Iran’s 2022 protest crackdown included killings, torture and rape, the UN notes

Iran’s UN mission in New York did not immediately comment on the report.

The investigative team established at the end of 2022 was denied entry to Iran. It said it faced obstacles from government electronic surveillance, intimidation and intimidation of some witnesses and victims, which deterred many people from giving evidence. But through in-depth interviews with others, along with access to independent reports, medical imaging and official documents, the mission said it was able to gather enough evidence to establish facts.

It describes patterns of use of lethal and less-lethal force by security forces to disperse protests, including the use of weapons armed with birdshot that systematically target demonstrators’ heads, faces, necks and genitals, often causing permanent, life-changing injuries are inflicted.

During their crackdown, authorities arrested tens of thousands of people, including hundreds of children, some as young as 10 years old, the mission said, noting official statements that the government had pardoned 22,000 people and that the average age of detainees was 15 years used to be.

But the mission also revealed evidence of torture and sexual violence against detainees to extract confessions and information and to punish and humiliate victims. Physical abuse included hitting, burning, electric shock and being held in stress positions. The sexual violence, which investigators say was used against women, men and children, included rape and threats of rape, electrocution of genitals, forced nudity and groping.

Children were held for days, even weeks, without knowing the reasons for their detention and without contact with their families, the researchers reported. “Like adults, they were subjected to severe physical, psychological and sexual torture, including rape.”