IHRNGO: Islamic Republic is Responsible for Armita Garavand’s Murder
Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); October 28, 2023: State media have reported the death of Armita Garavand, a 16-year-old girl who suffered brain injury after a “violent encounter with metro officers enforcing the mandatory hijab” on 1 October. She lost consciousness when she was knocked to the ground by officers and has been kept in a coma for 28 days.
From day one, authorities attempted to conceal the truth by transferring Armita to a military hospital, arresting journalists covering the story, intense pressure on her family and controlling the narrative. Armita’s friends and parents were also forced into giving television interviews parroting the official narrative.
Reiterating the need for an independent investigation into events at Shohada metro station that led to the hospitalisation of Armita Garavand on 1 October, Iran Human Rights rejects the Islamic Republic narrative about her death. Given the Islamic Republic’s history of covering up its crimes and citizen reports, it considers her death to be state murder.
Director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said: “Ali Khamenei is personally responsible for Armita Garavand’s death unless an independent international investigation proves otherwise. Islamic Republic authorities must also be held accountable for the pressure and ill-treatment they have subjected her family to.”
16-year-old Armita Garavand lost consciousness at the Shohada metro station in Tehran on the morning of 1 October and was transferred to the Tehran Air Force’s Fajr Hospital where she was declared to be in a coma. On 4 October 2023, Iran Human Rights called for an independent investigation into events that led to the hospitalisation of Armita Garavand. On 7 October, the UN Fact-finding Mission stated that it would be investigated as part of their mission.
There have been many reports of the pressure on Armita’s family since her hospitalisation. On 2 October, security forces arrested Maryam Lotfi, a journalist from Shargh newspaper who went to the hospital to report on Armita’s condition. She was released hours later. There have also been reports of security threats made against the medical team at the hospital and the hospital CCTV being cut off.
Armita Garavand being in a coma after physical assault by state forces for violating mandatory hijab laws is reminiscent of Jina (Mahsa) Amini’s state murder a year ago. Jina was a 22-year-old Kurdish girl who was violently arrested by the morality police on 13 September 2022 and died in their custody on 16 September. Iran Human Rights called it a state murder and called on the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to force the Islamic Republic authorities into accepting a UN fact-finding mission.
On 24 November 2022, the UNHRC adopted Resolution S35/1 to establish an International Independent Fact-Finding Mission (FFMI) on the Islamic Republic of Iran’s human rights violations since the start of the “Woman-Life- Freedom” protests.
Iran Human Rights now calls for international community pressure for Iran to allow an investigation team into the country to independently investigate how Armita fell into a coma. If not, they will cover up another crime and the perpetrators will escape accountability again.
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