Iran protests: Security forces deliberately and systematically target protesters’ eyes

The report by Iran Human Rights, entitled ‘Iran protests 2022: women protester eyes intentionally and systematically targeted’, revealed that the eyes of women protesters were deliberately targeted by security forces during the ‘Jin Jiyan Azadi’ protests. The data shows that overall, women accounted for 9% of protesters killed and 28% of those injured in the eyes. In Mahabad, 15% of the demonstrators killed and 56% of those injured in their eyes were women.

Iran Human Rights investigators were able to verify 138 cases of eye injuries, 43 of whom provided evidence of their injuries on condition of anonymity. The names and details of 95 others are included in the report. Among those blinded by security forces were 8 children under the age of 18, 4 girls and 4 boys. The youngest was a 5-year-old girl, Benita Kiani Falavarjani, who was shot in the right eye while playing on her grandfather’s second floor balcony in Isfahan. Overall, 5% of eye injuries were children, compared to 12% of those killed (68 children). Of at least 551 protester deaths, 49 were women and 502 were men. However, of the 138 eye injuries recorded, 38 were women and 100 were men.

The human rights organization Hengaw also published some statistics on the repression of the commemoration of Jina Amini’s murder last month and the outbreak of protests. At least 50 minors and 51 women have been arrested by Iranian security forces. Of the minors, 37 were reportedly of Baluchi origin, while 10 children and 22 women were Kurdish.

Hengaw also published data on the execution of death sentences. According to data documented by the Human Rights Organisation Hengaw’s Center for Statistics and Documents, at least 27 prisoners were executed in Iranian prisons in September 2023. Seventeen of these cases involved people convicted of murder, making up the majority. In addition, at least six Baloch prisoners were executed in Mashhad and Zahedan prisons in September, accounting for 22% of all executions in that month.