Many protesters across Iran were wounded by security force shots on January 11 and 12, Amnesty International said on Wednesday January 15. The NGO denounces a use "Illegal force" and an "Violent" repression against "Peaceful gatherings".
Claiming to be based on authenticated images and testimonies of victims and witnesses, the London-based NGO also said in its statement that the Iranian security forces used "Rubberized bullets, tear gas and pepper spray to disperse the demonstrators". They also used physical violence, with "Kicks, punches or batons and made arbitrary arrests", according to Amnesty.
After two days of official denial of the thesis that a missile had been fired on the Boeing 737 of Ukraine International Airlines, the Iranian armed forces acknowledged their responsibility on Saturday, citing a " human error ". At the start of the week, New york times released a video showing that two missiles hit the Boeing. All 176 people on board the aircraft, mostly Iranians and Canadians, died.
The announcement sparked anger in Iran, where videos circulating on social media showed protests punctuated by slogans hostile to the authorities.
"They are slowly killing us"
"It is appalling that the security forces violently crush peaceful rallies of people seeking justice (…) and expressing their anger against the authorities"said Philip Luther, an Amnesty official for North Africa and the Middle East. "The illegal use of force in recent protests is part of a long tradition of the Iranian security forces", he added.
In its press release, Amnesty reports people who had to undergo surgery to extract the shot fired by the police, usually used for hunting and "Completely unsuitable for maintenance operations" of the order.
The NGO also reports that the security forces have attempted to transfer some of the wounded to military hospitals. Tehran medical centers have refused to admit the injured, saying security services will arrest them if they find out they are protesters, Amnesty said.
"The situation in Tehran today is more painful than death. They are slowly killing us ", says Mahsa, a "Control" cited by the NGO. According to Philip Luther, "The Iranian authorities must urgently end the repression and ensure that the security forces exercise maximum restraint and respect the rights of peaceful expression and assembly".
"Detainees must be protected from torture and other ill-treatment and all those arrested arbitrarily must be released. "