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Guidance Patrol

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For the 2012 film, see Guidance Patrol (film).

Guidance Patrol
گشت ارشاد

A religious policeman lecturing and reprimanding an Iranian woman
Agency overview
Formed2005; 19 years ago (2005)
Superseding agency
Typevice squad/Islamic religious police enforcing Islamic dress code in public by arresting people who violate the code, usually concerning hijabs.
Parent departmentLaw Enforcement Command of Islamic Republic of Iran

The Guidance Patrol (Persian: گشت ارشاد, romanized: gašt-e eršād), or morality police,[1] is a vice squad/Islamic religious police in the Law Enforcement Command of Islamic Republic of Iran, established in 2005 with the task of arresting people who violate the Islamic dress code, usually concerning the wearing by women of hijabs covering their hair.[2]

History

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.[3]

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.[4][5] The Guidance Patrol reports to the Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.[6]

On 2013's Iranian Mother's Day, the patrols rewarded women with flowers for wearing chador (the preferred hijab style).[7]

According to Iran's Interior Minister, in a three-month period in 2014, 220,000 women were taken to police stations and signed statements there promising to wear hijabs, 19,000 were given hair-covering notices, and 9,000 were detained.[8] In 2014, the police additionally gave warnings and guidance to 3.6 million other Iranians who failed to follow the Islamic dress code.[9][10][11]

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.[8] In 2016, Tehran used 7,000 undercover Guidance Patrol officers to catch violators of the Islamic dress code.[6]

The Guidance Patrol has also harassed trans women for lack of gender conformity.[12] When an Iranian trans woman was beaten in April 2018, police refused to help her.[13]

Iran also banned the use of makeup by women, but many women resisted the ban, risking arrest.[8]

Activities

A Guidance Patrol van parked in front of Mellat Park, Tehran
A woman was arrested in Vanak Square by a religious policewoman for wearing an "improper" hijab
Another woman was also arrested and brought in a van by a religious policewoman for the same reason in the same location

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), to arrest women not wearing hijabs or not wearing them in accordance with government standards.[14][4][7] According to Amnesty International, "girls as young as seven years old" are forced to wear the hijab.[15] The United Nations Human Rights Office said young Iranian women were violently slapped in the face, beaten with batons, and pushed into police vans.[16] 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.[17][7][4][8] 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.[18] Violators may also be lashed, up to 74 times.[15][19]

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.[15][18][20] Violations include too much hair showing from under a headscarf, and a boyfriend and girlfriend taking a walk together.[6]

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.[15] Iran's entire CCTV cameras, including those from cafes, universities, and kindergartens, transmit their footage to the police.[17]

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."[21]

Controversies

Further information: Death of Mahsa Amini

On September 16, 2022, the Guidance Patrol arrested Mahsa 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.[22][23] She died in their custody; they claimed she suffered heart failure, and consequently died comatose two days later.[24] Bruises on her legs and face suggested to many that she was 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 abduction and subsequent murder inspired a wave of protests in Iran, including at Tehran University and at Kasra Hospital, where she died.[25]

Sanctions

Guidance Patrol officers and vehicles

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 US, and reporting them to the US Treasury. Penalties would be imposed on any parties that facilitate transactions or services to the sanctioned entities.[26][27][28]

On 26 September 2022, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated that his government will impose sanctions on the Guidance Patrol, its leadership, and the officials responsible for the death of Mahsa Amini and the crackdown on protestors.[29]

Religious differences of opinion

See also: Ikhtilaf

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.[30][31] 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.[2][32] The Guidance Patrol has been called un-Islamic by some, mostly because performing the requisites is haram (forbidden) when it leads to sedition.[31][30] 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.[30]

