JINA MAHSA AMINI
The face of Iran's protests. Her life, her dreams and her death.
In memory of Jina 'Mahsa' Amini, the cornerstone of the 'Zan. Zendagi. Azadi revolution.
16 February 2023 | By Gino d'Artali
And also
Read all about the assasination of the 22 year young Jina Mahsa Amini (Kurdistan-Iran) and the start of the Zan, Zendegi, Azadi (Women, life, freedom) revolution in Iran  2022
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When one hurts or kills a women
one hurts or kills hummanity and is an antrocitie.
Gino d'Artali
and: My mother (1931-1997) always said to me <Mi figlio, non esistono notizie <vecchie> perche puoi imparare qualcosa da qualsiasi notizia.> Translated: <My son, there is no such thing as so called 'old' news because you can learn something from any news.>
Gianna d'Artali.

UPDATE January 9, 2024

To honor our dear sister Armita Gevarnand I humbly made the above artwork. Allah has her soul. May she rest in peace.


Hijab enforcer = HARAM!!

PIC Armita Gevarnand's hijab enforcer
Iranwire - 9 Jan 2024
<<Children Used as Hijab Enforcers in Tehran Metro
Authorities in Tehran are using children to enforce mandatory headscarf rules for women in the city's metro stations, IranWire has learned. The information was confirmed by Ali Shafakhah, the head of the Skoda Children's Rights Committee, who said that <the authorities have now hired children as hijab enforcers.> Shafakhah wrote on the social media platform X that he had previously sent a letter to Tehran's mayor to raise concern about the plight of <tens of thousands> of child laborers in the capital. The Islamic Republic has a track record of using children as security forces or soldiers, and for ideological purposes. As many as 24 students were among dozens of people killed in a January 3 bombing attack on a memorial ceremony in Kerman for Qasem Soleimani, a top general who died in a US drone strike in Iraq four years ago. Some of the students were said to have been brought to the ceremony, without their parents, through a camp called <Pilgrim to Paradise.> Children in Iran have also been involved in <Hijab and Chasity> gatherings. During the Woman, Life, Freedom protests that erupted across Iran in 2022, images depicting children among the security forces were shared on social media. In contravention to international standards and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Iran is a signatory, the paramilitary Basij force and other organizations continue to involve children in military training programs .>>
Source:
https://iranwire.com/en/news/124165-children-used-as-hijab-enforcers-in-tehran-metro/


Sara Massoumi
NCRI - Womens committee - 22 Dec 2023 - in Women's News
<<Journalist Sara Massoumi sentenced to 6 months for a tweet
Journalist Sara Massoumi was sentenced to six months imprisonment by the 26th Branch of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran. She was also barred from journalistic activities for two years. Ms. Massoumi must also pay a fine of 15 million Toumans in cash. The semi-official Sharq newspaper cited Ali Mojtahedzadeh, Sara Massoumi's lawyer, as saying, <The hearing convened at the 26th Branch of the Revolutionary Court examined the charge of 'publishing context contrary to the truth.' > The charge refers to a tweet about Armita Geravand, the teenage girl who died after being attacked in a metro train by a Hijab Patrol.


Sara Massoumi's tweet

The tweet reads, <They wrote you passed away. For years, we have known the trace of blood and today, the city smells of the blood of the innocent. By the way, did they show all the footage to your mother?> <The tweet, however, did not contain any news and therefore could not be contrary to the truth. The Judge's verdict also refers to the report of law enforcement agents, but we did not see any reports,> Mr. Mojtahedzadeh said. Sara Massoumi's lawyer noted that <if a journalist is to endure such imprisonment for just one tweet, then we cannot essentially talk about freedom of speech in this country.> (The state-run Sharq daily, December 20, 2023)>>
Source:
https://women.ncr-iran.org/2023/12/22/journalist-sara-massoumi/

