Nika Shahkarami: How a slain 16-year-old became a figurehead of the Iran protests
Kathryn Mannie - Thursday
Nika Shahkarami, a 16-year-old girl whose death has become a focal point in the Iran protests.
News of her death, and the treatment of her family at the hands of Iranian authorities, sparked outrage and galvanized fresh protests as demonstrations stretch into their third week.
© Twitter
VIDEO Renewed outrage after Amnesty Intl. says 16-year-old protester beaten to death
The Iran protests initially erupted after the funeral of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died while in the custody of Iran's morality police for allegedly violating the country's modesty laws. At first, demonstrations centred around protesting Iran's strict dress code that dictates how women can dress, but have since expanded into broader calls for a regime change.
The Iran protests initially erupted after the funeral of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died while in the custody of Iran's morality police for allegedly violating the country's modesty laws. At first, demonstrations centred around protesting Iran's strict dress code that dictates how women can dress, but have since expanded into broader calls for a regime change.
Read more:
Iranian security forces have used tear gas and opened fire on protesters to quash dissent, leaving dozens dead and hundreds injured — though the true number of casualties has been disputed. Iranian women and girls have been leading the protests, with numerous videos circulating on social media showing people burning their hijabs and cutting their hair in defiance of the country's strict modesty laws.
Shahkarami's death, which many activists in Iran believe happened at the hands of Iranian authorities, has become another rallying cry in the protest movement. Protesters see her death as emblematic of the way Iran's government treats women in the country.
"Nika’s death will definitely fuel the fire of anger," a female protester in Tehran said over the Telegram messaging app, as reported by the Wall Street Journal. "What they did to Nika is a true example of what the Islamic Republic does to us."
On Sept. 20, Shahkarami joined the protests in Tehran like many other youths her age.
In an interview with BBC Persian, the teen's aunt, Atash Shahkarami, said her niece left their house around 5 p.m. local time and that they were in contact until around 7 p.m. Atash spoke to one of Shahkarami's friends and learned that the teen had posted a story on her Instagram page showing her burning her headscarf, Atash said.
Read more:
According to her aunt, Shahkarami told her friend that she was being followed by security agents that night. After that, her family lost contact with her.
Shahkarami was missing for 10 days after attending the protest until her family found her at a morgue in a Tehran detention centre.
"When we went to identify her, they didn’t allow us to see her body, only her face for a few seconds," Atash told BBC Persian.
According to Iran's judiciary, Shahkarami went into a building on the night she disappeared and was found dead in the yard outside the next morning.
CCTV footage that claimed to show Shahkarami's last moments shows an unidentifiable person walking through an alley and pulling down their face mask before entering a building.
Tehran judiciary official Mohammad Shahriari said on Wednesday that a post-mortem of Shahkarami's body showed that the teen suffered "multiple fractures ... in the pelvis, head, upper and lower limbs, arms and legs, which indicate that the person was thrown from a height," as reported by the BBC.
Read more:
However, a death certificate for Shahkarami, which was obtained by BBC Persian from a cemetery in Tehran, states that the teen died after "multiple injuries caused by blows with a hard object."
In response to growing outrage, the Iranian government launched an investigation into Shahkarami's death on Tuesday.
"A case has been filed in the criminal court to investigate the cause of Nika Shahkarami’s death," said Tehran public prosecutor Ali Salehi, as reported by The Guardian. "An order to investigate the case has been issued."
On the same day, eight workers from the building where Shahkarami was allegedly last seen were arrested.
Mahsa Amini’s death in Iran brings worldwide solidarityDuration 2:06 View on Watch
Shahkarami's aunt, Atash, has spoken extensively to media about her niece's death. She said that Shahkarami's Instagram and Telegram accounts were deleted on the day she went missing. According to BBC Persian, Iranian security forces are known to demand access to detainees' social media accounts so that certain information can be deleted.
Atash also told BBC Persian that Revolutionary Guards told the family that Shahkarami was in police custody for five days before being handed over to prison authorities.
Multiple reports have said that Atash and Shahkarami's uncle, Mohsen, were detained by Iranian authorities on Sunday after posting online about their niece and speaking to the media. These reports have not been confirmed.
