Schlagwort: Amnesty International

Iranian authorities have unleashed a deadly crackdown on protesters across the country since 28 December 2025, marked by security forces’ unlawful use of force and firearms and mass arbitrary arrests, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said today.

The organizations’ findings reveal how security forces, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Iran’s police force, known by its Persian acronym FARAJA, have unlawfully used rifles, shotguns loaded with metal pellets, water cannon, tear gas and beatings to disperse, intimidate and punish largely peaceful protesters.

The crackdown has resulted in the killing of at least 28 protesters and bystanders, including children, in 13 cities across eight provinces between 31 December 2025 and 3 January 2026, based on credible information gathered by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. 

“People in Iran daring to express their anger at decades of repression and demand fundamental change are once again being met with a deadly pattern of security forces unlawfully firing at, chasing, arresting and beating protesters, in scenes reminiscent of the Woman Life Freedom uprising of 2022. Iran’s top security body, the Supreme National Security Council, must immediately issue orders for security forces to stop the unlawful use of force and firearms,” said Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.

Protests erupted on 28 December 2025 following a sharp currency collapse, amid soaring inflation, chronic state mismanagement of essential services, including access to water, and worsening living conditions. Starting with shop closures and strikes in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar, protests quickly spread nationwide, evolving into street demonstrations calling for the downfall of the Islamic Republic system and demanding human rights, dignity and freedom. The authorities responded with violent dispersals and mass arrests, with hundreds already arbitrarily detained and at risk of torture and other ill-treatment.

“The frequency and persistence with which the Iranian security forces have unlawfully used force, including lethal force, against protesters, combined with systematic impunity for members of security force who commit grave violations, indicate that the use of such weapons to crush protests remains entrenched as state policy,” said Michael Page, Deputy Middle East and North Africa Director at Human Rights Watch.

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International spoke to 26 people, including protesters, eyewitnesses, human rights defenders, journalists, and a medical professional, reviewed official statements, and analysed dozens of verified videos published online or shared with the organizations. An independent pathologist consulted by Amnesty International reviewed images of protesters injured or killed.

Iran’s top security body, the Supreme National Security Council, must immediately issue orders for security forces to stop the unlawful use of force and firearms. 

Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa

Senior state officials have demonized protesters as “rioters” and vowed a “firm” crackdown.

On 3 January 2026, when security forces killed at least 11 protesters, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said “rioters should be put in their place.” On the same day, the IRGC’s provincial corps of Lorestan province declared that the period of “tolerance” was over, pledging to target “rioters, organizers and leaders of anti-security movements … without leniency.”

On 5 January 2026, the Head of the Judiciary also ordered prosecutors to show “no leniency” to protesters and to expedite their trials.

UN member states and regional bodies, such as the EU, should issue unequivocal public condemnations and undertake urgent diplomatic action to pressure the Iranian authorities to stop the bloodshed, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said.

Given the prevailing climate of systemic impunity that has enabled Iranian authorities to repeatedly commit  crimes under international law documented by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, including murder, torture, rape, and enforced disappearances to eliminate and punish dissent, the organizations call on other countries’ prosecution authorities to initiate criminal investigations under the principle of universal jurisdiction, with a view to issuing arrest warrants for those suspected of responsibility.

Unlawful use of force and killings

The 28 victims were all shot by security forces, including with metal pellets fired from shotguns. Consistent with well-documented patterns of state denial and silencing, authorities have denied responsibility for the killings. Officials forced some victims’ families to appear on state media to blame deaths on accidents or protesters and threatened them with reprisals and secret burials of their loved ones if they do not comply.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch found that protesters have been largely peaceful. While the organizations have reviewed some footage and reports indicating that some protesters have engaged in acts of violence, in all the incidents of shootings investigated by the organizations, there was no imminent threat to life or serious injury justifying the use of firearms.

