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	Iran announces ‘psychological treatment clinic’ for women who defy strict hijab laws by OHCHR, Guardian News, Zan Times, agencies   24 Apr. 2025   Rights experts alarmed at reports of coercive psychiatric treatment for political dissent in Belarus   United Nations Independent human rights experts have raised serious concerns about an alleged practice of Belarusian criminal courts transferring accused persons to coercive psychiatric treatment in retaliation for their exercise of civil and political rights.   “We have received reports about at least 33 individuals, including five women, transferred for coercive psychiatric treatment because they expressed dissent with the authorities since the beginning of the political crisis around the 2020 presidential elections,” the experts said.   “The oldest known person transferred for such treatment is aged 77,” they said.   The experts warned that this highly irregular penalty could amount to inhuman or degrading punishment and that some of the criminal charges brought against those individuals suggest that their prosecution and transfer to mental health institutions may amount to violations of civil and political rights, including the rights to freedom of opinion and expression and freedom of peaceful assembly.   The charges include participation in protests (article 342 of the Criminal Code), insulting the President (article 368 of the Criminal Code), insulting a representative of the authorities (article 369 of the Criminal Code), terrorism (article 289 of the Criminal Code) and promoting extremist activities (article 361-4 of the Criminal Code).   “Forced psychiatric treatment is a threat to freedom of opinion as medication and electric shocks could be used to control or diminish mental faculties. Forced psychiatric treatment is a direct attack on freedom of opinion which is an absolute right that cannot be restricted under any circumstance,” the experts noted.   “The process leading to a transfer for compulsory psychiatric treatment lacks transparency and raises serious doubts about whether such transfers are motivated by medical or political considerations,” the experts said. They noted that trials culminating in transfers to mental hospitals allegedly happened behind closed doors.   The experts also expressed concern about the fate of those transferred for coercive treatment. The persons concerned are reportedly held incommunicado in mental health institutions under the unrestricted power of the head physician. Unlike prisoners in penitentiary institutions, they are deprived of liberty for indefinite periods of time and cannot request a pardon or release on parole.   “According to reports received, eight persons transferred for coercive psychiatric treatment have been released. At least 25 others remain incommunicado, and no information is available about their fate or whereabouts, raising concerns about their possible enforced disappearances,” the experts said.   The experts recalled that the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in its jurisprudence has underscored that the involuntary psychiatric treatment of individuals on the basis of their political beliefs or freedom of expression constitutes a grave violation of human rights and international law.   “The deployment of psychiatric institutions as instruments of repression not only undermines the integrity of mental healthcare but also erodes the fundamental principles of justice and the rule of law,” they said. “The shameful practice of so-called punitive psychiatry violates the sanctity of human dignity, as enshrined in international human rights instruments.”   “We call on the Belarusian authorities to immediately ensure that these individuals can access legal counsel of their choosing and are provided with effective remedies to challenge their deprivation of liberty,” they said.   http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/04/belarus-experts-alarmed-reports-coercive-psychiatric-treatment-punishment   Dec. 2024   Iran announces ‘psychological treatment clinic’ for women who defy strict hijab laws - Deepa Parent for Guardian News   The Iranian state has said that it plans to open a treatment clinic for women who defy the mandatory hijab (headscarf) laws that require women to cover their heads in public.   The opening of a “hijab removal treatment clinic” was announced by Mehri Talebi Darestani, the head of the Women and Family Department of the Tehran Headquarters for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. She said the clinic will offer “scientific and psychological treatment for hijab removal”.   Iranian women and human rights groups have expressed outrage at the announcement.   Sima Sabet, a UK-based Iranian journalist who was a target of an Iranian assassination attempt last year, said the move is “shameful”, adding that: “The idea of establishing clinics to ‘cure’ unveiled women is chilling, where people are separated from society simply for not conforming to the ruling ideology.”   Iranian human rights lawyer Hossein Raeesi said that the idea of a clinic to treat women who did not comply with hijab laws is “neither Islamic and nor is it aligned with Iranian law”.   He also said it was alarming that the statement came from the Women and Family Department of the Tehran Headquarters for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, which falls under the direct authority of the supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.   