Religion:Guidance Patrol

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Short description: Islamic religious police in Iran
Guidance Patrol
گشت ارشاد
Gašt-e Eršâd
NAJA.svg
Symbol commonly used to depict the Guidance Patrol[lower-alpha 1]
Agency overview
FormedSummer 2005[lower-alpha 2]
Superseding agency
  • Islamic Revolution Committees
TypeReligious police and vice squad
Status
  • Dissolved on December 3, 2022[1]
  • Reinstated on July 16, 2023[2]
Parent departmentLaw Enforcement Command of the Islamic Republic of Iran

The Guidance Patrol (Persian: گشت ارشاد‎, romanized: gašt-e eršâd) or morality police[3] is an Islamic religious police force and vice squad in the Law Enforcement Command of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Guidance Patrol enforce Sharia–Islamic law—per laws in Iran; this is most often the enforcement of Islamic dress code, such as ensuring women in the country wear hijabs.[4] The Guidance Patrol was formed in 2005 as a successor organisation to the older Islamic Revolution Committees, and reports to the Supreme Leader.[5][failed verification]

History

A Guidance Patrol van parked in front of Mellat Park, Tehran

Since the 1979 Iranian Islamic Revolution, Iranian law has required all women in Iran to wear hijabs that cover their head and neck, and conceal their hair.[6]

In the 1980s, the Islamic Revolution Committees served the function of the Islamic religious police in Iran. In 2005, the Guidance Patrol became its successor organisation.[7][8] The Guidance Patrol reports directly to the Supreme Leader of Iran.[5]

On 2013's Iranian Mother's Day, the patrols rewarded women with flowers for wearing chador (the preferred hijab style).[9]

According to Iran's Interior Minister, in a three-month period in 2014, 220,000 women were taken to police stations and signed statements in which they promised to wear hijabs. A further 19,000 were given hair-covering notices, and 9,000 were detained.[10] In 2014, the police additionally gave warnings and guidance to 3.6 million other Iranians who failed to follow the Islamic dress code.[11][12][13]

In 2015, in an eight-month period police in Tehran stopped 40,000 women driving in Tehran for not obeying Islamic rules of proper dress, and impounded the cars of most of them, generally for a week.[10] In 2016, Tehran used 7,000 undercover Guidance Patrol officers to catch violators of the Islamic dress code.[5]

Mahsa Amini controversy

Further information: Death of Mahsa Amini

A major controversy concerning the Guidance Patrol was its arrest and alleged killing of Mahsa Amini. On September 13, 2022, the Guidance Patrol arrested Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian woman, for allegedly wearing her hijab improperly, in a manner that allowed some of her hair to be visible under her hijab.[14][15] She died in custody three days later. The official cause of death was heart failure,[16] but bruises on her legs and face suggested to many that she had been beaten, despite police denials. Multiple medical officials and detainees that witnessed her arrest claim that Guidance Patrol officials tortured her in the back of a van before arriving at the station. Her detention and subsequent death inspired a wave of protests in Iran, including at Tehran University and at Kasra Hospital, where she died.[17]

Amini's death sparked major protests, "unlike any the country had seen before",[18] the "biggest challenge" to the government,[19] with 10,000s arrested and over 500 killed.[20] During the against the hijab requirements and the Iranian regime in general in late 2022, enforcement of compulsory hijab was relaxed, and there was even an erroneous report that it would be disbanded.[lower-alpha 3]

As of September 2023, a morality crackdown is in process.

The list of punishments for women who disobey the dress code keeps intensifying. Hefty fines. Banking restrictions. Business closures. Jail time. Forced labor. Travel bans. Being diagnosed as mentally ill.[23]

In mid-July 2023, after months of a large fraction of younger Iranian women ignoring compulsory hijab,[24] and just before the start of the holy month of Muharram, a spokesman for Iranian law enforcement formally announced that the morality police would return to the streets.[25] (On July 15, the day of their returned to the streets, widespread internet outages were observed).[26]

Armita Geravand incident

In October 2023, a 16-year-old Iranian girl, Armita Geravand, fell into a coma and was declared brain dead after an alleged encounter with morality police officers.[27] The incident sparked outrage and criticism from human rights groups and social media users, who compared it to the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022. [28] Iran denied that Geravand was harmed by the officers and said her condition was due to a pre-existing illness.

