Iran's Rights Abuses: UN Report

A UN Human Rights Council fact-finding mission said that Iran's violent repression of peaceful protests and pervasive institutional discrimination against women and girls amount to crimes against humanity.

The mission's first report said that Iran conducted extrajudicial killings as well as unlawful killings and murder, unnecessary and disproportionate use of force, arbitrary deportation of liberty, torture, rape, enforced disappearances and gender persecution all of which "disproportionately impacted" women, children and members of religious minorities in response to the "Woman, Life, Freedom" protests.

"Pervasive and deep-rooted structural and institutionalized discrimination against women and girls, permeating all areas of their public and private lives, was both a trigger and an enabler of the widespread serious human rights violations and crimes under international law committed against women and girls in the Islamic Republic of Iran, as well as others advocating for equality and human rights, in the context of the 'Woman, Life, Freedom' movement," the report said.

The mission's report also found Iran arbitrarily executed at least nine young men while dozens of people charged with capital offenses "remain at risk of execution or receiving a death sentence in relation to the protests."

The UN Human Rights Council urged Iranian authorities to stop all executions and immediately and unconditionally release all people "arbitrarily arrested and detained in the context of the protests or for non-compliance with or advocacy against the mandatory hijab."

The United States and Western allies sanctioned Iran in January 2023 for the violent repression of protests following the highly publicized death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. She died in custody after being arrested for incorrectly wearing her hijab.