Mahsa Amini

Mahsa Amini (Persian: مهسا امینی; 21 September 1999 – 16 September 2022), also known as Jina Amini (Kurdish: ژینا ئەمینی), was an Iranianwoman whose arrest in Tehran for opposing mandatory hijab and subsequent death in police custody sparked a wave of protests throughout Iran. People and governments around the world reacted widely to her death. Her death sparked widespread protest in Iranian society, resulting in major protests in various cities in Iran and acts of solidarity around the world. Amini's death ignited the globalWoman, Life, Freedom movement, rooted in her Kurdish background, which demands the end of compulsory hijab laws and other forms of discrimination and oppression against women in Iran. She and the movement were selected as candidates for the Sakharov Prize in 2023 by European Parliament for defending freedom and human rights.

Mahsa Jina Amini was born on 21 September 1999 to a Kurdish family in Saqqez, Kurdistan Province, in northwestern Iran. While Mahsa was her legal given name (as only Persian names may be registered in Iran), her Kurdish name was Jina (also spelled Zhina), and was the name she was known as to her family. In Persian "Mahsa" means "similar to the moon" and in Kurdish, Jina means "life" or "a life-giving person". The government authorities changed the name on her birth certificate to Mahsa so that having a Kurdish name on official documents would not pose any issues, as was the practice two decades ago. As the times evolved, Kurdish names became widely accepted and both Jina and Mahsa remained.

Amini attended Hijab Secondary School, and in 2015, she would attend Taleghani High School to earn a diploma. She would be admitted to university in 2022. She aspired to become a doctor. Before starting university, she travelled to Tehran with her parents and 17-year-old brother, Ashkan, to visit relatives.

Family

Her mother was an active member of the Parents and Teachers Association for three years in Shahrak Elementary School, Hijab Secondary School and Taleghani High School. She had one younger brother, Kiarash (Ashkan). Her father, Amjad Amini, is an employee in a government organization and her mother, Mojgan Amini, is a housewife. She had several cousins, some of which lived in different countries. One of them was Erfan Mortezaei, a left-wing political activist belonging to the Komala Party and a Peshmerga fighter living in self-exile in Iraqi Kurdistan, who was the first member of Amini's family to speak to the media after her death. Despite Mortezaei's political affiliations, he has debunked claims by the Iranian government that Amini herself was involved in any politics. Instead, Amini has been described as having been a “shy, reserved resident” of her hometown who avoided politics, with Amini being reported as never being politically active as a teenager, and as not being an activist. Another cousin, Dyako Mohammadi, lives in Norway and spoke to media there about Amini. Amini's family have described her as having no prior health conditions, and as being a "healthy" 22 year old, contrasting the claims made by the Iranian government that she possessed prior health conditions. Her uncle Safa was arrested a few days before her death anniversary.

Perspectives and personality

According to those who knew her closely, Mahsa Amini was quiet, reserved and treated everyone around her with a kind of old-school politeness. She avoided politics and activism, and did not follow the news. She did not have many friends and mostly socialized with her relatives. Mohammadi was a literature teacher at Hijab school where Jina pursued her middle education. Mohammadi once said to Jina's mother, "Mojgan, take care of this child; she's incredibly gentle". Her teachers described her as a quiet girl, suggesting she should be a bit more playful. Her brother, Ashkan, was more mischievous, while she was gentler. Despite their small age difference, they rarely got upset to the point of anger. She wished to become a doctor. When she was a child, she held her father's hand and accompanied him to the market to buy a white coat for her. When she couldn't find one in her small size, she purchased white fabric for her mother to sew. She also acquired a stethoscope toy. She arranged her dolls in the room, examining and prescribing treatments for them. Mozhgan, her mother, would knock on the room's door and ask, "May I have an appointment, Dr.?" or "Can I be your patient darling?". At school, she was cherished by her classmates and admired by her teachers as a model student.

Her academic performance consistently excelled, and she exuded a calm and serene demeanor. She was energetic during sports classes as she would be jumping and playing volleyball. On weekends, she and her family sometimes strolled in Kowsar Park or Shahr Park in her city, Saqqez or returned to the Seye Ava region. There she could take her hijab and allow her hair dance in the wind. There her favorite volleyball partner was Safa Aeli, her uncle. As her grandfather fondly said, "Don't call my girl Jina; call her Shane," meaning breeze in Kurdish She liked pets and was always saying to Safa "I like dogs and cats!"She also was an athlete. In addition to her passion for volleyball, she also had a deep love for swimming and held a swimming coaching certificate. She patiently spent two years preparing for her college entrance exams and temporarily set aside her ambition to become a doctor. She went to Urmia to study microbiology and always said, "I will become a doctor one day for sure. Like many of her peers, she also aspired to be an actress. She attended acting and theater classes for a brief period. Later on, she auditioned for several film roles.Her favorite cosmetics included red lipstick and nail polishes. Unlike some families in the area, neither her parents created obstacles to their children's desires. They belonged to a moderately religious, middle-class family that cherished their children. Her mother once said, "I swear to God, my child said she wanted to serve humanity".

