Iranian women risk punishment for social media posts

Iranian ladies informed the BBC how their on-line actions have been monitored by authorities, resulting in arrests, threats and beatings.

Iran has intensified anti-establishment protests led by ladies throughout the nation after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in police custody two years in the past after she was arrested for allegedly not carrying a hijab correctly. monitor.

WARNING: The next article comprises descriptions of violence. Some names have been modified to guard private identities.

Like many ladies impressed by the protests, Aleph posted a photograph on social media displaying her hair flowing freely in public. It was a easy act of solidarity with the motion in opposition to the compelled carrying of hijab.

“I am not likely involved with hiding who I’m or the place the pictures have been taken,” she stated. “I need to say, ‘We exist.'”

However the photograph was seen by authorities attempting to suppress the protests, and Alef was arrested.

She stated she was blindfolded, handcuffed and brought to an unknown location the place she was held in solitary confinement for practically two weeks. She was additionally interrogated a number of occasions.

Throughout one interrogation, she stated her interrogators tried to drive a confession out of her. She was compelled at hand her telephone over to masked guards, who seen her social media posts and pictures. Images present her attending a protest and being shot with a pellet gun by safety forces. Interrogators additionally accused her of working for america.

Aleph was charged with “showing in public with no scarf” and “selling corruption and lewdness”.

She was discovered responsible and obtained a suspended sentence however was additionally caned 50 occasions.

“A male officer requested me to take off my jacket and lie down,” she stated. “He took a black leather-based whip and began hitting me throughout my physique. It was painful however I did not need to present weak point.

Her story is just like that of two different ladies and a person we interviewed in Iran. Every of them informed us that they have been detained and summoned to courtroom for “anti-state propaganda”. They have been all given suspended sentences. Aleph was sentenced to probation and caning.

Two of the individuals we interviewed have been imprisoned in Tehran’s infamous Evin Jail (recognized for housing many Iranian political prisoners) earlier than being tried and convicted.

Each experiences describe poor dwelling situations, with prisoners crammed into small, unsanitary and chilly cells with restricted entry to showers and bathrooms, typically inflicting individuals to fall ailing.

One well-known male influencer who was detained for lower than a month informed us that his neighborhood had just one bathe room and one rest room for about 100 individuals.

Malal, a girl who was jailed for greater than two months, stated that the place she was imprisoned, ladies may solely bathe a couple of times per week. It is particularly troublesome once they’re menstruating.

“Typically they would not allow us to go to the lavatory for hours,” she stated. “If we complain, they are saying ‘if you happen to cooperate, you may depart earlier’. We will not get menstrual pads. Now we have to purchase them, however we do not have the cash they usually will not take cash from our home.

Kosar Eftekhari additionally combed her social media. She was arrested and charged with “anti-state propaganda,” “insulting sacred beliefs,” “disturbing public opinion” and “blasphemy.”

A month after Mahsa Amini’s loss of life, Kosar was shot within the genital space by a riot squad officer with a paintball gun. Moments later, he shot her once more, this time “with a foolish smile on his face.” She instantly heard a “pop” in her proper eye after which went blind.

The stunning incident was filmed and posted on Instagram. Regardless of her accidents and trauma, Kosar turned extra energetic on-line, making her a chief goal for elevated surveillance.

She stated tons of of her social media posts, together with pictures of her with no hijab, have been utilized by prosecutors as proof through the trial.

Kosar was convicted and sentenced to 4 years and three months in jail. She was additionally banned from utilizing social media and smartphones for 5 years.

However to keep away from serving time, Kosar fled to Germany, the place she now publicly advocates for Iranian ladies’s rights. Earlier this yr, she spoke to the United Nations Truth-Discovering Mission on Iran (FFMI) about her expertise and what they referred to as “crimes in opposition to humanity.”

FFMI informed the BBC that “nobody must be jailed for posting peaceable issues on-line”.

We raised the claims of the 5 individuals we spoke with to the Iranian authorities, however they didn’t reply. The commander of Iran’s riot police has beforehand denied that his troops intentionally shot protesters within the face.

Iranian authorities have for years suppressed protests and what they see as subversive exercise, together with tightening state management over individuals’s on-line lives.

They shut down the web a number of occasions and reportedly used phishing methods to hack into telephones and entry individuals’s knowledge.

Western social media apps akin to Instagram, X and Telegram are blocked, however many Iranians get round this utilizing instruments akin to digital non-public networks (VPNs), which assist them cover their location.

The current wave of protests has been largely unfold and documented by these platforms. However on account of surveillance, tens of 1000’s of protesters have been arrested within the first few months.

Mahsa Alimardani, a senior researcher at human rights group Article 19, stated many of the protesters are Technology Z and have a big digital footprint, which makes it attainable to “observe the protesters’ actions by social media or by their gadgets earlier than and through detention.” turns into simple.

Authorities have additionally developed instruments to assist them, akin to an app referred to as Nazer that permits government-vetted police and volunteers to report ladies who don’t put on headscarves.

The nation has additionally nationalized components of the Web and incentivized it by decreasing the price of Web entry. However utilizing it means handing over private knowledge to the federal government.

Two years for the reason that loss of life of Mahsa Amini has reverberated throughout the nation, Ladies Free for Life’s digital resistance exhibits no signal of stopping.

“Now we frequently speak about our experiences within the Ladies’s Liberation Motion in our household and pal circles. It is just like the seeds of a flower. Even when a flower withers or dries up, its seeds will proceed to bloom elsewhere,” Allais stated. Husband stated.

Extra reporting: Shayan Sardarizadeh