(Video) Teachers hold protest in many cities across Iran
Teachers and educators came to the streets on Thursday, June 16, to hold rallies in protest of the regime’s education policies and the suppression of teachers’ rights activists. Protests were reported in Tehran, Khorram Abad, and several other cities.
On Wednesday, security forces summoned and arrested dozens of teachers, activists, and organizers of demonstrations to intimidate protesters. But on Thursday, large rallies were reported in several cities.
The teachers are demanding the full implementation of the government service law, the “Teachers Ranking” bill, and the adjustment of salaries according to growing inflation rates and the depreciation of the national currency.
“We are alarmed at the recent escalation of allegedly arbitrary arrests of teachers, labour rights defenders, and union leaders, lawyers, human rights defenders, and other civil society actors,” the UN experts said.
The experts said they are deeply concerned that “In the absence of meaningful channels of participation in Iran, peaceful protests are now the sole remaining means for individuals and groups to express themselves and share expressing their rights".
According to the regime’s own stats, there is a 40-percent gap between the income of teachers and the costs of living most teachers receive half of that amount.
Protests were reported in Marivan, Bandar Abbas, Khorram Abad, Sharekord, Kashmar, Sari, Hamedan, Sanandaj, Karaj, Bukan, Saqqez, Andimeshk, and several other cities.
The protests were organized and declared by teachers’ rights organizations a week earlier. They are taking place today despite the regime resorting to severe security measures to prevent them.
On Wednesday, security forces summoned and arrested dozens of teachers, activists, and organizers of demonstrations to intimidate protesters. But on Thursday, large rallies were reported in several cities.
The teachers are protesting regime policies that have plunged their lives into poverty.
The teachers are demanding the full implementation of the government service law, the “Teachers Ranking” bill, and the adjustment of salaries according to growing inflation rates and the depreciation of the national currency.
The teachers are fighting for their most basic rights, including the increase of their wages above the poverty line, which currently stands at around 120-140 million rials per month.
Most teachers receive half of that amount. According to the regime’s own stats, there is a 40-percent gap between the income of teachers and the costs of living.
In a statement, the Iranian Teachers Coordination Council stressed that the regime’s policy has only aggravated poverty, pushing teachers from the middle class to the lower classes.
The regime’s policies have resulted in unprecedented inflation rates and skyrocketing prices of basic goods. Meanwhile, teachers and other walks of life have seen no change in their salaries.
“Government employees, workers, teachers, and retirees can’t counter the effects of unbridled inflation, and every day, their purchasing power is diminishing, their food tables are becoming smaller, and they have no other choice than to claim their rights by raising their voices in the streets,” the statement reads.
“It is disappointing that instead of listening to the voices of the fed-up people, authorities are responding with violence. They don’t believe that the people are fed up with poverty and discrimination.”
So far, the regime has either ignored the teachers’ pleas or has responded with force and suppression. On Thursday, videos and reports from different cities pertained to the heavy presence of security forces to prevent the protests.
In the past few months, the regime’s security forces have arrested dozens of teachers and labor activists. Some have been given heavy sentences or fines, and others have been summoned to court.
The regime is doing everything it can to intimidate the public to prevent protests from taking place. But the teachers have returned to the streets nonetheless and are reiterating their demands.
On Thursday, the teachers reiterated that they will continue their protests until their arrested colleagues are released.
These rallies are taking place against the backdrop of several rounds of nationwide protests by teachers in the past year.
On Wednesday, 11 UN rapporteurs, including Javaid Rehman, the UN Rapporteur on Human Rights Conditions in Iran, expressed concern over the regime’s crackdown on protests.
“We are alarmed at the recent escalation of allegedly arbitrary arrests of teachers, labour rights defenders, and union leaders, lawyers, human rights defenders, and other civil society actors,” the experts said.
The reports express alarm over the regime’s constant suppression of peaceful protests by different walks of life in Iran.
“In the absence of meaningful channels of participation in Iran, peaceful protests are now the sole remaining means for individuals and groups to express themselves and share their grievances with the authorities,” the experts said.
“We are deeply concerned that the first response by the authorities is that of security, involving the excessive use of force against protestors, with what appears to be an active policy to shield perpetrators and prevent accountability".
Shahin Gobadi
NCRI
+33 6 61 65 32 31
email us here
Teachers and educators came to the streets on Thursday, June 16, to hold rallies in protest of the regime’s policies and the suppression of teachers.
