Many women do not wear a headscarf to protest against the regime in Iran. As the UN Human Rights Office has now announced, an increasing number of women and girls have recently been arrested during headscarf checks.
The notorious moral watchdogs in Iran announced stricter headscarf controls a few weeks ago. They have now apparently put this plan into action. According to the UN Human Rights Office, numerous girls and women have been arrested for violations.
The Geneva office said hundreds of companies were closed because they did not implement strict headscarf controls. The High Commission said the government was also using surveillance cameras to identify drivers who did not comply with the law. Since the protests in autumn 2022, more and more women had ignored the requirement to wear a headscarf.
UN High Commissioner criticizes punishments
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, criticized a planned law that would provide for ten-year prison sentences and flogging as punishment for violating headscarf regulations. He called on the government in Tehran to eliminate all forms of gender-based discrimination and violence.
Türk also criticized the death sentence against rapper Toomaj Salehi. The 33-year-old was one of the prominent critics during the mass demonstrations against the Islamic Republic system in autumn 2022. He denounced social and political injustices in the country in his songs. According to the UN human rights office, nine men have already been executed in connection with the protests.
Death sparked protests in Iran
The wave of protests in Iran began after the death of the Iranian Kurdish woman Jina Mahsa Amini in September 2022. Amini died after her arrest for allegedly wearing a headscarf that was too loose. According to her family, she died after being mistreated by the moral police. The Iranian authorities reject this.
Her death sparked an unprecedented protest movement under the slogan “Woman, Life, Freedom.” The Iranian security forces cracked down on the protests. Hundreds of people died and, according to the human rights organization Amnesty International, more than 22,000 people were arrested.