Amnesty’s 2023 Report Highlights Rampant Rights Abuses In Iran

Amnesty International’s 2023 report on Iran details extensive human rights violations following the 2022 “Woman, Life, Freedom” uprising including unlawful arrests and physical abuse.

The report, published Wednesday, highlights the Iranian authorities’ intensified suppression of freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly, particularly targeting women and girls defying compulsory hijab laws.

According to the report, security forces employed unlawful force and mass arrests to quell protests.

“Thousands were subjected to interrogation, arbitrary detention, unjust prosecution, and imprisonment for peacefully exercising their human rights.

“Enforced disappearances, and torture and other ill-treatment were widespread and systematic. Women and girls, LGBTI people, and ethnic and religious minorities were subjected to systemic discrimination and violence,” read the report.

It also criticized the continued use of cruel and inhuman punishments including flogging and an increase in executions, which were described as a tool of political repression.

The Iranian government also censored media, jammed satellite channels, and blocked or filtered numerous mobile apps and social media platforms, significantly restricting freedom of information.

Moreover, the authorities continue to ban independent political parties, civil society organizations, and trade unions, and have retaliated against workers and labor rights activists for participating in peaceful gatherings.

The judiciary played a pivotal role in entrenching impunity for torture, enforced disappearances, and other human rights violations.

Amnesty's report sheds light on the severe conditions and abuses faced by detainees, including denial of adequate healthcare, suspicious deaths in custody, and the implementation of torturous legal punishments such as flogging, amputation, and blinding.

The systemic discrimination and violence extended to women and girls, with the authorities intensifying the crackdown on those who defy the compulsory hijab laws. Punitive policies severely violated their social, economic, cultural, civil, and political rights, restricting their freedom of movement.

The US State Department on Monday also released its annual report on Iran's human rights situation, stressing that the country's "already severe restrictions on human rights worsened in a number of areas" during 2023.