Fact-Finding Mission on Iran: Crackdown against Protesters Must End

A fact-finding mission mandated by the UN Human Rights Council has urged the Iranian authorities to end their brutal crackdown on peaceful protesters and halt the wave of executions, mass arrests and detentions that followed the eruption of nationwide protests last year.

In its first oral update to the council in Geneva on July 5, the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran drew attention to the risks of further deterioration of the human rights of those involved in the protests, including lawyers, journalists and human rights defenders, and in particular women and girls.

It pointed out that the human rights situation in the country risks deteriorating further if new legislation proposing harsher punishments on women and girls who flout mandatory headscarf rules becomes law.

The death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in September 2022 while in the custody of morality police unleashed months of anti-government protests across Iran.

More than 520 people have been killed in the security forces’ clampdown on the women-led protest movement and over 19,000 have been unlawfully detained, activists say. Following biased trials, the judiciary has handed down stiff sentences, including the death penalty, to protesters.

According to reports received by the fact-finding mission, at least 26 people have been sentenced to death in connection with the protests, while dozens more have been charged with or face offences carrying the death penalty. It said that at least seven men have been executed following hasty proceedings, amid serious allegations of rights violations, including of confessions extracted under torture.

"We call on the Iranian authorities to stop the executions of individuals convicted and sentenced to death in connection with the protests and reiterate our requests to make available to us the judicial files, evidence, and judgments regarding each of these persons," Sara Hossain, chair of the fact-finding mission, told the Human Rights Council.

#Iran: "Harsh punishments continue to be meted out to those involved in the protests, including for exercising rights protected under intl' human rights law."

Sara Hossain, Chair of the Fact-Finding Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran at the @UN Human Rights Council.#HRC53 pic.twitter.com/nI0jZm3JpV

— United Nations Human Rights Council 📍 #HRC53 (@UN_HRC) July 5, 2023

“We are particularly concerned about the many reports of harassment of family members seeking justice for their loved ones, including children, who were killed during the protests,” she also said.

 The mission called for the release of all those detained for exercising their legitimate right to peaceful assembly and for reporting on the protests.

“We are concerned by the continuous detention of human rights defenders and lawyers defending the protestors and at least 17 journalists,” said Viviana Krsticevic, a member of the mission.

The fact-finding mission is scheduled to present a comprehensive report on its findings to the Human Rights Council in March 2024.