Oppression and Mass Executions in Iran Persist

The United States recently co-sponsored a successful resolution in the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly condemning Iran's human rights record.

“For 46 years, the Islamic Republic has ruled through torture and execution, silencing dissent with public executions and beatings,” said Ambassador Christopher Henzel, U.S. Senior Adviser for Near Eastern Affairs at the United Nations. “We join our colleagues who voted in favor of this resolution in decrying the never-ending human rights violations and abuses perpetrated by the Iranian government, including denials of the right to life and the freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly, and religion or belief, particularly those against women and members of ethnic and religious minority groups.”

The resolution highlights what it describes as “a continued increase in and the cumulative impacts of long-standing persecution” against a wide range of religious minorities, including Baha’is, Christians, Gonabadi Dervishes, Jews, Sufi and Sunni Muslims, Yarsanis, and Zoroastrians. The resolution notes that these groups face intensified attacks, harassment, and targeting, with women and girls in minority communities at “particular risk.”

The resolution also denounces the repression of women linked to the compulsory hijab, administrative and criminal sanctions, digital surveillance, and restrictions on social, economic and political participation. It urges Iran to adopt comprehensive legislation against domestic violence, eliminate early and forced marriages, and remove gender-based restrictions.

The crackdown on protests, particularly those in 2022, which were sparked by the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, is strongly condemned. The resolution highlights the use of lethal force, mass arrests, reprisals against families, journalists, lawyers and human rights defenders, as well as Internet shutdowns and restrictive cyber legislation.

The United States stands with the Iranian people who continue to bravely fight to exercise the human rights guaranteed to them under international law.

Accordingly, the United States calls on the government of Iran to immediately release persons who continue to be unjustly and arbitrarily detained, end its efforts to terrorize dissidents outside of Iran, and cease its mass executions without respect for fair trial guarantees.

“The adoption of this resolution,” said Ambassador Henzel, “continues to ensure that Iran’s inhumane treatment of its own citizens — actions entirely antithetical to the principles and purpose of the Charter of the United Nations and this Committee’s work — does not go unpunished.”