A special session of the United Nations Human Rights Council to discuss the deadly crackdown on anti-government protests in Iran opened on Thursday morning in Geneva. The special session was convened at the request of 17 of the 47 member nations, as well as 27 observer states, on the topic of “the deteriorating human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran.” During the session, diplomats are set to debate a request for an international investigation of alleged violations linked to the over eight weeks of protests.
Over 400 people, including 51 children, have been killed across Iran in the crackdown since the start of the protests, sparked by the death of 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini while in the custody of the modesty police for wearing her hijab incorrectly.
The draft resolution put forward by Germany and Iceland that is being debated at Thursday’s meeting says that the investigation should include “the gender dimensions of such violations.” The text of the resolution also calls for the investigators to “collect, consolidate and analyze evidence of such violations, and to preserve evidence,” which points top lans for prosecution in the future.
It is the 35th ever special session of the Human Rights Council and the second to be held this year.