Iran’s Dual Threats: to its Citizens and to Regional Order - featuring Pegah Banihashemi, current JSD, with commentary by Professor Tom Ginsburg
Room V
1111 East 60th Street, Chicago, Illinois 60637
On September 16, 2022, Mahsa Jina Amini died in a hospital in Tehran after being arrested by Iran’s Religious Morality Police. Her death marked the beginning of a large protest movement, Woman Life Freedom, which swept across Iran and garnered international attention and support. The Regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran began to suppress the protesters. More than 500 people were killed and hundreds of protestors were intentionally blinded by security forces firing metal pellets and rubber bullets and their faces. Hundreds of protestors were charged with serious political and national security crimes in the courts, and dozens were executed or are awaiting execution after being sentenced to death. In recent weeks, the world has also witnessed Iran’s increasingly aggressive involvement in the regional conflicts. In this talk, JSD student Pegah Banihashemi will discuss Iran’s current affairs, with commentary by Professor Tom Ginsburg.
Pegah Banihashemi is currently a JSD candidate at the University of Chicago Law School, where she also completed an LL.M. in 2022. Pegah is currently working on the history of the formation of the Iranian Constitution before and after the Islamic Revolution of 1979. She works on human rights research, commentary, and advocacy, focusing on death sentences, immigration law, and women's and children's rights in Middle Eastern and Sharia Law. She has worked extensively in the analysis of international law and international human rights and is a regular contributor and legal analyst for global media and non-profits including Voice of America and the BBC. She has taught legal courses on topics including ‘women, economics, and the law,’ human rights advocacy, and sex and gender equality.