At the end of last year people across Iran, outraged at decades of repression, took to the streets demanding fundamental change and a political system that respects human rights and dignity. Those displays of extraordinary courage were met with extreme violence.
The UN Special Rapporteur on Iran stated that as many as 20,000 people may have died. Thousands more have been detained. One of those imprisoned people is Amirhossein Ghaderzadeh, a 19-year-old football player.
He was “disappeared” on 9 January, after agents stormed his home and stripped him and his sisters, one of whom is just 14, to inspect their bodies for metal pellets to “prove” their participation in the protests.When they found pellet wounds on Amirhossein, they arrested him.
Just 10 days later he was sentenced to death by hanging and his execution was scheduled for 21 January. We, like his family, begged for his execution to be halted. We, like his family, simply do not know what has happened to Amirhossein or where he is being held. No family should have to go through this horror.
What is Amnesty International doing to respond?
Amnesty International is investigating the human rights violations carried out by the Iranian authorities. We have analysed and verified videos and images collected from open sources and sent directly to us by people in Iran. We continue to interview eyewitnesses and people with direct information about the protests.
We are also advocating for an end to the cycle of impunity and bloodshed, including by urging UN Member States to refer the situation in Iran to the International Criminal Court.
This work is part of our long-term commitment to document and collect evidence to hold Iranian officials to account. Our team is dedicated to amplifying calls made by people in Iran seeking truth and justice.
Amnesty has the reach and expertise to help. But we urgently need your support. You can make your voice heard by those in positions of power. Click here to send an e-mail to Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the Head of Iran’s Judiciary. Let him know that we will not stay silent as Iranian protesters are executed.
You can also sign and share Amnesty’s global petition demanding the world community take action NOW. Use your voice for Amirhossein, and the thousands of others like him who have been disappeared and sentenced to death by the Iranian authorities.
Thank you, as ever, for your life-saving action and your aroha.