Iranwire - 20 Dec 2023
<<Iranian Journalist Masoumi Handed Prison Term over Tweet
Iranian authorities have sentenced journalist Sara Masoumi to six months in prison and a two-year ban from practicing journalism for <publishing false information.> The sentence was issued by Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court on December 20, Masoumi's legal representative, Ali Mojtahedzadeh, told the Shargh newspaper. Mojtahedzadeh said that the accusations against his client included <publishing a tweet about Armita Geravand,> a 16-year-old girl who died in October after being assaulted at a Tehran metro station for not wearing a mandatory headscarf. <Unlike many journalists whose cases were transferred to the prosecutor's office after the death of Armita Geravand, Masoumi's case was referred directly to the Revolutionary Court,> Mojtahedzadeh said. Maryam Shokrani, Shargh's economic editor, and Milad Alavi, a reporter at the same newspaper, faced summons for publishing or republishing news from domestic media concerning Geravand. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, a media freedom NGO, Iranian authorities have arrested at least 95 journalists since September 2022, when the death in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini sparked nationwide protests.>>
Source:
https://iranwire.com/en/journalism-is-not-a-crime/123726-iranian-journalist-masoumi-handed-prison-term-over-tweet/

Iranwire - 7 Dec 2023
<<40th Day After Teenage Girl’s Death Marked in Tehran Amid Tight Security
A ceremony marking the 40th day since the death of 16-year-old Armita Geravand was held at Tehran's Behesht Zahra cemetery on December 6 amid heavy security presence. After the ceremony, authorities apprehended a Tehran resident named Ariana Akbari and took him to an undisclosed location. Akbari had previously been detained during nationwide protests that rocked Iran last year. Armita fell unconscious on the platform of a Tehran metro station on October 1 after being assaulted for not wearing a mandatory headscarf. She was taken to a hospital where she remained in a coma for 28 days. Anti-government chants could be heard across Tehran, Karaj, Shiraz and other Iranian cities on the evening of her death.
During Armita's October 29 burial, authorities assaulted mourners and arrested dozens of people, including prominent human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh. Security forces have prevented the Geravand family and friends from speaking to the media, while journalists have faced reprisals for reporting on the teenager's situation.>>
Source:
https://iranwire.com/en/news/123283-40th-day-after-teenage-girls-death-marked-in-tehran-amid-tight-security/


NO-hijabis
NCRI - Womens committee - in Monthlies - in Women's news - 1 Dec 2023
<<November 2023 Report: Hijab and Chastity Law
The Most Prevalent Form of Violence Against Women and Girls in Iran: Enforcing the Compulsory Hijab and the New Hijab and Chastity Law
Coinciding with the 16 days of activism to eliminate violence against women and girls, the November monthly report focuses on the most prevalent form of violence against women in Iran. While other forms of violence affect specific strata of women and girls, activists and dissidents, students, etc., the violence entwined with enforcement of the compulsory veil impacts all women from all ages, all walks of life, and in every city and village across the country. Those who violate this mandatory dress code are subjected to violence by Hijab patrols. Inflicting this form of violence against Iranian women is both sanctioned by the state and institutionalized in the law. As Iranian women and girls increasingly resist the mandatory imposition of the veil, the regime's agents have escalated their brutality in enforcing this practice to unprecedented levels. Last year, Zhina (Mahsa) Amini was killed due to the brutality of guidance patrols who violently arrested and transferred her to a Morality Police detention center.


Jina Amini
This year, Hijab monitors assaulted a 17-year-old student, Armita Geravand, inside a metro train, which led to her death.

