A group of individuals affected by the state-led suppression amid the 2022 "Zan, Zendegi, Azadi" uprising has initiated a pioneering legal case targeting numerous named Iranian officials of suspected human rights violations.
Legal Action Initiated in Argentina
The formal request for a criminal investigation to be initiated was filed within the Argentine legal system. This move was taken by a collective of Iranian nationals with support from a non-profit documentation center. Argentina's courts are recognized for accepting international law complaints.
The complaint alleges that the actions from state security apparatus to the protests involved "shooting lethal rounds, non-lethal projectiles, steel shot improperly used for close-range use, and other projectiles at protesters." The case further describes mass arrests, torture in detention, and death sentences of protesters that reportedly persist to this day.
Identities Withheld
Named individuals representing the range of Iran's law enforcement have been named in the filing, but their names are currently being kept confidential.
Personal Stories Motivate the Legal Action
One of the individuals behind the case, UK-based Mahsa Piraei, explained that the purpose "is far from retribution in a individual way, but justice and truth." Her mother, Minoo Majidi, in her sixties, was fatally shot in September 2022. Medical examinations showed over 167 steel projectiles had been fired into her body at point-blank range. She had been participating in a gathering concerning the death of Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish woman who died in custody.
Piraei, a member of Majidi's three children, was based abroad at the moment of her mother's brutal death. She returned to Iran at great risk to see the gravesite. Her sibling Roya published a picture of herself by their mother's grave with her head shorn on a personal social media account. A friend shared the photo, which spread widely, ultimately forcing Roya to leave for Turkey.
Piraei remarked: "Through court documents and evidence the goal is to maintain records, identify offenses and stop the disappearance." She said her mother's death as "part of a pattern but part of a common procedure."
Further Claimants Consist of Those Shot in the Eye
The additional claimants who are named are Kowsar Eftekhari and Mersedeh Shahinkar, both individuals who suffered blinding at point-blank by marker guns.
Eftekhari, a university-aged student, was hit in the right eye in late 2022. She had been in the streets for weeks, observing fellow protesters being hit by lethal fire and being struck herself with stun devices. During a demonstration on 12 October, she was at a demonstration near a university when a plainclothes officer shot her with multiple rounds from a range of about a meter. He then is said to have targeted her eye when she did not obey his order to disperse. A video of the assault with blood flowing from her eye circulated widely, and she was subsequently offered protection in Germany.
Shahinkar, in her late thirties when injured on October 18th, only became aware what had transpired when she noticed something warm on her face. Fellow individuals advised her not to enter an emergency vehicle for fear of being delivered to a police station. When she finally got to a treatment facility, a staff member ordered her to go away because they refused to assist demonstrators. A medical professional saw her and sent her to a hospital, where Shahinkar pretended a rock had inadvertently injured her vision so she would not be turned away. She shared images of her wounds online, and in early 2023, undercover agents confronted her, prompting her to flee Iran. She later collected a prestigious recognition as a figure of the campaign.
Universal Jurisdiction Offers Foundation for Case
The individuals initiating the legal probe state that the complaint is not considered just as a paper exercise with no hope of a tangible resolution. The concept enables complaints to be investigated in a third country even if the violation did not occur in that country and the accused is not resident there. The Argentinian system has notably open laws on such cases in the world.
The principle of international justice has historically led to numerous sentences and the initiation of prosecutions regarding offenses committed in numerous nations. Cases are presently being prosecuted in several jurisdictions.
As the application is exclusively for a legal inquiry, and this is not seeking financial compensation, there is no claim by the complainants for monetary compensation. This case would not constitute the first instance against Iranian authorities brought in Argentina.
