WOMAN
LIFE
FREEDOM
Ottawa - Gatineau
On September 16th, 2022, Mahsa (Jina) Amini was tragically killed by Islamic regime’s morality police due to not properly adhering to compulsory dress codes.
Following Amini’s murder, demonstrations were initiated demanding gender equality at the beginning. Supported by men and women of all ages, demonstrations transitioned to “Woman, Life, Freedom” revolution as a nationwide uprising for regime change in Iran.
This movement is considered as the first women-led revolution in modern history.
The state officials continue to dismiss and brutally suppress the demonstrations by shutting down internet access, promoting violence and detaining, imprisoning, torturing and raping civilians.
How Iran’s history is fuelling the Mahsa Amini protests?
What happened in the past 43 years
The Iranian revolution of 1979, led by Ruhollah Khomeini, was followed by a wave of executions carried out by the Islamic Revolutionary Court, headed by Sadegh Khalkhali. Previous government leaders and employees have been the main targets, with allegations of crimes related to loyalty to the Shah and Iran. Amnesty International reported that 438 people were executed within a year of the revolution. The international community reacted strongly to the executions. In the immediate aftermath of the revolution, 202 Baha'is were killed for their faith or for promoting it. Additionally, thousands of political prisoners were secretly executed and buried in mass graves. The Revolutionary Court also ordered the destruction of some historic tombs.
The Iran-Iraq war has caused a high human and financial cost with approximately 730,000 dead and 1.2 million wounded. Religious leaders encouraged young people to fight rather than seek a peaceful solution, and peace could have been achieved in 1982, but the war continued for another 6 years. Military operations Karbala 4 and 5 are examples of how religious leaders deceived young fighters, also influenced by their lack of military experience. Following the execution of military leaders at the outset of the revolution, command of the war passed to inexperienced young men in the army. War was a crime perpetrated by the government and religious leaders in power.
During the 1980s a series of mass executions took place at Evin Prison in Tehran. These executions lasted about five months and the main targets were members of the opposition political activists. These killings have been described as "an act of violence unprecedented in Iranian history". It is estimated that between 8,000 and 30,000 people were killed and secretly buried in a mass grave in the Khavaran cemetery but the Iranian government has denied this fact and has done everything to withhold the data. However, the information has been made public by the survivors."
During the 1990s in Iran, the fatwas of some religious leaders led to the killing of critics and political figures by the Ministry of Security and Intelligence. In this period, more than 80 writers, poets, translators and activists were murdered. In 1998, this situation reached its peak with the assassination of opposition activists like Dariush Forohar and Parvaneh Eskandari. According to official sources, the number of people killed in this "chain of murder project" in Iran has been estimated at between 300 and over 1000, with 180 people killed in 1990-98 alone.
On July 9, 1999, the Tehran university campus was attacked by plainclothes forces. Scenes of broken doors and windows, blood on the floor and walls, torn books and notebooks, and bloodied faces witnessed the brutality of the attack. Students protesting against the ban on the Salam newspaper were brutally attacked and many people were killed or injured in the clashes. On the evening of Friday 9 July, students were thrown off balconies and violently treated by the security forces with batons, beatings and bullets. The protests have become a turning point for the student movement and the struggle for democracy in Iran.
In 2009, Iran's presidential election generated controversy when supporters of candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi claimed the results had been manipulated. This led to protests culminating on November 16, 2009 in the largest anti-government march with the participation of 3 million people. In response, the Islamic Republic unleashed a vicious crackdown with the arrest and torture of 4,000 people, including journalists and political activists. Protests continued into 2011, resulting in the deaths of at least 78 more Iranians and the arrests of thousands more.
In December 2017, 160 cities in Iran took to the streets initially to demonstrate against price hikes and corruption but then to broadly criticize the system as a whole. The reaction of the regime was not long in coming: more than 50 people were killed by government forces and over 8,000 arrested. At the same time, to block the spread of protests in the country, the regime introduced restrictions on the use of social networks and finally began to block access to the Internet.
In November 2019, the population took to the streets again to demonstrate against the 200% increase in the price of petrol. Following the first arrests and killings of innocent people, protesters expressed their dissent against the regime. The reaction was terrible. On November 15, the Internet was shut down and the next day, by order of the Supreme National Security Council, it was completely suspended. At the same time the murderous machine of the regime was activated. More than 7,500 unexplained deaths are estimated, of which 6,300 during the bloody protests of November 2019 while human rights organizations calculated at least 8,600 detained
On January 8, 2020, flight PS752 leaves Tehran airport bound for Kiev, a destination it will never reach as it crashes after a few kilometers. Initially, the Iranian government reports that the cause of the accident is attributable to a technical failure. This statement will later be denied by international investigations that will bring out another truth. The aircraft was shot down by two missiles launched a few seconds after take-off. All 176+1 passengers, of seven different nationalities, died instantly. The reasons for the downing of this civilian flight, after only three minutes of takeoff from Tehran airport, still remain a mystery.
The massive protests in Iran, fueled by the audacity of young women and children, are rooted in over a century of struggle.
Under Islamic republic's Penal Code, Iranian women's rights are severely restricted, a form of gender apartheid. Women must comply with the Islamic Republic’s mandatory hijab laws from the onset of puberty, and they are unequal in matters of marriage, divorce, custody, inheritance and more. In the Fall of 2022, hundreds of protesters, including dozens of children, have been killed by Iranian authorities. These nation‑wide protests were triggered by the tragic death of 22 year old Mahsa (Jina) Amini who died in police custody after being arrested by Islamic regime’s “morality police” for failing to properly cover her hair.
The Islamic Republic of Iran supports and funds several transnational terrorist groups, such as Fatemiyoun, Zainabiun and Hezbollah, through the Islamic Republic Guard Corps (IRGC). These groups pose a threat to the interests of the European Union, the United States and other countries globally. The IRGC, considered a terrorist-supporting regime since the 1983 explosion of the US embassy in Beirut, has also made efforts to build missiles with a range of 2000 km, capable of striking Europe. The threat posed by this organization is further highlighted by the supply of missile equipment to terrorist groups in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and other countries, which could cause great chaos throughout the Middle East. The IRGC also promotes anti-Semitism in Europe and other countries.