U.N. report: Iran using surveillance, informants to pressure women into complying with hijab laws
March 14 (UPI) -- A U.N. fact-finding mission into Iran's treatment of women reported Friday that the Islamic Republic was resorting to extreme measures in its drive to restrict their rights, including electronic "surveillance" and pressuring the public to inform on women not wearing a hijab, which is mandatory dress code.
The increased policing and prosecution of women flouting the dress code and female activists who have received long prison terms, or death sentences in some cases, comes amid increased repression of women and girls and activists demanding their human rights as part of determined government efforts to quash all dissent, the U.N. will say in a report to the Human Rights Council on Tuesday.
Investigators detail authorities' use of drone-mounted cameras, fixed CCTV cameras, and facial recognition software to catch women out in public with their heads uncovered, as well as an app enabling people to use their smartphones to report women on public transport or in taxis directly to the police.
Two-and-half years on from nationwide protests sparked by the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini in September 2022, the Iranian state was bearing down even harder, increasingly using technology to keep tabs on women, including "state-sponsored vigilantism in an apparent effort to enlist businesses and private individuals in hijab compliance, portraying it as a civic responsibility."
The report is the outcome of a two-year investigation in which the mission collected 38,000 pieces of evidence and interviewed more than 280 victims and witnesses.
"For two years, Iran has refused to adequately acknowledge the demands for equality and justice that fuelled the protests in 2022. The criminalization, surveillance and continued repression of protesters, families of victims and survivors, in particular women and girls is deeply worrying," said mission chair Sara Hossain.
The increased persecution occurred despite President Masoud Pezeshkian pledging in his campaign in the run-up to elections in July to relax the strict enforcement of the hijab laws pursued by the administration of his predecessor, Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash in May.
The two-year investigation found that in addition to ramping up surveillance, the government had broadened restrictions on the digital space, "extending its repression beyond Iran's borders to silence human rights defenders, including journalists, who speak up from abroad."
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