Human rights group Amnesty International urged world leaders at the UN General Assembly to devise a mechanism to hold Iran accountable for its violent crackdown on popular protests.

In a statement on Wednesday, the group said that the international community “must support calls for the establishment of an independent international investigative and accountability mechanism to address the prevailing crisis of impunity in Iran."

Stressing the urgent need for action, Amnesty denounced the recent the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa (Zhina) Amini and the barrage of gunfire unleashed on protesters which has left about 20 people dead and hundreds injured.

Highlighting the evidence of “security forces’ unlawful use of birdshot and other metal pellets, teargas, water cannon, and beatings with batons to disperse protesters,” Amnesty’s deputy Diana Eltahawy said that “The global outpouring of rage and empathy over Mahsa Amini’s death must be followed by concrete steps by the international community to tackle the crisis of systemic impunity that has allowed widespread torture, extrajudicial executions and other unlawful killings by Iranian authorities to continue unabated both behind prison walls and during protests.”

“The Iranian authorities’ latest brutal crackdown on protests coincides with Ebrahim Raisi’s speech at the UN,” she added, noting that "Iran’s security forces will continue to feel emboldened to kill or injure protesters and prisoners, including women arrested for defying abusive compulsory veiling laws, if they are not held accountable."