Opposing hijab

For Mahsa Amini, as can be seen from her photos and videos on social media, only the mandatory rules made her wear hijab half-heartedly. She did not observe the hijab in various events such as weddings and wore traditional Kurdish clothes that do not have a hijab. She also partially observed hijab when traveling to tourist areas. This issue caused the moral security officers to arrest her and beat her. This also caused people, especially women and girls, to join her and put away their hijab.

Amini was arrested by Guidance Patrol officers around 6 p.m. on September 13, 2022, near Haqqani metro station on Haqqani Highway in Tehran, while she was with her brother. After he protested, he was told that she had been transferred to the detention center to pass a "briefing class" and would be released in an hour. Eyewitnesses reported that she was beaten in the Guidance Patrol vehicle and detention center. Amini's uncle said that a fight broke out during her detention and that authorities had beaten her brother:

Two hours after Amini's arrest and transfer to Tehran's morality police, she was admitted to the intensive care unit of Kasra Hospital. While her brother was waiting for her in front of the detention center building, he saw an ambulance leaving the building. He asked one of the soldiers about the cause of the ambulance leaving the building and was told that "one of the soldiers was injured". After showing his sister's photo to other girls released from the detention center, he discovered that the ambulance was carrying his sister.

Amini died three days later, on 16 September, at Kasra Hospital. "She was perfectly healthy before she was arrested," Amini's mother said shortly before her daughter's death.

Several of the detainees, who were in the same patrol car with Amini, confirmed in interviews the physical violence and severe beatings of police against Amini, which fractured her skull, and they also said that police were late in taking Amini to the hospital. Amini's cousin accompanied her when going to shops and parks, and said the police officers who arrested Amini had a camera with them.

On the morning of 17 September, Amini's body was transferred to Saqqez and she was buried in Aichi Cemetery with a large turnout as well as security forces. While security forces intended to bury her at night without the presence of the people, they prevented her family from seeing her. On the day of the burial, the police blocked the roads leading to the city of Saqqez to prevent more people from attending. Protesters at her funeral chanted slogans such as "Death to the dictator".

Woman, Life, Freedom movement

The Woman, Life, Freedom movement began as a response to her death.

Protesters, along with the celebrities Marion Cotillard, Hande Yener, Juliette Binoche and politicians Abir Al-Sahlani and Hadja Lahbib would cut their hair. Women across Iran would remove and burn headscarves to protest the mandatory hijab.

On Twitter, the hashtags "#مهسا_امینی" and "#MahsaAmini" have been used over 200 million times since her death. There are squares, streets, and parks that were named after her in cities such as London, Ottawa, Paris, and Vienna.

On 15 and 16 September 2023, security forces were positioned in Tehran and other cities like Saqqez the birth-place of Mahsa Amini as Iran marked one year since her death. Amini's father was detained while exiting the family home in the western town of Saqqez and then released after being warned not to hold the memorial service. Reports also indicated an increased security presence in other cities in an effort to prevent any unrest. Iranians abroad staged a demonstration in Brussels on Friday and more were expected to be held elsewhere in Europe, in addition to Canada and the United States. The US, along with the European Union and the United Kingdom, separately announced new sanctions on a number of Iranian officials and entities on the eve of Amini's death anniversary.

MAHSA Act

In the United States, the Mahsa Amini Human rights and Security Accountability Act (MAHSA Act) is a bill that was first introduced to the 117th Congress in the wake of the Woman, Life, Freedom protests. Its intention is to put sanctions on the leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The bill was reintroduced as H.R. 589 to the House of Representatives and as S.2626 to the Senate in the 118th Congress.

Statements

US President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in two separate messages on the occasion of the anniversary of Mehsa Amini's death in the custody of the morality police of Iran that they will continue to stand by the people of Iran. Linda Thomas-Greenfield issued a statement on the occasion of Mehsa Amini's death anniversary, saying:

Mehsa "Gina" Amini's life was tragically cut short, but her courage inspired a movement that will continue against the unprecedented brutality of the Iranian regime. In the months since her death, tens of thousands of ordinary Iranians—led by other brave Iranian women—have come together to protest with a simple message: "Women, life, freedom". Today, the United States announced new sanctions against 29 Iranian individuals and entities involved in repression and violence against protesters, prisoner abuse, and censorship.

Sakharov Prize

Members of the European Parliament have awarded the 2023 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to Mahsa Amini and the Woman, Life, Freedom movement. President Roberta Metsola declared:

On 16 September we marked one year since the murder of Jina Mahsa Amini in Iran. The European Parliament proudly stands with the brave and defiant who continue to fight for equality, dignity and freedom in Iran. We stand with those who, even from prison, continue to keep Women, Life and Freedom alive. By choosing them as laureates for the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought 2023, this House remembers their struggle and continues to honour all those who have paid the ultimate price for liberty.