A United Nations report on the state of human rights in Iran — published on March 14 by the Independent Fact Finding Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran — has found that human rights violations in the country are “extensive and complex, and transcend both the temporal and material scope of the mandate entrusted to this mission by the Human Rights Council.”
The mission was set up by the UN Human Rights Council in November 2022 to investigate alleged human rights breaches during the 2022 anti-government protests, with a focus on violations against children and women. It has so far collected more than 38,000 pieces of evidence, which include statements from 285 victims and witnesses, as well as information gathered from credible human rights organizations, and experts.
“Testimonies gathered inside and outside Iran for the report which has been shared with the Iranian Government pointed to men, women and children being held ‘in some cases at gunpoint’ with ‘nooses put around their necks in a form of psychological torture,’” said a UN press release about the report.
The findings, published in the mission’s final report for the UN, have alleged the existence of ongoing and serious human rights violations by Iranian authorities stemming from the nationwide protests — which erupted following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in police custody for failing to comply with forced hijab laws. The mission concluded in a previous report that some of those violations amounted to crimes against humanity.
“The mission reiterates its previous findings with respect to the commission of gross human rights violations and crimes against humanity in the context of the protests, including ongoing persecutory conduct against women and girls and others supporting human rights in the context of the protests. Such conduct includes the use of the death penalty and executions, arbitrary arrests and cases of torture and ill treatment, judicial and other forms of harassment of human rights defenders and related systemic impunity,” the report said. “These serious human rights concerns, coupled with the risk of recurrence of violence against those who continue to express dissent or challenge the State and its policies, make it essential for the Human Rights Council and the international community to continue to be strongly seized of the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
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The report recommended that the Human Rights Council establish another independent body to continue the mission’s work. This, it noted, could include an investigation into past and present human rights violations and crimes against humanity in Iran, and the root causes of such violations. The mission added that any investigation should explore “structural and systemic discrimination against women, men and children, including on grounds of gender, ethnicity and/or religion and/or political beliefs.”
The report also highlighted the use of surveillance during the protests, and what it called “state-sponsored vigilantism” to enforce mandatory hijab laws — despite assurances by Iran’s current President Masoud Pezeshkian that his government would relax the increasingly draconian enforcement of such laws.
A separate report published on March 12 by the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Dr. Mai Sato, included several concerns outlined in the mission’s report, such as the regime’s ongoing repression of peaceful protesters.
“The Special Rapporteur expresses serious concern over the continued widespread restrictions on the right to freedom of opinion and expression and freedom of peaceful assembly and association in the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the report said. “The interrogation, arrest, detention and sentencing of labour organizers, cultural rights activists, human rights defenders and journalists not only directly limit the freedom of expression of those individuals but also create a chilling effect on the exercise of freedom of expression in the country.”
The report confirmed that Sato was receiving ongoing updates about the detained human rights campaigner, blogger and podcaster Jina Modares Gorji, from Kurdistan Province. Gorji was sentenced to 21 years in prison in May on several charges, including forming groups and associations with the intention of disturbing national security, collaboration with hostile groups and states, and propaganda activities against the state.
“Reports indicate that her sentence was reduced on appeal to two years and four months, after she was acquitted of collaborating with hostile groups and states,” Sato said.
The report raised alarming concerns about the use of sexual violence against gender equality campaigners.
“Despite the problem of underreporting due to fear of reprisals, the Special Rapporteur has received wide-ranging reports of sexual violence used against advocates of women’s rights,” the report said. “The culture of impunity surrounding sexual violence persists, with survivors facing formidable barriers to justice, including social stigma, victim-blaming and fear of retribution – factors that contribute to widespread underreporting and perpetuate cycles of abuse. Such reports are consistent and come from many sources, making them impossible to dismiss as mere hearsay.”
Sato also revealed in the report that she had requested a visit to Iran and looked forward “to receiving an invitation.” Sato held formal meetings with the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the UN in Geneva and New York in November and December.
UN rapporteurs have historically been denied entry into Iran by its government, following scathing reports by the UN about the regime’s alleged human rights violations. Alena Douhan, the UN special rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on human rights was allowed to visit Iran in 2022, the first such visit since 2005.
The mandate, created in 2014 and which looks at the impact that measures such as sanctions have on countries around the world, is considered controversial. It has been criticized by Iranian human rights campaigners who view the mandate as a way to deflect scrutiny away from the regime’s part in not addressing poor policy, mass corruption and economic mismanagement in the country.
The report echoed concerns by campaigners that sanctions were unlikely to be the only cause of economic hardship in Iran.
“The Special Rapporteur cautions against attributing the country’s economic challenges solely to sanctions. Sanctions have affected the economy; they do not, however, absolve the State from the responsibility to protect women’s economic rights and opportunities,” Sato said. “The low employment rate for women, discriminatory family laws, child marriage and inadequate domestic violence protections reflect domestic policy decisions independent of international restrictions.”
The report went on to express further concerns about the use of harsh penalties for women and girls who fall foul of the forced hijab laws, the “extraordinary rise in executions in 2024 in Iran,” the treatment of minorities in the country and the use of legislation to enable child marriage.
“Data for 2021/22 from the Statistical Centre of Iran show 1,392 births to mothers under the age of 15 years (compared to six fathers) and 64,632 births to mothers aged 15–19 years (compared to 3,282 fathers),” the report said. “Such early pregnancies pose significant risks to maternal and infant health, while disrupting girls’ and boys’ education and future economic independence.”
While Sato acknowledged that Iran had made some progress in areas such as education access, she warned that these advances had not translated into meaningful economic and political participation of women, and called for full-scale reform of the Islamic Republic’s discriminatory laws and practices.
Sato made several more recommendations in the report, such as granting her open access to the country through regular visits, the publication of legal judgments and in-depth data on those facing the death penalty and children subjected to child marriage.
Sato urged the country’s officials to implement legal reforms to achieve gender equality and to ensure the protection of human rights campaigners and journalists.