The news has since spread among the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protest groups and female students, sparking fear and defiance.   One young woman from Iran, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: “It won’t be a clinic, it will be a prison. We are struggling to make ends meet and have power outages, but a piece of cloth is what this state is worried about. If there was a time for all of us to come back to the streets, it’s now or they’ll lock us all up.”   The announcement about the opening of the clinic comes after state media reported that a university student who was arrested after stripping down to her underwear in Tehran, reportedly in protest at being assaulted by campus security guards for breaches of the hijab law, had been transferred to a psychiatric hospital.   Human rights groups including Amnesty International say there is evidence of torture, violence and forced medication being used on protesters and political dissidents deemed mentally unstable by the authorities and placed in state-run psychiatric services.   Human rights groups have also expressed alarm at the crackdown on women who are considered to be in breach of Iran’s mandatory dress code, saying there has been a recent spate of arrests, forced disappearances and the shuttering of businesses linked to perceived breaches of the hijab laws.   Last week, the Center for Human Rights in Iran highlighted the case of Roshanak Molaei Alishah, a 25-year-old woman who it said was arrested after confronting a man who harassed her on the street over her hijab. The NGO said her current whereabouts is unknown.   http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2024/nov/14/iran-announces-treatment-clinic-for-women-who-defy-strict-hijab-laws http://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/05/iranian-singer-mehdi-yarrahi-given-74-lashes-over-protest-song http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/03/iran-government-continues-systematic-repression-and-escalates-surveillance http://www.ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/hrc/ffm-iran/index http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/12/iran-un-experts-call-hijab-and-chastity-law-be-repealed http://news.un.org/en/story/2024/12/1158171 http://www.hrw.org/news/2024/09/16/women-and-human-rights-organizations-urgently-call-release-women-human-rights http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/01/iran-un-experts-alarmed-supreme-court-upholds-death-sentence-kurdish-woman http://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/09/iran-two-years-after-woman-life-freedom-uprising-impunity-for-crimes-reigns-supreme/ http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/03/iran-institutional-discrimination-against-women-and-girls-enabled-human   * Guardian News investigation: Saudi Arabia’s secretive rehabilitation ‘prisons’ for disobedient women, where girls and young women describe facing flogging and abuse in so-called ‘care homes’ after arguing with their fathers or husbands or being absent from home.   Over six months, the Guardian gathered testimony about what it is like inside these institutions, described as “hellish”, with weekly floggings, forced religious teachings and no visits or contact with the outside world. Women can spend years locked up, unable to leave without the permission of their family or a male guardian.   Inmates have described being subjected to strip-searches and virginity tests on arrival and given sedatives to put them to sleep.   “It is a prison, not a care home, as they like to call it. They call each other by numbers. ‘Number 35, come here.’ When one of the girls shared her family name, she got lashes. If she doesn’t pray, she gets lashes. If she is found alone with another woman she gets lashes and is accused of being a lesbian. The guards gather and watch when the girls are being lashed.”   The human rights group ALQST says Dar al-Reaya facilities are notorious within Saudi Arabia as state tools for enforcing gender norms and “stand in stark contrast to the Saudi authorities’ narrative of women’s empowerment”.   Its campaigns officer, Nadyeen Abdulaziz, says: “If they are serious about advancing women’s rights, they must abolish these discriminatory practices and allow the establishment of genuine shelters that protect, rather than punish, those who have experienced abuse.”:   http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/may/28/saudi-arabia-women-girls-rehabilitation-prisons-dar-al-reaya   Dec. 2024   Draconian new laws in Afghanistan allow mass incarceration of women and children forced to beg because of work ban, Yalda Amini for Zan Times.   Destitute Afghan women arrested for begging under draconian new Taliban laws have spoken of “brutal” rapes and beatings in detention.   Over the past few months, many women said they had been targeted by Taliban officials and detained under anti-begging laws passed this year. While in prison, they claim they were subjected to sexual abuse, torture and forced labour, and witnessed children being beaten and abused.   All the women said they had no other option to begging on the streets for money and food for their children after being unable to find paid work.   Since the Taliban took power in August 2021, women have been barred from most paid work, which has seen levels of destitution, especially among female-led households, increase across the country.   In May, the Taliban passed new laws prohibiting “healthy people” from begging on the streets if they had enough money on them to pay for one day’s food.   