A report submitted to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Secretary General has called for Iran to halt surging executions and rollback mandatory veiling. 

It was among a long list of recommendations in a report submitted last month pursuant to General Assembly resolution 77/228, in which the UN General Assembly requested the Secretary-General to submit an interim report on the situation of human rights in Iran to the Human Rights Council at its fifty-third session.

The report calls for the regime to “immediately halt the execution of all individuals, including those sentenced to death in the context of protests and for drug-related offences, and to refrain from further application of the death penalty”.

This year alone, more than 350 Iranians have been hanged, according to Norway-based Iran Human Rights. The rights group noted it is a 36% increase on the same period last year, likely exacerbated by the ongoing uprising since the death in morality police custody of Mahsa Amini and the subsequent unrest sweeping the country.

As the trend sees no sign of halting, the UN calls on the regime to “abolish the death penalty and introduce an immediate moratorium on its use and prohibit the execution of child offenders in all circumstances and commute their sentences”.

Referring to the innumerable cases of prisoners detained arbitrarily, including women and girls, human rights defenders, lawyers, and journalists, for legitimately exercising their rights to freedoms of opinion and expression, association and of peaceful assembly, the UN calls on their release. In the 2023 Freedom House report, Iran ranked 12 out of 100 countries for its being “not free”, moving up from 14 in 2022.

Additionally, the UN urged the regime to “guarantee the right of peaceful assembly” and called on the regime to “uphold the full respect for due process and fair trial rights in line with international standards”, including access to legal counsel. Iran refuted the allegations made in the report of a disproportionate response by security forces to the protests.

As internet shutdowns and censorship continue to blight millions across the country, including decimating small businesses which rely on e-commerce, the UN asked that “internet shutdowns are never applied as they inherently impose unacceptable consequences for human rights”.

Addressing the mandatory hijab laws which have most recently seen the return of the morality police to the streets, high level surveillance of the population, brutality and the banning of women from many public places, the UN called on Iran to “take further steps to eliminate all forms of gender-based discrimination and violence against women and girls in law and in practice, including thorough revision and repeal of laws and policies which criminalize non-compliance with compulsory veiling”.

While the hundreds of mystery school poisonings which began last November in Qom and spread nationwide have still got no clearer answers as to the culprits, the UN reiterated the need for an “independent, impartial, prompt, thorough and effective investigation into reported poison attacks on girls’ schools with a view to hold the perpetrators to account; provide full reparations to the victims and guarantee the right to education without discrimination”.

Last month, Viviana Krsticevic, a member of the Fact-Finding Mission on Iran, speaking at a press conference in Geneva said the team, established by the Human Rights Council in November 2022, said: “We have identified major risks of further erosion of women's and girls’ rights in Iran. We have expressed concern about the continuous repression of women and girls opposing forced veiling and their reported use of facial recognition technologies to identify and arrest them.” 

The team is also investigating whether alleged poisonings of girls in schools have been orchestrated as a way to punish or deter girls for their involvement in the protests. “Just two months after the protests occurred, a series of alleged poisonings started in dozens of schools in 28 provinces”, added Krsticevic. “Reports said this may have been orchestrated to punish girls or to turn them from involvement in the protests and are being duly investigated in the framework of our mandate.”

Echoing concerns about the proposed use of flogging for those defying compulsory veiling rules, Sara Hossein, Chair of the Fact-Finding Mission, said some of the penalties were “clearly what would constitute inhuman punishment under international law”.

Alongside gender discrimination, the UN also addressed the regime’s continued campaign of repression against minority groups, including the Baha’i community and Iran’s Kurdish population.

The report points out that the regime has still not agreed to join several UN conventions including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, emphasizing the need for Iran to conform to international practice.

The Fact-Finding Mission is preparing a comprehensive report on its findings to the Human Rights Council for its 55th session in March 2024.