Hundreds of people gathered in central London on September 16, 2022, to mark the anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman who died in police custody in Iran last year. Her death sparked protests globally against the conservative Islamic theocracy in Iran. Similar protests also took place in Italy, Germany, and France.
Chanting Women! Life! Freedom!, the crowds in London held Amini’s portrait and rallied around her memory. Maryam Namazie, an Iranian human rights activist in the U.K., called on everyone to remember those killed and to continue the fight for a better society.
In Iran, authorities tried to prevent the anniversary from reigniting protests by detaining Amini’s father and increasing security presence in downtown Tehran and western Iran. A widespread general strike was reported in Kurdish areas, with videos and photos showing empty streets and shuttered shops. However, state media did not acknowledge the strike.
There were reports of a man being shot by security forces near Saqqez in the Kurdish region and of tear gas being fired in Mashhad and Karaj. The Center for Human Rights in Iran and social media videos corroborated these incidents, but Iranian state media remained silent.
Amini’s death occurred three days after she was arrested by morality police for allegedly violating Iran’s mandatory headscarf law. While authorities claimed she suffered a heart attack, her supporters believe she was beaten by the police and died as a result of her injuries.
Her death sparked widespread protests in Iran, resulting in a violent crackdown by authorities. Rights groups reported that over 500 people were killed and more than 22,000 others were detained in the crackdown. Although the protests subsided earlier this year, signs of discontent still exist in Iran, with renewed crackdowns on women openly flouting the headscarf rule.
Activists around the world used the anniversary of Amini’s death to renew the protests. In Rome, around 100 protesters gathered in front of the Iranian Embassy, calling for the international community to isolate the regime in Iran. In Paris, a garden in the 10th district was renamed in Amini’s honor, with the mayor praising her as a resistance hero.
Iran has blamed last year’s protests on foreign powers, without providing evidence, and has since downplayed the unrest while taking measures to prevent a resurgence. The protests were partly fueled by the economic hardships faced by Iranians due to sanctions imposed by the United States after President Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal.
President Joe Biden and U.K. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly both acknowledged the anniversary of Amini’s death and imposed new sanctions on Iranian officials and entities. Soheila Sokhanvari, an Iranian-British artist, highlighted the significance of Iranian men standing with women during the protests, calling it a unique and positive development in the history of Iran.
The anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death serves as a reminder of the ongoing struggle for human rights and freedom in Iran, and activists both inside and outside the country continue to fight for justice and a better future.
