A group of victims of the state-led crackdown amid the 2022 demonstrations for "Women, Life, Freedom" has initiated a pioneering legal case naming 4 dozen specified Iranian officials of suspected crimes against humanity.
Legal Action Pursued in Argentina
The petition for a criminal investigation to be commenced was filed within the Argentine legal system. This step was taken by a coalition with support from a non-profit documentation center. The Argentinian judicial system are noted for hearing universal jurisdiction claims.
The complaint alleges that the reaction from Iran's security forces to the demonstrations entailed "discharging lethal rounds, marker guns, metal pellets designed for close-range use, and additional ammunition at demonstrators." The document further details widespread detentions, custodial torture, and killings of participants that reportedly persist to this day.
Identities Withheld
Certain agents representing the various branches of Iran's intelligence apparatus have been identified in the filing, but their personal details are currently being withheld from the public.
Personal Stories Drive the Legal Action
One of the complainants, UK-based Mahsa Piraei, stated that the objective "goes beyond revenge in a personal sense, but accountability and fact-finding." Her parent, Minoo Majidi, aged 62, was shot dead in late 2022. Autopsy reports revealed more than 167 metal pellets had been discharged into her body at near-contact distance. She had been attending a gathering concerning the death of Mahsa Amini, a youthful Kurdish woman who lost her life while detained.
Piraei, among Majidi's three children, was based abroad at the time of her parent's brutal death. She returned to Iran at significant personal danger to visit her grave. Her sister Roya shared a image of herself by their parent's burial site with her hair shaved on a private social media account. A contact circulated the photo, which was widely shared, subsequently leading Roya to leave for Turkey.
Piraei remarked: "By means of official complaints and evidence the aim is to maintain records, name crimes and avoid historical oblivion." She said her parent's killing as "part of a pattern but part of a common procedure."
Further Claimants Are Those Shot in the Eye
The remaining litigants who can be identified are Kowsar Eftekhari and Mersedeh Shahinkar, both victims of blinding at close range by paintball guns.
Eftekhari, a young scholar, was struck in the right eye in October 2022. She had been protesting for weeks, witnessing fellow demonstrators being struck by bullets and being struck herself with electronic batons. During a demonstration on October 12th, she was at a protest near a university when a undercover agent shot her with multiple paintballs from a distance of about a yard. He then reportedly shot her her face when she did not respond to his order to disperse. A footage of the incident showing injuries from her eye spread online, and she was later granted asylum in Germany.
Shahinkar, in her late thirties when attacked on October 18th, only realized what had transpired when she noticed something unusual on her eye. Fellow demonstrators advised her not to enter an ambulance for fear of being taken to a authority holding area. When she eventually reached a health center, a worker instructed her to leave because they would not treat demonstrators. A medical professional assessed her and sent her to a hospital, where Shahinkar pretended a object had unintentionally injured her vision so she would not be refused care. She posted images of her wounds online, and in the new year, individuals confronted her, leading her to go into exile. She later was awarded a notable human rights prize as a representative of the protest cause.
Universal Jurisdiction Offers Foundation for Case
The group seeking the criminal investigation assert that the case is not seen just as a legal complaint with slim prospect of a practical outcome. The concept allows complaints to be probed in a third country even if the offence did not happen in that nation and the accused is not located there. The Argentinian system has some of the most liberal rules on such matters in the world.
The doctrine of universal jurisdiction has historically facilitated multiple convictions and the initiation of cases covering offenses committed in numerous states. Cases are presently being prosecuted in multiple jurisdictions.
As the petition is solely for a criminal investigation, and this is not a case for damages, there is no request by the individuals for financial restitution. This filing would not constitute the first case against Iranian figures pursued in Argentina.