Armita assault

The regime's security and intelligence forces were highly vigilant and took control of the situation early on, to prevent the outbreak of another nationwide protest over the death of this innocent girl. The Iranian regime presents a paradox: it thrives on the suppression of women, evident in its stringent enforcement of the compulsory veil, yet faces widespread opposition from the majority of Iranian women who seek autonomy in their attire choices. By intensifying the enforcement of the Hijab despite this resistance, the regime risks triggering a formidable uprising-an outcome it greatly fears, as it could swiftly spiral beyond its control. In this edition of the NCRI Women's Committee's monthly reports, we'll delve into the implications of the regime's new Hijab and Chastity Law on Iranian women and society at large. As we are publishing this report, it has been reported that the Governorate of Qom has issued a directive, instructing female government employees to attend work with the head-to-toe black chador and without any make-up. (The state-run didbaniran.ir, December 2, 2023)
How Was the New Hijab and Chastity Law Adopted?
On May 24, the Iranian state media published the text of the <Protection of Hijab and Chastity> Bill comprised of 15 articles. This was the bill proposed by the Iranian Judiciary and delivered to Raisi's government. On June 8, the government finished making minor changes and passed the bill renamed, <Supporting Hijab and Chastity> to the parliament for double-priority adoption. However, the parliament saw flaws in the bill as it only dealt with penalties. Therefore, the parliament passed the bill to the Legal Commission for examination. On July 27, the Iranian state media published the text of the bill finalized in 70 articles by the parliamentary commission. On August 6, the parliament announced receipt of <The Bill to Support the Family through the Promotion of the Culture of Hijab and Chastity> for deliberations. Fearing public reactions, the clerical regime’s parliament refrained from debating the bill in its open session and invoked Article 85 of the constitution which permits the formation of a committee to approve legislation for <experimental> implementation. The Legal Commission concluded its deliberations on August 20, and the clerical regime's parliament adopted the new Hijab bill in an open session on September 20, 2023. One hundred and fifty-two (152) members of the parliament voted in favor, 34 against, and seven abstained. The new bill will be enforced for three years on a trial basis after being approved by the Guardian Council.
On October 24 and November 25, 2023, the Guardian Council returned the bill to the parliament to resolve the shortcomings and ambiguities in the bill. Therefore, the bill is not yet officially passed into law until approved by the Guardian Council.
The Bill to Support the Family through the Promotion of the Culture of Hijab and Chastity
According to mullah Moussa Ghazanfarabadi, the chair of the parliamentary Legal Commission, <The bill has five chapters. The first chapter deals with generalities; the second chapter defines the general duties of executive organs. The third chapter defines the special obligations of executive agencies like the national radio and television and the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. The fourth chapter outlines the general duties and social responsibilities, and the fifth chapter outlines the crimes and offenses.> As it is evident from the name of the bill, the restrictions imposed on women's freedom of choice regarding their attire are justified under the pretext of protecting the foundations of the family. In Chapter One, Article 1 of this bill states, <Family is the main center for growth and progress of human beings and their calm. Therefore, any behavior that promotes 'nudity,' 'unchastity,' 'removal of hijab,' 'malveiling,' and actions against public chastity, which would lead to the disruption of the calm of the woman and the man in the family, promotion of late marriages, spread of divorce and social ills, and devaluation of family violate paragraphs 1 and 7 of the Constitution, and are banned according to the rulings of this law and others.> In Chapter Two, this law obliges all government agencies to hold educational terms for their staff and teach them the <style of Islamic life based on the couple's commitment to each other and promotion of the culture of Hijab and Chastity.> The banner posted at the entrance of a hospital in Lahijan: Entry of all individuals, who break the norms and are improperly veiled, is forbidden. The hospital is not allowed to provide services to improperly veiled individuals and those who break the norms.
Enforcing the Compulsory Hijab and the New Hijab and Chastity Law
