Amnesty International’s latest report, unveiled on December 6, 2023, reveals alarming details about the plight of Iranian regime opponents and detainees during the 2022 protests.
The organization’s investigation has brought to light the extensive use of sexual violence by security forces as a tool to intimidate and coerce protesters and dissenters.
The comprehensive report documents the harrowing experiences of 45 survivors who were part of the nationwide protests. These include 26 men, 12 women, and seven children who suffered unimaginable atrocities like rape, gang rape, and various forms of sexual violence. These heinous acts were committed by agents of the Revolutionary Guards, the paramilitary Basij force, the Ministry of Intelligence, and different police branches including the Public Security Police, the Investigation Unit, and the Special Forces.
The details shared in the report are nothing short of appalling. Victims recounted being subjected to sexual violence using wooden and metal batons, glass bottles, hosepipes, and even the sexual organs and fingers of their perpetrators. These acts of brutality were not confined to detention facilities but also occurred in police vehicles, and makeshift locations such as schools and residential buildings.
These testimonies suggest a broader pattern of using sexual violence as a key weapon in suppressing protests and dissent, enabling the authorities to maintain power at all costs.
Beyond the sexual violence, the report notes that victims were also subjected to other forms of torture. These included beatings, electric shocks, denial of food and water, and horrific detention conditions. Most survivors were denied medical care, significantly worsening their physical and psychological suffering.
Fear and distrust have led most survivors to refrain from filing complaints, as the judiciary is perceived not as a tool for justice but as an instrument of repression. Adding to this grim picture, Amnesty International highlighted a leaked document dated October 13, 2022, indicating an intentional cover-up by authorities of rape complaints against Revolutionary Guards agents, with suggestions to classify the case as “completely secret” and to close it gradually.
Agnés Callamard, Secretary-General of Amnesty International, strongly condemned these actions. She stated, Our research exposes how Iranian intelligence and security agents used rape and other sexual violence as torture.
To punish protesters and dissenters, inflicting lasting damage on individuals, including children as young as 12.
Callamard stressed the need for political will and fundamental reforms in Iran’s justice system, which has repeatedly failed to investigate crimes under international law. She called on free countries to initiate criminal investigations against suspected perpetrators under the principle of universal jurisdiction and to issue international arrest warrants, emphasizing the need for global accountability and justice.
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