The daughter of a woman killed by Iranian security forces has demanded Andy Burnham bring the country's officials to justice. Mahsa Piraei's mother, Minoo Majidi, was shot dead with metal pellets as she fled Iranian officers in September 2022. She was one of hundreds of protesters killed in the Woman Life Freedom Uprising, triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested for not wearing her hijab properly.
Amnesty report names 87 officials
Amnesty International published a landmark report yesterday on the fourth anniversary of the uprisings, naming 87 officials they believe should be investigated for war crimes over the crackdown. Their Secretary General, Agnès Callamard, also called on the Prime Minister to push the United Nations General Assembly to pursue legal action against Iran when he visits the body next week. The report concluded that Iranian authorities committed crimes against humanity during their suppression of the 2022 uprising, including the killing of 49 children and 45 cases of sexual violence in custody, as well as torture and the use of deadly force against protesters.
Minoo's story
One of those protesters maimed was Mahsa's mum Minoo. She went out to protest on September 20, just four days after the uprising began on September 16. Minoo was shot with metal pellets at close range in Kermanshah while she and other demonstrators were fleeing a crackdown from officers who were 'repeatedly firing shotguns'. Speaking at a press conference in central London, Mahsa said: 'My mother wanted freedom and change. She wanted a better future for the younger generations.' The daughter, who lives in Leeds, said Minoo was 'not killed by the actions of just one person'. Mahsa added: 'She was killed by a system, a system in which some gave the orders, others carried them out, and those at the highest levels of power oversaw this violence.'
Call for international action
Amnesty is calling for an international criminal justice mechanism to be established urgently by the UN General Assembly to ensure the Iranian authorities responsible for crimes against humanity are held to account. They say the world is 'disconnected from reality' about the oppression within Iran, whose officials have faced 'no meaningful consequences'. Mahsa told Metro: 'The people of Iran are really disappointed. It's not good for humanity. They are losing their belief in international human rights. We live with this pain day to day. There has been no justice for my mother. They need to do something because otherwise the meaning of life is nothing.' Burnham will fly to New York next week to take part in the United Nations General Assembly.
Mahsa told Metro that Burnham had to act to get justice for her mum, saying the British government had not done enough to punish those responsible. She said: 'Since Women Life Freedom Movement, we used to go weekly into London and other cities of the UK to ask the government to put the terrorist regime of Iran on the terrorist list, and they didn't listen to us. Recently there has been some movement, but I think it's not enough. They need to isolate the regime as much as they can. I want the UN to hear the voice of popular people of Iran and make the regime responsible for the many lives we lost.'
Amnesty International gathered information and evidence about the deaths of 377 protesters and bystanders, including 56 children, who lost their lives during the uprising. This includes one teenager, Amirhossein Basati, 15, who they say was killed by an IRGC agent when he stopped to retrieve his slipper as he fled a mass shooting. Secretary General Callamard also called on Burnham to lead the UN General Assembly to hold Iranian officials to account next week. Asked what her message to the new Prime Minister is, she told Metro: 'At the Security Council, we would want them to stand up and say enough is enough. The paralysis of the Security Council is killing people in Iran. I expect them [the UK] to try to lobby and advocate with the U.S. with Russia, and with China to move forward. We are hoping that a country like the UK could play a lead role at the General Assembly and support a judicial mechanism being put forward. The UK needs to stand up. It has the backbone, has the history, has the political know-how, and they must do more than what they have done so far for the people of Iran.'
The Amnesty chief did acknowledge that the UK led the call, alongside international partners, for a special session of the UN Human Rights Council to address the deteriorating human rights situation in Iran. The UK also supported the extension of the Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Iran to investigate the security forces' crackdown on protesters. 'They may have said the right thing at various times, but that is not enough,' Callamard cautioned. The human rights group also wants individual countries to initiate their own investigations into Iranian officials under the principle of universal jurisdiction. Callamard said the UK had the legal resources 'to do far more than they have done' to hold Iran to account. She added: 'Including by conducting structural investigation into the chain of command, into the systemic and widespread repression, and possibly going after individuals when these are on the UK territories.' Amnesty say they wrote to Iran's Supreme Leader and senior security officials to share their findings and notify the 87 officials identified in the report, but did not receive a response.
