BEFORE COP27

Egypt: Human rights organizations call for the release of blogger Mohamed Oxygen

Egypt|Free Expression & the Law
Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE)
23 September 2022
Working Together



AFTE, https://web.facebook.com/afteegypt.org

IFEX joins rights groups in calling for the immediate release of the Egyptian blogger and journalist, whose life in prison remains at risk after three years in detention.

This statement was originally published on afteegypt.org on 23 September 2022.

The undersigned human rights organizations call on the Egyptian authorities to intervene quickly to end the detention of blogger and journalist Mohamed Ibrahim Radwan, known as Mohamed Oxygen, stop all forms of violations he faces inside the prison, and to hold accountable all those involved in committing these violations that contravene the law and the constitution.

By 21 September 2022, Oxygen will complete three years of detention – in solitary confinement most of the time – in Maximum Security Prison 2, in the Tora prison complex. He was held in pretrial detention in connection with three different cases until the Emergency Supreme State Security Misdemeanor Court issued a final ruling against him, sentencing him to four years in prison.

Oxygen is an Egyptian journalist and blogger who owns the “Oxygen Egypt” blog. He is currently detained in Maximum Security Prison 2 in Cairo, known for its harsh and inhumane detention conditions. He is denied leaving his cell or being exposed to the sun. He has not had access to adequate health care and has not been allowed visits from his family or lawyers since February 2020.

Oxygen was arrested for the second time on 21 September 2019 while implementing precautionary measures at Al-Basateen police station after his detention in Case No. 621 of 2018 was replaced by precautionary measures by a decision by the Terrorism Circuit of the Cairo Criminal Court. He remained under enforced disappearance for 18 days until he appeared before the Supreme State Security Prosecution on 8 October 2019, in connection with Case No. 1356 of 2019 (State Security). The prosecution charged him with spreading false news that would harm the country, and joining a banned group, the exact charges he faced in the first case. After spending 14 months in pretrial detention, Oxygen was released under precautionary measures. The Ministry of Interior refused to implement the decision to release him, and he was “recycled from inside his prison” into Case No. 855 of 2020 to prevent him from being released.

On 20 December 2021, the Emergency State Security Misdemeanors Court sentenced Oxygen to four years in prison and ordered him to pay a fine of 200,000 pounds, in Case No. 1228 of 2021 (Emergency State Security). This judgment is final and not subject to appeal.

Violations against Oxygen included arrest, enforced disappearance, torture, physical assault, illegal detention, recycling into new cases from inside his prison, detention in connection with more than one case at the same time, in addition to the four-year prison sentence issued against him.

During Oxygen’s trial, his right to a fair trial was violated in many ways, as the Supreme State Security Prosecution and the Cairo Criminal Court continued to renew his pretrial detention despite the absence of legal justifications in accordance with the Criminal Procedures Law. His lawyer was also prevented from obtaining a copy of the case papers, which undermined the lawyer’s ability to present his argument. Moreover, Oxygen was subjected to threats, psychological terror, and ill-treatment.

During his prolonged imprisonment, Oxygen tried to commit suicide inside his cell, but the prison administration saved him in the last moments. His life is still in danger, especially as his psychological condition continued to deteriorate after the death of his mother in February 2022 and his refusal to leave the prison to receive condolences.

Therefore, the undersigned organizations call on the Egyptian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Oxygen, and to stop all forms of abuse against him. They also call on the presidential pardon committee, the National Council for Human Rights, and the Parliament’s Human Rights Committee to intervene to ensure Oxygen’s freedom by ending his prolonged imprisonment.

Signatories

Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE)
Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS)
Committee for Justice
Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms
Egyptian Front for Human Rights (EFHR)
Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR)
Freedom Initiative
IFEX
Intersection Association for Rights and Freedoms- Tunisia
Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights
The Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy (TIMEP)

Israel no longer partner of Palestine in peace process - Abbas

NEW YORK - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Friday that Israel has decided not to be a partner of Palestine in the peace process and that it will be treated as such, reported Xinhua.

President of the State of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas speaks at the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at U.N. headquarters on Friday. - Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images/AFP© Provided by Sinar Daily

"It is clear that Israel, which is ignoring the resolutions of international legitimacy, has decided not to be our partner in the peace process," said Abbas in his speech to the General Debate of the UN General Assembly.
Israel has undermined the Oslo Accords, which it signed with the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO). It has and still is, through its premeditated and deliberate policies, destroying the two-state solution, he said. "This proves unequivocally that Israel does not believe in peace. It believes in imposing a status quo by force and by aggression."

