برای خواندن این مطلب به فارسی اینجا را کلیک کنید
Mahsa Jina Amini should be looking forward to her 25th birthday today. Sarina Esmailzadeh should be 18. Kian Pirfalak should be 11.
Words cannot express the profound loss of life during the Woman, Life, Freedom protests. The pain felt by so many inside and outside Iran endures today, on the two-year anniversary of Amini’s killing and the start of the protest movement.
Iran’s Kurdish and Baluch communities, alongside other marginalized communities and minorities in Iran, have also faced profound loss, with this day symbolizing their ongoing persecution. These communities’ struggles are a vital part of the broader fight for justice, freedom, and equality that the movement represents.
As documented by United Nations investigative bodies, along with authoritative human rights organizations like Human Rights Watch, the brutal crackdown by Iran’s security services killed 551 including 49 women and 68 children. There has been no accountability for the vast majority of human rights violations committed against the people of Iran. Scores of Iranians still bear the wounds of security services,or are still in jail or facing prison sentences for merely standing for justice and dignity.
Nevertheless, Iranian society has changed in significant ways, including by Iranian women continuing to bravely defy authorities and normalize widespread defiance of mandatory dress code laws. We stand in solidarity with them and all Iranians, and support their fundamental right to self determination.
For the diaspora on this emotional day, we must model the values of this movement in our own actions as we bear witness to the courage of the people of Iran and support their grassroots movements for justice, liberty, and equality that is kept alive by countless women and men sacrificing and striving for a better Iran.
For additional information on the Woman, Life, Freedom protests and the human rights situation in Iran, see the following resources:
Timeline of the First Three Months of the Mahsa Movement
2022 Statement on the Killing of Mahsa Amini
A Snapshot of NIAC’s Human Rights Advocacy
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