Morality Police

Person/Entity:
Entity
Also Known As:
Guidance Patrol; Iran Morality Police; Islamic Guidance Patrol; Moral Security Police; Morality Security Police; Gasht-e Ershad; Gast-e Ersad; Gašt-e Eršād; Polis-e Amniyat-e Akhlaqi; Polīs-e Amnīyat-e Akhlāqī
Sanctioned by U.S:
Yes
Date Sanctioned by U.S:
2022-09-22
Sanctioned by EU:
Yes
Date Sanctioned by EU:
2022-10-17
Sanctioned by U.K.:
Yes
Date Sanctioned by U.K.:
2022-10-10
Sanctioned by Canada:
Yes
Date Sanctioned by Canada:
2022-10-03
Sanctioned by Australia:
Yes
Date Sanctioned by Australia:
2022-12-08
U.S Laws/EOs Sanctioned Under:
EU Laws/Regulations Sanctioned Under:
U.K. Laws/Regulations Sanctioned Under:
Canadian Laws/Regulations Sanctioned Under:
Description

"Iran’s Morality Police is the component of Iran’s Law Enforcement Forces (LEF) tasked with enforcing the country’s laws against immodesty and societal vices. The LEF, the Iranian government’s main security apparatus dedicated to crowd control and protest suppression, played a key role in the crackdown on protesters in the aftermath of the disputed Iranian presidential election in 2009 and has been called upon to respond to multiple nationwide protests since then, including the November 2019 protests over gasoline price increases during which Iranian security forces killed at least hundreds of Iranian protestors...

"On September 14, 2022, the LEF’s Morality Police arrested 22-year-old Mahsa Amini for purportedly wearing a hijab improperly and sent her to an 'educational and orientation' class at police headquarters. She was transferred to a hospital that same day in a coma and died two days later from internal injuries. Eyewitnesses claim that Amini died due to injuries sustained while in Morality Police custody. Mahsa’s father told the press that authorities covered bruises on her body in the hospital and refused to let the family see them. LEF authorities have blamed her death on a heart ailment, but her family said she had no such condition."1

"The Morality Police are or have been involved in the commission of serious human rights violations in Iran, including being responsible for, engaging in and promoting violations of the right to liberty and security and the right to freedom of expression through their enforcement of mandatory dress codes for women, including the use of unreasonable force against individuals they deem to be non-compliant."2

"The Morality Police is part of Iran’s Law Enforcement Forces (LEF) and is a special police unit which enforces the strict dress rules for women, including compulsory wearing of a headscarf. The Morality Police has used unlawful force against women for not complying with Iranian hijab laws, sexual and gender-based violence, arbitrary arrests and detentions, excessive violence and torture. On 13 September 2022, the Morality Police arbitrarily arrested 22-year old Mahsa Amini in Tehran, allegedly for wearing a hijab improperly. She was subsequently taken to the Morality Police’s headquarters for an “educational and orientation class”. According to reliable reports and witnesses, she was brutally beaten and mistreated in custody, which led to her hospitalisation and to her death on 16 September 2022. The Morality Police’s abusive behaviour is not confined to that incident and has been widely documented. The Morality Police is therefore responsible for serious human rights violations in Iran."3

 

Sources: 

1. https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0969

2. https://docs.fcdo.gov.uk/docs/UK-Sanctions-List.html 

3. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=uriserv%3AOJ.LI.2022.269.01.0001.01.ENG&toc=OJ%3AL%3A2022%3A269I%3ATOC 

Back to Iran Human Rights Sanctions Tracker