IRGC Officer Says 850 Killed In Two Iranian Provinces Alone In 2019 Protests
An officer of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards says about 850 people were killed in two provinces alone in the first two days of the bloody November 2019 protests.
An officer of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards says about 850 people were killed in two provinces alone in the first two days of the bloody November 2019 protests.
During the Sunday session of the Iran Atrocities Tribunal, underway behind closed doors in London, “witness 600”, who identified himself as a former senior IRGC officer, claimed that 427 people were killed in Khuzestan province and 420 in Tehran during the crackdown, adding that about 8,000 people were also arrested in the capital.
Earlier estimates ranged from 300-1,500 civilians killed nationwide. The new figure offered by the witness would mean that overall death toll was much higher.
“We were losing Tehran and Vahid Haghanian (supreme leader’s chief personal aide) from Khamenei's office ordered us to do whatever is necessary to end the chaos”, he said. Reuters had reported in December 2019 that the order to end protests at any cost had come from Khamenei.
He added that Basij paramilitary forces were also allowed to fire directly at people, noting they “fired the most and killed the most".
He said this crackdown was the only case in which military forces were not required to report on how many times or where they fired.
The tribunal − also known as Aban Tribunal after the Iranian calendar month of Aban − was established on the first anniversary of the 2019 protests by several human rights groups.
The murder happened in the southwestern city of Ahvaz on Saturday when the young wife was brought back from Turkey, where she had traveled for unknown reasons.
Her father helped the husband, who is his nephew, to bring the woman back to the country.
The husband and his brother, who apparently committed the murder together have been arrested.
Iran's media watchdog responded quickly and banned Rokna news agency that first released the footage of the killer carrying her wife’s head.
Honor killings are prevalent in some parts of Iran, mostly due to societal beliefs and the Islamic Republic’s lax laws and light sentences that encourage the behavior.
Article 630 of the Constitution exempts a husband from punishment if he kills if he witnesses adultery.
According to a women’s right NGO in Ahvaz, about 60 women have fallen victim to honor killings in the past two years, including some who were 10 or 15 years old. None of the perpetrators have been brought to justice as most of the families haven’t even filed a lawsuit.
The medical journal the Lancet published an article in October 2020, saying at least 8,000 honor killings took place in Iran between 2010 and 2014, but only a few were reported.
According to Sharia law, only the “blood owners” (the immediate family members) are allowed to demand execution for the murder of their loved one, therefore most honor killings go unpunished since families do not demand heavy punishment for another family member.
