Tehran: Teachers’ union in Iran has called for a two-day strike, starting Sunday, October 23, to protest the killing and detention of students during the demonstrations taking place in the country, as a result of the death of the 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody.
Mahsa Amini, died three days after being detained by the morality police in Tehran, accused of violating the country’s strict dress code.
On Thursday, the Coordinating Council of Iranian teachers’ unions announced, in a statement via Telegram calling for a strike in response to the government clampdown, which Amnesty International has said caused the deaths of at least 23 children.
“The Co-ordinating Council declares sit-in strikes for Sunday and Monday. We teachers’ will be present at schools but will refrain from being present in classes,” it said on its Telegram channel.
“We know very well that the military and security forces and plainclothes [officers] have violated schools and educational centres during this systematic repression. It claimed the lives of a number of students and children in the cruellest way,” it said.
Videos circulating on social media in recent weeks show school students protesting against the government in classrooms and on the streets, chanting anti-government slogans.
On October 14, Amnesty International reported that 23 children were killed between 20 and 30 September as a result of the “use of unlawful force” by security forces against protesters.
The organization stated that among the victims were 20 boys between the ages of 11 and 17 years, and 3 girls, two of them aged 16 and one 17-year-old.
The Amnesty International report stated that two boys died after being shot at, while three girls and a boy died after being beaten by the security forces.