Read more:
On Wednesday night, state TV aired a recorded message from Atash saying, "Nika was killed falling from a building." According to BBC Persian, Atash also confirmed that her niece's body was found outside the building that government officials had flagged as the site of her death. Mohsen denounced the protests in the televised message.
These comments contradicted their previous statements about Shahkarami's death and a source told BBC Persian that Atash and Mohsen's messages were "forced confessions." The source alleged that these statements were recorded "after intense interrogations and being threatened that other family members would be killed."
Atash and Mohsen have since been released.
On Sunday, on what would have been the teen's 17th birthday, Shahkarami's family transported her body to be buried in her father's hometown of Khorramabad.
A source close to the family told BBC Persian that they had agreed under duress to not hold a public funeral for their daughter. The source also said that Iranian security forces "stole" Shahkarami's body from Khorramabad and secretly buried it in the nearby village of Veysian.
Online footage shows hundreds of protesters descending on Khorramabad's cemetery on Sunday, chanting anti-government slogans like "death to the dictator."
Shahkarami is just one of many young women and girls who have been killed during the Iran protests so far.
Hadis Najafi, 22, was shot dead by security forces on Sept. 21 after attending a protest in Karaj, according to her family. Her sisters say she was shot in the head and neck with live ammunition and suffered injuries from birdshot that was fired from a shotgun.
"They wouldn't return the body for two days, asking her father to say she had died of a heart attack out of fear," two sources close to the family told BBC Persian.
Hadis recorded a video message during the protest in which she said, "I hope in a few years when I look back, I will be happy that everything has changed for the better."
Her family says she was shot dead almost an hour after recording that video.
Video: Mahsa Amini death: Women lead the charge in protests against Iranian government
Mother of teen protester found dead says family threatened
On the day she disappeared, Nika had posted stories on her Instagram account inviting her friends to join the protests, her mother, Nasrin Shakarami, said in an interview with Iran International TV on Thursday. That's how she learned her daughter had gone to the protests.
In her last message to a friend on Sept. 20, Nika said that she was being chased by security forces, her aunt told BBC Persian.
At some point, Nika stopped responding to the calls and her phone shut off, according to her family. The next morning, her family says they began searching prisons, police stations, and detention centers.
"No one would respond properly. It was a mess. And some of the parents were beaten. They also were trying to understand if their children were in prison," Nika's mother told Iran International.
Eight days after Nika went missing, the police called her family saying a body matched Nika's features, her aunt told BBC Persian.
After the family received her body, they realized the reported date of her death was the day she went missing, her mother told Iran International. She was not told why the body had been kept away from the family when she had her ID with her or why her Instagram and Telegram accounts were deleted the same night.
Her mother said in the interview with Iran International that security forces tried to seize Nika's body when they took her to their village to be buried. She said that local officials even asked her not to bury Nika in the village.
"I asked them not to oppress me with this one. I asked them to let me bury my daughter where I want," she said she told the local officials.
Later that night, security forces stole Nika's body from the morgue and buried her in a village several miles west of where Nika's family wanted to bury her, she told Iran International. Nika's uncle was arrested for objecting to the theft of the body and other relatives are wanted by police for objecting as well, she said in the interview. The family couldn't retrieve the body again.
Three days prior to that, Nika's aunt had shared details of the family's search for the teenager in an interview with BBC Persian listing the discrepancies they noticed in officials' accounts regarding Nika's case.
The aunt was arrested in a raid on her house two days after the interview, BBC Persian reported. She then appeared on a program on state TV that advocates say is known for allegedly forcing confessions, saying that Nika was not killed in the protests and that she died after falling from the roof of a building.
Iranian protesters set their scarves on fire while marching
Yesterday
The death of 16-year-old Nika Shakarami, who went missing after attending protests in Tehran last month, has further energized the nationwide demonstrations in Iran, even as her mother tells news outlets their family is being threatened by Iranian security forces to change their story about the incident.
The protests erupted after the mysterious death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died Sept. 16 while in custody of the morality police, after she was reportedly arrested for not wearing a hijab properly. The demonstrations have turned into a movement, with many calling for an end to the Iranian regime. Many accounts on social media report an unprecedented number of teenagers participating in the protests.
"Our teenagers laugh at these [Iranian officials]," Mojgan Ilanlou, an Iranian documentary filmmaker, told ABC News.
