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How the Iranian government uses rape and sexual violence to break protests
In a report published today, Amnesty International (AI) documents rape and sexual violence in Iran to silence the "Woman, Life, Freedom" movement. Among the thousands of people arrested during the demonstrations, the NGO has collected some forty testimonies describing the use of these methods by the security forces, while the justice system turns a blind eye. Domitille Nicolet, AI's advocacy officer on police violence, describes to RFI the Iranian government's mechanics of "punishing, repressing and humiliating" the population.
Iranian women protesters flee from police in central Tehran, Monday, Sept. 19, 2022. AP
By: Nicolas Bamba Follow
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RFI: Testimonies of excessive repression in Iran have been documented for years. Is it surprising, or might we have expected, that these testimonies of rape and sexual violence have been reported?
Domitille Nicolet: What we are pointing out, the desire to document and to use this report, is obviously to speak of a weapon, of a repressive arsenal on the part of the Iranian regime. Novelty, however, does not arise. At this moment, we document the way in which the government responded to this extremely urgent uprising. These 45 people – 26 men, 12 women and 7 minors – testify to sexual violence inflicted on their persons. The interest of this report is to raise the question of the systematic and massive weapon of sexual violence committed against demonstrators.
How did Amnesty International conduct this investigation? Was it complicated to collect these testimonies?
Forty-five people wanted to trust us and make their voices heard. It is a long process of research carried out by our Iranian team of researchers. The testimonies were taken from a distance, in Persian (Farsi), the language used mainly in Iran. Of these 45 people, three decided to testify in writing. The sensitivity, the difficulty of the testimonies and the harshness of what they describe make this report. It is a report of more than 120 pages, made up mainly of testimonies and speeches. It was a very, very painful exercise, but a crucial one for our Iranian team.
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Many men and boys are among the victims identified. In an Iranian society marked by gender-based violence, is it a surprise to learn that even men are being targeted in this crackdown?
"Surprise" is not the word "surprise" in the sense that the Iranian government has shown a willingness to punish, repress and humiliate the entire Iranian population as a whole, all the people who have had the courage to speak out against the measures taken by the government, especially against women. In these people, there are men who obviously support women's voices. And the authorities, in their strategy of arrests to curb this movement, have also targeted and caught men in the violence they have inflicted and described in the report.
You talk about a ''systematic and massive weapon'. Is this part of a strategy of humiliation?
That's right. This is what we denounce and document with the 45 people who had the courage to trust us to carry their voice and what happened to them. These 45 people are only part of it, of course. They do not represent all those who have experienced sexual and gender-based violence. The majority testify that they have also heard or witnessed other victims of the same violence in detention. There really is a weapon used by this government to repress, humiliate, punish people who have had the courage to protest since the death of Mahsa Amini.
Amnesty's report shows that the Iranian justice system is indifferent or even contemptuous of the victims, if not outright complicit. What can we expect from the revelations of this report? International reactions perhaps?
The contempt and even complicity of the judicial authorities are documented and denounced. There are some very specific examples. I will take just one: people who wanted to file a complaint after being victims of torture and sexual violence were discouraged from doing so. Of the 45 people who had the courage to file a complaint, two were intimidated and forced to withdraw their complaint. And the third is still ongoing. There was also contempt, when the people questioned before the prosecutor had the courage to say "look at the marks I have on my body, look at the state in which I present myself to you, I have revelations to make, I have been a victim of violence". There was a desire on the part of the prosecutors not to take these words into account. No one has been prosecuted, as far as we know.
What states and the international community can do, what we are asking them to do at the very least, is to publicly take up the status of this report, the recommendations that are made at the level of the Iranian government, and to denounce in turn the treatment of the Iranian security forces and authorities in general, which involves the judiciary. They can request at least an extension of the mandate of the UN mission, which was voted in November 2022 and includes three members to document and investigate the facts that have taken place since September 2022. They can renew this mandate so that, once again, we can collect evidence, testimonies, so that the truth can be revealed. In particular, we are asking States to really advocate and ask for the renewal of this fact-finding mission.
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