Fereshteh Ahmadi was one of the at least 16 Kurds killed by security forces last week as huge protests were held in the Kurdish areas of western Iran (Rojhelat) to make the 40th day of mourning for Mahsa (Zhina) Amini, whose death in detention in Tehran in mid-September sparked a nationwide protest movement.
For almost fifty days since the killing of Amini on September 16, Iranians across the country have protested against oppression and have called for the overthrow of the regime.
The authorities in Tehran have ordered an unprecedented crackdown, killing at least 253 people and wounding thousands as many more languish in detention.
“As brother and father of Fereshteh Ahmadi, my sister was on the roof of the house she was staying in the city of Mahabad, and was fired upon by the Islamic Republic regime [forces] and martyred,” Ibrahim Ahmadi said in a video message on Tuesday night while sitting next to his father wearing Kurdish attire. Ahmadi added that he had been contacted by the authorities to file complaints but rejected claims that such complaints were made, adding that what was being spread by the state news agencies was false.
The security forces attacked protesters on the 40th day mourning ceremony and killed a man in Mahabad city. The following day and during the burial, protests broke out and security forces killed Ahmadi, a mother of two, from the city of Saqqez but in Mahabad on a family visit. She died on the roof of the house.
The photo of Ahmadi’s daughter on her grave crying with her fist clenched went viral on Iranian and Kurdish social media, prompting the authorities to claim that she was not killed by the security forces, but rather by ‘rioters’, the word they use to describe protesters.
“There are also reports that there were no gatherings [when she was killed], in fact the main gathering [protest] was there, once again I refute all these reports and I have not filed a complaint against anyone, my sister was martyred by the Islamic Republic regime.”
Protests continued on Wednesday in several universities across Iran, challenging the authorities’ claims that the protests have ended. A video published on Tuesday night showed a large number of security forces severely beating up a man in the Nazi Abad neighborhood of Tehran. At one point, one of the security forces on a motorbike rams into the man who is left motionless under a bridge before another member of the security forces shoots him. It is not clear if the man is alive.
The savagery of the attack on the man on October 22 prompted the authorities to say they would launch yet another investigation. “Iran’s authorities announced that they issued a special order to investigate this clip and identify the offenders. They claimed the same about the murder of #MahsaAmini,” Iranian activist and journalist Masih Alinejad who published the video said. “This video is another evidence of crimes against humanity. International communities must take strong action.”
Another image of a 15 year old boy whose back was covered by hundreds of wounds from pellet guns was published by Hengaw human rights organisation showing the brutality inflicted on protesters including children. At least 34 children have been killed in the protest.
The Kurdish population in the west and northwest of the country scattered in the provinces of Kurdistan, Western Azerbijan, Ilam and Kermanshah have become the driving force of the protests, taking to the streets night after night.
The security forces have used heavy handed measures against the Kurdish population by detaining thousands of activists, students, ordinary citizens, and protesters while subjecting some of them to savage torture.
At least 40 protesters have been killed in the Kurdish areas with over a thousand protesters wounded, some of whom have refrained from going to medical facilities for fear of arrest and have been treated at home instead.