Ilanlou says she has been on the streets most of the days of the protest witnessing a "fearless" young generation. Ilanlou says this generation doesn't care about Iran's leaders because the leaders have "turned themselves into jokes" with so many "shallow" decisions and statements. She says, "Who would be afraid of someone that they laugh at for a long time?"
A woman holds a sign bearing the names of slain Iranian women including Nika Shakarami during a protest against the Islamic regime of Iran and the death of Mahsa Amini in front of the Iranian Embassy in Madrid, Oct. 6, 2022.© Juan Medina/Reuters
Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has blamed the U.S. and Israel for the unrest, calling Amini's death "a bitter one" and urging people to wait for the investigation into her death to finish.
Iranian filmmaker details power of student protestsDuration 2:02 View on Watch
The death of 16-year-old Nika Shakarami, who went missing after attending protests in Tehran last month, has further energized the nationwide demonstrations in Iran, even as her mother tells news outlets their family is being threatened by Iranian security forces to change their story about the incident.
The protests erupted after the mysterious death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died Sept. 16 while in custody of the morality police, after she was reportedly arrested for not wearing a hijab properly. The demonstrations have turned into a movement, with many calling for an end to the Iranian regime. Many accounts on social media report an unprecedented number of teenagers participating in the protests.
"Our teenagers laugh at these [Iranian officials]," Mojgan Ilanlou, an Iranian documentary filmmaker, told ABC News.
Ilanlou says she has been on the streets most of the days of the protest witnessing a "fearless" young generation. Ilanlou says this generation doesn't care about Iran's leaders because the leaders have "turned themselves into jokes" with so many "shallow" decisions and statements. She says, "Who would be afraid of someone that they laugh at for a long time?"
A woman holds a sign bearing the names of slain Iranian women including Nika Shakarami during a protest against the Islamic regime of Iran and the death of Mahsa Amini in front of the Iranian Embassy in Madrid, Oct. 6, 2022.© Juan Medina/Reuters
Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has blamed the U.S. and Israel for the unrest, calling Amini's death "a bitter one" and urging people to wait for the investigation into her death to finish.
On the day she disappeared, Nika had posted stories on her Instagram account inviting her friends to join the protests, her mother, Nasrin Shakarami, said in an interview with Iran International TV on Thursday. That's how she learned her daughter had gone to the protests.
In her last message to a friend on Sept. 20, Nika said that she was being chased by security forces, her aunt told BBC Persian.
At some point, Nika stopped responding to the calls and her phone shut off, according to her family. The next morning, her family says they began searching prisons, police stations, and detention centers.
"No one would respond properly. It was a mess. And some of the parents were beaten. They also were trying to understand if their children were in prison," Nika's mother told Iran International.
Eight days after Nika went missing, the police called her family saying a body matched Nika's features, her aunt told BBC Persian.
After the family received her body, they realized the reported date of her death was the day she went missing, her mother told Iran International. She was not told why the body had been kept away from the family when she had her ID with her or why her Instagram and Telegram accounts were deleted the same night.
Her mother said in the interview with Iran International that security forces tried to seize Nika's body when they took her to their village to be buried. She said that local officials even asked her not to bury Nika in the village.
"I asked them not to oppress me with this one. I asked them to let me bury my daughter where I want," she said she told the local officials.
Later that night, security forces stole Nika's body from the morgue and buried her in a village several miles west of where Nika's family wanted to bury her, she told Iran International. Nika's uncle was arrested for objecting to the theft of the body and other relatives are wanted by police for objecting as well, she said in the interview. The family couldn't retrieve the body again.
Three days prior to that, Nika's aunt had shared details of the family's search for the teenager in an interview with BBC Persian listing the discrepancies they noticed in officials' accounts regarding Nika's case.
The aunt was arrested in a raid on her house two days after the interview, BBC Persian reported. She then appeared on a program on state TV that advocates say is known for allegedly forcing confessions, saying that Nika was not killed in the protests and that she died after falling from the roof of a building.
Iranian protesters set their scarves on fire while marching
down a street on Oct. 1, 2022 in Tehran, Iran.© Getty Images
In a video aired by Radio Farda, the Iranian branch of the U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe, Nika's mother did not approve of her sister's account on state TV. Nasrin Shakarami said her sister had made comments under pressure from security forces. "They have put words in her mouth and forced her to make confessions," she said in the radio interview.
