Lisa Chambers (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move:

That Seanad Éireann:

condemns: - the abuse of Mahsa Amini by the Iranian morality police and her death in custody; recognises that: - following Mahsa Amini’s abuse by the morality police and her death in custody, women and men across Iran have exercised their fundamental right to assemble and protest;

- despite repeated calls for restraint, the response of the Iranian security and police forces to demonstrations has been disproportionate, resulting in the loss of lives as well as a large number of injuries; agrees that: - the decision to severely restrict internet access by the relevant Iranian authorities and to block instant messaging platforms is a further cause for concern, as it blatantly violates freedom of expression;

- the widespread and disproportionate use of force against non-violent protesters is unjustifiable and unacceptable;

- people in Iran, as anywhere else, have the right to peaceful protest and that right must be ensured in all circumstances; and calls on the Iranian authorities to: - strictly abide by the principles enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Iran is a party;

- immediately stop the violent crackdown on protests, ensure internet access and free flow of information;

- clarify the number of deaths and those arrested, release all non-violent protesters and provide due process to all detainees; and

- ensure that the killing of Mahsa Amini be properly and fairly investigated and that any person proven to be responsible for her death be held accountable.

I welcome the Minster to the Chamber. I am sharing time with Senator Mary Fitzpatrick. Today, on International Day of the Girl Child, Fianna Fáil tabled this motion out of great concern for what is currently happening in Iran to women and girls and also to express our outrage at the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was arrested on 13 September for not wearing a hijab in full compliance with Iran’s mandatory requirements for how women must dress.

Mahsa was arrested for not wearing a hijab and the authorities have claimed she died from natural causes - that she suffered a heart attack - which something her father does not believe nor do I, and I do not think anybody else does either. Mahsa is another victim of Iran’s continual repression and organised discrimination against women and the imposition of discriminatory dress codes that deprive women of bodily autonomy and the freedoms of opinion, expression and belief.

Since news of Mahsa’s death emerged, Iranians have taken to the streets to protest her death in major cities across Iran to demand accountability for her death and to put an end to violence and discrimination against women in the country, particularly compulsory veiling for women. Women, young girls and also men have taking to fighting for basic rights and equality for Iranian women, which is something that we all take for granted - the very basic freedoms that we all enjoy on a day-to-day daily basis.

Videos on social media show women and young girls protesting in the streets day and night. Young teenage girls in their schools have been protesting for their right to freedom from the oppressive laws placed on them as women and girls of Iran. Following the protests, prolonged Internet disruptions have been reported in Tehran, Kurdistan provinces and other parts of the country since 19 September. This is the third widespread Internet shutdown recorded over the past 12 months in Iran.

Over the past four decades, Iranian women have continued to peacefully protest against the compulsory hijab rules and the violations of their fundamental human rights. It has been reported that the morality police routinely subject women and girls to arbitrary detention, torture and other ill-treatment for not complying with Iran’s compulsory veiling laws.

Mahsa Amini is a victim of Iran’s continual repression and organised discrimination. Her family said that they were notified that she had been taken to hospital hours after her arrest. She was transferred to an intensive care unit at Kasra Hospital. According to Human Rights Activists News Agency, HRANA, an Iranian human rights organisation, Amini’s family were told during her arrest that she would be released after a “re-education session”.

The news comes weeks after Iran’s President, Ebrahim Raisi, ordered a crackdown on women’s rights and called for stricter enforcement of the country’s mandatory dress code, which has required all women to wear the hijab head covering since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

According to Amnesty, Iranian security forces unlawfully killed at least 66 people, including children, and injured hundreds of others after firing live ammunition, metal pellets and tear gas at protesters, bystanders and worshippers during a violent crackdown after Friday prayers on 30 September in Zahedan, Sistan and Baluchestan provinces. Since then, another 16 people were killed in separate incidents in Zahedan amid an ongoing clampdown on protests. Evidence gathered from activists, victims’ families, eyewitness testimonies and images and videos of the protests suggest the real death toll is likely to be much higher. Widely referred to by Iranians as “bloody Friday”, the onslaught on 30 September marked the deadliest day on record since protest started spreading across Iran nearly three weeks ago.