In Chapter Three, the law obliges more than 30 government ministries and organizations to carry out a long list of duties with regards to implementation of this law. They include the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, the Organization of State Radio and Television, the Organization of Islamic Propaganda, the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology, the Ministry of Health and Medical Education, the presidential directorate of Science, Technology, and Economy, the Ministry of Interior, the Interior Ministry's HQ for Coordination and Leading the Implementation of the Hijab and Chastity Law, the municipalities and city councils throughout the country, the National Welfare Organization, the Ministry of Sports and Youths, the Ministry of Industries, Mines, and Commerce, the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicraft, the Ministry of Intelligence, the IRGC Intelligence, the State Security Force’s Intelligence Organization, the Planning and Budget Organization, the Administrative and Employment Organization, the presidential directorate on Women and Family Affairs, the State Security Force Command, the Judiciary Branch, the paramilitary Basij, and the Headquarters to Promote Virtue and Forbid Evil. Each of these ministries and organizations has between 2 to 13 duties listed for them to educate their staff and the society at large about the Islamic style of life and promote the culture of hijab and chastity. Such duties include segregation of the workspace in offices and even in hospitals, enforcing the regime's compulsory dress code in schools, offices, universities, hospitals, etc., and refraining from employing or providing services to individuals who do not observe the dress code. Ironically, the Ministry of Intelligence, the IRGC Intelligence, and the SSF Intelligence are all involved in imposing the compulsory veil on Iranian women and girls. In Chapter Four, entitled, <General Obligations and Social Responsibility,> Article 34 underlines that the recruitment, deployment, employment, promotion, ranking, appointment, etc. of individuals are conditional on their adherence in practice to Hijab and Chastity. In Chapter Five, 33 articles are devoted to the harsh punishments and heavy financial fines handed down for those who choose to violate the Hijab and Chastity Law, including in cyberspace and social media. Business owners are obliged to control their employees' observance of the veil.
More than 2,850 Hijab Monitors Recruited in Tehran's Metro Stations
Even before the approval of the bill by the mullahs' legislative hierarchy, the Iranian regime took measures to implement the strict rules outlined in the new Hijab and Chastity bill. One of the semi-official dailies in Iran published the cliche of a highly confidential document by the Ministry of Interior, which indicated the presence of 2,850 Hijab Monitors or Hijab patrols in the metro stations. (The state-run Etemad daily newspaper, November 26, 2023)
The directive dated, May 30, 2023, addresses some of the government agencies, including Tehran's Municipality, and the Metro Company of the Capital, and states, <Entry of individuals who remove their Hijab to government-run places is conditional on their observance of the legal dress code.> The official IRNA news agency carried an interview with the Secretary of the Staff of Promotion of Virtue and Prohibition of Evil, on November 25, 2023. Mohammad Hossein Taheri Akordi told IRNA that Hijab Monitors are <Jihadi forces.> He said there are more than 2,850 Hijab Monitors in Tehran whose activities are the product of “coordination among the IRGC, Bassij, State Security Force (SSF), Tehran's Municipality, and the Prosecutor’s Office.> Taheri Akordi said the mandate of these Hijab Monitors is to give <verbal warnings.> He said they work voluntarily and without receiving any salaries. However, it was reported in August that Tehran's municipality had hired 400 Hijab patrols to be deployed in metro stations, with a monthly salary of 12 million Tomans. Their duty is to give warnings to the passengers and prevent them from getting on the metro wagons without covering their hair. They will also hand over the women with improper veiling or no veil to the police. (The state-run Rouydad24.ir, August 6, 2023) IRNA cited Ahmad Vahidi, the Interior Minister, as saying, <Verbal promotion of virtue and forbidding of evil is a general duty. It is publicly and legally sanctioned and does not require any licenses.> He added, <The Ministry of Interior supports those who promote virtue and forbid from evil before the law.> (The official IRNA news agency, November 25, 2023)
Hijab and chastity The new academic year in Iran sees strict clothing restrictions for female students
Strict clothing restrictions for female university students
The new academic year saw stepped-up pressure and restrictions on Iranian students, and more arrests and suspensions. Simultaneous with the new academic year and the opening of schools, the parliament's approval of the new Hijab and Chastity Bill for a three-year trial period created a strict atmosphere in the universities. Social media posts showed images of camouflaged vehicles on parade inside Tehran University while playing anthems from the Iran-Iraq wartime. Similar reports emerged from Amir Kabir, Al-Zahra, Allameh Tabatabaii, and Kharazmi universities in Tehran and Isfahan's University of Art. The Medical School of Kerman also posted a banner on the regulations for the clothing of its students. In the University of Shiraz, the authorities installed facial recognition technology in the university's restaurants. The Shiraz University management spent 700 million Tomans to install this technology and identify the students who breach the clothing regulations. More recently, in a shocking incident on November 20, 2023, at Melli University, masked security forces raided the library, psychology classrooms, and classes in the School of Literature and the School of Human Sciences, confiscating the student ID cards of female students who were not wearing the hijab. Students in this and other universities in Tehran went on a two-day protest strike and refused to attend their classes.


