The document highlights several ways in which Iranian security forces have violated the rights of minorities, including through “extrajudicial killings, unnecessary use of lethal force, arbitrary arrests, torture, rape” and other crimes against humanity.
The mission says that this is the “direct result of long-term discrimination“that must stop immediately.
The impact of the protests
The plea document states that the impact these communities have experienced “cannot be overstated” as their social structures have not changed.
“Women belonging to ethnic and religious minorities experience clear harms, which are further compounded by pre-existing discrimination and violence against them as women, but also because of their status as ethnic and religious minorities,” the article said.
It continued: “The impact on children is transgenerational – whose multifaceted damage can still be expected in the coming decades.”
In addition to the Kurdish and Baluch minorities, the Azerbaijani Turks and the Ahwazi Arab minorities were also severely affected.
Death in custody
The protests in Iran were sparked by the “unlawful” killing of Jina Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian-Kurdish woman, in September 2022 after she was arrested for violating Iran’s mandatory hijab laws.
Most of the protesters who took part in the movement, which lasted well into 2023, belonged to ethnic and religious minorities.
According to the plea document, the already existing significant military and security presence in border regions where minorities live created an ideal environment for the state to crack down on the protests, leading to many deaths and injuries.
Lack of accountability
The trials that followed these protests “were marred by violations of fair trial and due process rules,” the newspaper said.
According to the fact-finding mission, accountability for the actions of Iran’s security services remains “elusive” and there is no meaningful criminal investigation into the abuses.
The mission calls for “Transformative measures for reparations and accountability at national and international levels to safeguard the rights of victims.”
The International Fact-Finding Mission consists of independent experts in the field of human rights, appointed by the UN Human Rights CouncilThe members of the mission are not UN staff and receive no payment for their work.
