At least 76 people have now been confirmed to have been killed by security forces since nationwide protests broke out in Iran on September 16.
In its latest report on Monday, the Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights said it had verified video footage showing officers firing live ammunition directly at crowds in many cities.
The highest death toll so far continues to be recorded in the northern provinces of Gilan and Mazandaran, totalling 35. This is followed by West Azerbaijan province with 11, and Kurdistan and Kermanshah with six each.
Of the deaths so far recorded by Iran Human Rights, six were women and four were children aged under 18, who have been present in large numbers at many of the protests.
The NGO has acknowledged that the true number of people killed could be far higher. Many families are threatened with legal reprisal if they speak out, and government-imposed internet disruption continues to delay reporting.
The Kurdish human rights organization Hengaw puts the number of dead in Kurdistan province alone at 18, and the number of injured at close to 900.
The number of people arrested is impossible to quantify but expected to run into thousands. Just in Mazandaran, the public prosecutor in the provincial capital of Sari announced on Sunday that 450 people were in custody.
Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the director of Iran Human Rights, said: “The risk of torture and ill-treatment of protesters is serious, and the use of live ammunition against protesters is an international crime.
“The world must defend the Iranian people’s demands for their fundamental rights.”
IranWire’s Persian service is keeping a live record of the names, and pictures where available, of all those independently confirmed to have been killed so far. The vast majority are young people.
If you have information about people arrested, injured or killed in the ongoing protests, you can contact us via WhatsApp on +905411994018 or email info@iranwire.com.
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