According to evidence gathered by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, the provinces of Lorestan and Ilam, home to Kurdish and Luri ethnic minorities, saw the deadliest repression, with at least eight killed in Lorestan and five killed in Ilam. Other provinces where killings took place between 31 December 2025 and 3 January 2026 include Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Fars, and Kermanshah, each with at least four deaths, as well as Esfahan, Hamedan and Qom, each with one death.

A protester in Azna, Lorestan province, told Amnesty International that on the evening of 1 January 2026, security forces opened fire on peaceful protesters near the county governor’s office in Azadegan Square. She shared a video, which the organizations verified, showing an IRGC agent firing at protesters. After the crowd dispersed, some protesters regrouped outside a nearby police station, where security forces opened fire again.

Verified videos published online on 1 January 2026 show protesters outside the station chanting. The sounds of gunshots can be heard in at least one verified video.

Information reviewed indicates that at least six protesters were killed in Azna, including Vahab Mousavi, Mostafa Falahi, Shayan Asadollahi, Ahmadreza Amani, and Reza Moradi Abdolvand. The authorities continue to withhold the body of Taha Safari, aged 16, who was initially reported as missing. An informed source told Amnesty International that on 3 January 2026, Taha Safari’s family members went to a police station to inquire about his whereabouts and an official there showed them pictures of several deceased individuals; the family identified Taha Safari among them. The image of his body showed visible severe head injuries.

A protester in Malekshahi, Ilam province, told Amnesty International that on the afternoon of 3 January 2026, hundreds of peaceful protesters marched from Shohada Square toward an IRGC Basij base:

“IRGC agents opened fire from inside the base, shooting … without regard for who they shot … Three to four people were killed instantly, and many others were injured. The protesters were completely unarmed.”

Two verified videos from Malekshahi taken in the afternoon show protesters outside the Basij base, fleeing amid the sound of gunshots. Another video posted online shows six agents inside the base with at least one firing a weapon toward protesters. Three victims with visible injuries, motionless, are seen in two videos.

Informed sources said that three protesters – Reza Azimzadeh, Latif Karimi and Mehdi Emamipour – were killed instantly. Two others, Fares (Mohsen) Agha Mohammadi and Mohammad Reza Karami, died later from their injuries.

In Jafarabad area in Kermanshah, Kermanshah province, Reza Ghanbary and two brothers, Rasoul Kadivarian and Reza Kadivarian,were fatally shot on 3 January 2026. A human rights defender said that plain-clothes agents, who arrived in three white vehicles, fired metal pellets at the brothers who were among a group of protesters trying to block a road.

In Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, Ahmad Jalil and Sajad Valamanesh were killed by security forces during protests in Lordegan on 1 January 2026 and Soroush Soleimani in Hafshejan on 3 January 2026, according to information received from a human rights defender. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch reviewed images of their bodies, showing classic spray patterns of metal pellet wounds on their torsos.

Protesters gravely injured

The organizations documented large-scale harm from the widespread use of metal pellets fired from shotguns, including head and eye injuries, as well as injuries caused by beatings and gunfire from rifles.

A protester from Dehdasht, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province, said that security forces shot him during protests on 3 January 2026. Fearing arrest, he avoided hospital care despite risk of losing his leg. An independent pathologist consulted by Amnesty International who reviewed a photograph of the protester’s injury noted that it could have been caused by a single shotgun pellet wound. 

On 6 January 2026, a photographer from Ilam city posted a video on social media showing his bloodied face covered with wounds from metal pellets. Showing a metal pellet to the camera, he said that security forces are using hunting ammunition against protesters: “Killing a human is a game to them. They think we are prey and they are hunters.”

A woman in Esfahan city told Amnesty International that an agent pushed her on the ground and stomped on her back as she was fleeing from security forces who were violently dispersing protests. She shared images showing her bloodied face with multiple abrasions.

“The more I struggled, the harder he pressed down,” she said. “I couldn’t move. I cried out but he told me to shut up.”

The organizations found that the presence of security forces at hospitals has deterred many injured protesters from seeking medical care, increasing the risk of death. According to a human rights defender, Mohsen Armak died in Hafshejan, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, when he was taken to a livestock farm instead of a hospital after being wounded with a metal pellet on 3 January.

