Hemorrhage, brain crush, smashed skull. These are the injuries listed on the death certificate of 17-year-old Alireza Nouri, quoted by human rights organization Amnesty International in a new report released Wednesday March 4 on the suppression of the November 2019 protests in Iran. Cause of death : "Collision with the head of a fast object. " Quick like a rifle bullet. But the word is never used.
The death of young Alireza is among the 23 cases documented by Amnesty International of minors killed by Iranian security forces during this episode of massive protests suppressed in the blood by the authorities.
Four months later, Amnesty continues its work of documentation based on direct testimonies collected despite the risks and on the analysis of the rare repression images available. Because the November killings took place behind closed doors. Crowds had gone out from the 15th of the month on the streets of the country to protest against an increase in the price of gasoline before turning their slogans towards the mode with the capacity. The authorities of the Islamic Republic have chosen to suppress them far from the eyes of the world by cutting Internet access throughout the country.
However, month after month, the facts manage to emerge from the painful black hole that constitute in the country the days of November despite the succession of crises that have struck Iranian society since, and which now culminates with the effects of the management of the Covid-19 outbreak by authorities. At this point, Amnesty International has been able to document 304 cases of people killed by Iranian police during the protests.
Relay of journalists and activists
In its report, the organization goes into detail on 23 cases of minors from 8 to 17 years old, the vast majority of whom were shot, ten of whom presented injuries to the head or chest, attesting, according to the report, to a willingness to kill on the part of the police, who fired live ammunition at the demonstrators and passers-by.
This report on minors who were victims of the repression foreshadows a larger work, still in progress. "We are going into detail on each of the 304 cases that we have already documented and we are seeking more information on the causes and circumstances of their death", says Raha Bahreini, a human rights lawyer and Iranian researcher for Amnesty International.
