PEN International 88th Congress: A Message of Solidarity with the Women and People of Kurdistan
Zhina (Mahsa) Amini was a 22-year-old Kurdish woman from Saqqez, in Kurdistan (Iran). Her death in custody, following her arrest by Iran’s so-called “morality police,” sparked mass and ongoing protests throughout Iran and Kurdistan.
Zhina was arrested in Tehran on September 13 for allegedly not complying with the country’s dress code for women. According to multiple media reports, she was tortured while in detention — something the authorities deny. She was transferred to Kasra Hospital in Tehran, where she fell into a coma and ultimately died on September 16, 2022.
The Iranian authorities claimed that Zhina had suffered a heart attack, but her family rejected this account. When her body was returned to her hometown of Saqqez, thousands of people gathered to support the family at the funeral. That gathering became the starting point of the mass protests. People took to the streets carrying posters and chanting the slogans: “Jin, Jiyan, Azadî — Woman, Life, Freedom” and “Down with the Dictator!”
The regime responded with brutal repression: according to unconfirmed reports, countless protesters were killed or injured and thousands were arrested. At the same time, internet access across large parts of the country was shut down or heavily restricted, making it nearly impossible to share reliable information about the violence.
On September 28, Iranian missile and drone attacks targeted the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. According to initial reports, at least 13 people were killed and many others injured. The Iranian authorities claimed they were striking Kurdish organizations allegedly involved in the protests that erupted after Zhina’s death.
For more than forty years, Iran’s regime has maintained its grip on society through mass killings, torture, imprisonment, censorship, and the curtailment of fundamental freedoms. Political activists, writers, poets, artists, workers, teachers, and students have repeatedly been targeted by this violence.
We, the members of PEN International, gathered at the 88th Congress in Uppsala, Sweden, strongly condemn the Iranian regime’s brutal repression and its attacks on Kurdistan. We express our solidarity with the women and Kurdish people in their struggle for freedom, justice, and human dignity.
We call for an immediate end to military strikes, a halt to the suppression of freedom of expression in Iran, and demand that those responsible for the death of Zhina (Mahsa) Amini be brought to justice.
