UPDATED

Scepticism over scrapping of Iran’s ‘morality police’

It has taken almost three months of protests and the deaths of more than 200 people – including 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died after being arrested for allegedly failing to wear her hijab properly.

By Jane Bradley

An Iranian woman walks in the street on a rainy day in the capital Tehran, on the day Iran has said it has scrapped its morality police after more than two months of protests triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini following her arrest for allegedly violating the country's strict female dress code.

However, Iranian reformists should now be rejoicing at the news that Iran has disbanded its morality police – a section of the police force responsible for ensuring modesty and propriety.

Yet, that is not the case. Protesters and campaigners, who have been fighting against Iran’s strict hijab laws since Ms Amini’s death in September, claim that the apparent reforms taking place in Iran are bogus. They say that the public announcement is timed to prevent a mass call for a nationwide protest in mid-December.

Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, who has been Attorney General since 2016, announced in response to a direct question on Sunday morning that the morality police had been been “shut down from where they were set up”. His comments come just days after he said he was reviewing the law that requires women to cover their heads, describing it as a “phenomenon that hurts everyone's heart”.

People – mainly women – who broke the code could be arrested by the morality police and taken to “re-education centres” – the first of which was set up in 2019 – where they are usually given classes about Islam and the importance of the hijab, and then forced to sign a pledge to abide by the state’s clothing regulations before being released.

Iranian broadcaster Sima Sabet took to social media to express her scepticism.

"Morality police hasn’t been abolished in Iran,” she wrote. “This is a lie to deceive protester and to divide them just before nationwide calls for protests in the next coming days.”

Indeed, Mr Montazeri’s sudden quest for reform is somewhat unexpected.

The lawyer played a key role in detaining and prosecuting protesters and overseeing provincial prosecutors during the nationwide protests in November 2019. He was quoted as saying accused the protesters of being led by “America, Saudi Arabia and Israel” – a sentiment that has been echoed by the authorities in relation to the current round of protests.

Whether or not the reforms are properly implemented will undoubtedly become more clear over the course of the next month.

Activity of ‘morality police’ in Iran terminated


Elnur Baghishov

Read more
Society Materials 4 December 2022 

BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 4. The activity of the ‘morality police’ in Iran has been terminated due to not belonging to the country’s judicial system, Attorney-General of Iran Mohammad Jafar Montazeri said, Trend reports referring to Iranian Media.

Montazeri emphasized that of course, Iran's Judicial System will continue to control the behavior in the country.
The protests in Iranian cities are ongoing, prompted by the death of a 22-year-old Iranian woman Mahsa Amini, allegedly after being beaten by Iran's morality police while in custody for violating the strict hijab-wearing rules. Amini's death on September 16 triggered mass protests in Iran several days later.
Hijab was made mandatory for women in Iran shortly after the country’s 1979 revolution. Women who break the strict dress code risk being arrested by Iran’s morality police. Based on the dress code, women are required to fully cover their hair in public and wear long, loose-fitting clothes.
After the mentioned incident, a wave of protests has taken place in Iran, and the protests now cover various fields, economy, social inequality, ethnic inequality, etc.

Iran abolishes morality police after months-long anti-hijab protests

Iran's Attorney General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri announced that the country's morality police has been abolished following months of protests triggered by Mahsa Amini's death.

Agence France-Presse

Tehran,UPDATED: Dec 4, 2022 

Anti-hijab protests swept Iran after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini who died after being in detention by morality police.

By Agence France-Presse: Iran has scrapped its morality police after more than two months of protests triggered by the arrest of Mahsa Amini for allegedly violating the country's strict female dress code, local media said Sunday.

Women-led protests, labelled "riots" by the authorities, have swept Iran since the 22-year-old Iranian of Kurdish origin died on September 16, three days after her arrest by the morality police in Tehran.

"Morality police have nothing to do with the judiciary" and have been abolished, Attorney General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri was quoted as saying by the ISNA news agency.

His comment came at a religious conference where he responded to a participant who asked "why the morality police were being shut down", the report said.

The morality police -- known formally as the Gasht-e Ershad or "Guidance Patrol" -- were established under hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to "spread the culture of modesty and hijab", the mandatory female head covering.

The unit began patrols in 2006.

The announcement of their abolition came a day after Montazeri said that "both parliament and the judiciary are working (on the issue)" of whether the law requiring women to cover their heads needs to be changed.

President Ebrahim Raisi said in televised comments Saturday that Iran's republican and Islamic foundations were constitutionally entrenched "but there are methods of implementing the constitution that can be flexible".

The hijab became mandatory four years after the 1979 revolution that overthrew the US-backed monarchy and established the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Morality police officers initially issued warnings before starting to crack down and arrest women 15 years ago.

The vice squads were usually made up of men in green uniforms and women clad in black chadors, garments that cover their heads and upper bodies.

The role of the units evolved, but has always been controversial even among candidates running for the presidency.

