Tribunal to Investigate Violent Crackdown in 2019 Iran Fuel Protests

A group called the Iran Atrocities Tribunal is holding an event starting Wednesday in London to “investigate the killing and wounding of thousands of innocent protesters in Iran in 2019″ after the government hiked the price of fuel.

The tribunal will hear from 45 witnesses and will investigate the roles of more than 100 Iranian government officials who carried out the crackdowns, according to a press release.

The group will reveal its findings in early 2022.

Iran’s government sparked the nationwide demonstrations on November 15, 2019, by ordering a 50% increase in the subsidized price of gasoline, further straining the finances of Iranians facing high unemployment and inflation in a shrinking economy under heavy U.S. sanctions. Security forces killed hundreds of demonstrators and arrested thousands more while crushing the mostly peaceful protests, in which some people also damaged public buildings and businesses.

“To date, the Islamic Republic of Iran has failed to investigate its own responsibility, or the responsibility of its own security forces, or otherwise facilitate any independent international adjudication for any of this violence or alleged crimes,” Wayne Jordash, a human rights lawyer and chair of the tribunal, said in a statement.

“The Iran Atrocities Tribunal consists of independent and impartial jurists who will investigate these events to reveal the truth and to determine where the responsibility lies in light of general principles of law and human conscience with the aim of ending impunity for any international crimes and seeking redress for the victims,” the statement said.

The event is slated to end November 14.

Source: VOA News

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