Students strike at Sharif University of Technology
Punitive Measures for Violating Compulsory Hijab
Iranian women received harsh penalties, including termination from their jobs, being assigned to wash corpses in the morgue, and being forced to do janitorial work or attend psychiatric sessions for supposed <mental disorders> for failing to adhere to the compulsory dress code. The Reuters news agency released footage showing a woman in Tehran's Gisha district crying out for help after being harassed and assaulted by a woman agent of the state security forces, who attempted to violently arrest her and take her into a van.


Picture by Reuters
Hijab and Chastity punishments against women defying the compulsory Hijab
International Censure of the New Hijab and Chastity Bill
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a statement, on September 1, 2023, in which a group of UN Human Rights Council-appointed experts slammed Iran's draft Hijab law. The experts said the bill could amount to <Gender Apartheid.> They expressed concern that the new Hijab law in Iran sanctions new punishments for women and girls who fail to wear the headscarf, or hijab, in public. <The draft law could be described as a form of gender apartheid, as authorities appear to be governing through systemic discrimination with the intention of suppressing women and girls into total submission,> the UN human rights experts said. They reiterated that the proposed parliamentary Bill to Support the Family by Promoting the Culture of Hijab and Chastity and existing restrictions are inherently discriminatory and may amount to gender persecution.
<The draft law imposes severe punishments on women and girls for non-compliance which may lead to its violent enforcement,> the experts warned and added that the new hijab law would <disproportionately affect economically marginalized women.> The experts urged the Iranian authorities to <reconsider the compulsory hijab legislation in compliance with international human rights law, and to ensure the full enjoyment of human rights for all women and girls in Iran.> Amnesty International called on the Iranian authorities to <abolish compulsory veiling, quash all convictions and sentences for defying compulsory veiling, drop all charges against all those facing prosecution, and unconditionally release anyone in detention for defying compulsory veiling. The authorities must abandon plans to punish women and girls for exercising their rights to equality, privacy, and freedom of expression, religion, and belief.> On November 3, 2023, the UN Human Rights Committee issued its findings on the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Committee was disturbed by legal provisions that continue to discriminate against women and girls, particularly the <Support the Family by Promoting the Culture of Chastity and Hijab Bill,> which imposes severe punishments on women and girls for violations of the mandatory dress code, including up to ten years in prison and flogging. It was also concerned about the redeployment of morality police to monitor the dress code in public. It urged the State Party to reform or repeal laws and policies that criminalize non-compliance with compulsory veiling, specifically the <Bill to Support the Family by Promoting the Culture of Hijab and Chastity>. It also asked the State party to disband the morality police.>>
Source:
https://women.ncr-iran.org/2023/12/02/hijab-and-chastity-law/

