A coalition of those harmed during the state-led response amid the 2022 "Zan, Zendegi, Azadi" uprising has filed a landmark judicial filing targeting forty specified Iranian officials of suspected international crimes.
Legal Action Launched in the Argentinian System
The petition for a legal inquiry to be commenced was filed within the Argentine judicial framework. This action was undertaken by a group of Iranians aided by a human rights documentation center. Argentina's courts are particularly open to hearing cases based on universal jurisdiction.
The complaint asserts that the reaction from state security apparatus to the demonstrations involved "firing lethal rounds, non-lethal projectiles, steel shot improperly used for short distances, and other projectiles at demonstrators." The filing further describes widespread detentions, abuse while imprisoned, and executions of protesters that allegedly continue to this day.
Confidential Names
Specific officers across the range of Iran's security services have been identified in the complaint, but their personal details are currently being kept confidential.
Victim Testimonies Fuel the Complaint
One of the individuals behind the case, UK-based Mahsa Piraei, explained that the purpose "is far from retribution in a private capacity, but accountability and fact-finding." Her parent, Minoo Majidi, 62 years old, was shot dead in late 2022. Autopsy reports indicated over 167 harmful shots had been shot at her posterior at near-contact distance. She had been attending a street protest regarding the demise of Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish woman who died while detained.
Piraei, among Majidi's three children, was residing abroad at the period of her mother's tragic killing. She went back to Iran at great risk to pay respects at the burial site. Her sibling Roya published a photograph of herself by their resting place with her hair shaved on a private social media account. A contact shared the image, which was widely shared, eventually forcing Roya to leave for Turkey.
Piraei stated: "Through official complaints and documentation the aim is to safeguard proof, name crimes and stop the disappearance." She described her parent's killing as "not an isolated incident but part of a widespread tactic."
Additional Complainants Include Those Shot in the Eye
The remaining claimants who can be identified are Kowsar Eftekhari and Mersedeh Shahinkar, both victims of blinding at short distance by marker guns.
Eftekhari, a young student, was shot in the right eye in late 2022. She had been in the streets for an extended period, witnessing fellow demonstrators being shot with lethal fire and being assaulted herself with stun devices. During a gathering on October 12th, she was at a demonstration near a university when a plainclothes officer shot her with several rounds from a distance of about a metre. He then is said to have shot her her eye when she did not respond to his demand to disperse. A footage of the assault showing blood flowing from her eye spread online, and she was eventually granted asylum in Germany.
Shahinkar, aged 38 when assaulted on October 18th, only became aware what had transpired when she sensed something warm on her eye. Fellow demonstrators warned her not to get into an ambulance for fear of being taken to a detention center. When she later got to a health center, a staff member ordered her to depart because they refused to assist demonstrators. A medical professional assessed her and directed her to a hospital, where Shahinkar pretended a rock had accidentally injured her eye so she would not be denied treatment. She posted images of her wounds online, and in early 2023, individuals confronted her, prompting her to leave the country. She later collected a prestigious international award as a figure of the protest cause.
Global Legal Concept Offers Foundation for Action
The group initiating the criminal investigation say that the filing is not considered just as a paper exercise with slim prospect of a concrete result. This legal principle permits complaints to be investigated in a different state even if the violation did not take place in that country and the accused is not present there. The Argentinian system has notably open laws on such claims in the world.
The principle of international justice has in the past led to multiple convictions and the initiation of prosecutions regarding violations carried out in dozens of states. Legal actions are currently being pursued in several different countries.
As the application is exclusively for a criminal investigation, and this is not a civil lawsuit, there is no request by the litigants for financial restitution. This case would not constitute the initial legal action against Iranian authorities brought in Argentina.