"Therefore, we do not have an Israeli partner anymore to whom we can talk. Israel is thus ending its contractual relationship with us," said Abbas.

Palestine does not accept to remain the only party respecting the agreements it has signed with Israel in 1993. Those agreements are not valid anymore because of the persisting violations of Israel, he said.

"Therefore, it is our right, rather, our obligation to look for other means, to recover our rights and to achieve a peace built on justice, including the implementation of the resolutions that were adopted by our leadership, especially our parliament," said Abbas.

The state of Palestine will also start the accession process to join other international organisations, he said.

Abbas called on the UN secretary-general to work relentlessly to elaborate on an international plan to end the occupation of the land of Palestine to achieve peace, security and stability in the region, in line with UN resolutions and with the Arab Peace Initiative.

"The state of Palestine is looking forward to peace. Let us make this peace to live in security, stability, and prosperity for the benefit of our generation and all the people of the region," he said. - BERNAMA

Africa Flights grounded amid air traffic control strike

By DW News
Saturday, September 24, 2022

Brussels, Sep 24: A strike of air traffic controllers on Friday grounded flights in and out of airports in several West and Central African countries.

The Union of Air Traffic Controllers' Unions of Asecna (USYCAA) launched the strike Friday morning at 0800 GMT to demand better working conditions.




The strike by the staff of the Agency for Aerial Navigation Safety in Africa and Madagascar (ASECNA), which regulates air traffic control across 18 African countries, was expected to last for 48 hours.

Flights in and out of Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal and Cameroon, among other countries, were affected.
'Minimum service' offered

The USYCAA said its members would cease providing services to all but "sensitive" flights until their demands are met.

A USYCAA official in Burkina Faso told the AFP news agency that "the minimum service" was being provided for military and humanitarian flights.

Ethiopia: Air strike hits Tigray capital

Some African airlines were scheduled to depart and arrive at the affected airports, according to tracking websites. However, several Air France and Turkish Airlines flights were canceled.

Some passengers were reportedly stranded in Lome, Togo.

Banned strike

Court rulings and government bans across the affected countries had been expected to bar the strike.

According to a leader of striking Senegalese air traffic controllers, authorities arrested some union members in Cameroon, Congo and the Comoros.

ASCENA described the action as a "wildcat strike" that went ahead despite court prohibition.

"We have already exhausted both administrative and institutional remedies in the management of this crisis, but we have in front of us trade unionists who are stubborn to do whatever they want," ASECNA's head of human resources, Ceubah Guelpina, told a press conference.

DeSantis said no one questioned slavery before Americans. See Van Jones react

Sep 23, 2022
CNN
CNN's Van Jones reacts to Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis saying no one questioned slavery until the American Revolution during an event discussing his "Stop Woke Act" which prohibits race-based conversation in schools in businesses.

Emancipation Day recognizes Aug. 1, 1834, when the British Empire abolished slavery, freeing around 800,000 people of African descent throughout the British colonies, including what's now known as Canada.

Canadians have a lot to learn about this country's history of slavery, experts say

Iran protest at enforced hijab sparks online debate and feminist calls for action across Arab world


Balsam Mustafa, Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellow, Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Warwick

THE CONVERSATION

Thu, September 22, 2022 

Iranian authorities have cracked down on protests which erupted after the death in custody of a 22-year-old woman who was arrested by the morality police for not wearing the hijab appropriately. The death of Mahsa Amini who was reportedly beaten after being arrested for wearing her hijab “improperly” sparked street protests.

Unrest has spread across the country as women burned their headscarves to protest laws that force women to wear the hijab. Seven people are reported to have been killed, and the government has almost completely shut down the internet.

But in the Arab world – including in Iraq, where I was brought up – the protests have attracted attention and women are gathering online to offer solidarity to Iranian women struggling under the country’s harsh theocratic regime.

The enforcement of the hijab and, by extension, guardianship over women’s bodies and minds, are not exclusive to Iran. They manifest in different forms and degrees in many countries.

In Iraq, and unlike the case of Iran, forced wearing of the hijab is unconstitutional. However, the ambiguity and contradictions of much of the constitution, particularly Article 2 about Islam being the primary source of legislation, has enabled the condition of forced hijab.

Since the 1990s, when Saddam Hussein launched his Faith Campaign in response to economic sanctions imposed by the UN security council, pressure on women to wear the hijab has become widespread. Following the US-led invasion of the country, the situation worsened under the rule of Islamist parties, many of whom have close ties to Iran.

Contrary to the claim in 2004 by US president George W. Bush that Iraqi people were “now learning the blessings of freedom”, women have been enduring the heavy hand of patriarchy perpetuated by Islamism, militarisation and tribalism, and exacerbated by the influence of Iran.

