23 children were killed last month during protests in Iran, according to a new report from an Amnesty International. The human rights group accuses Iran’s security forces of targeting young people “with impunity”.
According to the 19-page report released by Amnesty International on Thursday, at least 23 children were killed in the last 10 days of September alone. Some of those children were only 11 years old.
Nationwide protests against the Islamic regime that has ruled Iran for decades have gripped the country after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini last month. Amini died after being taken into custody by the vice squad for apparently not wearing her hijab correctly. Her death has sparked violent clashes between protesters and authorities, reportedly leaving dozens dead.
In a statement, Amnesty said the “brutal crackdown” by the Iranian authorities has been accompanied by a frontal attack on child protesters who have taken to the streets boldly in search of a future free of political oppression and inequality. “The child victims included 20 boys, between 11 and 17 years old, and 3 girls, two of whom were 16 years old and one 17 years old,” the statement said.
Amnesty said that “nearly half of registered child victims belonged to minority groups” and were killed by Iranian security forces during “Bloody Friday” on September 30 – described by the rights watchdog as the “deadliest day” of the government’s crackdown.
Iron grip
Iran’s security forces have killed at least 23 children and injured many more in an effort to break the spirit of resistance among the country’s youth and maintain their iron grip on power at all costs. amnesty. The rights group said they believe “the actual number of children killed by Iranian security forces is higher” and are continuing the investigation.
The death toll reported by Amnesty does not include children killed during the October protests, including a 7-year-old boy who died in his mother’s arms on Sunday after security forces fired on a crowd of protesters, according to a report by the Oslo-based Kurdish rights group Hengaw.
In total, Amnesty has registered the names and details of 144 men, women and children killed by Iranian security forces between the start of the protests and October 3. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called the protesters “agents of the West” and called for punishments, the state news agency IRNA said.
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