Iran ‘must end’ crackdown on protesters, says international fact-finding mission

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

GENEVA (AA) - Iranian authorities must stop its crackdown on protestors and put an end to the wave of executions, mass arrests, and detentions, a fact-finding mission sent by the UN Human Rights Council said on Wednesday.

"It (Iran) must respect, fulfil, and protect the rights of all people in Iran, especially women and girls, the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran said in its first oral update to the UN Human Rights Council.

Protests erupted in Iran in September 2022 following 22-year-old Mahsa Amini’s arrest by the country’s morality police and subsequent death while in police custody.

"Ten months on, Jina Mahsa’s family’s right to truth and justice remain unfulfilled, and we are concerned that domestic investigations have fallen short of international human rights norms and standards, including the requirements of promptness, independence, and transparency, said Sara Hossain, the chair of the mission.

The mission said that no official data is publicly available regarding those arrested, detained, charged, or convicted in connection with the protests.

“But reports continue to emerge of arrests and detentions of protesters, including women and girls refusing to comply with the country’s forced veiling law, and of harassment of their family members,” it added.

Viviana Krsticevic, a member of the mission, said: "We are concerned by the continuous detention of human rights defenders and lawyers defending the protestors and at least 17 journalists, including Nilufar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi, who first reported on Jina Mahsa’s death in custody,"

According to reports received by the fact-finding mission, at least 26 individuals have been sentenced to death in connection with the protests, while dozens more have been charged with or face offenses carrying the death penalty. At least seven men have been executed.

It underlined that the mission has sent seven letters to the Iranian government on repeated requests for a visit to the country to gather information critical to its investigations.

"These have so far gone unanswered," it said.

At the Human Rights Council's 55th session in March 2024, the fact-finding mission will give a thorough report on its findings.