Clothing norms gradually changed, especially under former moderate president Hassan Rouhani, when it became commonplace to see women in tight jeans with loose, colourful headscarves.

ALSO READ | Iranian shot dead for celebrating country's football team exit from FIFA World Cup

But in July this year his successor, the ultra-conservative Raisi, called for the mobilisation of "all state institutions to enforce the headscarf law".

Raisi at the time charged that "the enemies of Iran and Islam have targeted the cultural and religious values of society by spreading corruption".

In spite of this, many women continued to bend the rules, letting their headscarves slip onto their shoulders or wearing tight-fitting pants, especially in major cities and towns.

Iran's regional rival Saudi Arabia also employed morality police to enforce female dress codes and other rules of behaviour. Since 2016 the force there has been sidelined in a push by the Sunni Muslim kingdom to shake off its austere image.

ALSO READ | Iran bars filmmaker from attending India film festival over support to anti-hijab protests

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Protestors across Iran direct their anger against the so-called morality police 

FRANCE 24

 Dec 4, 2022

Demonstrators accuse Iran’s morality policy of killing 22-year-old Mahsa Amini for not wearing her hijab correctly. Her death has cast their fight against the hijab into the spotlight. It is a war as old as the 1979 Islamic Revolution itself. Since then, the morality police has taken several forms; its latest expression is ‘the guidance patrols’.

Who are Iran's 'morality police'?

Monir Ghaedi

DW  3/12/22

Iran is said to have disbanded its "morality police" after months of protests triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini, who was arrested for allegedly not wearing her hijab correctly. Who are they and what is their mission?

Back in mid-September, Iran's so-called morality police arrested 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in Tehranfor wearing what they deemed inappropriate clothing. They then took her to a police station, where she slipped into a coma. Three days later, on September 16, she died in hospital. Amini's death sparked widespread anger, leading to anti-government rallies that almost three months later continue to embroil dozens of cities.

The announcement to disband the "morality police" came just a day after Attorney General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri told local reporters that "both parliament and the judiciary are working [on the issue]" of whether the law requiring women to cover their heads needs to be changed.

"Morality police have nothing to do with the judiciary" and have been abolished, Montazeri was quoted as saying by the ISNA news agency.

So, what exactly is the "morality police" force and what were they tasked to do?

Protests erupted in Tehran and other cities soon after Mahsa's death, leading to another anti-government riot.Image: UCG

What does the 'morality police' do?

"Gasht-e-Ershad," which translates as "guidance patrols," and is widely known as the "morality police," were were a unit of Iran’s police force established under hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad tasked with enforcing the laws on Islamic dress code in public. The until began patrolling the streets in 2006.

According to Iranian law, all women above the age of puberty must wear a head covering and loose clothing in public, although the exact age is not clearly defined. In school, girls typically have to wear the hijab from the age of 7, but that does not mean they need to necessarily wear it in other public places.

A major part of Iran’s social regulations is based on the state's interpretation of Islamic Sharia law, which requires both men and women to dress modestly. However, in practice, the "morality police" have in the past primarily target women.

There are no clear guidelines or details on what types of clothing qualify as inappropriate, leaving a lot of room for personal interpretation and sparking accusations that the "morality" enforcers arbitrarily detain women.

 

When arrested, Mahsa Amini was wearing what is widely considered conventional by Iran's standards: A long, plain black dress with a black and white headscarfImage: Social Networks/ZUMAPRESS/picture alliance

Those detained by the "morality police" are given a notice or, in some cases, are taken to a so-called education and advice center or a police station, where they are required to attend a mandatory lecture on hijab and Islamic values. They then have to call someone to bring them "appropriate clothes" to get released.

No details have been provided on the implementation of the decision to disband the "morality police" force or what it means for the requirement for women to wear headscarves in the country.

Morality police also enforce dress code

In addition to cracking down on hijab violations, the government also promotes its version of Islamic dress code in schools, national media and public events.

However, many Iranian women found ways to defy the ultraconservative dress codes — pushing the boundaries by wearing tight-fitting garments and using the headscarf as a colorful accessory, exposing a lot of hair. Again, there are no hard-and-fast rules on how much hair can be exposed.

A 2018 survey published by Iran's parliament showed that between 60 to 70% of Iranian women do not follow "the Islamic dress code" strictly in public.

Activists have fought against compulsory hijab wearing for decades, with several of them currently in prison.

Under President Ebrahim Raisi’s ultra-conservative administration, the "morality police" increased its presence in big cities. In response, thousands of women went out in the streets without a headscarf, with some sharing videos of themselves online to encourage others.

After a video of a woman pleading to the "morality police" officer for her sick daughter's release went viral in July, calls grew for the dissolution of the force.

In an unprecedented move, hundreds of religious women began to speak up against compulsory hijab wearing online. Even some conservative figures, including members of parliament, began criticizing the law and the police force, saying that it has had a negative impact on public attitudes toward the hijab and religion in general.

Edited by: Nicole Goebel