LONDON: Security forces in Iran used unlawful lethal force against protesters in Sanandaj, the regional Kurdistan capital, Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday.
In a report containing statements from 14 victims and witnesses, as well as research into social media clips, the organization urged the newly launched UN fact-finding mission into the country’s protests to investigate the use of excessive force by authorities.
Throughout September, October, and November, security forces in Sanandaj used weapons including shotguns and assault rifles to fire on demonstrators with bullets, pellets, and tear gas.
HRW said that generally peaceful protesters in the city were met with disproportionate force, resulting in the killing of six people.
In one case, 24-year-old Peyman Menbari was shot dead after throwing a stone toward Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and plainclothes agents.
A witness in a group of 50 protesters said: “I saw that he threw a stone. Then I heard him sigh and fall in front of me.”
Others later identified the shooter as a local Basij paramilitary member.
In another incident, a man was shot dead in his car after honking the vehicle’s horn in support of nearby protesters. Videos posted to social media showed a group of men armed with rifles approaching the vehicle, with later footage showing the driver slumped dead behind the wheel.
A witness who arrived at the scene of the shooting said: “I went closer and saw that the driver was killed. I saw that the windshield was broken.”
Another major incident took place on Nov. 17, when large groups of people gathered at a cemetery in the city to mourn four protesters who had been killed 40 days earlier.
People present at the ceremony said that Iranian police and IRGC officers arrived and shot at mourners, resulting in two deaths.
HRW cited UN guidance on the use of weaponry by law enforcement.
It recommends that, “multiple projectiles fired at the same time are inaccurate and, in general, their use cannot comply with the principles of necessity and proportionality. Metal pellets, such as those fired from shotguns, should never be used.”
In its report, the organization also documented serious abuses against detainees in Iran, including denial of medical aid, torture, beatings, and sexual assault.
After being arrested in September as protests spread around the country, two women told HRW that they were beaten and sexually assaulted while detained in a police station.
Another woman claimed that an officer hit her in the neck, threw her on the ground, and dragged her toward a group of other officers. She was then beaten.
Tara Sepehri Far, senior Iran researcher at HRW, said: “Iranian authorities have dramatically escalated abuses against protesters in custody.
“Governments seeking to hold Iran accountable for rights violations should pay special attention to the serious abuses against detainees.
“The Iranian authorities have unleashed alarming violence against protesters in Sanandaj since September.
“Both the protests and the government’s brutal response to them reflect the government’s long-time repression of the Kurdish people’s cultural and political freedoms,” she added.
