Iran teachers union announces strike over a lethal crackdown on children
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Raven Ruma
- . October 22, 2022
- . Update: November 11, 2022 1:25 am
An Iranian teachers’ union has announced a two-day strike from Sunday over the lethal targeting of schoolchildren in a crackdown on anti-government protests sparked by the death of a 22-year-old Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini.
The Co-ordinating Council of Teachers Syndicates called a strike after Amnesty International, an international non-governmental organisation focused on human rights, said that the crackdown led to the death of at least 23 children. In a statement, the teachers’ union said, “We know very well that the Iranian security forces and plainclothes officers have violated schools and educational centres.”
The union reportedly said, “The rulers should know that Iran’s teachers do not tolerate these atrocities. The Co-ordinating Council of Teachers Syndicates supports the rightful protests of the people across the country.”
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Earlier, Iran Human Rights (IHR), an Oslo-based group, said that at least 27 children were killed by the security forces in a violent crackdown on protests. IHR said in a statement, “Iranian security forces have mercilessly taken the lives of several students and children; from Nika Shahkarami and Sarina Esmailzadeh to Abolfazl Adinezadeh and Asra Panahi.”
Earlier this month, Iran’s Children’s Rights Protection Society condemned Iranian security forces for using violence against schoolchildren who participated in anti-government protests.
Earlier, the United Nations children’s agency UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) also condemned Iranian security forces over reports of “children being killed, injured and detained” in the country.
Protests started in Iran a month ago over the death of Amini. The doctor pronounced her dead on September 16, days after the Iranian morality police detained her for allegedly breaching the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code for women by wearing a loose hijab (headscarf).
Many women took to the streets to protest her death. Later on, men, schoolchildren, college students and workers also joined the protests. The unrest became the biggest wave of protests to shake Iran in almost three years.
