A dramatic increase in gasoline prices last November, which came amid an economic crisis exacerbated by Washington’s sanctions campaign, sparked widespread anti-government demonstrations. Thousands of young, mostly working-class protesters took to the streets in at least 100 cities, demanding a complete overhaul of the political establishment.
An unknown number of protesters were killed in the bloody crackdown that followed. Iran, which blamed the unrest on interference from foreign governments, acknowledged in May that as many as 230 people died. The US State Department estimated at least 1,000 Iranians died in the chaos.
“Videos showing Iran’s security forces deliberately killing and injuring unarmed protesters and bystanders sent shockwaves around the world. Much less visible has been the catalog of cruelty meted out to detainees and their families by Iranian officials away from the public eye,” said Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International’s deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa.
Amnesty International says there were rapid-fire trials behind closed doors presided over by biased judges who relied on torture-induced “confessions.” Without access to lawyers, more than a dozen prisoners received flogging punishments, the report said. At least three people were handed death sentences for “enmity against God” relating to vandalism, and another is facing possible execution.
Amnesty International has collected documentary evidence on the case of 304 people it said were killed by security officials in five days.
There was no immediate comment on the report from the Iranian government