Going out without a hijab in Baghdad became a daily struggle for me after 2003. I had to put on a headscarf to protect myself wherever I entered a conservative neighbourhood, especially during the years of sectarian violence.

Flashbacks of pro-hijab posters and banners hanging around my university in central Baghdad have always haunted me. The situation has remained unchanged over two decades, with the hijab reportedly imposed on children and little girls in primary and secondary schools.

A new campaign against the enforced wearing of the hijab in Iraqi public schools has surfaced on social media. Natheer Isaa, a leading activist in the Women for Women group, which is leading the campaign, told me that hijab is cherished by many conservative or tribal members of society and that backlashes are predictable.

Similar campaigns were suspended due to threats and online attacks. Women posting on social media with the campaign hashtag #notocompulsoryhijab, have attracted reactionary tweets accusing them of being anti-Islam and anti-society.

Similar accusations are levelled at Iranian women who defy the regime by taking off or burning their headscarves. Iraqi Shia cleric, Ayad Jamal al-Dinn lashed out against the protests on his Twitter account, labelling the protesting Iranian women “anti-hijab whores” who are seeking to destroy Islam and culture.

Cyberfeminists and reactionary men

In my digital ethnographic work on cyberfeminism in Iraq and other countries, I have encountered numerous similar reactions to women who question the hijab or decide to remove it. Women who use their social media accounts to reject the hijab are often met with sexist attacks and threats that attempt to shame and silence them.

Those who openly speak about their decision to take off the hijab receive the harshest reaction. The hijab is linked to women’s honour and chastity, so removing it is seen as defiance.

Women’s struggle with the forced hijab and the backlash against them challenges the prevailing cultural narrative that says wearing the hijab is a free choice. While many women freely decide whether to wear it or not, others are obliged to wear it.

So academics need to revisit the discourse around the hijab and the conditions perpetuating the mandatory wearing of it. In doing so it is important to move away from the false dichotomies of culture versus religion, or the local versus the western, which obscure rather than illuminate the root causes of forced hijab.

In her academic research on gender-based violence in the context of the Middle East, feminist academic Nadje al-Ali emphasises the need to break away from these binaries and recognise the various complex power dynamics involved – both locally and internationally.

The issue of forcing women to wear the hijab in conservative societies should be at the heart of any discussion about women’s broader fight for freedom and social justice.

Iranian women’s rage against compulsory hijab wearing, despite the security crackdown, is part of a wider women’s struggle against autocratic conservative regimes and societies that deny them agency. The collective outrage in Iran and Iraq invites us to challenge the compulsory hijab and those imposing it on women or perpetuating the conditions enabling it.

As one Iraqi female activist told me: “For many of us, hijab is like the gates of a jail, and we are the invisible prisoners.” It is important for the international media and activists to bring their struggle to light, without subscribing to the narrative that Muslim women need saving by the international community.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.


Balsam Mustafa receives funding from The Leverhulme Trust (Grant no. ECF-2021-599).

NZ

Protesters in Wellington cut hair in solidarity with Iranian women

Justin Wong, Sep 24 2022

JUSTIN WONG/STUFF

Members of the Iranian community gathered in Wellington on Saturday to protest the Iranian regime after 22-year-old Masha Amini died in morality police custody.

More than 100 people, most of whom were from New Zealand’s Iranian community, braved the rain to gather at Wellington’s Cuba St on Saturday to protest the death of Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini, with some cutting their hair in mourning.

Amini died in Iran’s capital Tehran last Friday, three days after being detained by the country’s morality police for having some hair visible under her hijab (headscarf). The unit, known as Gasht-e Ershad (Guidance Patrol), is responsible for enforcing the country’s Islamic morals and harsh dressing rules.

The 22-year-old’s death sparked angry protests around the country, with women burning hijabs, and crowds calling for the removal of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

READ MORE:
* Iran warns Mahsa Amini protesters against unrest, stages counter-demonstrations
* CNN reporter Christiane Amanpour says Iran's president cancelled interview when she wouldn't cover head
* Pivotal moment as many Iranians unite in outrage over death in custody


JUSTIN WONG/STUFF
Protest organiser Hanna Habibi (right) cut her hair as in the Kurdish custom of mourning alongside MP Golriz Ghahraman (left).

In Wellington, protesters held signs demanding Iran to end oppression against women and echoed the protest slogan “women, life, freedom”. There were also emotional scenes when around 10 protesters, including organiser Hanna Habibi and Green MP Golriz Ghahraman, cut their hair as is the Kurdish custom of mourning.