On 4 January 2026, the Special Forces of FARAJA and IRGC attacked Imam Khomeini Hospital in Ilam, where injured protesters were being treated. According to a human rights defender and verified video footage, agents fired shotguns loaded with metal pellets and tear gas into the hospital grounds, smashed glass doors, and beat patients, their relatives and medical workers.

Mass arbitrary arrests

Security forces have arbitrarily arrested hundreds of protesters, including children as young as 14, during protest dispersals and nightly raids on homes. Some were taken from hospitals.

The authorities  subjected many to enforced disappearance and incommunicado detention, placing them at risk of torture and other ill-treatment.

The authorities have already broadcast coerced “confessions” of detainees. On 5 January 2026, Tasnim News, affiliated with the IRGC, aired “confessions” of an 18-year-old woman and 16-year-old girl, accusing them of “leading riots”.

The Iranian authorities should immediately and unconditionally release anyone detained solely for peacefully taking part in or expressing support for demonstrations. All detainees should be protected from torture and other ill-treatment and immediately granted access to their families, lawyers and any medical care they need.

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As voters prepare to go to the polls in Benin, candidates running in the country’s legislative and municipal elections on 11 January 2026, and presidential election on 12 April 2026, must commit to prioritizing human rights, Amnesty International and 13 civil society organizations said. The organizations have published a manifesto setting out key human rights priorities for the incoming authorities.

“Civic space continues to shrink in Benin with a wave of attacks on independent media outlets and people still being arbitrarily arrested and detained for dissent. Despite progress, women and marginalized groups face discrimination, while forced evictions jeopardize the human rights of thousands of people. The right to a fair trial and access to justice are some of the issues the incoming authorities must urgently address,” said Dieudonné Dagbéto, Executive Director of Amnesty International Benin.

Our recommendations are not exhaustive, but they provide a roadmap for strengthening respect for human rights.

Dieudonné Dagbéto, Executive Director of Amnesty International Benin

Protect freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly 

Several newspapers and websites in Benin have been suspended under the Digital Code, which criminalizes the ‘publication of false information’ and ‘harassment through electronic communications’. It is essential to revise this Code in alignment with international human rights standards, and the recommendations accepted by the authorities during the last Universal Periodic Review.

The authorities continue to disproportionately restrict the right to protest. They must guarantee the right to freedom of peaceful assembly by revising the criminal Code which currently prohibits “any unarmed gathering that could disturb public peace”, allowing for peaceful protests to be banned on vague grounds.

In recent years, security forces have dispersed peaceful protests with excessive force and arbitrarily arrested individuals. Prompt, thorough, and impartial investigations must be conducted into every alleged case of excessive use of force, and those arbitrarily detained must be released.

The relatives of those allegedly killed by security forced during protests in 2019 are still waiting for justice. We call for the revision of the 2019 amnesty law to ensure their access to justice and remedy.

More humane prison conditions

Despite efforts from the authorities, prisoners still sleep in overcrowded cells. To combat prison overcrowding, pretrial detention should be used as a last resort, and judicial proceedings should be expedited. Laws and decrees offering alternatives to imprisonment for minor offences should be enforced. It is also essential to improve prisoners’ access to drinking water and sanitation, as well as healthcare, including adequate facilities and qualified medical staff, and to investigate allegations of torture and other ill-treatment.

Better access to justice

Opposition political figures continue to be arbitrarily detained, as confirmed by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. There must be an end to arbitrary detention and all persons detained without legal grounds or in violation of human rights must be released. The effective implementation of legal aid would be a major step forward. The jurisdiction of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights to receive complaints directly from individuals and NGOs must also be restored.

Promoting gender equality and protecting the most marginalized

Women remain underrepresented in political decision-making bodies, parliament, and senior management positions. Urgent measures are needed to increase women’s representation and achieve gender equality.

