Mass protest against Iran’s human rights abuses staged at Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Protesters gathered at Lacma to mark the Zahedan massacre as well as draw attention to the suppression and imprisonment of protesters and activists.

An artist leading a mass protest staged last week at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Lacma) says that the action marked more than 40 days since a massacre in Zahedan, southeastern Iran, when security forces reportedly killed around 96 people.

Mediseh Bathaie led the group of Iranian artists and scientists who handcuffed themselves to Chris Burden’s celebrated Urban Light (2008) installation located at the Wilshire Boulevard entrance of Lacma. The group distributed leaflets stating that “a revolution is happening in the streets of Iran and the Islamic Republic is violently trying to silence freedom workers”.

The protest again puts the spotlight on human rights abuses in Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini in September. Amini died in an Iranian hospital after being detained by the regime’s morality police for allegedly not complying with the country’s hijab regulations. Her death sparked ongoing mass protests in Tehran and cities across Iran as well as protests across the globe.