The U.N. Human Rights Council said in a Friday report Iran's violent repression of rights protests and its discrimination against women and girls amount to crimes against humanity. Shown is a protest following the death of Mahsa Amini, in Tehran, Iran, Sept. 2022. She was arrested for incorrectly wearing a hijab and died in custody. File photo by EPA-EFE/STR
March 8 (UPI) -- A U.N. Human Rights Council fact-finding mission said Friday that Iran's violent repression of peaceful protests and pervasive institutional discrimination against women and girls amount to crimes against humanity.
The mission's first report said that Iran conducted extrajudicial killings as well as unlawful killings and murder, unnecessary and disproportionate use of force, arbitrary deportation of liberty, torture, rape, enforced disappearances and gender persecution all of which "disproportionately impacted" women, children and members of religious minorities in response to the "Woman, Life, Freedom" protests.
"Pervasive and deep-rooted structural and institutionalized discrimination against women and girls, permeating all areas of their public and private lives, was both a trigger and an enabler of the widespread serious human rights violations and crimes under international law committed against women and girls in the Islamic Republic of Iran, as well as others advocating for equality and human rights, in the context of the 'Woman, Life, Freedom' movement," the report said.
The mission's report also found Iran arbitrarily executed at least nine young men while dozens of people charged with capital offenses "remain at risk of execution or receiving a death sentence in relation to the protests."
The report revealed disproportionate force including a pattern of extensive injuries to protesters' eyes that blinded scores of women, men and children.
The U.N. Human Rights Council urged Iranian authorities to stop all executions and immediately and unconditionally release all people "arbitrarily arrested and detained in the context of the protests or for non-compliance with or advocacy against the mandatory hijab."
The fact-finding mission also called on Iranian authorities to "provide justice, truth and reparations to victims of human rights violations" in accordance with international human rights standards.
"We urge the Government to immediately halt the repression of those who have engaged in peaceful protests, in particular women and girls," said Sara Hossain, chair of the Fact-Finding Mission in a statement.
The mission report said Iran used arbitrary arrests against people who just chanted, danced, wrote slogans on walls, honked car horns or posted on social media in support of women's rights, equality and accountability.
Iranian women activists, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi, staged a hunger strike in January to protest the execution of Mohammad Ghobadlou.
The United States and Western allies sanctioned Iran in January 2023 for the violent repression of protests following the highly publicized death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. She died in custody after being arrested for incorrectly wearing her hijab.
More sanctions from Western nations were placed on the Law Enforcement Forces of Iran and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in April 2023 for their roles in protest suppression.
