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The UN Human Rights Council decided connected Friday (January 23, 2026) to deepen its scrutiny of Iran implicit its crackdown connected protests that near thousands dead, including children, amid demands it extremity its “brutal repression”.
The 47-member assemblage voiced alarm astir “the unprecedented standard of the convulsive crackdown connected peaceful protests by information forces” successful Iran.
With 25 votes successful favour, 7 opposed and the remainder abstaining, it decided to widen and broaden the mandate of autarkic investigators gathering grounds towards ensuring accountability for rights violations successful the country.
“A clime of fearfulness and systematic impunity cannot beryllium tolerated,” Iceland’s ambassador Einar Gunnarsson said arsenic helium presented the substance to the assembly earlier the vote. “Victims and survivors merit truth, justness and accountability.”
Stressing the request for “accountability”, the adopted substance extends the mandate of a peculiar rapporteur connected Iran for different year.
It besides extended for 2 years the enactment of a abstracted fact-finding ngo acceptable up successful November 2022, pursuing Iran’s crackdown connected a question of protests sparked by the decease successful custody of an Iranian Kurdish pistillate named Mahsa Amini.
The solution empowers the investigative assemblage to probe “allegations of caller and ongoing superior quality rights violations and abuses, and crimes perpetrated successful narration to the protests”.
The ballot came astatine the extremity of an urgent league of the rights council, requested by Britain, Germany, Iceland, Moldova, and North Macedonia, but harshly criticised by Iran.
‘Accountability’
In his opening remarks to the council, UN rights main Volker Turk described however information forces utilized “live ammunition” against protesters, decrying that “thousands” had been killed, including children.
“I telephone connected the Iranian authorities to reconsider, to propulsion back, and to extremity their brutal repression, including summary trials and disproportionate sentences,” helium said.
“I telephone for the contiguous merchandise of each those arbitrarily detained by the Iranian authorities, and I telephone for a implicit moratorium connected the decease penalty.”
His comments were broadly echoed during the rights assembly peculiar session.
“There indispensable beryllium accountability for the dire events of the past weeks, and justness indispensable beryllium done for each those who were killed, injured oregon detained lone for exercising their quality rights and for voicing morganatic demands,” the European Union typical Michele Cervone d’Urso told the gathering.
Iranian ambassador Ali Bahreini nevertheless slammed Friday’s (January 23) gathering arsenic “posturing” and “a unit instrumentality against Iran”. His workfellow Somayeh Karimdoost described the solution arsenic “a thoroughly unbalanced biased and politically motivated text”.
A fig of countries besides came to Iran’s defence, accusing the assembly of being “politicised” and showing “double standards”.
Cuban ambassador Rodolfo Benitez slammed the league arsenic an “act of ultimate cynicism”, portion China’s ambassador Jia Guide said Beijing “opposed interference successful different countries’ interior affairs connected the pretext of quality rights”.
‘Chilling’
Mr. Turk’s bureau and NGOs tracking the toll from the crackdown connected the biggest protests successful Iran successful years person said their task has been impeded by a present two-week net shutdown.
Giving their archetypal authoritative toll from the protests, Iranian authorities connected Wednesday (January 21) said 3,117 radical had been killed since the monolithic demonstrations erupted precocious December.
But the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency connected Friday (January 23) enactment the fig of deaths astatine much than 5,000, informing the confirmed figures were apt to beryllium acold little than the existent toll.
Another NGO, Norway-based Iran Human Rights, has warned the last toll risks reaching the standard of 25,000.
The protests person present mostly halted, but portion “the sidesplitting successful the streets of Iran whitethorn person subsided... the brutality continues”, Mr. Turk warned.
He decried the “chilling development” successful which Iran’s judiciary main this week said determination would beryllium nary leniency for the thousands detained.
“I americium profoundly acrophobic by contradictory statements from the Iranian authorities astir whether those detained successful transportation with the protests whitethorn beryllium executed,” Mr. Turk said.
He pointed retired that Iran “remains among the apical executioner states successful the world”, with astatine slightest 1,500 radical reportedly executed determination past year.
