Mahsa Jina Amini was born on 21 September 1999[19] to a Kurdish family in Saqqez, Kurdistan Province, in northwestern Iran. While Mahsa was her legal given name, her Kurdish name was Jina (also spelled Zhina), and was the name she was known as to her family.[20] In Persian "Mahsa" means "similar to the moon"[21] and in Kurdish, Jina means "life" or "a life-giving person".[22]
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.[23][24][25] Before starting university, she travelled to Tehran with her parents and 17-year-old brother, Ashkan, to visit relatives.[26][27]
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).[28] Her father, Amjad Amini,[29] is an employee in a government organization and her mother, Mojgan Amini,[23] is a housewife.[30] She had several cousins, some of which lived in different countries. One of them was Erfan Mortezaei,[31][32] a left-wing political activist belonging to the Komala Party and a Peshmerga fighter living in self-exile in Iraqi Kurdistan,[33] who was the first member of Amini's family to speak to the media after her death.[33] Despite Mortezaei's political affiliations, he has challenged claims by the Iranian government that Amini herself was involved in any politics.[33] Instead, Amini has been described as having been a "shy, reserved resident" of her hometown[34] who avoided politics, with Amini being reported as never being politically active as a teenager, and as not being an activist.[30] Another cousin, Dyako Mohammadi,[35] lives in Norway and spoke to media there about Amini.[citation needed] 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.[28] Her uncle Safa was arrested a few days before her death anniversary.
According to those who knew her closely, Mahsa Jina Amini was a quiet, reserved citizen. She avoided politics and activism, and did not follow the news. She did not have many friends and mostly socialized with her relatives.[36][37]
She wished to become a doctor.[38] At school, she was admired by her teachers as a model student.[39][40]
She spent two years preparing for her college entrance exams and temporarily set aside her ambition to become a doctor. She had enrolled at a university Urmia and planned to study biology.[41] She belonged to a moderately religious, middle-class family that cherished their children.[42][43][44]
Opposing hijab
For Mahsa Jina Amini, as can be seen from her photos and videos on social media,[original research?] 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.[45][46][47][failed verification] She also partially observed hijab when traveling to tourist areas.[citation needed] This issue[which?] 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.[48][49][50]
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.[51] 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.[52][53] Eyewitnesses reported that she was beaten in the Guidance Patrol vehicle and detention center.[54] Amini's uncle said that a fight broke out during her detention and that authorities had beaten her brother:[55][56]
Two hours after Amini's arrest and transfer to Tehran's morality police, she was admitted to the intensive care unit of Kasra Hospital.[57] 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.[58]
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.[59][60]
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.[61] Amini's cousin accompanied her when going to shops and parks, and said the police officers who arrested Amini had a camera with them.[62]
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".[63][64]
In a report released on 8 March 2024, the United Nations Human Rights Council concluded that Amini's death was caused by physical violence she suffered while in morality police custody.[73][74][75] The report found Iran responsible for her death and claimed the government had attempted to hide the truth and intimidate Amini's family rather than conduct an impartial investigation.[73]
Memorials
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (April 2024)
On Twitter, the hashtags "#مهسا_امینی" and "#MahsaAmini" have been used over 200 million times since her death.[76][77] There are squares, streets, and parks that were named after her in cities such as London, Ottawa, Paris, and Vienna.[78][79][80][81]
In United States Congress, the MAHSA Act legislation was named in honor of her and other protesters fighting for freedom and democracy in Iran.
The following scholarship have been established in memory of Mahsa Amini
Mahsa Amini Graduate Fellowship[94]at Columbia University in the City of New YorkSchool of Engineering and Applied Sciences Eligible students will have lived or studied in Iran and have overcome systemic challenges, such as gender-based or other obstacles, in their academic pursuits. In the absence of eligible students from Iran in any year, the fellowship may be awarded to students who have lived or studied in the following countries: Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
Mahsa Amini Graduate Fellowship at University of California Santa Barbara This Fund support qualified graduate students in a UC Santa Barbara doctoral program who have matriculated from an Iranian institution where they received a bachelor’s degree in something other than a STEM discipline.
Women Life Freedom Scholarship at Dalhousie University Eligible candidates are first year masters or PhD at Dalhousie who are from Iran and self-identify as a woman or another equity-deserving gender identity.
Mahsa Amini Scholarship at University of Windsor In order to qualify, students must be a Masters level or PhD level. A Minimum cumulative average of 80% is required. The scholarship is open to all students, across all Faculties, with a preference to support International Students.
Mahsa Amini Scholarship at Dawson College Eligible candidates are international students or refugee in financial need or in need of extra financial support. Priority is given to candidates who identify as women or non-binary people.
On 15 and 16 September 2023, security forces were positioned in Tehran and other cities like Saqqez the birth-place of Mahsa Jina Amini as Iran marked one year since her death.[95] 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.[96][97][98][99]
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.[100] The bill was reintroduced as H.R. 589[101] to the House of Representatives and as S.2626[102] 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 Mahsa Jina Amini's death in the custody of the morality police of Iran that they will continue to stand by the people of Iran.[103]Linda Thomas-Greenfield issued a statement on the occasion of Mahsa Amini's death anniversary, saying:[104]
Mahsa "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 Jina Amini and the Woman, Life, Freedom movement. President Roberta Metsola declared:[18][105][106]
On 16 September we marked one year since the murder of Jina Mahsa Amini in Iran.[107] 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.
According to their lawyer, Amini's family were prevented from flying to the award ceremony after their passports were confiscated despite holding valid visas.[108]
2024 Anniversary
On the second anniversary of Mahsa Amini's death, women in Iran are trying hard to appear in public without the mandatory hijab.[109] Mahsa Amini's family are performing the ceremonies of her death anniversary at her house and also at her grave in Aychi cemetery of Saqqez, but they and people from her birth town are still under pressure from the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to not perform these ceremonies.[110] A number of people and human right and civil activists were arrested, especially in Kurdish cities, and security measures were increased by the Iranian government police.[111]
^Algemeiner, The (12 September 2023). "New Murals in Israel Honor Anniversary of Mahsa Amini's Death, Victims of Iranian Protests". Algemeiner.com - The fastest growing Jewish newspaper in America. Your one stop source for all news and commentary from Israel and the Jewish world, Jewish art, Jewish culture, Jewish music, analysis, opinion, blogs and more... Retrieved 27 August 2024.