Iranian authorities committed crimes against humanity in 2022 protest crackdown, Amnesty says
Investigation says senior and local officials coordinated the lethal repression of the Woman Life Freedom uprising in 2022
Amnesty International has accused Iranian authorities of committing crimes against humanity during the suppression of the 2022 Woman Life Freedom uprising and called for 87 officials to face criminal investigation.
In a report released four years after the death in custody of Mahsa Amini triggered nationwide protests, the organization alleges that Iran used coordinated lethal force to silence demonstrators. It documents murder, torture, rape, enforced disappearance, imprisonment and persecution.
Amnesty recorded the deaths of 377 protesters and bystanders, including 56 children. It said security forces fired rifles, handguns and shotguns loaded with metal pellets into crowds, sometimes pursuing and shooting people as they fled.
The report is based on 270 interviews, more than 2,000 videos and records including court rulings, forensic documents and leaked official orders. Amnesty said the evidence points to a state policy implemented through Iran’s security councils, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and the national police.
The 87 officials identified include senior commanders, Interior Ministry officials and provincial and county authorities. Amnesty said their inclusion establishes grounds for investigation, not a finding of individual guilt. Iranian authorities did not respond to the organization’s findings before publication.
Kurdish and Baluchi communities suffered a disproportionate share of the violence, accounting for 62% of the deaths documented. Amnesty said this included 106 Baluchi victims and 95 Kurdish victims, concluding that the targeting of both communities amounted to persecution on ethnic and political grounds.
Amnesty called on the UN General Assembly to establish an international justice mechanism for Iran. It also urged national prosecutors to pursue cases under universal jurisdiction and asked states to press the UN Security Council to refer the situation to the International Criminal Court.
The organization said international accountability is necessary because Iran’s judicial system lacks independence from the officials and security institutions implicated in abuses.