Detailed findings of the independent international fact-finding mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran
From the summary of the report:
The present conference room paper outlines consolidated findings from the Mission’s two years of investigations which reaffirm that, in repressing the protests that began on 16 September 2022, State authorities committed gross human rights violations, some of which amounted to crimes against humanity. It contains additional information and evidence related to the facts and circumstances in the context of the protests, including on the use of force, treatment in detention and related impunity. The Mission further expanded its investigations into the treatment of children, LGBTQ+ persons and ethnic and religious minorities, investigated protester deaths, dismissed by the State as “suicides”, and the wide use of “mock executions” as a form of psychological torture during detention.
Two and a half years after the protests began in September 2022, women and girls continue to face systematic discrimination, in law and in practice, that permeates all aspects of their lives, particularly with respect to the enforcement of the mandatory hijab. State authorities continue to enact new measures that suppress women and girls’ demands for rights. This conduct reflects the State’s persistent, ongoing persecutory conduct aimed at supressing women and girls’ rights to equality.
This persecutory conduct also extended to victims and their families who have been systematically suppressed to remain silent, as well as to those who have acted in solidarity, such as human rights defenders, lawyers, teachers, trade unionists and journalists, forcing many to leave Iran. Against this backdrop, the State intensified surveillance, restricted digital space even further and extended its repression beyond Iran’s borders, to silence those who speak up both inside the country and from abroad. Judicial harassment of victims and their families continued. Together, these actions demonstrate the concerted State effort to stifle dissent, perpetuating a climate of fear and systematic impunity that denies victims the rights to truth, justice, accountability and reparations.
Ten men have been executed so far, and at least 11 men and 3 women remain at imminent risk of being sentenced to death or executed in the context of the protests. The death penalty against women activists and women human rights defenders sharply escalated, particularly following their convictions for national security offenses, including in relation to their activism.
While there have been some efforts to provide accountability and compensation to victims of the protests, domestic avenues for redress remain inadequate. The State continues to deny responsibility for gross human rights violations, some of which the Mission found amounted to crimes against humanity. Obstacles to obtaining justice in Iran persist, including pervasive, continuous intimidation and threats against those seeking accountability in the judicial system, which fundamentally lacks independence. The Mission’s investigations, including through direct exchanges with the President-appointed “Special Committee to Investigate the 2022 unrest” also reaffirmed that redress and reparations to victims remained inadequate.
The Mission underscores that it is imperative that comprehensive accountability measures continue to be pursued in Iran, despite the obstacles identified by the Mission, and in their absence, outside the country, in accordance with the rights and expectations of victims and survivors. In this regard, the Mission outlines in this paper a roadmap for justice and accountability that the international community and other stakeholders may consider in this collective endeavour, including proposals for prosecutions, legal reforms, and assistance to victims and survivors, including through the provision of humanitarian visas and the establishment of a Victims' fund.
In this respect, the Mission deepened its investigations into the responsibility of State entities and officials for gross human rights violations and crimes under international law in relation to the use of force, detention, the judicial system and the mandatory hijab enforcement. This includes investigating the roles, structures, and responsibilities of the IRGC, the Basij, the Ministry of Intelligence, the Ministry of Interior, the police (FARAJA), including its special forces, and the “Morality Police”, the provincial governors, as well as the Judiciary. In light of their roles and authority within these entities, the heads of those entities bear responsibility.
Considering the gravity of its findings with respect to the commission of gross human rights violations and crimes against humanity, 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 to continue to be strongly seized of the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The Mission further found that the human rights concerns in Iran are extensive and complex and transcend both the temporal and material scope of the mandate entrusted to it by the Human Rights Council. The Mission therefore suggests that, upon completion of its mandate, the Council consider mandating an independent body to follow-up on the mission’s work. Such a body should continue to investigate allegations of serious human rights violations and crimes against humanity in Iran, both past and ongoing, the root causes of such violations and crimes, including structural and systemic discrimination against women, men and children, including on the grounds of gender, ethnicity and/or religion and/or political beliefs; monitor and follow up on domestic and international accountability; continue investigation of the responsibility of alleged perpetrators both State entities and individuals, by documenting, verifying, consolidating and preserving evidence for legal proceedings. The independent body should have an explicit mandate to cooperate with judicial authorities that comply with international human rights standards, and with other legal processes, or quasi-judicial bodies engaged in the protection of victims’ rights, in close consultation with victims, survivors, civil society, UN human rights mechanisms, including the Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran and other relevant stakeholders.
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