Law Prof. Interested in Intl law, national security, sanctions, & SWANA (aka the Middle East & North Africa).
Maryam Jamshidi
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And yet they were repeated not only by various media outlets, politicians, and activists, they were also amplified by current and former UN officials
As I describe in the piece, the numbers pushed by these actors failed to satisfy minimum best practices on casualty figure counting established by reputable orgs like the Intl Committee of the Red Cross. Much of the evidence comes second or third hand & has not been corroborated
The 5 digit death toll #s came out fast and furious within days of the Jan 8-9 protests, notwithstanding a total internet blackout inside Iran. They were primarily pushed by 2 actors described in the piece, both of whom have long supported regime change & a return of the Shah
What is also striking is how these numbers have come to dominate public discourse, inside and outside Iran about the number of people killed. They displaced more reliable numbers gathered by NGOs and may have even convinced them to stop confirming the death toll
“This politicization of the death toll number will undoubtedly cast a shadow over... the events of Jan. 8-9.”
@msjamshidi.bsky.social takes an in-depth look at the death toll of Iran’s protests & explains why it can undermine accountability for the violence that happened.
zeteo.com/p/where-did-...