Activities

Guidance Patrol officers and vehicles
A woman being arrested in Vanak Square by a religious policewoman for wearing an "improper" hijab

Guidance patrols usually consist of a van with a male crew accompanied by chador-clad females who stand at busy public places (e.g., shopping centres, squares, and subway stations), (sometimes assisted by Basij paramilitary),[29] to arrest women not wearing hijabs or not wearing them in accordance with government standards.[30][7][9] According to Amnesty International, "girls as young as seven years old" are forced to wear the hijab.[31] The United Nations Human Rights Office said young Iranian women were violently slapped in the face, beaten with batons, and pushed into police vans.[32] The women are driven to a correctional facility or police station, lectured on how to dress, have their photos taken by the police and personal information recorded, required to destroy any "bad" clothing with scissors, and generally released to relatives the same day though many are detained.[33][9][7][10] Under Article 683 of Iran's Islamic Penal Code, the penalty for a woman not wearing the hijab consists of imprisonment from 10 days to two months, and a fine of 50,000 to 500,000 Iranian rials.[34] Violators may also be lashed, up to 74 times.[31][35]

The Guidance Patrol also monitors immodest attire by men, "Western-style" haircuts worn by men, male-female fraternization, violations of restrictions on the wearing of makeup, and the wearing of bright colours, tight clothing, torn jeans, and short trousers, and trans women.[31][34][36] Violations include too much hair showing from under a headscarf, and a boyfriend and girlfriend taking a walk together.[5] Trans women have been harassed for lack of gender conformity.[37] When an Iranian trans woman was beaten in April 2018, police refused to help her.[38]

Members of the public may turn one another in for perceived violations of the dress code, and traffic cameras are also used to identify violators of the dress code.[31] Iran's CCTV camera systems, including those from cafes, universities, and kindergartens, transmit their footage to the police.[33]

On 27 December 2017, Brigadier General Hossein Rahimi, head of the Greater Tehran police, said: "According to the commander of the NAJA, those who do not observe Islamic values and have negligence in this area will no longer be taken to detention centers, a legal case will not be made for them, and we will not send them to court; rather, education classes to reform their behavior will be offered."[39]

Sanctions

On 22 September 2022, during the Mahsa Amini protests, the United States Department of the Treasury announced sanctions against the Guidance Patrol as well as seven senior leaders of Iran's various security organisations, "for violence against protestors and the death of Mahsa Amini". These include Mohammad Rostami Cheshmeh Gachi, chief of Iran’s Morality Police, Haj Ahmad Mirzaei, head of the Tehran division of the Morality Police, and other Iranian security officials. The sanctions involve blocking any properties or interests in property within the jurisdiction of the U.S., and reporting them to the U.S. Treasury. Penalties would be imposed on any parties that facilitate transactions or services to the sanctioned entities.[40][41][42]

On 26 September 2022, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated that the Government of Canada would impose sanctions on the Guidance Patrol, its leadership, and the officials responsible for the death of Mahsa Amini and the crackdown on protestors.[43]

Religious differences of opinion

Some officials say that in their view the Guidance Patrol is a Islamic religious police, fulfilling the Islamic obligation to enjoin what is proper and forbid that which is improper, and is desired by the people.[44][45] Others oppose the Guidance Patrol's existence on the grounds that the authorities should respect citizens' freedom and dignity, and enforce Iranian law but not enforce Islam.[4][46] The Guidance Patrol has been called un-Islamic by some, mostly because performing the requisites is haram (forbidden) when it leads to sedition.[45][44] Some argue the notion should be a mutual obligation, allowing people to instruct government officials, but in practise it is strictly limited to one side.[44]

