the international community must take coordinated action. The protection of young Iranians and civil society must be a high priority in each country’s foreign policy. Today, Iranian youth urge the world to spread their message, and move beyond lip service by taking action before the death toll and detention numbers increase even further.
What can you do?
- Spread the word. Keep tweeting, reposting and resharing the news that comes from Iran. It is important that the momentum doesn’t die anytime soon. The hashtag #MahsaAmini has gotten over 200 million views and it is important that it is kept trending in different languages.
- Play and share the song “Baraye…” wherever you can in solidarity with Iranians. The singer of the song has been detained for writing a song that encompasses four decades of tragedies Iranians experienced. Spotify and Soundcloud.
- Attend protests and rallies organised by the diaspora. Information can be found on Middle East Matters and Hamed Esmaeilion.
- Reach out to your Iranian friends and colleagues for mental health support.
- Call your representatives and request them to work urgently towards considering human rights, gender equality, and democracy as an integral part of their Iran foreign policy. Any international collaboration with the current system means your tax money is going towards bloodshed in Iran.
- Write to universities and ask them to publicly condemn the attack on students at Sharif University.
- Sign Amnesty International’s ‘End the protest bloodshed in Iran’ petition, which calls on states to set up an independent investigative mechanism to investigate and ensure accountability for the serious crimes under international law in Iran.
- Help restore the internet in Iran, so the people can organise and communicate with the world. Please donate to The Tor Project, Toosheh app, and sign up for Google’s Outline VPN which you can share with people you know inside Iran. You can individually facilitate connection with the Snowflake Project!
- Be cautious about donations to Iran as there is no way to transfer money into the country easily.
- Write and call to international organisations, UN agencies, and Member States to take action as quickly as possible—increasing international pressure on the Government of Iran; putting pressure on Member States to bring it to the UN General Assembly, to vote for a mechanism or a resolution that enables the protection of Iranian youth—and try to have a preventive approach, to consider these events as one of the many early warnings in the region.
- Call on YPS champions to put the protection of Iranian youth on the UN Security Council agenda and to take action by establishing Iranian-youth-specific protection funds, like the WPHF.
The sons of Adam are limbs of each other,
Having been created of one essence.
When the calamity of time affects one limb
The other limbs cannot remain at rest.
If you have no sympathy for the troubles of others,
You are unworthy to be called by the name of a Human.
Sa’adi — Iranian Poet
As a network of young peacebuilders, we believe that peaceful youth movements and respect for human rights are at the heart of building constructive conversations and breaking cycles of violence. Hence, in the current state of affairs in Iran, it has become critical to apply pluralistic and inclusive approaches to respect and maintain the fundamental rights of all Iranians, specifically women and youth. If women’s rights are restricted, a whole nation is affected!
Signed:
Jorge Herrera Valderrábano, UNOY Americas
Haseena Shrestha, UNOY Asia
Dorcus Chishumba, UNOY East & Southern Africa
Marjus Ceveli, UNOY Europe
Sarra Messaoudi, UNOY Middle East & North Africa
Sirri Cynthia Wakuna, UNOY West and Central Africa
Our regional and global community of young peacebuilders stands in solidarity with those affected by senseless violence and demands accountability for such actions. Will you join us? Add your signature via this form either with your name and organisation, or alias if you prefer to remain anonymous, in solidarity with young Iranians, civil society, and peacebuilders everywhere.
Co-signed by:
- Dr Helen Berents, Queensland University of Technology
- Charlotte Davidi, UNOY Peacebuilders
- Joseph Akilimali, Youth for Peace DRC
- Ed Hale
- Nkurunziza Raphael, Youth Empowerment and Leadership Initiative Burundi
- Matt P
- Kevin Mechack Sanvura, Peace Building Team
- Florence Waller-Carr, Our Generation for Inclusive Peace (OGIP)
- Alice König, Visualising War and Peace (St Andrews, UK)
- Eliana Canavesio
- Dr Caitlin Mollica, University of Newcastle
- Francesco Viola
- Stefano Simonazzi
- Rafiu Adeniran Lawal, Building Blocks for Peace Foundation
- Volt idea
- Carmen Minotti
- Peaceful
- Celina Del Felice, Agency for Peacebuilding Italy
- Rawan Kahwaji, DARB
- Ana Vieira
- Mikhail Silvestro Sustersic, Agency for Peacebuilding
- Isabella Dardha
- Ilaria Francese
- Mara
- Gabriella Garberi
- Marco
- Adel Albaghdadi, WE Organization Netherlands
- Christian Cirhigiri, Peacemaker 360
- Ndemazea Ruth, Kachem Outreach for Hope (KOFH) Cameroon
- Nicholas Garufi
- Gekkie
- Far
- Tina Mulcahy
- SCI Catalunya
- SCI Switzerland
- Rossana Di Guardia
- Yota Arvaniti (F) Service Civil International-Hellas (SCI-Hellas)
- Tannaz Abasi