Amnesty International Calls for Independent International Investigation into the Condition of Armita Garavand

Amnesty International, criticizing the Iranian government's secrecy, has called for an independent international investigation into the 'serious injury' of Armita Garavand. In a statement on Friday, this human rights organization urged the international community to send an independent international delegation, including UN experts, to Iran to investigate the reasons for the coma of 16-year-old Armita Garavand in the Tehran metro. Armita Garavand, an 11th-grade student at the state vocational school 'Oruvat al-Wathiqa' in Tehran's District 11, lost consciousness at the 'Shahada Tehran' metro station while returning from school on October 1 and has since been hospitalized at Fajr Hospital, affiliated with the Army Medical University. Amnesty International, citing published reports, emphasized that there is substantial evidence of the Iranian authorities' cover-up regarding this case, asserting that Armita Garavand fell into a coma following an assault by an agent enforcing mandatory hijab. Additionally, two eyewitnesses revealed details of the 'physical attack' by the hijab enforcement officer against Armita Garavand to The Guardian. In this statement, Amnesty International identified the arrest and interrogation of a truth-seeking journalist and the dissemination of propaganda interviews with Armita Garavand's friends and parents as part of the Iranian government's cover-up in this case. The organization also stated that the Iranian government has attempted to conceal the truth by deleting three minutes and 16 seconds of footage from surveillance cameras. Diana Tahavi, Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International, described the coordinated campaign by Iranian officials to deny and distort the truth about how Armita Garavand lost consciousness as a horrifying reminder of the fabricated narratives and unreasonable explanations provided by the government regarding the hospitalization of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini last year. Tahavi pointed out the impracticality of impartial and independent domestic investigations in Iran and stated that, given the reports of the mandatory hijab officer's attack on Armita Garavand, the international community must pressure Iranian authorities to allow an independent international delegation access to investigate the dire conditions of this teenager. She also emphasized that the international community should demand protection for Armita Garavand's relatives and friends, as well as truth-seeking journalists, ensuring their immunity from government retaliation and harassment. Amnesty International highlighted the pattern of behavior of Iranian officials in intimidating, threatening retaliation, and harassing the families of victims, asserting that they absolve themselves of responsibility by forcing these families to repeat government narratives regarding human rights violations. The organization expressed serious concern over the presence of Armita Garavand's family and friends in government propaganda and their repetition of the government narrative about the teenager's condition as a result of pressure and threats of retaliation. Raha Bahreini, a human rights researcher at Amnesty International, stated that there is serious concern that Armita Garavand may also have fallen victim to the violence of mandatory hijab enforcement.