Alleged dissolution

The Attorney General of Iran, Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, stated in Qom on 3 December 2022 that the police Guidance Patrol is not under the supervision of the judiciary system and was in the process of being disbanded.[1] He also said that the hijab law is under review.[47][48][49][50] However, as of 5 December the Iranian government had not made any official confirmation regarding the disbanding of the guidance patrol, and the Iranian state media denied its dissolution. It was reported that enforcement of the mandatory hijab and the guidance patrol had intensified, particularly in religious cities. In response, a three-day general strike was called by protestors, with shopkeepers closing their businesses; several experts and protestors alleged that the news of the dissolution had been announced by the Iranian government to overshadow coverage of the strike.[51][52][53] Iranian state-run Arabic language channel Al Alam News Network denied any dissolution of the Guidance Patrol and added that "the maximum impression that can be taken" from Montazeri's comment is that the morality police and his branch of government, the judiciary, are unrelated.[51] On July 16, 2023 the Iranian law enforcement force announced that patrols by the Morality Police would be relaunched.[2]

See also

  • Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Gaza Strip)
  • Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Saudi Arabia)
  • Iranian protests against compulsory hijab
  • Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Afghanistan)
  • Mahsa Amini, Kurdish Iranian woman who died in police custody after being arrested for an alleged breach of modesty laws, causing mass protests in the country
  • Zahra Bani Yaghoub, Iranian woman who died in police custody after being arrested for an alleged breach of modesty laws
  • Homa Darabi, Iranian woman known for her self-immolation protesting the compulsory hijab
  • Reza Zarei, former chief of Tehran Police in charge of the Guidance Patrol who was found in a house of prostitution, was arrested, and lost his post

