On the increasing and systematic repression of women in Iran

B100199/2024

Motion for a European Parliament resolution on the increasing and systematic repression of women in Iran

(2024/2951(RSP))

The European Parliament,

- having regard to Rule 150(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

- having regard to its previous resolutions on Iran,

A. whereas on 2 November 2024 Iranian citizen Ahoo Daryaei was reportedly harassed by security forces at Tehran’s Islamic Azad University over a supposed headscarf violation; whereas in a courageous act of defiance, Daryaei removed her remaining clothing in protest and was then detained, labelled as “mentally unfit”, and confined in a psychiatric facility;

B. whereas the brave and defiant act of protest by Ahoo Daryaei transformed her into a symbol of resistance against the Iranian regime and its blatant violation of women’s rights in the country,

C. whereas women who are seen in public without a headscarf are frequently harassed, imprisoned, tortured and even killed;

1. Expresses its strongest condemnation for the harassment and forced disappearance perpetrated against Iranian citizen Ahoo Daryaei by Basij paramilitary forces for violating Iran's compulsory hijab laws,

2. Considers that the case of Ahoo Daryaei represents yet another episode of a profound violation of women’s rights in Iran, including personal dignity and freedom from torture;

3. Condemns in the strongest terms the continuous violent arrests, abuses and repression of women in Iran, and notably the persecution by Iranʼs morality police against women allegedly failing to comply with mandatory veiling rules;

4. Condemns the systemic discrimination of women and other vulnerable groups in Iran through laws that severely restrict freedoms and rights, and the violations of women’s political, social, economic, cultural and personal rights; demands in the strongest possible terms that the Iranian authorities swiftly repeal laws creating discrimination of women in all fields of life;

5. Calls on the Iranian authorities to urgently abolish the morality police which enforces abusive and discriminatory veiling laws on women and to hold its members accountable for their violent acts;

6. Deplores the practice by the Iranian police to weaponize mental health to suppress female self-determination through stigmatisation and forced confinement; believes that repression of politically defiant women through psychiatric confinement is an affront to fundamental human rights and cannot go unchallenged;

7. Expresses full solidarity with the brave women and men in Iran who in recent years have been peacefully protesting against the systemic and increasing oppression of women;

8. Recalls the nation-wide protests breaking out in 2022 in over 120 cities following the killing of Mahsa Jina Amini, involving hundreds of thousands of Iranian citizens and calling for an end to violence and discrimination against women in Iran;

9. Calls on Member States to support and renew the mandate of the independent international fact-finding mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran established by the UN HR Council and to identify an accountability mechanism in its follow-up;

10. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the HRVP, the Islamic Consultative Assembly, the Government and the Office of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran.