Amnesty International updated its death toll from the fuel price protests that erupted on November 15. In just four days, security forces killed at least 304 people and injured thousands, according to the watchdog. “Harrowing testimony from eyewitnesses suggests that, almost immediately after the Iranian authorities massacred hundreds of those participating in nationwide protests, they went on to orchestrate a wide-scale clampdown designed to instill fear and prevent anyone from speaking out about what happened,” said Philip Luther, Middle East and North Africa Research Director at Amnesty International.
On November 26, Hossein Naghavi Hosseini, a spokesperson for Parliament’s national security and foreign policy committee, said some 7,009 people had been arrested.
But sources have told Amnesty International that security forces were still conducting raids across the country as of December. People were arrested in their homes and workplaces. Amnesty received reports arbitrary arrests. Journalists, students and human rights defenders, including minority rights and labor rights activists, and ethnic minorities were targeted. Some prisons and detention centers were reportedly overcrowded.
The organization also received eyewitness accounts and video evidence indicating that some detainees have been subjected to torture and other ill-treatment, including through beatings and floggings.
As part of a violent & deadly crackdown, #Iran’s authorities have been arbitrarily arresting thousands of protesters who are now at risk of torture and other ill-treatment. Sign the petition and call for those arbitrarily arrested to be released. Act now. https://t.co/aE630c3M4l
— Amnesty International (@amnesty) December 17, 2019