Israel is frustrated with the American Security Council project and pins its hopes on the Russian “veto”.

A committee formed by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to investigate the massive protests that shook the country after the death of the young woman, Mahsa Amini, in September 2022, announced the killing of 281 Iranians, including dozens of members of the security services and law enforcement forces.

The publication of the report came three days before the New Year “Nowruz” holiday in Iran, as Iranians are busy making arrangements for the annual holiday that extends for two weeks, and ten days after a report by the United Nations Human Rights Council Committee on the violations witnessed by the protests.

The government report said that “the occurrence of social unrest is part of the living reality that human society is experiencing.” The committee considered that “it is natural for countries to take measures to control the situation if protests deviate from their peaceful course and conflict with order, peace and public security.”

In its report, the committee defended the performance of the security forces in dealing with the protests, describing it as “responsible.” She said: “The Islamic Republic faced such situations, against the backdrop of the death of the young woman Mahsa Amini on September 16. A protest gathering was formed around the Khosra Hospital in Tehran, and in the following days it spread to some parts of Tehran and a number of cities across the country, and with the entry of some “The elements turned the protests from their peaceful path into violence.”

The committee, which was formed on orders from Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, noted that the report was based on witnesses, victims, media information, open sources, and reports from government agencies and non-governmental organizations.

The committee’s work focused on four axes: “Investigation of allegations of human rights violations in the unrest”, “allegations of arbitrary arrests, violence and excessive use of force and violence”, “information about deaths and injuries of persons”, and “any documents about losses to public funds”.

Death of Mahsa Amini

The committee’s report addressed the circumstances of the arrest and death of the young woman, Mahsa Amini, pointing out that she lost consciousness 26 minutes after she was taken to a police station. Because of “non-compliance with the hijab law,” he pointed out that she received an ambulance from the medical team at the police station, before the emergency team arrived 7 minutes later.

The report adheres to the authorities’ narrative of denying that the young woman’s death, 62 hours after she was taken to the hospital, was the result of her being subjected to any type of beating.

The report concluded that if this incident had been “correctly reported in the first hours, and timely and accurate information about the details of the incident had been published, public opinion could have been better informed, to reduce the chances of false and unreliable rumors and narratives from anti-Iranian media.”

Mahsa Amini’s family rejects the Iranian authorities’ account of her previous health problems.

dead

Iranian government websites quoted the head of the committee, Hussein Muzaffar, as saying that among the 202 civilians killed in the protests, there were “90 people who carried and used weapons in terrorist acts and attacks on military and security headquarters, infrastructure, or law enforcement (police) forces.”

The committee’s report noted that “112 of the victims were among the bystanders killed by the rioters.” The report added that 79 of them were among the law enforcement forces, adding that “54 members of the law enforcement forces died as a result of widespread violence from rioters and terrorists.”

Among the dead, the report indicated that 25 were killed in an attack on a religious shrine that took place in the city of Shiraz, and was claimed by ISIS. The report insisted that 7 of those killed in the protests in the city of Idhij, in the southwest of the country, be considered victims of a terrorist attack, while the families of the victims accused the security forces of shooting their families.

The numbers, which were officially announced by the Iranian government on Sunday, represent half the number of victims, according to estimates by Iranian human rights organizations.

Reliable figures indicate that up to 551 protesters were killed by security forces, including at least 49 women and 68 children, according to the mission, while most deaths resulted from firearms. The authorities executed nine people; Against the backdrop of security charges related to the protests. Dozens still face the risk of execution, or the death penalty, as a result of the protests.

Cover up the number of infected people

The government report covered up the number of injured people, and merely said that the authorities were unable to obtain accurate numbers about the number of injured people, attributing this to the wounded not being brought to health and judicial centers, or the presence of minor injuries.

The report indicated that 5,200 police forces, 1,540 Revolutionary Guard forces, and members of its mobilization arm, the Basij, were injured and suffered severe injuries, such as spinal cord injury, blindness, and broken limbs.

Regarding detainees, the report indicated that 34,000 people were arrested during the protest movement, explaining that 90 percent were released on financial bail from detention centers, before being transferred to prisons. He said that many of them later obtained a ruling “preventing prosecution.”

He talked about removing the records of about 22,000 defendants and convicts, whether detainees or those released on financial bail.

The report said: “In fact, during the unrest, there were less than 3,000” in the detention center, noting that 292 detainees on charges of “committing violent criminal acts” are still in prison, noting that a prison sentence was issued against 158 ​​of them.

Regarding the damage to public funds, the report said that “in the violent unrest, a number of places of public and private funds were burned and looted,” speaking of “widespread coordinated attacks” against government centers and public services, such as banks, ambulances, and public transportation. , police cars, fire trucks and religious places.

The roots of the protests

The report, published in official Iranian agencies, touched on the roots of the protests, and said, “The fact-finding committee, after taking into account the opinions of researchers and professors of groups in various fields regarding the impact of some economic factors resulting from the sanctions, and political, security, social and cultural factors, concluded that what The protests took place in a project planned and designed by some foreign countries, which was based on their misuse of popular demands.

Thus, the authorities insisted on strengthening their narrative regarding the conspiracy theory, and pointing the finger of blame at foreign parties, especially countries that condemned the authorities’ dealings with the protesters.

The committee said that there is “a clear role for foreigners, and the provocations and movements of some governments, in continuing and intensifying the protests.” She pointed to “the role and direction of centers affiliated with hostile governments and foreign intelligence services in protest gatherings and internal incitement,” as well as “some countries and their diplomats in monitoring and field monitoring of the course of the protests, and field guidance in the context of deepening and intensifying the protests, and provocative media activities to raise the people’s expectations, and build networks within The country in order to turn demands into protests and carry out secret operations, in order to push the protests into riots in the streets.”

In the same context, he pointed to “the clear and clear support and support from officials and heads of some countries for the unrest in Iran.” The report places the blame on “some foreign governments, especially the United States, Germany, Britain, France, Canada, Israel and others, and elements of organizations and spy agencies of some countries, including elements fleeing abroad such as the Mujahideen-e-Khalq, anti-Iranian satellite channels, and ethnic and separatist movements abroad.”

The report indicates the arrest of 9 foreign citizens of Western countries, accusing them of involvement in the protests. He also claimed the arrest of 50 people associated with the opposition Mujahideen-e-Khalq group, 77 members of Iranian Kurdish opposition parties, including the Democratic Party, the PJAK Party, the Free Life Party, and the Komala Party, the arrest of 5 supporters of extremist religious groups, and the “seizure of explosives.” “It was targeting protest gatherings.”

The first Iranian government report on the protests comes about two weeks after the publication of the first report of the “Independent International Commission of Inquiry into Iran,” which included experts assigned by the United Nations Human Rights Council.

The committee said, in its report issued on March 8, that a number of the violations mentioned in the report “constitute crimes against humanity, especially murder, imprisonment, torture, rape, other forms of sexual torture, persecution, enforced disappearance, and other inhumane acts.”

The fact-finding mission concluded that “in the cases it examined, security forces resorted to unnecessary and disproportionate use of force, which led to unlawful killings and injuries among demonstrators.” The report continued: “The many injuries to the eyes of the demonstrators led to the injury of dozens of women, men and children, leaving them with scars for life.” He stated that “the mission found evidence of extrajudicial executions.”