Human rights crisis in Iran, says UN rights chief, launches probe

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Chief Volker Turk said that a “full-fledged” crisis is underway in Iran amid a crackdown on protesters.
He said that Iran is in a “full-fledged human rights crisis” as authorities clamp down on anti-regime dissidents.
The Islamic Republic has been gripped by a wave of anti-government protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini.
Turk called for “independent, impartial and transparent investigative processes” into violations of human rights in Iran during a special session of the UN Human Rights Council.
Authorities have unleashed a deadly crackdown on demonstrators, with reports of forced detentions and physical abuse being used to target the country’s Kurdish minority group.
Security forces have reportedly responded to protests by using lethal force against unarmed demonstrators and bystanders who posed “no threat,”
Turk said to the 47-member states council in Geneva.
More than 14,000 people, including children, have been arrested in connection with the protests, according to Turk. He said that at least 21 of them currently face the death penalty and six have already received death sentences, reported CNN.
The unprecedented national uprising has taken hold of more than 150 cities and 140 universities in all 31 provinces of Iran, Turk added.
“We received reports that injured protesters fear going to the hospital for risk of being arrested by security forces,” he said.
threatened or suspended in part from entering university campuses,” said Turk.
The UN rights chief further urged Iran to fully respect the fundamentals rights.
The Human Rights Council has created a fact-finding mission, related to the protests in Iran that began in mid-September and now spiraled throughout the country.
This follows calls from UN human rights chief Volker Turk for an independent investigation.
The Council, meeting in a special session in response to the crisis that was sparked by the death in September in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, heard Turk criticise “the fortress mentality of those who wield power” in Iran. He insisted that the “unnecessary and disproportionate use of force” must end. “It pains me to see what is happening in the country,” he told the packed chamber. “The images of children killed. Of women beaten in the streets. Of people sentenced to death.”
The UN High Commissioner highlighted how the security forces, notably the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Basij forces have used live ammunition, birdshot and other metal pellets.