On 28 November, the Australian Parliament is holding a hearing on the human rights implications of recent violence in Iran. In light of this, below is a brief summary of the reported atrocities committed by the autocratic Islamic Government of Iran to date, as reported by legitimate media sources:
- The UN revealed that at least 40 children had died in violence following the killing of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini at the hands of the country’s morality police on Sept. 16.
- The UN has also said that as many as 1,000 children had been detained by the Iranian authorities, including some arrested at their schools. More than 14,000 Iranians have been taken into custody during the unrest, including lawyers, journalists, and students.
- CNN corroborated several reports of sexual violence against protesters and heard accounts of many more. At least one of these caused severe injury, and another involved the rape of an underage boy. In some of the cases CNN uncovered, the sexual assault was filmed and used to blackmail the protesters into silence, according to sources who spoke to the victimsProtesters have been killed in at least 22 of Iran’s 31 provinces, IHR said on Wednesday, including 123 in Sistan-Baluchistan and 32 in Amini’s home province of Kurdistan. By way of example, on 17 October 2022, Armita Abbasi, 20, was rushed to the Imam Ali hospital in Karaj, accompanied by plainclothes officers, according to leaks from that hospital. Her head had been shaved and she was shaking violently. In the accounts, the medical staff attending to her spoke of the horror they felt when they saw evidence of brutal rape.
- More than 65 Iran-based journalists have been arrested, while one newspaper was closed for publishing an account of the death of a 10-year-old that conflicted with the official account.
- An investigation by the FRANCE 24 Observers team has found evidence that shotgun cartridges manufactured by French-Italian manufacturer Cheddite have been used in the repression of protests in Iran.
- An unnamed British-Iranian citizen was arrested in Iran’s Isfahan province on Wednesday for allegedly sharing information with foreign-based news channels.
These are just some examples of the overall brutality of the Islamic Republic's oppression that it has subjected its honorable citizens for more than 44 years. These are the risks protesters and citizen journalists are taking daily using their cameras in the streets or trying to upload videos, for the world (us) to take note of, and raise their voices loudly to ensure their blood are not being spilled in vain!
I strongly urge us all to give voice to these brave voiceless people. I implore the honourable senator Penny Wong to take whatever action necessary to delegitimise the Islamic Republic of Iran and proactively condemn their abhorrent violations of human rights.