A fact-finding mission examined the case of Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish-Iranian woman who died in September 2022 after detention in Tehran. Authorities cited her wearing the veil incorrectly as the stated cause, a trigger that sparked widespread protests across the country. The mission’s findings cast serious doubt on the official account, highlighting the role of physical violence in custody as a contributing factor to Amini’s death.
The mission stated that the rapid, thorough, and transparent investigations required by humanitarian law were not conducted. Instead, it alleged that the government concealed the truth and hindered accountability, delaying justice for those affected. The report emphasizes that the state mobilized its security apparatus to suppress demonstrations, a move described as a coordinated effort to stifle dissent while the protests unfolded nationwide.
According to the mission’s sources, about 551 people died during the protests, including 68 children. The document notes that many of those killed and injured suffered from excessive use of force. There were accounts of extensive injuries to the eyes among protesters and other serious harm inflicted by security forces, with statements pointing to evidence of extrajudicial killings. While police officers were also reported killed or injured in the course of the unrest, the bulk of the demonstrations are characterized as peaceful by the mission, underscoring a broader pattern of suppression rather than violent confrontation.
The report condemns a pattern of arbitrary arrests, including people who were simply dancing, chanting, painting walls, honking car horns, or posting messages on social networks. It also details grave abuses against detainees, including women and girls who were subjected to torture in attempts to extract confessions or to intimidate, humiliate, and punish them. The mission documents other forms of gender-based violence, including acts such as sexual violence and coercive practices that amount to abuse during detention.
According to the mission, many individuals continue to pay a high price for exercising peaceful dissent. It notes ongoing pressure on relatives of victims, journalists, activists, lawyers, and medical professionals, with authorities reportedly endorsing or enabling human rights violations through official statements and policies. The head of the mission, Sara Hossain, described these actions as part of a broader, systematic assault on civilians in Iran, particularly those seeking freedom and equality. She urged the government to halt the pressure immediately and to respect the rights of participants in peaceful protests, especially women and girls who have faced intimidation and repression.
Viviana Krsticevic, a member of the mission, stressed that Iran bears an obligation to protect the rights of women and children and to guarantee their access to truth, justice, and reparations for victims. Given what the mission views as entrenched discrimination against Iranian women and girls, it called for transformative reparations. These would involve full participation by all sectors of Iranian society and would require a review of laws, reforms to the judicial system, and strengthened accountability mechanisms among other measures.