See also

References

  1. ^ Ghaedi, Monir (23 September 2022). "Iran's 'morality police:' What do they enforce?". DW.com. Retrieved 25 September 2022. "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.
  2. ^ a b Sharafedin, Bozorgmehr (20 April 2016). "Rouhani clashes with Iranian police over undercover hijab agents". Reuters. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  3. ^ "Calls Grow for Iran Morality Police to Change Course". VOA. 21 July 2022.
  4. ^ a b c Erdbrink, Thomas (7 May 2014). "When Freedom Is the Right to Stay Under Wraps". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  5. ^ C. Michael Hall, Siamak Seyfi (2018). Tourism in Iran; Challenges, Development and Issues
  6. ^ a b c "Springtime In Iran Means The 'Morality Police' Are Out In Force". NPR. 3 May 2016.
  7. ^ a b c "Iran: Fashion police". The Economist. 5 May 2013. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  8. ^ a b c d Misagh Parsa (2016). Democracy in Iran; Why It Failed and How It Might Succeed
  9. ^ "Want to Avoid the Iranian Morality Police? There's an App for That". Yahoo. 10 February 2016.
  10. ^ "New App that Detects Morality Police is Instant Hit in Iran". 9 February 2016.
  11. ^ Curtin, Melanie (3 August 2016). "The Remarkable Reason Men in Iran Have Started Wearing Hijabs". Inc.com.
  12. ^ Transgender In Tehran: Arsham's Story, retrieved 22 June 2021
  13. ^ "Iran's transgender community are being beaten and disowned in spite of legal protections". PinkNews. 21 May 2018. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  14. ^ Essential Voices: Poetry of Iran and Its Diaspora, 2021.
  15. ^ a b c d Responses to Information Requests; Iran: Dress codes, including enforcement (2016-February 2020), Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, 21 February 2020.
  16. ^ "Iranian protests continue, sparked by death of young woman arrested for violating dress code". PBS NewsHour. 21 September 2022.
  17. ^ a b Akbari, Azadeh (26 September 2019). "Spatial|Data Justice: Mapping and Digitised Strolling against Moral Police in Iran". SSRN 3460224 – via papers.ssrn.com.
  18. ^ a b Patricia R. Owen (2018). Gender and Patriarchy in the Films of Muslim Nations; A Filmographic Study of 21st Century Features from Eight Countries
  19. ^ "The history of Iran's so-called morality police". KERA News. 30 September 2022.
  20. ^ "Iran: Anxiety Among Tehran Women After Mahsa Amini's Death Over Wearing Headscarf in 'Improper' Way". News18. 22 September 2022.
  21. ^ "Iranian women no longer face jail for dress code violations". Al-Monitor. 28 December 2017.
  22. ^ "Iran protests: Mahsa Amini's death puts morality police under spotlight". BBC. 21 September 2022.
  23. ^ "Young Woman's Death After Arrest for 'Improper Hijab' Sparks Protests Across Iran". Jezebel. 19 September 2022.
  24. ^ ""Iranian woman dies 'after being beaten by morality police' over hijab law"". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  25. ^ ""Mahsa Amini: dozens injured in Iran protests after death in custody"". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  26. ^ Gottbrath, Laurin-Whitney (22 September 2022). "U.S. sanctions Iran's morality police over death of woman in custody". Axios. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  27. ^ "Treasury Sanctions Iran's Morality Police and Senior Security Officials for Violence Against Protesters and the Death of Mahsa Amini". United States Department of the Treasury. 22 September 2022.
  28. ^ "Designating Iran's Morality Police and Seven Officials for Human Rights Abuses in Iran". United States Department of State. 22 September 2022.
  29. ^ "Canada To Sanction Those Responsible For Iranian Woman's Death". 26 September 2022.
  30. ^ a b c Adib, Muhammad Jawad (26 September 2013). "Iran's 'Guidance Patrols' Stir Controversy". Al-Monitor. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  31. ^ a b Faghihi, Rohollah (6 May 2016). "Morality police go undercover to keep Tehran under cover". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  32. ^ Karami, Arash (27 April 2015). "Rouhani: Police should not enforce Islam". Al-Monitor. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
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