A coalition of victims of the state-led response amid the 2022 "Zan, Zendegi, Azadi" uprising has launched a first-of-its-kind criminal complaint naming forty named Iranian officials of suspected crimes against humanity.
Case Filing Launched in the Argentinian System
The application for a legal inquiry to be commenced was lodged within the Argentinian courts. This move was undertaken by a coalition assisted by a non-profit documentation center. Argentina's judicial system are noted for accommodating universal jurisdiction claims.
The filing claims that the response from Iranian authorities to the protests involved "firing lethal rounds, paintball guns, steel shot not intended for close-range use, and additional ammunition at demonstrators." The case further states arbitrary roundups, torture in detention, and executions of individuals that allegedly persist to this day.
Confidential Names
Specific officers across the range of Iran's intelligence apparatus have been listed in the complaint, but their personal details are currently being kept confidential.
Individual Accounts Fuel the Case
One of the complainants, based in Britain Mahsa Piraei, stated that the aim "is not retribution in a individual way, but justice and fact-finding." Her mother, Minoo Majidi, aged 62, was killed by gunfire in late 2022. Forensic analysis revealed in excess of 167 steel projectiles had been fired into her body at point-blank range. She had been on a gathering regarding the killing of Mahsa Amini, a youthful Kurdish woman who was killed while detained.
Piraei, among Majidi's three offspring, was based abroad at the period of her mother's tragic killing. She returned to Iran at considerable peril to see the gravesite. Her sister Roya shared a picture of herself by their resting place with her head shorn on a personal social media account. A acquaintance shared the photo, which went viral, ultimately leading Roya to seek exile for Turkey.
Piraei stated: "Through legal filings and documentation the aim is to maintain records, name crimes and prevent erasure." She said her loss as "part of a pattern but part of a common procedure."
Further Claimants Include Those Shot in the Eye
The remaining complainants who are named are Kowsar Eftekhari and Mersedeh Shahinkar, both victims of blinding at point-blank by paintball guns.
Eftekhari, a young student, was struck in the eye in autumn 2022. She had been demonstrating for an extended period, witnessing fellow demonstrators being hit by live ammunition and being struck herself with electronic batons. During a gathering on 12 October, she was at a protest near a university when a individual struck her with multiple paintballs from a distance of about a metre. He then reportedly shot her her face when she did not respond to his order to leave. A footage of the incident showing injuries from her eye went viral, and she was subsequently offered protection in Germany.
Shahinkar, 38 at the time when injured on 18 October, only became aware what had happened when she noticed something unusual on her eye. Fellow demonstrators cautioned her not to get into an ambulance for fear of being delivered to a police station. When she later arrived at a medical clinic, a staff member instructed her to depart because they refused to assist protesters. A doctor saw her and directed her to a medical center, where Shahinkar said a stone had unintentionally hurt her eye so she would not be refused care. She published images of her condition online, and in January 2023, undercover agents approached her, causing her to flee Iran. She later received a renowned international award as a representative of the movement.
Universal Jurisdiction Offers Foundation for Complaint
The collective initiating the legal probe assert that the filing is not viewed just as a symbolic gesture with slim prospect of a practical outcome. This legal principle enables complaints to be examined in a different state even if the offence did not happen in that nation and the suspect is not located there. The Argentinian system has some of the most liberal regulations on such claims in the world.
The doctrine of universal jurisdiction has previously facilitated multiple sentences and the initiation of cases regarding offenses carried out in many nations. Legal actions are at this time being prosecuted in various jurisdictions.
As the request is exclusively for a criminal investigation, and this is not seeking financial compensation, there is no request by the individuals for money damages. This filing would not represent the first instance against Iranian figures brought in Argentina.
