A lawyer in Iran writes: Internet shutdown to hide ongoing humanitarian disaster

 

A lawyer in #Iran writes:

Internet shutdown to hide ongoing humanitarian disaster

A lawyer in Iran has sent a memo to the judge, calling the government’s reason for shutting down the internet in Iran an attempt to hide the ongoing humanitarian disaster, calling it a “white crime.”

According to the lawyer, “The internet shutdown is being carried out in a situation where the country is in a critical situation; airstrikes, an undeclared state of war, public discontent, and possibly widespread repression in some areas. In such circumstances, cutting off people’s communication with each other and with the outside world is not a technical or security decision, but a deliberate act to conceal the facts; facts that, if revealed, would challenge the remaining legitimacy of the government.”

He went on to emphasize that the internet shutdown not only denies the right to free access to information and news, but also creates a serious obstacle to providing aid, communicating with human rights institutions, and documenting human rights violations. While human lives are at stake, the digital isolation of the Iranian people paves the way for the most unpunished crimes, which he calls “white crimes,” meaning silent, unreported crimes.

According to the lawyer, the judicial authorities have also, by their silence, practically justified and consolidated this nationwide disconnection. While according to Iranian laws, especially the Computer Crimes Law, any blocking or widespread restriction of internet access requires a specific resolution and public announcement, security agencies decide to disconnect the internet without any legal accountability; an action that effectively violates the principle of transparency and the rule of law.

He also warned that in the absence of the internet, many arrests, violence, and repressive actions against citizens remain undocumented and silent. According to the lawyer, the internet shutdown also completely eliminates the possibility of documenting possible war crimes committed by Israel.

Finally, the lawyer called on international human rights institutions to recognize the internet shutdown as part of the structure of repression in Iran and to use their legal and diplomatic tools to pressure the government to stop this inhumane act. In his opinion, silence in the face of the internet shutdown means silence in the face of the disaster that is taking place behind this darkness