Habibi, who is Kurdish and have been living in New Zealand since 2016, said it was “outrageous” and “ridiculous” that things like this was happening in the 21st century.


“A woman in Iran count as half a man,” she said. “I have lived under that regime for 26 years – all my life – until I left. I have experienced every second of oppression and injustice on equal rights in Iran.”

The local Iranian community had been angry and sad at what happened in their homeland, Habibi also said, and the fight for equal rights had been ongoing since Islamists seized power in 1979.

JUSTIN WONG/STUFF
More than 100 people gathered for the protest at Wellington’s Cuba Street on Saturday.

Ghahraman, who fled Iran in 1990 with her family who resettled as refugees in New Zealand, told the crowd she still remembered the “terror” of being out on the streets as a young girl with other women when the authorities came by.

“I remember the way women [officials] had to check our dresses over and over again,” she said. “We’ve never accepted that oppression and neither have Iranian men.”

Kurdish-Iranian writer Behrouz Boochani, who was granted refugee status in New Zealand after being detained on Manus Island for six years, was also at the protest. He said while what’s happening in Tehran was important, people should pay more attention to regions in western Iran where Kurds form the majority population because the first protests originated there.

Boochani also said compared to previous anti-regime protests that he had seen, the cause united Iranians of different social standings. The 2009 Green Movement was about reforms, while protests in 2017 and 2019 were initiated by the working class, he said.

JUSTIN WONG/STUFF
Kurdish-Iranian writer Behrouz Boochani says the current protest has united Iranians across different social spectrums.

“This time, middle-class people, marginalised peoples and working class people get together. I haven’t seen Iranian people been united like this.”

Widespread internet blackouts meant many Iranians cannot contact their friends and families back home, and Habibi wanted New Zealanders to be their voice and the New Zealand Government to take a stand and condemn Tehran’s actions.

“They can share our story. They can tell other people in the world what we're going through and that that's going to be extremely helpful,” she said.

“I understand it might be confusing people [but] we’re not anti-hijab. We’re fighting for women’s freedom of choice to wear a hijab if you want. And now we need their support and to be heard.”

 DEMOCRACY

Iranian women cut their hair in a heartbreakingly moving protest of the death of Mahsa Amini

This dangerous act of defiance is gaining momentum and could help make an impact.

Jacalyn Wetzel   

09.24.22

Screenshots from @sepdani TikTok

Iranian women cut their hair in protest.

Sometimes a movement brings you to tears; tears that are mixed with pride, solidarity and sorrow, and that's exactly what this movement is doing across social media. A 22-year-old Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, was arrested recently by the morality police in Iran for not fully covering her hair with her hijab. While in police custody, where she was supposed to be reprimanded and educated about the proper way to wear a hijab, Amini was severely beaten before falling into a coma and passing away. The untimely death of Amini ignited a movement that is taking over Iran.

After the 22-year-old's funeral, protests broke out in the streets where women pulled off their hijabs and burned them. Since the news of her death spread, Iranian women have been removing their hijabs and cutting their hair in a moving display of protest and solidarity. Many of the women who have uploaded videos of themselves cutting off their hair to TikTok have been in tears. Women revealing their hair in public and online is extremely risky. In 1983, the religious revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini began enforcing a modesty law that required women to cover their hair or face 74 lashes.

Since 1995, women caught without their hair covered in public can also face up to 60 days in jail as well as fines. Seeing women in Iran defiantly cut, burn or rip their hijab in public is truly awe-inspiring because the risks are so great. But the women are not alone in their fight to abolish the morality police and hold them accountable for the death of Amini. Men in Iran are not only showing solidarity by shaving their heads, they're showing up in the streets, seemingly acting as protectors and accomplices.

In one video, a girl with beautiful long dark hair sections her hair off before taking small scissors and cutting it close to her scalp. She begins to break down with the first cut, but she finishes before crying into her hands. Music plays in the background and words are displayed over the video explaining why the unknown woman is cutting her hair

This isn't the first time Iranian's have protested the hijab. When the idea of a national modesty dress code was introduced in 1979, people protested, which temporarily caused the country's leader to walk back on publicly pushing it before it became law a few years later. According to U.S. News, there has been a steady push back against the hijab rule since 2014 after the creation of an online campaign called My Stealthy Freedom. The campaign collected pictures of Iranian women without their hair covered.

The protests going on today are large in number and happening despite the country shutting down internet and social media channels in an effort to control the narrative and reduce coverage of the protests. But videos continue to pop up online showing things burning and people filling the streets chanting. One video that has more than 900,000 views and more than 200,000 likes shows a crowd gathered while women burn their hijabs.

