Angelina Jolie draws attention to the protests taking place in Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman. Amini died on September 16 in Iran, where she was held by the country’s morality police for wearing a hijab that was too loose, according to police.
There have been protests since Amini’s death and women still burn their hijabs or cut their hair to show their anger.
The Oscar winner posted some photos she took on the streets of Iran on Instagram on Wednesday. She did this to draw attention to the current situation in the Middle East.
“Respect to the brave, defiant, fearless women of Iran,” Jolie wrote in the caption of her post. “All those who survived and resisted for decades, those who are taking to the streets today and Mahsa Amini, and all young Iranians like her.”
“Women do not need their morals controlled, their minds re-educated, or their bodies controlled. They need freedom to live and breathe without violence or threats,” Jolie, 47, continued. “To the women of Iran, we see you #WomanLifeFreedom #MahsaAmini.”
Jolie also wrote a short statement about the conflict in the country that was part of the post. “Protests in Iran are for the 12th night in a row,” the slide reads. “They started in response to the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in the custody of the moral police.”
“Since the beginning of the protests, riot police have attacked protesters with brutal force and more than 70 people are reported to have been killed,” it added. Iran Human Rights said on Monday at least that much 76 protestersincluding at least six women and four children were killed by security forces after Amini’s death.
Although protests are still ongoing, Reuters said access to social media sites such as Instagram and WhatsApp is restricted in Iran.
According to the US Treasury Department, Amini was taken to hospital in a coma the same day she was detained for allegedly wearing a hijab too loosely. Two days later, she died of internal injuries.
State Department Secretary Anthony Blinken said this last week The US has imposed sanctions on Iran’s moral police and “senior security officials who have committed serious human rights violations” in response to Amini’s death and other human rights abuses in Iran.
As Blinken said in his statement, Iran’s morality police are part of the country’s law enforcement force and “arrest women for wearing an ‘inappropriate’ hijab and impose other restrictions on freedom of expression.”
The Treasury Department says the sanctions will be imposed after “seven senior leaders of Iran’s security organizations,” including the Morality Police, the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS), the Army’s Ground Forces, the Basij Resistance Force and the Enforcement Force the law.
The finance ministry said in a statement that these officials are in charge of groups that often use violence against peaceful protesters, members of Iranian civil society, political dissidents, women’s rights activists and members of Iran’s Baha’i community.
Meanwhile, Iran’s human rights director Mahmoud Amiri-Moghadam issued a statement on Monday through the organization’s website, saying, “The risk of torture and ill-treatment of protesters is serious, and the use of live ammunition against protesters is an international crime.”
“We call on the international community to decisively and unitedly take practical steps to stop the killing and torture of protesters,” he continued. “The world must protect the demands of the Iranian people for their basic rights.
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