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A coalition of victims of the state-led response amid the 2022 demonstrations for "Women, Life, Freedom" has initiated a landmark criminal complaint accusing forty named Iranian authorities of alleged human rights violations.

Judicial Move Pursued in the Argentinian System

The application for a judicial probe to be initiated was submitted within the Argentinian courts. This step was made by a collective of Iranian nationals with support from a human rights legal group. The Argentinian courts are particularly open to accommodating universal jurisdiction claims.

The complaint asserts that the response from state security apparatus to the protests included "discharging bullets, non-lethal projectiles, metal pellets not intended for short distances, and other projectiles at civilians." The document further states arbitrary roundups, custodial torture, and executions of individuals that are said to continue to this day.

Officials Named Anonymously

Named individuals representing the range of Iran's law enforcement have been identified in the filing, but their identities are currently being withheld from the public.

Individual Accounts Fuel the Case

One of the litigants, UK-based Mahsa Piraei, stated that the objective "goes beyond revenge in a private capacity, but justice and truth." Her mother, Minoo Majidi, in her sixties, was shot dead in September 2022. Forensic analysis showed more than 167 harmful shots had been discharged into her posterior at extremely close proximity. She had been attending a gathering concerning the death of Mahsa Amini, a youthful Kurdish woman who died in custody.

Piraei, one of Majidi's three offspring, was residing abroad at the period of her parent's violent demise. She returned to Iran at considerable peril to pay respects at the burial site. Her sibling Roya published a photograph of herself by their parent's burial site with her scalp shaved on a restricted social media account. A acquaintance circulated the photo, which went viral, subsequently leading Roya to leave for Turkey.

Piraei remarked: "Via court documents and documentation the aim is to preserve evidence, identify offenses and avoid historical oblivion." She described her mother's death as "systematic in nature but part of a systematic practice."

Further Claimants Include Individuals Who Lost Sight

The remaining claimants who have come forward are Kowsar Eftekhari and Mersedeh Shahinkar, both survivors of loss of sight at close range by paintball guns.

Eftekhari, a young scholar, was shot in the face in autumn 2022. She had been demonstrating for weeks, witnessing fellow demonstrators being shot with bullets and being beaten herself with electronic batons. During a demonstration on a day in October, she was at a rally near a university when a undercover agent struck her with numerous projectiles from a distance of about a metre. He then allegedly targeted her face when she did not comply with his command to leave. A recording of the assault showing blood pouring from her face spread online, and she was later granted asylum in Germany.

Shahinkar, aged 38 when assaulted on October 18th, only understood what had occurred when she noticed something warm on her cheek. Fellow protesters advised her not to get into an emergency vehicle for fear of being transported to a detention center. When she eventually arrived at a health center, a worker told her to go away because they did not help protesters. A physician assessed her and sent her to a hospital, where Shahinkar pretended a rock had unintentionally hurt her vision so she would not be denied treatment. She shared details of her condition online, and in the new year, plainclothes officers approached her, causing her to leave the country. She later received a prestigious recognition as a representative of the campaign.

International Law Principle Creates Avenue for Action

The individuals initiating the inquiry assert that the case is not seen just as a symbolic gesture with slim prospect of a practical outcome. The concept permits allegations to be probed in a different state even if the offence did not occur in that country and the accused is not resident there. Argentina has particularly permissive rules on such claims in the world.

The concept of universal jurisdiction has in the past resulted in numerous guilty verdicts and the initiation of prosecutions regarding violations committed in dozens of countries. Cases are currently being prosecuted in multiple jurisdictions.

As the request is exclusively for a legal inquiry, and this is not seeking financial compensation, there is no claim by the individuals for financial restitution. This case would not be the initial legal action against Iranian authorities initiated in Argentina.