A collective of victims of the state-led suppression amid the 2022 "Women, Life, Freedom" protests has initiated a pioneering legal case accusing 4 dozen specified Iranian authorities of suspected human rights violations.
Judicial Move Launched in the Argentinian System
The application for a criminal investigation to be commenced was submitted within the Argentinian legal system. This action was made by a group of Iranians with support from a non-profit advocacy organization. Argentina's judicial system are noted for accepting cases based on universal jurisdiction.
The filing claims that the actions from Iran's security forces to the unrest entailed "shooting lethal rounds, marker guns, metal pellets not intended for crowd control, and other projectiles at protesters." The case further states widespread detentions, custodial torture, and executions of protesters that are said to persist to this day.
Identities Withheld
Named individuals from within the spectrum of Iran's security services have been named in the legal documents, but their identities are currently being kept confidential.
Personal Stories Fuel the Complaint
One of the individuals behind the case, residing in the United Kingdom Mahsa Piraei, stated that the aim "goes beyond retribution in a private capacity, but accountability and transparency." Her parent, Minoo Majidi, aged 62, was shot dead in the autumn of 2022. Forensic analysis showed more than 167 metal pellets had been discharged into her posterior at point-blank range. She had been participating in a public demonstration regarding the death of Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish woman who died after arrest.
Piraei, among Majidi's three offspring, was based abroad at the time of her parent's violent demise. She traveled back to Iran at great risk to see the gravesite. Her sibling Roya published a image of herself by their mother's grave with her scalp shaved on a personal social media account. A contact circulated the image, which went viral, eventually compelling Roya to seek exile for Turkey.
Piraei remarked: "Via official complaints and documentation the intention is to safeguard proof, name crimes and stop the disappearance." She described her parent's killing as "part of a pattern but part of a widespread tactic."
Other Litigants Consist of Those Shot in the Eye
The additional complainants who have come forward are Kowsar Eftekhari and Mersedeh Shahinkar, both individuals who suffered eye injuries at point-blank by paintball guns.
Eftekhari, a 23-year-old student, was hit in the eye in October 2022. She had been protesting for weeks, observing fellow protesters being hit by live ammunition and being beaten herself with stun devices. During a demonstration on a day in October, she was at a rally near a university when a individual fired at her with several projectiles from a range of about a metre. He then reportedly fired at her eye when she did not respond to his order to disperse. A footage of the attack showing injuries from her eye circulated widely, and she was eventually offered protection in Germany.
Shahinkar, aged 38 when assaulted on 18 October, only understood what had occurred when she noticed something wet on her cheek. Fellow demonstrators cautioned her not to enter an ambulance for fear of being transported to a detention center. When she finally got to a health center, a staff member told her to leave because they would not treat demonstrators. A medical professional assessed her and directed her to a medical center, where Shahinkar pretended a stone had inadvertently hurt her eye so she would not be denied treatment. She shared details of her wounds online, and in January 2023, undercover agents confronted her, causing her to leave the country. She later was awarded a notable international award as a figure of the campaign.
Global Legal Concept Provides Basis for Case
The individuals seeking the inquiry assert that the filing is not viewed just as a symbolic gesture with slim prospect of a concrete result. This legal principle enables complaints to be examined in a different state even if the violation did not happen in that nation and the suspect is not present there. The Argentinian system has notably open regulations on such matters in the world.
The concept of international justice has in the past facilitated numerous guilty verdicts and the launch of prosecutions involving offenses committed in numerous nations. Proceedings are presently being handled in several different countries.
As the request is solely for a legal inquiry, and this is not seeking financial compensation, there is no demand by the litigants for financial restitution. This filing would not be the first instance against Iranian figures brought in Argentina.