A commission was established to register beggars and categorise them as “professional”, “destitute” or “organised”, which involves taking their biometric data and fingerprints. According to Taliban officials, nearly 60,000 beggars have already been “rounded up” in Kabul alone.   Zahra, a 32-year-old mother of three, said she was forced to move to Kabul and beg on the streets for food when her husband, who was in the national army of the former government, disappeared after the Taliban took power in August 2021.   “I went to the neighbourhood councillor and told him I was a widow, asking for help to feed my three kids,” she said. “He said there was no help and told me to sit by the bakery and maybe someone would give me something.”   Zahra said she was unaware of the Taliban’s anti-begging laws until she was arrested.   “A Taliban car stopped near the bakery. They took my son by force and told me to get in the vehicle,” she said. Zahra claimed she spent three days and nights in a Taliban prison and that initially she was made to cook, clean and do laundry for the men working there.   She was then told she would be fingerprinted and have her biometric details recorded. When she resisted, she was beaten until she was left unconscious. She said she was then raped.   “Since being released I’ve thought about ending my life several times, but my children hold me back,” she said. “I wondered who would feed them if I weren’t here.   “Who can I complain to? No one will care, and I’m afraid they’d arrest me again if I spoke up. For my life and my children’s safety, I can’t say anything.”   Another woman, Parwana, said she was detained while begging in Kabul in October with her four-year-old daughter after her husband abandoned them. She said she was taken to Badam Bagh prison and held for 15 days.   “They brought in everyone, even young children who polished shoes on the streets,” she said. “They’d tell us women why don’t we get married, beat us, and make us clean and wash dishes.”   Parwana also said she, along with another two women, was raped while in detention and that the attack had left her traumatised and depressed.   Along with multiple reports of rape and torture of women arrested under the anti-begging laws, former detainees also told the Afghan news outlet Zan Times that they witnessed the abuse of young children in prison, with one woman alleging that two children were beaten to death while she was in detention.   “No one dared speak,” she said. “If we spoke up, they’d beat us and call us shameless. Watching those children die before my eyes is something I’ll never forget.”   The death of detainees rounded up under anti-begging laws is factored into the wording of the Taliban’s new law, in which Article 25 states: “If a beggar dies while in custody and has no relatives or if the family refuses to collect the body, the municipal officials will handle the burial.”   Under the new laws, those classed as “destitute” are legally entitled to financial assistance after their release, but none of the women said they had received any help.   Parwana said that since her release she had been too afraid to beg for food again and instead relied on her neighbours for handouts.   “These days, I go door to door in my neighbourhood, collecting stale, dry bread. I have no other choice,” she said. “The Taliban are brutal and oppressive but where can I go to complain about them? We are alone.”   The Taliban authorities did not reply to multiple requests for a response.   This article has been published in partnership with Zan Times, an Afghan news agency.   * UN WebTV: Interactive Dialogue with Afghan Women from inside Afghanistan and in Exile (Mar. 25): http://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k1k/k1kelped6e   http://www.icc-cpi.int/news/statement-icc-prosecutor-karim-aa-khan-kc-applications-arrest-warrants-situation-afghanistan http://www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories/press-release/2025/06/nearly-eight-out-of-10-young-afghan-women-are-excluded-from-education-jobs-and-training http://news.un.org/en/story/2025/06/1164476 http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/06/taliban-weaponising-justice-sector-entrench-gender-persecution-afghanistan http://news.un.org/en/story/2025/05/1162826 http://unama.unmissions.org/   http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2024/nov/29/afghanistan-taliban-women-children-arrested-begging-rape-torture-killings-jails-destitution-work-ban http://www.ohchr.org/en/statements-and-speeches/2024/12/afghanistan-licenses-ngos-must-not-be-revoked http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/08/new-morality-law-affirms-talibans-regressive-agenda-experts-call-concerted http://reliefweb.int/report/afghanistan/phenomenon-institutionalized-system-discrimination-segregation-disrespect-human-dignity-and-exclusion-women-and-girls-report-special-rapporteur-human-rights-afghanistan-ahrc5625-enarruzh http://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/sr-afghanistan http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/02/gender-apartheid-must-be-recognised-crime-against-humanity-un-experts-say Visit the related web page