---

Iranwire - 27 Nov 2023 - by SOLMAZ EIKDAR
<<Tehran Hijab Enforcer: <I Need This Job to Feed My Children>
Zeinab, a single mother of three, is among women in Tehran who dedicate eight hours a day to safeguarding <chastity of society.> Ismail, a resident of northern Tehran, spends his evenings patrolling the streets of northern Tehran to record the license plate numbers of vehicles in which women are not wearing the mandatory hijab. These individuals are referred to as <hijab enforcers> by Islamic Republic officials. Zeinab and other women from her neighborhood underwent several training sessions before embarking in July on her mission to warn women with uncovered hair. She is part of a network responsible for <photographing and documenting> non-compliant individuals. Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi denied issuing permits to individuals involved in the <Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice,> claiming their engagement was "spontaneous.> And on November 24, he acknowledged that such an activity is a public duty. Two days later, Etemad newspaper revealed a confidential document showing that hijab enforcers are organized under Vahidi's supervision to <suppress> women. In an interview with IranWire, Zeinab explains that she was forced to fend for her two daughters and her son alone after her husband abandoned the family. Desperate to make ends meet, she responded to a job opportunity suggested to her by a woman she worked for as a home cleaner. This job, described as a mission to safeguard <the chastity of society,> offered a prospect of financial security, with a monthly income and material benefits worth approximately 13 million tomans ($260). Days after the woman introduced Zeinab to her husband, she was invited to participate in preparatory classes to become a hijab enforcer. The classes began with lectures on hijab, described as a divine obligation, and the principles of the <Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice.> Subsequent sessions focused on practical aspects of the job, emphasizing the importance of maintaining a group presence, avoiding confrontation with women who do not adhere to the strict dress code, and utilizing photography to document instances of non-compliance. Zeinab and her fellow hijab enforcers then embarked on eight-hour patrols across Tehran, reminding women to cover their hair appropriately. <We only warn,> Zainab says. <We say, 'My lady, my dear, your hijab, scarf, or shawl.'> Each group of hijab enforcers typically consist of eight women accompanied by several men. The men largely remain on the sidelines, but when a conflict arises between enforcers and defiant women they step in to support the female enforcers. Zeinab acknowledges that occasional clashes occur during her patrols. <We have been told that if we harm someone, we must be held accountable, and the headquarters will deny any connection with us,> she explains. <From the very first day, they said that if we hit someone, we would be responsible for it.> <I won't get involved in any conflicts because I need this job to feed my children. If something happens, no one would give a piece of bread to my children,> the woman adds. Ismail tells IranWire that he works for eight to 10 hours daily in a poultry farm in Shahriar, near Tehran. After this job, he commutes to the capital, where he monitors and reports license plates of vehicles carrying women without head covering. Ismail says he has received a <monitoring software> from the local paramilitary Basij force to identify cars with <bareheaded women.> For over four months, he has reported instances of "hijab violations" in the north of Tehran five days a week. <The rich people in the north of Tehran are the agents of the West, the Israeli and American staff, trampling on the blood of my martyred father and people like me,> he says.
Ismail's father died in the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s.
The man, who claims not to receive any money for his work, expresses frustration about being limited to reporting 40 cars every 24 hours. <Some days it takes me two hours to reach Niavaran neighborhood and half an hour to record the plate numbers of 40 cars. I input them into the software and then I have to go back.> Ismail acknowledges that despite the intensifying crackdown on women without head covering, their number has not decreased. He attributes this to the judiciary's lack of decisive action and the constraints put on the Basij force. <If they had left us, we would have put a scarf and a chador on women's heads; it only takes a little determination and force,> he says.>>
Source:
https://iranwire.com/en/women/122925-tehran-hijab-enforcer-i-need-this-job-to-feed-my-children/
Opinion by Gino d'Artali: I do understand the people needing a job but what they earn is 'bloodmoney' really because it will not bring back our dear sister Armita Gevarnand, Jina Amini and all the other sisters who were killed by the mullahs' regime or its shia followers/murderers!

Iranwire - 22 Nov 2023
<<Iranian Journalist Shokrani Faces New Legal Case
Maryam Shokrani, the economic editor of Iran's Shargh newspaper, has announced that a new legal case was filed against her. Shokrani said on Instagram on November 22 that the case was referred to Branch 1058 of the Culture and Media Prosecutor's Office <without investigation.> The journalist also said she hadn't been given a chance to present her defense. This is the second case filed against Shokrani in recent weeks. Shokrani announced earlier she had been summoned to Branch 16 of the Tehran Culture and Media Prosecutor's Office, adding that she was unaware of the complaint's subject matter. The cases were opened against Shokrani amid a wider crackdown on journalists who have reported on the death of Armita Geravand, a 16-year-old girl who was assaulted at a Tehran metro station on October 1 for not wearing a headscarf. Armita died after being in a coma for 28 days. Several other journalists have also been summoned or arrested for their coverage of her death. They include Sara Masoumi, Milad Alavi, and Omid Tosheh. Negar Ostad Agha, a member of Etimad Online's editorial team, has been arrested for attending Geravand's funeral.>>
Source:
https://iranwire.com/en/journalism-is-not-a-crime/122767-iranian-journalist-shokrani-faces-new-legal-case/

