The Iranian regime’s human rights violations during its brutal suppression of protests in 2022 amount to crimes against humanity, a UN fact-finding mission (FFM) has said.
Established by the UN human rights council in November 2022 – two months after the Woman, Life, Freedom protests swept the country in response to the death in custody of Mahsa Amini – the FFM has released a report concluding the regime carried out widespread and sustained human rights violations against its own people, which broke international laws and specifically targeted women and girls.
The report also investigated and corroborated accounts published in the Guardian that female protesters had been specifically targeted because of their gender and were shot at close range in the face and genitals – actions the report cites as evidence of crimes committed by the state against the civilian population.
The report states: “The mission has … established that many of the serious human rights violations … amount to crimes against humanity – specifically those of murder; imprisonment; torture; rape and other forms of sexual violence; persecution; enforced disappearance and other inhumane acts – that have been committed as part of a widespread and systematic attack directed against a civilian population, namely women, girls and others expressing support for human rights.”
According to Human Rights Watch, more than 500 people, including 68 children, were killed by security forces during the protests. It is estimated that more than 20,000 protesters were arrested.
The FFM team concluded that throughout the protests, the Iranian government “committed a series of extensive, sustained and continuing acts that individually constitute human rights violations directed against women, girls and persons expressing support for gender equality and the rights of women and girls and, cumulatively, constitute what the mission assesses to be gender persecution in the context of the protests and associated repression of fundamental rights”.
The report said it had found that some of those arrested and detained by the authorities were subject to beatings and rape, electrocution, forced nudity and sexual assault, including on children.
It also found that LGBTQ+ people arrested during the protests had been subjected to violence and human rights violations. Iranian public officials were also found to have intentionally inflicted acts of torture to attain forced confessions from detainees.
The report also said that nine executions of people arrested during the protests happened “without fair trial and due process guarantees, [which] amounts to unlawful and arbitrary deprivation of their right to life and have violated the prohibition against torture and ill-treatment”.
The FFM said it had asked to Iranian government to cooperate with its investigation, but the regime had refused all attempts to communicate.
The UN report called upon the Iranian authorities to “provide justice, truth and reparations to victims of human rights violations in connection with the protests that started on 16 September 2022, survivors and their families, in accordance with international human rights standards”.
“These acts form part of a widespread and systematic attack directed against the civilian population in Iran, namely against women, girls, boys and men who have demanded freedom, equality, dignity and accountability,” said Sara Hossain, chair of the FFM. “We urge the government to immediately halt the repression of those who have engaged in peaceful protests, in particular women and girls.”
The team is expected to present its findings, conclusions and recommendations in a detailed 400-page report to the UN in Geneva at the end of March.
The release of the report comes as the Iranian government continues to target the families of protesters and those killed during the demonstrations as well as journalists (in Iran and abroad), human rights activists, lawyers and doctors, say human rights groups.
According to Amnesty International’s latest report released this week, Iranian authorities have launched a draconian campaign to enforce the compulsory hijab laws on women and girls.
Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International’s deputy director for the Middle East and north Africa, said: “Iran’s authorities are terrorising women and girls by subjecting them to constant surveillance and policing, disrupting their daily lives and causing them immense mental distress. Their draconian tactics span from stopping female drivers on the road … to imposing inhumane flogging and prison sentences.”
