UN human rights chief calls on Iran to probe protesters’ deaths

05, Jan 2018 | CJP Team

On January 3, 2018, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, has called on Iran “to handle the wave of protests that have taken place around the country with great care so as not to further inflame violence and unrest,” and probe deaths and major injuries that have occurred, an Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) announcement said. “I am deeply disturbed by reports that more than 20 people, including an 11-year-old boy, have died and hundreds have been arrested during the recent wave of protests in Iran,” Zeid said. Zeid emphasised that Iranian citizens who were protesting had a right to be heard, and that their concerns should be addressed through dialogue, with their freedom of expression and right to peaceful assembly being respected, according to the announcement. Previously, Human Rights Watch (HRW) had also called on Iranian authorities to investigate the deaths that took place during the protests, which sparked on December 29, 2017. According to an HRW announcement on January 2, more than 550 people had been arrested in Iran’s Tehran, Razavi Khorasan, and Markazi provinces.