Chants of “Down with Islamic Republic” and “Human rights for Iran” by teary-eyed demonstrators could be heard in front of San Jose City Hall Wednesday afternoon.
The protest was held by the Iranian Society of Human Rights in Northern California in opposition to Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi about the Sept. 16 death of Zhina (Mahsa) Amini, a 22-year-old woman who was arrested for allegedly violating Iran’s mandatory hijab law.
The Iranian Society of Human Rights in Northern California is a nonprofit organization that represents Iranian Americans in Northern California, according to its website.
Amini, who goes by her Kurdish name Zhina, was from Saqquez, a Kurdistan Province in Western Iran.
Rojin, San Jose State nutritional science senior, said it was important to fight for women’s rights in Iran and raise awareness for Amini’s death. Rojin wished to go by her first name because of privacy concerns.
“There were points where I caught myself tearing up because most of them are wearing hijabs and we get to walk around and live comfortably here,” Rojin said. “I see what happens in my country to people who are younger than I am, who are living a normal life and they get killed for it. It's just, it's just not okay.”
The hijab law, which was put into effect in 1981, mandates that women wear hijabs in public at all times. Raisi recently tightened hijab laws by implementing facial recognition to identify women who are not complying with the law, according to a Sept. 5 article by The Guardian.
Amini was detained by the morality police in Tehran and was brought to a local detention center, where she was pronounced dead by local authorities, according to a Sept. 16 New York Times article.
Iran security forces stated in the same article that Amini’s cause of death was because of a heart attack during a mandatory hijab training session, but Amini’s family is claiming that police beat her to death.
Photos of Amini in a hospital bed with blood leaking from her ears and bruises on her eyes went viral on Twitter and sparked attention to her death.
Many Iranian physicians took to social media claiming that the bleeding from Amini’s ears suggests that she was struck in the head and had a concussion, according to the New York Times article.
Outrage and protests sparked in Iran and in other cities around the world after her death.
Kurds in Iran have called on a general strike Monday in protest against the death of Amini, according to a Monday New Arab article, a news website that reports on stories in the Middle East and North Africa.
The Kurdish people are an ethnic group that spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq and northern Syria, according to an Oct. 15, 2019 BBC News article.
Kurdish politicians in Iran say the general strike is crucial against the oppressive policies Kurdish people face in Iran, according to the New Arab article.
The internet in certain neighborhoods have been cut off by the Iranian government because videos of the protests were shared through social media, according to a Wednesday New York Times article.
Arzhang Kalbali, an organizer of the protest and a member of The Iranian Society of Human Rights in Northern California, said the reason for the protest is to bring awareness to Amini’s death as well as the deaths and imprisonment of others who opposed the Iranian government.
“We are trying to be the voice of the people because there is no freedom of speech in Iran, especially for women,” Kalbali said.
The Iranian Society of Human Rights in Northern California called for western governments to “make the issue of human rights violations one of the main topics in negotiations with Iran” and “to call on the Islamic Republic to stop killing and violating the fundamental rights of its citizens, and to declare punishments for the violations of those fundamental rights,” according to the group’s official petition.
Protesters at city hall also held physical demonstrations in support for Amini.
Negar, a protester at the event, cut her hair during the protest as an act of solidarity for Amini. Negar wished to go by her first name for security reasons.
“Our regime killed a 22 year old girl because of her hair and we are all here because we don't want Islamic Republic of Iran,” Negar said. “We want our country without Islamic Republic, so we're all here for her. We are all here for our country and we want a free Iran.”
Amini’s death was not the first incident in which the Iranian government was accused of killing citizens unjustly.
The Iraninan special forces allegedly killed 304 women and children in 2019 who protested against the Iranian government, according to a 2021 report published by Amnesty International.
Amnesty International is a United Kingdom-based, non-governmental organization focused on human rights, according to its website.
“There have been many women and young men in the past who have been shot in the streets by snipers because they have a special voice when they are doing some kind of protest on the street,” Kalbali said.
Farzin, a protester who came with his two young daughters and his wife, said he hopes to see a more free Iran for his kids.
“I have two young daughters, and I want to go back home to Iran,” said Farzin, who wished to go by his first name because of safety concerns. “I want a safe situation for my kids. I don’t see that today in Iran. Hopefully that’s something that we can get.”
