Amnesty calls for 87 Iranian officials to stand trial — Jerusalem Post
Human rights organization Amnesty International stated that 87 officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran should face international justice over the crackdown on the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests in 2022. In a report exceeding 1,000 pages, the organization concluded that Iranian authorities committed crimes against humanity, The Jerusalem Post reports.
Crimes against protest participants
According to Amnesty International, killings, torture, enforced disappearances, imprisonment, rape and persecution on political, gender, ethnic and religious grounds were committed during the suppression of the demonstrations. The organization documented the deaths of 377 protesters and bystanders, including 56 children.
According to Amnesty’s findings, most people were killed during the dispersal of protests between September and December 2022. Others died in custody, after release, or under suspicious circumstances which, in the organization’s view, may indicate state responsibility. The UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran had previously described as credible a figure of 551 deaths, including up to 49 women and 68 children.
Chain of command
Amnesty International stated that security forces acted within a hierarchical and coordinated chain of command linked to officials who ordered, facilitated or supported the crimes. The research is based on interviews with 270 people, including protesters, former detainees, relatives of those killed or detained, medical workers, lawyers and journalists, as well as an analysis of more than 2,000 videos and documents.
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Among the bodies Amnesty named as key to the deadly dispersals were the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Law Enforcement Command of the Islamic Republic of Iran, FARAJA. According to the organization, their personnel fired into crowds with assault rifles, pistols and shotguns loaded with metal pellets, and also pursued people who were fleeing.
Losses among Baloch and Kurds
According to human rights defenders, Baloch and Kurdish communities accounted for 62% of the recorded victims, although their shares of Iran’s population are estimated at 5% and 10–15%, respectively. Amnesty stated that it confirmed the unlawful killing of 106 Baloch protesters and bystanders, including 20 children, in Sistan and Baluchestan province. The organization also documented the deaths of 95 Kurdish protesters and bystanders, including 13 children, in the provinces of Kurdistan, Kermanshah and West Azerbaijan.
Amnesty International reported that it had presented its findings to Iran’s supreme leader and senior security officials, but had received no response by the time the report was published. The organization also called for the establishment of an international justice mechanism concerning the mass killings of protest participants in January 2026.
