Amnesty Accuses Iran of Crimes Against Humanity

Amnesty International says Iranian authorities committed crimes against humanity during the deadly crackdown that followed the September 2022 death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. Amini had been arrested by Iran’s morality police for allegedly wearing unsuitable attire, and her death triggered the Woman, Life, Freedom movement. In a report based on 270 interviews, more than 2,000 videos and extensive documentary evidence, Amnesty describes a systematic campaign involving unlawful killings, torture, enforced disappearances, imprisonment, rape and persecution based on political, gender, ethnic and religious grounds. The organization identifies 87 Iranian officials for potential criminal investigation, including 10 national-level figures and 77 officials at regional, provincial and county levels. Amnesty says the authorities’ alleged chain of command extends from senior security officials to local officials, and that many of those responsible continue to oversee violent crackdowns. It is urging international action, warning that years of inaction have allowed impunity to become normalized. Amnesty recorded 377 deaths during the 2022 protests, including 56 children, while Iranian authorities acknowledged only 202 deaths and blamed most on non-state actors. The report says Kurdish and Baluchi communities were disproportionately targeted, accounting for approximately 62 per cent of known victims despite representing no more than 15 per cent of Iran’s population. The report also links the 2022 crackdown to protests earlier in 2026, which began over economic hardship but developed into broader demands for political change. A U.S.-based monitoring group reported 7,007 deaths connected to that crackdown. Amnesty condemned human-rights abuses by Iran but cautioned that they must not be used to justify unlawful military attacks by other states. The organization says it shared its findings with Iran’s leadership and senior security officials but received no response.

Amnesty International has accused Iranian authorities of committing crimes against humanity during the 2022 crackdown on the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests, according to a 1,000-page report released on September 16, 2026. The protests began after the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, an Iranian Kurdish woman arrested for allegedly violating Iran’s mandatory dress rules, and continued for several months across the country. The rights group said security forces unlawfully killed hundreds of protesters and bystanders between September and December 2022, including dozens of children. Amnesty identified 377 people who died, including 56 children, and said at least 326 were killed by security forces, in some cases with metal pellets fired at close range. The organization also documented arbitrary arrests, incommunicado detention, enforced disappearances, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence. Amnesty named 87 national and regional officials it believes were responsible within the chain of command, including former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and senior figures in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Six named officials were later killed in US-Israeli air strikes, while others, including former Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi, remain alive. Amnesty called on the UN General Assembly to establish an international criminal justice mechanism to prosecute those most responsible. The report also compared the 2022 crackdown with Iranian authorities’ response to protests in 2026, saying the newer repression followed the same pattern but occurred on an even deadlier and larger scale. The article highlights the case of Minoo Majidi, a 62-year-old protester killed in Kermanshah, and Ali Zarei, who was blinded during the 2022 protests, later returned to Iran and was arrested and sentenced to death. Amnesty and relatives of victims urged international action to protect people still facing arrest or execution.

Amnesty International has accused Iranian authorities of committing crimes against humanity during the crackdown on protests in 2022, when hundreds of people were killed. The protests began after the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, whose detention over alleged violations of Iran’s mandatory dress code triggered nationwide demonstrations centered on women’s rights and opposition to government repression. According to the report, Amnesty says Iranian authorities used widespread suppression against protesters and that new demonstrations taking place in 2026 display the “same hallmarks” as the earlier crackdown, but on an even broader scale. The brief report does not provide further details about the number of casualties, the specific abuses alleged, or the current demonstrations, instead focusing on Amnesty’s assessment and its call for accountability. France 24 interviews Raha Bahreini, an Iran researcher at Amnesty International. Bahreini calls for the creation of an international criminal justice mechanism capable of investigating and prosecuting those responsible for the alleged crimes. Her position reflects Amnesty’s view that domestic accountability in Iran is insufficient and that an international process is needed to address serious human-rights violations. The article presents the allegations in the context of Iran’s broader human-rights situation, including the treatment of protesters and women’s-rights activists. Its central message is that the repression associated with the 2022 protests has allegedly continued in a similar and potentially expanded form, while those responsible remain in need of prosecution. The report is based on Amnesty International’s claims and an interview with its researcher rather than on an independently detailed investigation presented in the supplied text.