Nasrin Shakarami said in the video that she herself received several threats that she would face trouble if she does not "confess" the "scenario" that the regime wants everyone to believe about Nika's death.
An official with Tehran's homicide office, Mohammad Shahriyari, said investigations by the department show Nika was not killed in the protests, according to the Iran judiciary's news agency Mizan on Wednesday. "No bullet marks were found in the body of the deceased and the evidence shows that the death was caused by a person being thrown [from the building]."
However, Nasrin Shakarami told Radio Farda that Nika's death certificate attributes "repeated blows by a blunt object" as the reason for death.
Protesters chant slogans during a protest over the death of a woman who was detained by the morality police in downtown Tehran, Iran, Sept. 21, 2022.© via AP
The Center for Human Rights in Iran, a U.S.-based nonprofit, condemned the Islamic Republic for using the "ragged inhuman scenario of forced confessions" to cover its "crimes and oppression." In a tweet Thursday, the group said that such confessions are "historical documents of unforgettable crimes."
The Biden administration announced sanctions Thursday against several senior Iranian officials for the violent crackdown on protesters. The State Department Friday did not outline additional measures, but condemned the deaths that have resulted amid the crackdown.
"This cruel and ongoing suppression of protestors just shows that the regime -- it clearly fears its people," State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said. "We're going to continue to coordinate with our allies and partners and respond to Iran's crackdown, as well as frankly, its state sponsored violence against women that we're seeing take place all across the country."
Commenting on the presence of teenagers like Nika in the protests, Ilanlou told ABC News that she had initially advised some teenagers on the street to go home while the "adults would take care" of the protests. However, their bravery encouraged her to keep participating in the protests.
"When I witness their courage, I start to think why I should be scared," Ilanlou said. She said this generation wants "to be in their own country and live with their own lifestyle."
Nika would've turned 17 on Tuesday, one day after her burial.
ABC News' Desiree Adib and Shannon Crawford contributed to this report.
In a video aired by Radio Farda, the Iranian branch of the U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe, Nika's mother did not approve of her sister's account on state TV. Nasrin Shakarami said her sister had made comments under pressure from security forces. "They have put words in her mouth and forced her to make confessions," she said in the radio interview.
Nasrin Shakarami said in the video that she herself received several threats that she would face trouble if she does not "confess" the "scenario" that the regime wants everyone to believe about Nika's death.
An official with Tehran's homicide office, Mohammad Shahriyari, said investigations by the department show Nika was not killed in the protests, according to the Iran judiciary's news agency Mizan on Wednesday. "No bullet marks were found in the body of the deceased and the evidence shows that the death was caused by a person being thrown [from the building]."
However, Nasrin Shakarami told Radio Farda that Nika's death certificate attributes "repeated blows by a blunt object" as the reason for death.
Protesters chant slogans during a protest over the death of a woman who was detained by the morality police in downtown Tehran, Iran, Sept. 21, 2022.© via AP
The Center for Human Rights in Iran, a U.S.-based nonprofit, condemned the Islamic Republic for using the "ragged inhuman scenario of forced confessions" to cover its "crimes and oppression." In a tweet Thursday, the group said that such confessions are "historical documents of unforgettable crimes."
The Biden administration announced sanctions Thursday against several senior Iranian officials for the violent crackdown on protesters. The State Department Friday did not outline additional measures, but condemned the deaths that have resulted amid the crackdown.
"This cruel and ongoing suppression of protestors just shows that the regime -- it clearly fears its people," State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said. "We're going to continue to coordinate with our allies and partners and respond to Iran's crackdown, as well as frankly, its state sponsored violence against women that we're seeing take place all across the country."
Commenting on the presence of teenagers like Nika in the protests, Ilanlou told ABC News that she had initially advised some teenagers on the street to go home while the "adults would take care" of the protests. However, their bravery encouraged her to keep participating in the protests.
"When I witness their courage, I start to think why I should be scared," Ilanlou said. She said this generation wants "to be in their own country and live with their own lifestyle."
Nika would've turned 17 on Tuesday, one day after her burial.
ABC News' Desiree Adib and Shannon Crawford contributed to this report.
No comments:
Post a Comment