Iranwire - 22 Nov 2023
<<Iranian Activist Ronaghi Faces New Charges
Former political prisoner and civil activist Hossein Ronaghi says he has been summoned by the Iranian judiciary to face new accusations. On November 21, Ronaghi posted an image of the summons on the social media platform X, accompanied by a caption stating: <I have been summoned to Branch 1 of the Evin Prosecutor's Office regarding new charges and a new case.> <We are unaware of the specifics of the accusation or the new case, but I will go to the prosecutor's office in the coming days. It is likely that the new case is related to my statements regarding the killing of Armita Geravand,> he added. Armita is a 16-year-old girl who was assaulted at a Tehran metro station on October 1 for not wearing a headscarf. She died after being in a coma for 28 days. Following Armita's death, Ronaghi denounced the <killing> of the teenager. Ronaghi has been arrested and convicted multiple times in the past. His most recent arrest occurred in the early days of the nationwide protests that erupted in September 2022.
Ronaghi was released from prison on bail on November 26 of last year.>>
Source:
https://iranwire.com/en/news/122769-iranian-activist-ronaghi-faces-new-charges/

Iranwire - Nov 20, 2023 - By MARYAM DEHKORDI
<<Suppression of Women's Rights in Iran Intensifies
The UN General Assembly's committee on social, humanitarian and cultural issues approved a Canada-drafted resolution earlier this week that condemns the widespread and serious human rights violations being committed by the Islamic Republic of Iran. The resolution highlighted the plight of Iranian women who face systematic discrimination and oppression. One of the most egregious examples of this oppression is the requirement for women and girls to wear a headscarf in public, which is a source of ongoing protest. This report details the experiences of Iranian women who have been subjected to abuse at the hands of the security forces in the past weeks for simply exercising their basic rights and freedoms.
Urmia, October 2023
<I was utterly exhausted. I was going home after a long day at work. My energy was completely drained. While waiting at a red light, I instinctively reached for a cigarette. I had just started smoking when I noticed a police officer calling my license plate. They instructed me to pull over.> This incident is recounted by a woman living in the northwestern city of Urmia: <The officer inquired, 'Do you smoke?' His tone was laced with disapproval. 'Aren't you ashamed? A woman smoking in the street?' I was taken aback by his judgmental attitude. He continued: 'If you fail to abide by hijab regulations and don't seek treatment for your smoking habit, you're corrupting society.' Then he fined me.> She later experienced a similar experience: <I was fined once again for smoking behind the wheel. I asked the police officer: 'Do you fine men for smoking in their cars?' He didn't respond and threatened to impound my car.>
Instances of women being fined for smoking behind the wheel have been reported in other Iranian cities.
Tehran, October 2023
According to Zohreh, a veteran women's rights activist, Iran is <regressing rapidly to the dark ages of the 1980s.>
Zohreh recounts an incident that highlights the escalating repression against women: <In broad daylight, I was violently accosted by plainclothes officers for simply applying lipstick. It was midday, and I was waiting for my husband in central Tehran. I glanced at myself in the rearview mirror, noticing that my makeup had smudged during the day. I took out my lipstick from my bag and retouched my lips. Suddenly, an unidentified individual approached my car and began hurling insults. I was taken aback by his aggressive behavior; he could have been my son.>
Tehran, November 2023
On November 16, Iran marked the third anniversary of the 2019 brutal crackdown on protests that left many people dead and injured. Coinciding with these commemorations, images of undercover officers enforcing mandatory hijab rules have emerged from the streets of Tehran. Photos from western Tehran capture the presence of black-clad women and armed men confronting women who did not wear a headscarf. Initially concentrated in metro stations in the city center, this practice has spread to other parts of the capital. IranWire received multiple reports of violent confrontations between women and black-clad officers stationed in metro stations in the city center. The plainclothes officers bore no insignia and had cameras attached to their clothing. <I enter the metro at Theater Station,> says a woman named Pardis. <There are two women and one man or three men standing at the metro entrances and exits....you have to turn around and change your path to avoid them. But even if you succeed, you will eventually encounter them somewhere inside the station.> Pardis says that the officers took pictures of women's faces: <It's unclear why they are taking pictures. They started at Theater Station because students from Tehran University, the University of Arts and other universities pass through there. They have now spread like a virus.> <They are conquering the city both on foot and by car. At Theater Station, a bearded man is standing with a cell phone and a flashlight, taking pictures and videos. Police are also present but they don't intervene...I witnessed one of [hijab enforcement officers] punching a woman in the face.> According to Pardis, at least 15 bearded officers are stationed in front of the metro gates, creating an atmosphere of fear.
<There are six exits, each with at least two or three officers standing guard. What bothers me most is not the insults or the shouting, but other people's indifference,> she says.>>
Source:
https://iranwire.com/en/women/122697-suppression-of-womens-rights-in-iran-intensifies/

