UN Human Rights Commissioner Condemns Recent Whippings in Iran

On Tuesday, June 1, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a statement condemning the whipping of approximately 35 young men and women who were arrested last week for attending a mixed-gender party in Qazvin. According to Iranian state media, these students were arrested on May 27, interrogated, and sentenced to 99 lashes. The UN High Commissioner emphasized that flogging is prohibited under international human rights standards. Ismail Sadeqi Niarki, the public prosecutor of Qazvin, stated last week that the detainees had gathered for a graduation celebration at a villa near Qazvin and engaged in 'dancing and revelry.' This judicial official accused the detainees of 'breaking social norms' and mentioned that the court held an extraordinary session to address their case, sentencing each to 99 lashes, which were carried out the same day. The High Commissioner described the use of such a brutal, inhumane, and degrading punishment, which could be considered torture, as absolutely disproportionate and abhorrent by responsible authorities in Iran. The statement also noted that the issuance and execution of flogging sentences in Iran is not an isolated incident, recalling that recently, 17 workers from a gold mine in West Azerbaijan, who protested the dismissal of 350 workers, were also arrested and whipped. The High Commissioner referred to a report from ILNA news agency last week, citing Vahid Yari, the lawyer for these workers, who reported that his clients received between 30 to 100 lashes. The charges against these workers included 'preventing and obstructing people from conducting business by creating a commotion,' 'insulting the company's guard,' 'illegally seizing the guard's clothing,' and 'deliberately damaging the company's sign' in January 2015. The UN Human Rights Commissioner added that in another case in May, a woman accused of having sexual relations outside of marriage was whipped in public. In this context, 17 dismissed workers from the Agh Dareh mine in West Azerbaijan were whipped, and 35 young men and women in Qazvin were whipped for attending a party. Some of the whipped workers were sent to prison. The phrase 'the whip of the employer and judge on the backs of demanding workers' was used to describe the situation, along with protests from two labor organizations against the flogging sentences of the 17 workers.