The Islamic Republic is responsible for gross human rights violations committed in January in response to the widespread outbreak of protests, the United Nations’ Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran concluded in a report published Monday, which also condemned the United States and Israel for attacks against the regime.
Though the Islamic Republic failed to fully cooperate with the mission, denying it unhindered access to the country as it did following the crackdown on the 2022 Woman, Life, Freedom protests, the mission concluded that Tehran had violated individuals’ rights to life, freedom from torture and ill-treatment, personal security and liberty, a fair trial and an effective remedy, as well as the rights to peaceful assembly and association, freedom of expression, equality and non-discrimination, privacy and health.
The mission sent 47 information requests to the Islamic Republic, of which only 12 received responses, none of which provided the information requested.
Despite the Islamic Republic’s failure to cooperate with the investigation and its internet shutdown hindering access to information, the mission gathered testimonies from 73 individuals, satellite imagery, video and photographic material, as well as information from credible human rights organizations and forensic and military experts.
After the Islamic Republic restored internet connectivity to no more than 30% of pre-shutdown levels, access to online spaces and communication remained heavily restricted. A tiered system requiring prior authorization and identity verification prevented unauthorized users from accessing certain systems, which the mission said had “appeared to strengthen its control over digital space.”
Internet shutdown blocked communications to family, emergency services
The internet shutdown meant that, at the height of the violent repression of the protests on January 8 and 9, Iranian civilians were deprived of the ability to communicate, access information and seek medical or emergency assistance. Health workers told the mission that the shutdown made it difficult to reach colleagues, coordinate treatment and follow up with sick or wounded individuals. Protesters wounded by security forces also struggled to arrange medical treatment.
Families inside and outside Iran were unable to learn the fate of their loved ones during the demonstrations, leaving them anxious about their well-being. Additionally, when war broke out with the United States and Israel on February 28, the internet shutdown left the civilian population without access to timely, potentially lifesaving information.
Though the full extent of the regime’s violence was not determined by the mission, the report confirmed that the crackdown on the January protests resulted in at least three and a half times as many injuries and five and a half times as many deaths as the repression of the 2022 Woman, Life, Freedom protests.
This demonstrated, the mission concluded, that the suppression “went beyond a simple continuation of familiar patterns and represented a marked escalation in the use of lethal force and mass arrests.”
The Islamic Republic acknowledged the deaths of only 3,038 individuals and the wounding of 25,000, more than 50% of whom it said required surgery, while attributing most of the casualties to “terrorists.”
However, based on information from credible organizations and discrepancies in figures provided by the regime, the mission concluded that the true death toll was significantly higher than the figures reported by Tehran and that security forces were responsible for the violence.
Tear gas, shotguns fired at protesters
Security forces routinely fired tear gas before firing shotguns loaded with metal pellets at protesters who did not present an imminent threat, the mission found. Evidence collected from witnesses and healthcare workers, including medical records, showed that protesters sustained metal pellet injuries to the eyes, head, chest and upper body, “suggesting that security forces intended to maximize the damage caused by this type of ammunition.”
Officials from Farabi Hospital in Tehran confirmed that between January 8 and the morning of January 10, more than 700 people had sought treatment for eye injuries, some of which resulted in severe or total loss of vision. One health professional told the mission that the injuries indicated that shotgun rounds had been fired from close range at protesters.
Another healthcare worker described treating protesters who were injured after tear gas canisters were fired directly at their faces from close range.
Medical staff, wounded protesters and other unnamed sources told the mission that security forces monitored hospitals to search for and arrest those they believed had been demonstrating. In some cases, medical personnel were also arrested for providing the treatment. The apparent presence of security forces also led to many avoiding medical treatment, with some dying from their wounds as a result.
Further highlighting the pattern of violence, the mission was able to verify a video posted online on January 10 showing individuals firing on fleeing crowds from the roof of a police station in Tehran. The individuals appeared to be firing assault rifles, and there was no evidence to suggest an imminent threat. Another series of verified videos showed individuals firing from a roof outside a police station in Karaj, again where there was no evidence of an imminent threat.
Witnesses also described hearing sustained automatic gunfire during demonstrations in Tehran, Karaj, Mashhad and Abadan and seeing protesters collapse after being shot, some from the back, suggesting that they had been fleeing when they were killed.
Children were not spared from the violence. The mission confirmed that a 16-year-old boy was shot in both eyes with metal pellets, resulting in the loss of vision in his right eye, while another boy was blinded in one eye after being shot with metal pellets at close range. The second boy sustained pellet wounds to the upper half of his face and the back of his forearm, “indicating that he likely had adopted a defensive posture before being shot.”
Small children treated for shotgun wounds
One healthcare professional also told the mission that they had treated children as young as 10 for shotgun pellet injuries, while credible sources told the mission that children as young as five were injured during the demonstrations. An unnamed human rights organization also provided the names of at least 221 children who were killed during the protests, including by lethal ammunition. According to the organization, six of the children were under the age of 10, and two were only two years old.
The mission was also able to confirm that at least three individuals were sentenced to death despite being minors at the time of the alleged offense. Two 17-year-old boys were sentenced to death alongside Hosseinipour Hesarlou, now 19, for allegedly setting fire to the Seyyed al-Shohada Mosque, which allegedly resulted in the death of two individuals.
The mission was told the death sentences were upheld, and a lawyer representing one of the defendants complained that he had been barred by the judge from representing his client.
Witnesses who were detained by the security forces also recounted to the mission the torture and ill-treatment they had witnessed or experienced. One individual, who was detained in Karaj, recounted how he had been kicked in the mouth when he questioned why he was being arrested, and another described being detained in a continuously lit room in solitary confinement for around one month, where she was deprived of prescribed medication and subjected to regular interrogation sessions lasting up to six hours each without the presence of a lawyer.
Families of the regime’s victims also told the mission that authorities had refused to release the bodies of their loved ones, in some cases demanding payment or refusing to return the body until the family signed a document with false information that would support the regime’s narrative of the events.