Iranwire - 20 Nov 2023
<<Iranian Actress Who Supported Protests Handed Suspended Prison Sentence
An Iranian court has sentenced Hanieh Tavassoli, a renowned film actress, to six months in prison for voicing support for nationwide protests last year, her lawyer says. In a statement on social media on November 19, lawyer Maryam Kian Ersi said the sentence would be suspended for a period of three years. Tavassoli, 44, was arrested at her home in mid-September this year and released on bail the following day, after speaking out against the government's crackdown on dissent and expressing solidarity with victims of human rights abuses. She was charged with <publishing content contrary to reality with the intention of disturbing the public mind.> In a recent Instagram post, Tavassoli shared pictures of summonses she had received from the authorities. One of them related to social media posts in which she expressed sympathy for the family of Armita Geravand, a 16-
year-old girl who was assaulted at a Tehran metro station on October 1 for not wearing a headscarf. Armita died after being in a coma for 28 days.>>
Source:
https://iranwire.com/en/women/122687-iranian-actress-who-supported-protests-handed-suspended-prison-sentence/

Hijab patrols
NCRI - Womens committee - 16 Nov 2023 - in Women's News
<<More Hijab Patrols Recruited in Tehran Metro Stations
Iranian state media have reported an increase in the number of Hijab patrols in Tehran's metro stations.
On August 6, Iranian media wrote about the recruitment of 400 Hijab patrols with a monthly salary of 120 million Rials by Tehran's municipality.
As claimed by regime officials, the duty of these oppressive forces is to issue verbal warnings and prevent unveiled individuals from entering the metro, reporting them to the police in case of resistance. Paying such high salaries to suppressive forces targeting women comes at a time when, according to the Supreme Labor Council's decision, the minimum monthly wage for Iranian workers in the current Iranian year of 1402 is less than 50 million rials. Unprecedented inflation and soaring prices have placed immense burdens on workers and laborers. Heart-wrenching scenes of men, women, and children rummaging through garbage bins for their meager sustenance trouble the conscience of any human being, except for the ruling mullahs and the criminal authorities who have abandoned all sense of humanity. In October, Armita Geravand, an innocent 17-year-old student, lost her life after she was assaulted by Hijab patrols in a metro wagon in Tehran. The clerical regime's parliament has adopted a new Hijab and Chastity Bill containing 70 articles that impose draconian restrictions and punishments on women who defy the compulsory Hijab and the businesses that allow women to do so. The NCRI Women's Committee calls on all freedom-loving youth to stand against these oppressive measures targeting noble women and urges defenders of human and women's rights to condemn these actions under the pretext of combatting improper veiling. During the 2022 uprising, Iranian women demonstrated with slogans like <With or without hijab, we march towards revolution,> proving that attaining gender equality and minimum women’s rights is contingent upon overthrowing the religious fascism ruling Iran. As Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), has declared, <No to compulsory religion, no to compulsory hijab, and no to compulsory government.> >>
Source:
https://women.ncr-iran.org/2023/11/17/more-hijab-patrols/

Women's Liberation Front 2019/cryfreedom.net 2023