Notes

  1. ↑ The Guidance Police does not have an official symbol, however the logo of the Law Enforcement Command is found and widely used on the vice squad vehicles and uniforms.
  2. ↑ Began operations in June 2006.
  3. ↑ in December a statement by the attorney general was interpreted by many Western media outlets to mean that the hijab law was under review and that the Guidance Patrol might be disbanded.[21] This report later was attacked as a "diversion tactic" by the regime.[22]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Iran to disband morality police amid ongoing protests, says attorney general" (in en-GB). BBC News. 2022-12-04. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-63850656. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Maziar Motamedi. "Iran's 'morality police' return as authorities enforce hijab rule". Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/7/16/irans-morality-police-return-as-authorities-enforce-hijab-rule. Retrieved July 16, 2023. 
  3. ↑ Ghaedi, Monir (23 September 2022). "Iran's 'morality police:' What do they enforce?". DW.com. https://www.dw.com/en/irans-morality-police-what-do-they-enforce/a-63200711. ""Gasht-e-Ershad," which translates as "guidance patrols" and is widely known as the "morality police," is a unit of Iran’s police forces tasked with enforcing the laws on Islamic dress code in public." 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Sharafedin, Bozorgmehr (20 April 2016). "Rouhani clashes with Iranian police over undercover hijab agents". https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-rights-rouhani-idUSKCN0XH0WH.  It was rumored to be dissolved in December 2022 after three months of continuous protest over women's rights in Iran, although this false information was spread by the Islamic Regime of Iran as a tactic to stop the uprising.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "Springtime In Iran Means The 'Morality Police' Are Out In Force". NPR. May 3, 2016. https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2016/05/03/476511439/springtime-in-iran-means-the-morality-police-are-out-in-force. 
  6. ↑ "Calls Grow for Iran Morality Police to Change Course". July 21, 2022. https://www.voanews.com/a/calls-grow-for-iran-morality-police-to-change-course-/6668847.html. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Erdbrink, Thomas (7 May 2014). "When Freedom Is the Right to Stay Under Wraps". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/08/world/middleeast/when-freedom-is-the-right-to-stay-under-wraps.html. 
  8. ↑ C. Michael Hall, Siamak Seyfi (2018). Tourism in Iran; Challenges, Development and Issues
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 "Iran: Fashion police". The Economist. 5 May 2013. https://www.economist.com/blogs/pomegranate/2013/05/iran. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Misagh Parsa (2016). Democracy in Iran; Why It Failed and How It Might Succeed
  11. ↑ "Want to Avoid the Iranian Morality Police? There's an App for That.". February 10, 2016. https://www.yahoo.com/tech/want-avoid-iranian-morality-police-205421913.html. 
  12. ↑ "New App that Detects Morality Police is Instant Hit in Iran". February 9, 2016. https://iranhumanrights.org/2016/02/gershad-app/. 
  13. ↑ Curtin, Melanie (August 3, 2016). "The Remarkable Reason Men in Iran Have Started Wearing Hijabs". https://www.inc.com/melanie-curtin/the-remarkable-reason-men-in-iran-have-started-wearing-hijabs.html. 
  14. ↑ "Iran protests: Mahsa Amini's death puts morality police under spotlight". BBC. September 21, 2022. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-62984076. 
  15. ↑ "Young Woman's Death After Arrest for 'Improper Hijab' Sparks Protests Across Iran". September 19, 2022. https://jezebel.com/young-woman-s-death-after-arrest-for-improper-hijab-s-1849553444. 
  16. ↑ Strzyżyńska, Weronika (2022-09-16). "Iranian woman dies 'after being beaten by morality police' over hijab law"". https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/sep/16/iranian-woman-dies-after-being-beaten-by-morality-police-over-hijab-law. 
  17. ↑ "Mahsa Amini: dozens injured in Iran protests after death in custody". TheGuardian.com. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/18/mahsa-amini-dozens-injured-in-iran-protests-after-death-in-custody. 
  18. ↑ Nimoni, Fiona (16 September 2023). "Mahsa Amini: Protesters mark one year since death of Iranian student". BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-66834156. 
  19. ↑ "Fresh protests erupt in Iran's universities and Kurdish region". The Guardian. 6 November 2022. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/06/iran-fresh-protests-universities-kurdish-region. 
  20. ↑ "One Year Protest Report: At Least 551 Killed and 22 Suspicious Deaths". Iran Human Rights. 15 September 2023. https://iranhr.net/en/articles/6200/. 
  21. ↑ Ardalan, Siavash; Moloney, Marita (2022-12-04). "Iran to disband morality police amid ongoing protests, says attorney general" (in en-GB). BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-63850656. 
  22. ↑ Tizhoosh, Nahayat (5 December 2022). "What Western media got wrong by claiming Iran abolished its morality police". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/iran-morality-police-media-1.6674863. 
  23. ↑ Berger, Miriam (15 September 2023). "A year after Mahsa Amini's death: Repression and defiance in Iran". Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/09/16/iran-mahsa-amini-anniversary-protests/. 
  24. ↑ Hawley, Caroline (15 September 2023). "Iran's women on Mahsa Amini's death anniversary: 'I wear what I like now'". BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-66788392. 
  25. ↑ Moaveni, Azadeh (7 August 2023). "Letter from Iran The Protests Inside Iran's Girls' Schools". The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/08/14/the-protests-inside-irans-girls-schools. Retrieved 24 September 2023. 