Videos are appearing on TikTok claiming to show the continued unrest in the streets. The hashtag #MahsaAmini on TikTok is filled with videos of people cutting their hair, crowds gathered in the streets and stories of the 22-year-old whose death may have spurred a revolution.

Events are still unfolding in Iran and with internet access being cut, the information about continued protests may become more difficult to come by. But the videos that are making their way to social media are as inspiring as they are heartbreaking. Hopefully protests on this scale will bring about real change for the women in Iran.

VIDEO: Iranian women take off their

headscarves during protest, at least 50

dead

7 hours ago
Gulf Today Report

At least 50 people have been killed in a crackdown by Iranian security forces following protests that erupted following the death of Mahsa Amini while she was in the custody of the morality police, an NGO said.

The Oslo-based NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR) said the rise in the toll came after six people died after being attacked by security forces in the town of Rezvanshahr, in the northern province of Gilan, on Thursday evening.

Video footage posted on social media showed Iranian women taking off their headscarves as protesters cheer them on during a rally in Iran's city of Saveh.

Demonstrations have spread to most major urban centres after the death of Kurdish woman Mahsa in police custody after her arrest last week by Iran's morality police for allegedly wearing a hijab in an "improper" way.

Other deaths were recorded in Babol and Amol, also in northern Iran.

There have been protests in about 80 cities and other urban centers since the protests began a week ago, he added.

Human rights groups have also reported deaths in the northern Kurdistan region, where Amini is from.

State-organised demonstrations took place in several Iranian cities to counter nationwide anti-government unrest triggered by Amini’s death in police custody, with marchers calling for the execution of "rioters.

On the other hand, American tech firms will be allowed to expand their business in Iran, where most Internet access has been cut off in response to anti-government protests, the Treasury Department said on Friday.

 

50 killed in Iran protest crackdown, says NGO;

 thousands join pro-hijab rallies

World News

Updated on Sep 23, 2022

Hundreds of Iranians across at least 13 cities from Tehran to Mahsa Amini's hometown of Saqez have poured into the streets, voicing pent-up anger over social and political repression. Authorities have alleged that unnamed foreign countries and opposition groups are trying to foment unrest.

A man cuts his hair during a demonstration in support of Mahsa Amini in front of the Iranian embassy in Brussels on Saturday, following the death of an Iranian woman after her arrest by the country's morality police in Tehran.(AFP)

ByHT News Desk | Edited by Aniruddha Dhar, New Delhi

At least 50 people have been killed after Iranian security forces cracked down on protests which erupted following the death of Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested by the morality police, Oslo-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) NGO said on Friday, reported news agency AFP.

The NGO said the number of deaths went up after six people were killed by fire from the security forces in Rezvanshahr town, northern Gilan province, on Thursday night, with other deaths recorded in Babol and Amol, also in northern Iran. State TV, meanwhile, suggested the death toll from this week's unrest could be as high as 26.

There had been protests in some 80 cities and other urban centres since the demonstrations started one week ago, it added.

Anti-government protests across Iran

Iranian counterprotesters gathered across the country on Friday in a show of support for authorities after nearly a week of anti-government protests and unrest over the death of a young woman who was being held by the morality police.

A few thousand people attended a rally in the capital, Tehran, where they waved Iranian flags, and similar demonstrations were held in other cities. The government claimed the demonstrations of support were spontaneous. Similar rallies have been held during past periods of widespread protests.

The pro-government demonstrators chanted against America and Israel, according to state media, reflecting the official line that foreign countries are fomenting the latest unrest.

Why sudden unrest in Iran

The crisis unfolding in Iran began as a public outpouring of anger over the death of Amini, a young woman who was arrested by the morality police in Tehran last week for allegedly wearing her Islamic headscarf too loosely. The police said she died of a heart attack and was not mistreated, but her family has cast doubt on that account.

Amini's death has sparked sharp condemnation from Western countries and the United Nations and touched a national nerve. Hundreds of Iranians across at least 13 cities from Tehran to Amini's northwest Kurdish hometown of Saqez have poured into the streets, voicing pent-up anger over social and political repression. Authorities have alleged that unnamed foreign countries and opposition groups are trying to foment unrest.

Videos on social media show protesters in Tehran torching a police car and confronting officers at close range. Elsewhere in the capital, videos show gunfire sounding out as protesters bolt from riot police, shouting: “They are shooting at people! Oh my God, they're killing people!”