For the third time since the unrest started, members of the medical community issued a statement demanding security forces show greater restraint, saying protesters were being taken out of ambulances and beaten up with batons. The Iranian official press countered by publishing the names of 24 security officials they claimed had been killed by rioters since the protests started; however, no evidence has been supplied to support this.

Lawyers in Iran also hit back at a statement from the interior ministry that they would from now on hand out exemplary sentences to those convicted of rioting. They said all cases had to be treated on an individual basis and it was the heavy-handedness of the legal process that had led to the troubles.

Amnesty International has documented an alarming escalation in the use of force and firearms since 21 September, when the country’s top military body is said to have issued an order to commanders in all provinces instructing them to "severely confront troublemakers and anti-revolutionaries". In an attempt to absolve themselves of responsibility for the deaths I mentioned, the authorities in Iran have started to share false narratives, blaming the deaths on terrorist, rioters and separatists, whom they claim were acting for foreign governments. Again, there is no evidence to support this.

Propaganda videos broadcast on state media after 30 September have shown detainees whom authorities allege were involved in armed attacks against security forces with sacks over their heads. One video shows a detainee being asked leading questions by a TV presenter and being forced to make self-incriminating statements without a lawyer present over his alleged involvements in shootings on 30 September. Given the Iranian authorities’ well-documented pattern of producing and broadcasting coerced statements from detainees to cover up human rights violations, Amnesty International has expressed concern that such statements have been extracted under duress, which is a reasonable suggestion.

The authorities claimed that protesters committed acts of looting and arson of public property. However, beyond a minority of protesters throwing some stones at the police station, there has been no evidence of any such aggression on the part of protesters. It is quite clear that the Iranian authorities are using excessive and often lethal force against peaceful protesters. The unjustifiable, hugely violent and disproportionate response of the Iranian authorities to Iranian citizens protesting against the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody should be of grave concern to anyone who believes in democracy, freedom of expression and basic human rights.

Along with Mahsa Amini’s name, I want to put on the record the names of the other young women and girls who I believe have been murdered as a result of protesting for their freedom. Hadis Najafi, a 20-year-old woman, was shot six times when security forces opened fire on her. Ghazale Chelavi, a 32-year-old, was shot in the head after chanting “We are all Mahsa Amini”. Hanane Kia, aged 23, was shot and killed by Iranian security forces during protest. Mahsa Mogoi, aged 18, was shot and killed by Iranian security forces during a protest. Nika Shakarami, aged 16, was killed after burning her headscarf in protest. Sarina Esmailzadeh, aged 16, was beaten to death by Iranian security forces for protesting. If people search Sarina’s name on Twitter, they will find the most beautifully innocent video of her singing Hozier’s song, “Take Me to Church”, a song we all know very well. It is a devastating loss of a very bright and vibrant young woman in the prime of her life – a life that she will never get to live.

As a party, Fianna Fáil strongly condemns the use of violence against women and the denial of basic human rights and dignity when imposing compulsory hijab policies designated by state authorities. We also deplore the persistent impunity with respect to human rights violations in Iran, including the frequent deaths of protesters who are protesting peacefully due to the alleged use of lethal force by security forces.We call on the Iranian authorities to respect the rights to freedom of opinion, expression, peaceful assembly and association as a state that is party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ICCPR, and to say clearly that the use of force against non-violent protestors is unjustifiable and unacceptable.

Today, on what is International Day of the Girl Child, I pledge my solidarity and that of my Fianna Fáil colleagues to the women and girls of Iran who are fighting for the basic human right of being able to choose what they want to wear, to no longer be policed by the so-called morality police, to be free to express themselves in any way they feel is right for them, to live their lives to the fullest and to enjoy every freedom in doing so. Woman, life, freedom.