  26. ↑ Blout, Emily (18 September 2023). "ANALYSIS. Why Did Last Year's Protest Movement in Iran Fail?". Foreign Policy. https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/09/18/iran-protest-women-rights-mahsa-amini-anniversary/. Retrieved 27 September 2023. 
  27. ↑ "Iranian teenager Armita Geravand is 'brain dead': state media" (in en). Reuters. 2023-10-22. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iranian-state-media-teenage-girl-armita-geravand-is-brain-dead-2023-10-22/. 
  28. ↑ "An Iranian girl is hospitalized, fueling new outrage" (in en). 2023-10-05. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/iranian-girl-armita-geravand-hospitalized-morality-police-rcna118787. 
  29. ↑ "Iran's Basij force: specialists in cracking down on dissent". Reuters. 22 September 2022. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/irans-basij-force-specialists-cracking-down-dissent-2022-09-22/. 
  30. ↑ Essential Voices: Poetry of Iran and Its Diaspora, 2021.
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 31.2 31.3 Responses to Information Requests; Iran: Dress codes, including enforcement (2016-February 2020), Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, 21 February 2020.
  32. ↑ "Iranian protests continue, sparked by death of young woman arrested for violating dress code". September 21, 2022. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/iranian-protests-continue-sparked-by-death-of-young-woman-arrested-for-violating-dress-code. 
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 Akbari, Azadeh (September 26, 2019). "Spatial|Data Justice: Mapping and Digitised Strolling against Moral Police in Iran". doi:10.2139/ssrn.3460224. https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=3460224. 
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 Patricia R. Owen (2018). Gender and Patriarchy in the Films of Muslim Nations; A Filmographic Study of 21st Century Features from Eight Countries
  35. ↑ "The history of Iran's so-called morality police". 30 September 2022. https://www.keranews.org/2022-09-30/the-history-of-irans-so-called-morality-police. 
  36. ↑ "Iran: Anxiety Among Tehran Women After Mahsa Amini's Death Over Wearing Headscarf in 'Improper' Way". September 22, 2022. https://www.news18.com/news/world/iran-anxiety-among-tehran-women-after-mahsa-aminis-death-over-wearing-headscarf-in-improper-way-6013849.html. 
  37. ↑ (in en) Transgender In Tehran: Arsham's Story, 21 December 2017, https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-transgender/28931543.html, retrieved 2021-06-22 
  38. ↑ "Iran's transgender community are being beaten and disowned in spite of legal protections" (in en-GB). 2018-05-21. https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2018/05/21/irans-transgender-community-are-being-beaten-and-disowned-in-spite-of-legal-protections/. 
  39. ↑ "Iranian women no longer face jail for dress code violations". December 28, 2017. https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2017/12/iran-hijab-chador-arrest-morality-police-change-classes.html. 
  40. ↑ Gottbrath, Laurin-Whitney (2022-09-22). "U.S. sanctions Iran's morality police over death of woman in custody" (in en). https://www.axios.com/2022/09/22/mahsa-amini-protests-iran-us-sanctions-morality-police. 
  41. ↑ "Treasury Sanctions Iran's Morality Police and Senior Security Officials for Violence Against Protesters and the Death of Mahsa Amini". 22 September 2022. https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0969. 
  42. ↑ "Designating Iran's Morality Police and Seven Officials for Human Rights Abuses in Iran". 22 September 2022. https://www.state.gov/designating-irans-morality-police-and-seven-officials-for-human-rights-abuses-in-iran/. 
  43. ↑ "Canada To Sanction Those Responsible For Iranian Woman's Death". 26 September 2022. https://www.iranintl.com/en/202209261688. 
  44. ↑ 44.0 44.1 44.2 Adib, Muhammad Jawad (26 September 2013). "Iran's 'Guidance Patrols' Stir Controversy". http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/09/iran-police-morals-rise-confrontations.html. 
  45. ↑ 45.0 45.1 Faghihi, Rohollah (6 May 2016). "Morality police go undercover to keep Tehran under cover". http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/iran-tehran-morality-police-1509213622/. 
  46. ↑ Karami, Arash (27 April 2015). "Rouhani: Police should not enforce Islam". http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/en/originals/2015/04/iran-police-enforce-islam-rouhani.html. 
  47. ↑ "Protest-Hit Iran Reviewing Mandatory Headscarf Law, Official Says". Voice of America. 3 December 2022. https://www.voanews.com/a/protest-hit-iran-reviewing-mandatory-headscarf-law-official-says-/6861457.html. 
  48. ↑ "Protest-Hit Iran says reviewing mandatory headscarf law". France24. December 3, 2022. https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20221203-protest-hit-iran-says-reviewing-mandatory-headscarf-law. 
  49. ↑ "Iran's hijab law under review: attorney general" (in en). 3 December 2022. https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2022/12/irans-hijab-law-under-review-attorney-general. 
  50. ↑ "Prosecutor General of the country: Guidance patrol was closed | it was closed from the place it was established"]. December 3, 2022. http://asriran.com/003dyf. 
  51. ↑ 51.0 51.1 Turak, Natasha (5 December 2022). "Iran's state media denies abolition of 'morality police' as three-day strike begins". https://www.cnbc.com/2022/12/05/iran-denies-abolition-of-morality-police-as-three-day-strike-begins.html. 
  52. ↑ "Iran: mass strike starts amid mixed messages about abolishing morality police". 5 December 2022. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/05/iran-strike-abolishment-morality-police. 
  53. ↑ "Iranian city shops shut after strike call, judiciary blames 'rioters'". Reuters. 5 December 2022. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iranian-city-shops-shut-step-up-pressure-clerical-rulers-2022-12-05/. 

External links



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