(With inputs from agencies)

Iranian Dissident Journalist Holds Up Phone on MSNBC to Show Women Killed for Protesting Regime

By Jackson RichmanSep 23rd, 2022, 

During a powerful appearance on MSNBC, Iranian dissident journalist Masih Alinejad held up her phone to show photos of women in Iran killed by the regime for protesting.

The protests in Iran were sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, who was died last week after she was allegedly beaten by police for defying the country’s rules on wearing a hijab

Appearing on Friday’s Andrea Mitchell Reports, Alinejad said the ongoing protests are different than the unsuccessful 2009 Green Revolution.

She explained:

First of all, I have to say that since the revolution, because after the [1979] Islamic Revolution there was a massive protest where women were waiving their head scarf. Since then, this is the first time that Iranian women in front line burning the head scarf. Believe me, they’re not fighting against a small piece of cloth. They’re not fighting against compulsory hijab. Clearly they’re fighting against the gender apartheid regime. Because compulsory hijab is like the main visible symbol of ISIS, Taliban and Islamic Republic.

For Islamic Republic, this is like the Berlin Wall. If we tear this wall down, then the Islamic Republic that won’t exist. So that is why it’s different because, clearly, Iranian women are chanting death to dictators and that is scares the regime. That is why they open fire on innocent people.

Holding up her phone, Alinejad said she wanted to “use this opportunity and show” that Iranian women “are just not statistics.” She swiped through pictures of women murdered by the regime for demonstrating.

Iran’s all-female police squad units

dragging hijab protestors to death

row prisons

Iran has deployed a "special women's unit" of gun-wielding commandos to crack down on the protests that have erupted following the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody


Ethan Blackshaw

23 SEP 2022

Women were allowed into Iranian law enforcement for the first time 

since the 1979 revolution in 2003 (Image: AFP)

Iran has deployed an all-female police unit armed with assault rifles in a bid to quell the protests that have swept across the country in recent days.

The protests erupted following the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, in police custody after she was detained for allegedly failing to adhere to the country's strict hijab rules.

Police claim she had a heart attack at the station and went into a coma, dying two days later on September 16. Witnesses say she was severely beaten by police, with leaked medical scans suggesting that led to her death.

READ MORE: Iran's twisted morality police beat and torture women who show hair in public

Images from the graduation ceremonies of female officers 

appear to show them holding MP5s and AK-47s (Image: AFP)

Protestors have been seen waving and burning headscarf's shouting "death to the dictator". Iran's vicious Revolutionary Guard have cracked down on them brutally, with 26 dead according to local media.

Now, president Ebrahim Raisi is asking some of the country's 7,000 female cops to help with the crackdown.

According to The Sun, it is believed the undercover unit of female cops will be working to infiltrate groups of protestors.

There are around 7,000 female cops in Iran (Image: Reuters)

The unit's leader, Colonel Heydari, told local media: "The arrival of our women's police force is to bring peace.

"I'm sorry to see other women in these protests carrying out illegal actions that are inconsistent with social rules.

"We are here to oppose them in accordance with procedures based on Islamic values."

The unit was established by the Faraja Public Service Organisation, which is part of the Iranian Armed Forces and closely linked to the country's repressive police force.

Women are also understood to be able to work for The Guidance Patrol,

 also known as the morality police (Image: AFP)

Colonel Heydari has spoken of their task as photographing anyone seen violating morality laws or suspected of spreading chaos, but images of female officers wielding guns and abseiling down buildings suggests their role may be more hands-on.

Women were welcomed into Iranian law enforcement for the first time since the 1979 revolution in 2003.

Their three-year training regime includes mastering guns, judo, fencing and explosives.

Images from the graduation ceremonies of female officers appear to show them holding MP5s and AK-47s whilst donning full traditional dress in the green and gold of the Iranian Police.

Their three-year training regime includes mastering guns, judo, 

fencing and explosives (Image: AFP)

Women are also understood to be able to work for The Guidance Patrol, also known as the morality police, who were responsible for the arrest of Mahsa.

UN urges Iran not to use 'unnecessary' force as anti-hijab protest death toll touches 50 

The United Nations has urged Iran not to use 'unnecessary' force after the anti-hijab protest crackdown's death toll touched 50.

India Today Web Desk

New Delhi

September 24, 2022

Anti-hijab protesters take to Tehran streets. (Photo: AFP)


Over 50 people have been killed after Iranian security forces cracked down on the crackdown on protests that erupted over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who had been detained by the country’s morality police, an Oslo-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) NGO said.