	The harmful impact of the increasing negative and stigmatizing rhetoric targeting civil society by Gina Romero UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association   Information manipulation and misinformation are not new phenomena, but they have taken on exaggerated importance, especially with the massive use of social media.   Hostile and stigmatizing narratives against civil society and civic activism, whether intentional or not, especially when propagated by authorities, create undue restrictions and hinder the exercise of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association globally, and is contributing to the growing authoritarianism and the closing of civic space.   Different types of unjustified narratives are being used globally to target and silence civil society activists and protests: i) accusations of threat to State security and terrorism, facilitated by broad anti-terrorism laws. ii) labels related to treason to the nation and the national influence, including calling ‘foreign agents’ or ‘agents of foreign influence’ to organizations that receive foreign funding. iii) ‘anti-development’ rhetoric used to target land right defenders and climate justice activism. iv) narratives exploiting discrimination and structural racism, including sexual and gender-based violence, and attacks to associations aiding refugees and migrants; among others.   The problem is that these stories, labels and narratives do not remain solely in the discursive field. Activists subjected to stigmatization, and their families, face intimidation, physical attacks and online harassment.   Branding civil society, movements and activists as “terrorists” or “traitors” has a serious impact on their lives, well-being and economic situation; it silences them and leads to the defunding of associations and their illegal dissolution.   The broad chilling impact created by the stigmatization of civil society and assemblies leads to further severely restricting the ability of people to participate fully in society, exacerbates inequalities, fosters environments of fear and hostility, increases polarization and erodes trust between authorities and the public.   This hostile atmosphere provides fertile ground for the emergence of the anti-rights movements and rhetoric, and erode democracy.   Its impact is especially deeper for individuals and groups that already experience heightened barriers to exercising their freedoms and are subjected to inequality, marginalization, racism, discrimination and violence because of, among other grounds, their gender, race, ethnicity, religion, age and/ or migration status.   Stigmatization is disseminated by a broad set of actors, including political actors, state officials, and non-state actors, often supported with disinformation and smear campaigns, as well as populist rhetoric by authorities and public figures.   I have found a mutually reinforcing cycle of stigmatization, restrictive laws and repression of civil society and activism. Hostile and stigmatizing rhetoric leads to sweeping restrictions, adoption of restrictive laws, including imposition of excessive regulations, burdensome administrative requirements and heavy sanctions and criminalising associations while cutting off their funding.   These measures further fuel stigmatization and empower actors spreading stigmatizing narratives.   Also, stigmatizing narratives, especially when spread by those in power and amplified by the media, has legitimized repression of activists and peaceful assemblies. Whereas the unjustified heavy-handed law enforcement tactics and criminalization of protesters and activists have led to furthering stigmatization and delegitimizing the legitimate goals of the peaceful assembly.   There are several initiatives to respond and counter harmful narratives against activism, CSOs and assemblies. First, countering anti-rights narratives and developing narratives promoting messages to reinvigorate public support for democracy and human rights is crucial. All the initiatives that are changing the narratives based on hate for messages that are supported in hope need to be multiplied.   Also, taking into account that stigmatization is forcing to silence the dissent, it is important to enhance space for dialogue and inclusion, to promote the valuable and legitimate role of civil society sector, and create a safe space for inclusive participation. When there is room for diversity of voices, silencing is more difficult.   Solidarity and building resilience are keys, to support associations targeted with stigmatizing and hateful rhetoric.   Also, measuring the existence and impact of harmful narratives, including information about the long-term chilling effect that these have on the exercise of public freedoms and on other human rights allows the public and opinion-makers to have a better understanding and enable more critical debates.   Among other measures, States should ensure official rhetoric respects and supports fundamental freedoms, avoiding to use narratives and political discourse that discourage, vilify and criminalize civil society and the exercise of the right to protest.   Also, States must condemn and address harmful rhetoric, and promoting alternative narratives as well as an environment of public dialogue and inclusion in decision-making.   Fearing and persecuting dissent drives societies away from the rule of law, democracy and human rights, and claims hundreds of lives every year.   http://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/thematic-reports/a79263-protecting-rights-freedom-peaceful-assembly-and-association http://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/sr-freedom-of-assembly-and-association Visit the related web page
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