On September 13, 2022, Masha Amini she was brutally beaten by the so-called morality police. She was wearing the veil, mandatory in Iran, but it did not cover his head “correctly”. That was enough for the officers to drag her into the van, but they beat her so hard violence They left her in a cerebral coma. Three days later, this young Iranian woman of Kurdish origin and only 22 years old died in the hospital.
His murder aroused discomfort on the part of society and unleashed a wave of protests in which strict dress laws were denounced that since 1979 impose the use of jihab. Failure to do so carries penalties of jail up to two months, but the punishment for participating in demonstrations is much higher. In addition, the police respond to the slightest dissent “by routinely subjecting women and girls to arbitrary detention, torture and other ill-treatment”, according to Amnesty International. Many even challenged the theocratic regime of the ayatollahs cutting their hair and burning their handkerchiefs in public.
Almost a year later, and despite the harsh repression, the protest movement is still active. That is why Tehran is going to the artificial intelligence (AI) to tighten their grip on the citizenry. According to denounces the NGO Article 19the authorities are using surveillance cameras with security systems facial recognition that allow them to identify women who are not wearing the veil. Thus, the police can punish them without having to intervene directly.
Data of all citizens
The protests against the veil law have been the most serious the country has experienced since 2019, when the rise in the price of gasoline set the streets on fire. More than 500 people have died due to police excesses and others have been sentenced to death. In addition, its clear character feminist it caused the demonstrations to go around the world, accentuating the pressure on the Islamic regime. Although some 80,000 prisoners were pardoned in March, including those who came out to denounce Amini’s murder, various opponents pointed out that the amnesty seeks to appease the protesters.
In 2015, Tehran created a national database where it stores biometric data of citizenship such as their fingerprint or their iris. This information is especially sensitive, since these physical characteristics are unique and allow individuals to be identified. According to Amnesty International, more and more women in Iran are receiving complaints at home for not wearing the hijab while driving, including a photo. Since April 15, more than a million notifications have already been sent.
gender apartheid
Tehran continues to oil its repressive machinery to try to intimidate critics. That is why it is preparing the approval of the Law to Support the Culture of Chastity and Hijab, a new, even more draconian regulation that equates not wearing a veil with nudity and that punishes it with prison terms of up to five years. in addition to other penalties such as the confiscation of the car, salary deductions or the impossibility of accessing banking services. On August 13, the Iranian parliament approved that it be a commission behind closed doors that is in charge of carrying it out, thus avoiding public debate. The law will also prosecute those who advocate from the social networks for not wearing the scarf.
“The bill could be described as a form of gender apartheid, as the authorities appear to rule through systemic discrimination with the intention of repressing women and girls into total submission,” they have denounced experts from the UN.
The regime would have bought these surveillance cameras from the Chinese company Tiandy and it is suspected that the Chinese giant Huawei He would also have made a business of selling the facial recognition systems used to persecute the country’s women. Tehran would also use Bosch security cameras made in Sweden and the Netherlands that have been modified to suit its repressive purposes, according to hacker group Ghiyam Ta Sarnegouni.
intimidation method
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Although the actual capacity of this technologystate-affiliated media such as the Fars news agency have shown on television how your new system works, which apparently is capable of detecting breaches of the law. Whether by day or by night, every unveiled face will be identified, they say.
The authorities have long adopted this method of intimidation. “Following an initial warning by text message, people who persist in ignoring the hijab requirement in places of public service will be denied access to services,” the Chairman of the Islamic Council’s Council Committee recently explained. “If these people continue to resist complying with the rule, the matter will be referred to the judicial authorities for further investigation.”