The Oslo-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) NGO said the rise in the toll came after six people were killed by fire from the security forces in the town of Rezvanshahr in the northern Gilan province on Thursday night, with other deaths recorded in Babol and Amol, also in northern Iran, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

ALSO READ | Anti-hijab protests rock Iran over Mahsa Amini’s death in custody: What we know so far

UN URGES IRAN NOT TO USE 'UNNECESSARY' FORCE

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appealed for Iranian security forces to refrain from using "unnecessary or disproportionate force" against anti-government protests.

He also urged everyone to exercise restraint to avoid further escalation, said Guterres' spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

"We are concerned about reports of peaceful protests being met with excessive use of force leading to dozens of deaths and injuries," Dujarric told reporters in New York. "We further call on the authorities to respect the right to freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly and association."


US HELPS EXPAND INTERNET FREEDOM IN IRAN

The US National Security Agency (NSA) has said the US treasury and state department were helping expand internet freedom in Iran amid the government crackdown.

“We’ll continue to hold Iranian officials accountable and support the brave Iranians protesting following the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of Iran‘s Morality Police,” the security agency said.

ELON MUSK TO ACTIVATE STARLINK

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who is also the founder of SpaceX, on Friday said he was activating a satellite internet service, Starlink, amid the internet shutdown in Iran. Musk's response came to a tweet by a high-ranking US official who said the US took action "to advance internet freedom and the free flow of information" to Iranians. The US government on Friday issued guidelines to expand internet services to Iranians despite US sanctions over the Islamic Republic's nuclear programme.

PROTESTERS BURN STATUE OF RELIGIOUS LEADER

Agitators have burnt the statue of Iran’s supreme religious leader Khamenei's statue his own hometown Mashhad amid rising protests after he refrained from commenting on ongoing protests in his first public appearance since anti-regime demonstrations sparked by the death of a young woman in police custody escalated.

PRO-GOVERNMENT RALLIES HELD AMID MASSIVE PROTESTS

Counterprotesters held rallies across the country on Friday in a show of support for authorities after a week of anti-government protests. Thousands attended the rally in Tehran, where they waved Iranian flags. Similar demonstrations were held in other cities. However, the government claimed the demonstrations of support were spontaneous.

The pro-government counterprotesters chanted slogans against America and Israel, according to state media.

Amini’s death for "unsuitable attire" attracted strong ire as in recent years, millions of Iranian women have opposed the law which makes hijab compulsory for women in Iran. Under Iran's sharia (Islamic) law, imposed after the 1979 revolution, women are obliged to cover their hair and wear long, loose-fitting clothes to disguise their figures. Violators face public rebuke, fines or arrest. The morality police are charged with enforcing that and other restrictions, which has been criticized in recent years, especially for its treatment of young women.

 

'Very powerful' post-tropical storm Fiona knocks out power in Nova Scotia, P.E.I.

HALIFAX — High winds knocked out power in thousands of homes in Nova Scotia and P.E.I. Friday night as people in Atlantic Canada began feeling the wrath of post-tropical storm Fiona.

Keith Doucette, The Canadian Press

A pedestrian walks across a footbridge on the Halifax waterfront as rain falls ahead of Hurricane Fiona making landfall in Halifax on Friday, September 23, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese

HALIFAX — High winds knocked out power in thousands of homes in Nova Scotia and P.E.I. Friday night as people in Atlantic Canada began feeling the wrath of post-tropical storm Fiona.

Environment Canada said the storm is already battering Atlantic Canada and eastern Quebec with heavy rainfall and "powerful hurricane-force winds" that will continue into Saturday.

By 10 p.m., more than 14,000 homes and businesses in Nova Scotia had been plunged into darkness. Most of the outages were reported in the central part of the province, mainly in the communities of Sackville, Truro and Stellarton.

In Prince Edward Island more than 1,000 homes and businesses had lost power as the wind picked up across the region.

Earlier in the day, people across Atlantic Canada stocked up on last-minute essentials and storm-proofed their properties ahead of the arrival of Fiona, which forecasters said will hit the region as a “very powerful” post-tropical storm.

The storm, characterized as “historic” in magnitude by meteorologists, is expected to bring more than 100 millimetres of rain to much of the region and eastern Quebec. Closer to the path of Fiona, more than 200 millimetres of rain is expected to fall — potentially leading to the washout of some roads.

Bob Robichaud, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, said Fiona could shape up to be a bigger storm system than Hurricane Juan, which caused extensive damage to the Halifax area in 2003. He said it’s about the same size as post-tropical storm Dorian in 2019.

“But it is stronger than Dorian was,” he said during a briefing. “It’s certainly going to be a historic, extreme event for Eastern Canada.”

