GENEVA, September 20 — A United Nations fact-finding mission has concluded that civilians in Iran suffered serious human rights violations and crimes against humanity at the hands of their own government, while also finding reasonable grounds to believe the United States committed a war crime during its ongoing conflict with the Islamic Republic. The Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran released its report on Monday. Its members are independent experts who are not UN staff and do not represent any organization.
Killings by security forces occurred on a massive scale in all provinces of Iran, the mission documented, during what it described as the government’s violent crackdown on mass protests that stretched from last year into this year. The report states that at least 221 children were killed, some as young as two years old.
Security forces also attacked health care facilities, beating and arresting wounded protesters and arresting some health care workers, discouraging victims from seeking life-saving care. Tens of thousands of people were subjected to arbitrary detention. There they faced torture, solitary confinement and denial of legal advice, while families were left without any information about the whereabouts of their loved ones, amid circumstances that raise concerns about enforced disappearances.
The mission noted the execution of at least 29 men in connection with the protests following summary trials, five of whom were publicly executed. It warned that more than 70 people, including five women and three boys, still face imminent risk of execution.
Many of these grave violations amount to crimes against humanity, the report concluded, including murder, imprisonment, torture and other inhumane acts committed as part of a widespread and systematic attack against civilians.
Findings on US strikes
Following attacks launched by the United States and Israel on Iran in February, the mission found reasonable grounds to believe that the United States committed a war crime by launching indiscriminate attacks that killed or injured civilians or damaged civilian objects. These attacks included Tomahawk missile strikes targeting the clearly identifiable Tree of Tayyiba Elementary School in Minab, killing more than 150 people, including about 120 children.
Another air strike saw precision missiles launch clouds of tungsten pellets over a clearly identifiable sports complex and residential area in Lamard, killing 22 civilians. The mission urged both Iran and the United States to immediately cease all violations and crimes, provide full compensation to the victims, and ensure that such acts are not repeated.
The independent experts reiterated the UN’s call to all combatants to immediately cease hostilities and work towards a permanent peace. They should also ensure that allegations of violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law by all parties are independently investigated and those responsible held to account, the report reads. For communities across Asia watching how the wider confrontation between Washington and Tehran plays out, the report lands at a delicate moment.
The same day it was released, the IAEA’s 70th General Conference opened in Vienna, where civilian casualties in Iran and Yemen have been the subject of prior UN coverage. What to watch next is whether either government responds to the mission’s call for independent investigations — and whether the cases of those still facing execution in Iran move forward or are halted.
