CNN —
A outstanding Iranian human rights lawyer informed CNN {that a} brutal state crackdown has quelled protests which have swept the nation for months, however many Iranians nonetheless need regime change.
“The protests have calmed down considerably, however that does not imply the individuals are not offended. The individuals have at all times wished, and nonetheless need, a change of presidency. They desire a referendum,” Nasrin Sotoudeh informed CNN worldwide anchor Christiane Amanpour in an unique interview from her Tehran dwelling on Wednesday.
Sotoudeh, a world-renowned advocate for the rights of girls, kids and activists in Iran, was sentenced to 38 years in jail and 148 lashes in March 2019 and is at the moment on medical parole from jail.
The loss of life of 22-year-old Martha Amini within the custody of Iran’s so-called morality police final fall sparked nationwide protests, erupting a long time of resentment over the regime’s therapy of girls and different points.
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A photograph obtained by AFP outdoors Iran reveals individuals gathering subsequent to a burning bike within the capital Tehran on October 8, 2022.
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On September 19, 2022, protests had been held in Tehran, Iran following the loss of life of Mahsa Amini.
Figures like Sotoudeh, who has fought in opposition to the obligatory hijab for girls in Iran, have come below elevated authorities scrutiny because the rebellion.
After the loss of life of Amini, a Kurdish lady in Iran, who was detained for allegedly carrying her hijab improperly, the protests escalated right into a full-blown girls’s rights motion in opposition to the nation’s headband legal guidelines.
“This difficulty has actually damage the collective conscience of the Iranian individuals as a result of the Iranian individuals have suffered for a few years, and one of many fundamental sufferings is that half of the inhabitants is continually harassed due to their gender and their physique,” she mentioned.
“I imagine that each in Iran and in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, the hijab is used as a way to perpetrate violence in opposition to girls, to inflict damage and hurt on girls, after which veiled away to cover that damage and ache.”
The Islamic Republic of Iran has lengthy ranked among the many world’s main executioners, however critics say current loss of life sentences handed all the way down to protesters have seen the regime take its loss of life penalty to a brand new degree.
There have additionally been studies of pressured detention and bodily abuse focusing on Iran’s Kurdish minority, and a CNN investigation primarily based on confidential testimony has uncovered sexual violence in opposition to protesters, together with boys, in Iranian detention services because the unrest started.
Mohammad Moghimi/Reuters
This social media picture printed on February 2, 2023, reveals Iranian activist Farhad Meisami, who has reportedly been on a starvation strike, being held in Raja’i Shah Prison in Karaj, Iran.
Concerns had been raised over the well being of jailed Iranian physician and civil rights activist Farhad Meisami final week after pictures purportedly displaying his frail situation had been printed on social media.
“It is really saddening to listen to a lot dangerous information from Iran for thus a few years, together with pictures of Farhad Meisami’s emaciated state in jail,” mentioned Sotoudeh, Meisami’s pal.
She added: “[Meisami]mentioned, ‘I’m in opposition to the obligatory carrying of the hijab,’ and he wrote it on a placard, so the authorities jailed him.”
The textual content of the letter, purportedly written by Meisami and offered to CNN by human rights lawyer Mohamed Moghimi, who claims to characterize her, mentioned the activist had begun a starvation strike to protest the execution of prisoners, name for the discharge of a number of protesters, and block the implementation of the hijab legislation. CNN couldn’t confirm the authenticity of the letter.
Photos posted on social media confirmed Meisami with protruding bones and a shaved head. CNN has been unable to confirm when the picture was taken. CNN has reached out to the Iranian Foreign Ministry for remark.
“For a few years, Farhad has been a really energetic member of our civil society, however within the final decade, [his] “Activism is changing into an increasing number of open, and he has supported the protest motion, particularly girls,” Sotoudeh added.
Maysami was jailed in 2018 after expressing assist for girls protesting in opposition to hijab legal guidelines. She was charged with “meeting and conspiracy to behave in opposition to nationwide safety” and “propaganda in opposition to the regime,” based on the Iran-focused group Human Rights Activists.
After pictures of Maysami had been circulated on-line, state media denied on Friday that the activist was at the moment on starvation strike and mentioned his situation was “good.”
“Farad’s calls for are additionally the calls for of the complete Iranian individuals. We hope that these calls for will probably be realized as quickly as attainable in order that Farad’s life might be saved and we are able to all be saved,” Sotoudeh informed Amanpour.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei final week authorised a proposal to pardon or commute the sentences of many prisoners as a part of an annual amnesty programme, state media reported.
But humanitarian teams dismissed the transfer as “propaganda” and a “publicity stunt” forward of the forty fourth anniversary of the “victory of the Islamic Revolution” on February 11. It is customary for Khamenei to pardon some prisoners to mark the event.
“This is a situation that’s repeated yearly. I do not need to have false hope that they’ll launch individuals. I need to have hope that they’ll launch political prisoners, whether or not it’s one or 10,000. I might be very proud of any launch and that’s my hope,” Sotoudeh mentioned of the announcement.
Looking to the long run, the Iranian lawyer mentioned that though he’s nervous about talking out in opposition to the federal government, he’s dedicated to liberating future generations from the regime’s clutches.
“We do not know what the precise end result will probably be. We do not know. But individuals’s calls for have gotten an increasing number of clear and vocal,” she added.
When requested if she feared for her personal security, Sotoudeh replied, “Yes… as a mom, I do know that my household, my kids, are being threatened, and I do know that it may disrupt their training, hinder their progress… sure, it scares me.”
But such considerations will not cease her struggle, she informed Amanpour.
“But on the similar time, we’re afraid that if we stay passive, the scenario will worsen,” Sotoudeh added.
“Despite the concern I really feel, I’m attempting to do extra to assist liberate my nation and its individuals.”