Iranian security forces killed 23 children, mostly with live ammunition, during a crackdown on anti-government protests last November, Amnesty International claimed.
Protests broke out in Iran on November 15 after the announcement of a petrol price rise. The authorities responded with aggressive tactics that the human rights group has said left 304 people dead, a figure vehemently disputed by Tehran.
Amnesty said in its new report, released on Tuesday, that it had evidence that at least 23 children were killed, with 22 of them killed by the security forces “unlawfully firing live ammunition at unarmed protesters and bystanders.”
The group also claims that relatives of some of the children killed described being subjected to harassment and intimidation, including surveillance and interrogations by intelligence and security officials.
The children killed included 22 boys, aged between 12 and 17, and a girl reportedly aged between eight and 12. Twelve of the 23 deaths – recorded in 13 cities in six provinces across the country – took place on November 16, a further eight on November 17, and three on November 18, the report claims.
“There must be independent and impartial investigations into these killings, and those suspected of ordering and carrying them out must be prosecuted in fair trials,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty’s research and advocacy director for the Middle East and North Africa.
“The fact that the vast majority of the children’s deaths took place over just two days is further evidence that Iranian security forces went on a killing spree to quash dissent at any cost,” Mr Luther said.
Amnesty said it had written to Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, Iran’s Interior Minister, with the names of the 23 children but had received no response.
The group claims that there is a broad pattern of families of those killed in protests being intimidated by the state to prevent them talking openly about the deaths.
“Families of children killed during the protests are facing a ruthless campaign of harassment to intimidate them from speaking out,” Mr Luther said, denouncing a “state cover-up”.
Its report was based on evidence from videos and photographs, as well as death and burial certificates, accounts from eyewitnesses and victims’ relatives as well as information gathered from human rights activists and journalists.
In one child’s case, there were conflicting reports on the cause of death, with one source referring to fatal head injuries sustained by beatings by security forces and another referring to the firing of metal pellets at the victim’s face from a close distance, it said.
Families of the dead have accused intelligence officers of “stealing bodies” from morgues to hide the true scale of the government’s brutal crackdown.
The Iranian government implemented a near-total shutdown of internet services after protests began in a bid to control the narrative inside the country.