The Council of the European Union condemned the systemic oppression of women in Iran in a Monday statement. Monday marks the anniversary of the death of Mahsa Jina Amini, who died in custody following her arrest for allegedly not properly covering her hair.

The statement denounced Iran’s crackdown on the “Women, Life, Freedom” movement, highlighting disproportionate responses and restrictions on fundamental rights. This includes imposing harsh sentences, including capital punishment, against protesters. The EU also emphasized that the prohibition on torture is absolute and that its violations cannot be justified in any circumstances.

The Council called on Iran to protect women’s rights and eliminate gender discrimination in all forms. It also urged the implementation of gender-responsive measures to protect women from sexual and gender-based violence. In a related blog post, the Vice President of the European Commission Josep Borrell reiterated EU support for EU Women:

The EU stands with Iranian women and people in their ongoing fight for human rights and fundamental freedoms. Since October 2022, we have adopted 10 sanctions packages against those responsible for this brutal repression. They concern currently 227 individuals, including several ministers, prominent members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), governors, judges, prison guards and directors… and 42 entities, including the IRGC, the Iranian Morality Police, the Ministries of Culture and Education, prisons or the state broadcaster Press TV.

Iran’s actions are scrutinized under international human rights law, particularly its non-ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and its persistent breaches of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention against Torture. In March, the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran reported ongoing institutional gender discrimination and serious human rights violations, amounting to crimes against humanity.

The “Women, Life, Freedom” protests erupted in response to police brutality against Mahsa Jina Amini. She was arrested by Iran’s morality police for incorrectly covering her hair. After experiencing violence while in police custody, Amini died in a hospital three days later. The police crackdown on the protests that followed drew international attention to the limitations on freedom of peaceful assembly and right to equality in Iran. For instance, the UN Human Rights Council passed a resolution in November 2022 to establish an independent fact-finding mission to investigate in the situation.