He said wind speeds could reach up to 145 km/h with gusts even higher in some areas. Wind gusts of up to 144 km/h were reported late Friday night.

Environment Canada said there was also a high likelihood of storm surge for parts of Nova Scotia, the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and western Newfoundland.

The storm reached Nova Scotia waters late Friday and was expected to pass through Cape Breton early Saturday before hitting Quebec’s Lower North Shore and southeastern Labrador early Sunday.

Dave Buis, vice-commodore of the Northern Yacht Club in North Sydney, N.S., said he is worried about the storm.

“Oh definitely, I think this is going to be a bad one,” Buis said in a telephone interview. “Hopefully it will slow up when it hits the cooler water, but it doesn’t sound like it’s going to.” He said he removed his seven-metre sailboat from the water on Thursday.

On the eastern part of the island in the small Acadian community of Petit-de-Grat, N.S., fishermen dry-docked their boats or lashed them tightly to the wharf.

Lobster fisherman Kyle Boudreau said major storm damage is hard for a coastal community to absorb.

"This is our livelihood. Our boats get smashed, our traps gets smashed … it’s stuff you don’t have to start your season next year,” he said.

Meanwhile, stores in Halifax sold out of propane gas cylinders used for camping stoves. Shelves in the camping department of a local Canadian Tire store that normally carried the small green canisters were completely bare.

But Halifax resident and plumber Chad Shiers advised that people in search of a small fuel tank could use plumbing propane.

Robichaud warned people across the region not to be complacent just because they aren’t near the centre of the storm’s track.

“The impacts are going to be felt way beyond where the centre of the storm actually goes,” he said.

Severe winds and rainfall are expected to result in “major impacts” for eastern Prince Edward Island, eastern Nova Scotia, southern and eastern New Brunswick, western Newfoundland, eastern Quebec and southeastern Labrador.

Coastal areas of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland are expected to experience pounding surf, with waves expected to reach more than 10 metres off Nova Scotia and more than 12 metres in eastern parts of the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

A spokeswoman for the Cape Breton Regional Municipality, said there are plans to open Centre 200 sports centre in Sydney as an evacuation centre Friday evening. Christina Lamey said the space is to be used by residents who feel they will be unsafe through the storm, particularly those living on the southern coast of the region. Halifax was also set to open four evacuation centres on Friday evening.

In P.E.I. Public Safety Minister Darlene Compton warned people who might be curious to stay away from coastal areas, saying it wasn’t worth it to watch the storm roll in.

“My message is simple — don’t,” Compton said during a briefing. “Don’t go near the water, don’t put yourselves and others at risk." An emergency alert from the province warned residents of severe flooding expected along the northern shoreline.

In downtown Charlottetown, the normally bustling Confederation Landing was unusually quiet. Restaurant owners Lisa and Robert Gale decided to keep Lobster on the Wharf open Friday afternoon to welcome a tour bus expected by 5 p.m. Robert Gale said the worst storm they had faced was Dorian. “We’d be lying if we said we weren’t worried about Fiona,” his wife Lisa added.

Red chairs that usually sat on the deck were stacked in their office along with tables, and they were hoping the storm surges are not so high that there is water in the restaurant.

Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey issued a statement aimed at reassuring the people of his province Friday, saying that a provincial emergency operations centre has been activated, while Department of Transportation crews were already checking culverts and removing debris.

“Stay home if at all possible as this will not only help keep you and your family safe, but will avoid putting emergency responders in harm’s way,” said Furey.

In Quebec Friday, Premier François Legault said authorities were keeping a close eye on Fiona, which is on track to hit the Îles-de-la-Madeleine, Gaspé and the province's Lower North Shore.

“I want to tell people in those regions, be careful, there’s a significant risk, prepare for the worst and we’ll hope it goes well,” Legault said in Laval.

The PMO said late Friday that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's departure for Japan is being delayed due to the ongoing situation with Hurricane Fiona. Trudeau plans to attend a state funeral for Japan's former prime minister Shinzo Abe.

Press Secretary Cecely Roy said on Twitter that Trudeau will be receiving briefings on the emergency response to the storm and will reach out to premiers. She said Public Safety Minister Bill Blair and Liberal Atlantic MPs are in close touch with their provincial counterparts.

"The federal government is ready to provide whatever support may be needed in the response, to keep Canadians safe."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 23, 2022.

— With files from Michael Tutton in Petit-de-Grat, N.S., Lyndsay Armstrong in Halifax, Hina Alam in Charlottetown and Sidhartha Banerjee in Montreal

Keith Doucette, The Canadian Press