The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed strong condemnation on Friday regarding reports from Iran of escalating enforcement of the state’s stringent mandatory hijab laws for women and girls.
Additionally, they raised concerns about a new draft bill proposing severe penalties for violators of the law.
At a press briefing in Geneva, spokesperson Jeremy Laurence highlighted widespread reports of both uniformed and plainclothes police violently cracking down on women and girls for non-compliance, as well as on men who support them.
Reports of arrests and harassment, particularly targeting individuals between the ages of 15 and 17, have also been received.
Laurence further mentioned the creation of a new enforcement body by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps aimed at intensifying the implementation of existing hijab laws, especially in public spaces.
He cited instances where businesses were shuttered for failing to adhere to these laws and surveillance cameras were used to identify non-compliant women drivers.
The proposed law, which suggests harsher penalties for violating mandatory hijab laws, including imprisonment for up to 10 years, flogging, and fines, was strongly denounced by Laurence.
“Corporal punishment constitutes a form of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment, and any detention imposed for the exercise of fundamental freedoms is arbitrary under international law,” stated Laurence.
Through his spokesperson, U.N.
High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk urged the Iranian government to shelve the proposed law and eliminate all forms of gender-based discrimination and violence.
Türk emphasised the need for revising and repealing any harmful laws, policies, and practices to align them “with international human rights norms and standards.”
The human rights office also demanded the release of 33-year-old rapper Toomaj Salehi, who was sentenced to death this week for supporting nationwide protests in 2022 triggered by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody, following her arrest for alleged violations of the hijab laws.
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