In 2024, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities deemed access to health and education services for persons with disabilities to be insufficient. The manifesto calls for the training and recruitment of teachers in sign language and other media, as well as the creation of centres for children with intellectual disabilities and support for private centres.

Due to the spillover of the conflict affecting the Central Sahel, attacks by armed groups in the north of Benin resulted in 27,294 internally displaced persons and 30,540 refugees and asylum seekers as of November 2025, according to the UNHCR. Most of them, deprived of their land and livestock, have difficulty accessing basic services. The incoming authorities must respect international obligations to protect refugees and displaced persons, and coordinate humanitarian assistance effectively.

Strengthening access to economic, social, and cultural rights

Since 2021, development projects have resulted in thousands of people being forcibly evicted, many of them without prior and fair compensation. Elected authorities must ensure fair compensation and adequate and safe rehousing solutions for all victims of forced evictions.

Despite a 2021 Constitutional Court ruling, women were kept locked up in the Mènontin district hospital in 2023 for non-payment of medical fees. While recognizing that the authorities have corrected this situation, the manifesto calls for effective access to maternity care and essential health services and for an end to the illegal practice of detaining patients.

In 2018, the right to strike was reduced to 10 days per year for almost all public and private sector employees, with a total ban in the health sector. In 2022, this ban was extended to other categories of workers. We call for the revision of the 2018 and 2022 laws to guarantee the right to strike, and to apply restrictions only to essential services.

“Our recommendations are not exhaustive, but they provide a roadmap for strengthening respect for human rights. We call on all political parties and candidates to commit to this,” said Dieudonné Dagbéto.

Signatories:

Amnesty International
Association des Blogueurs du Bénin
Association des Jeunes Juristes du Bénin
Association des Jeunes Juristes Diplomates et Politistes du Bénin (AJJuDIP Bénin)
Centre de formation en mécanisme de protection des droits humains
Coalition des défenseurs des droits humains (CDDH) Bénin
Commission béninoise des droits de l’Homme
Human Rights Priority
Internet society (ISOC) – Bénin
Social Watch Bénin (SWB)
Union des Scolaires et Étudiants du Bénin
Union nationale des médias en ligne (UNAMEL)
Voix et actions citoyennes
Wanep – Bénin

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Responding to yesterday’s Supreme Court judgement denying bail to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam but granting bail to Meeran Haider, Gulfisha Fatima, Shifa Ur Rehman, Shadab Ahmed and Saleem Khan – human rights defenders who have spent more than five years in pre-trial detention on terrorism-related charges following their peaceful participation in protests against the discriminatory Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Aakar Patel, Amnesty International India’s Chair of Board, said:

“While we welcome the court’s decision to grant bail to their co-accused, it is shameful that Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam continue to be denied bail. Neither of these individuals should be in detention in the first place. They have been detained for more than five years without trial on politically motivated allegations – the charges against them should be dropped and their release should be unconditional.”

The Supreme Court also imposed exceptionally restrictive conditions on Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam for any future bail applications. It ruled that they will be permitted to seek bail only after the prosecution has completed the examination of its protected witnesses, or after one year from the date of the order, whichever comes earlier. These conditions effectively place their ability to submit further bail petitions at the discretion of the speed and conduct of the prosecution.

This judgment underscores a deeply worrying pattern in which prolonged pre-trial detention is becoming normalized

Aakar Patel, Amnesty International India’s Chair of Board

“Imposing a blanket one-year ban on bail, without any clear justification, unduly restricts the detainees’ right to seek regular judicial review of whether their detention remains lawful and necessary. This is even more troubling given that they have already been held for more than five years without trial,” said Aakar Patel.

“This judgment underscores a deeply worrying pattern in which prolonged pre-trial detention is becoming normalized. Justice cannot prevail while individuals remain imprisoned for years without trial for exercising their right to peaceful protest.”

Background

For more information on Umar Khalid’s case and the UAPA see here.

On 28 January 2020, Sharjeel Imam was detained for allegedly inciting communal violence through speeches delivered during protests in December 2019 and January 2020. On 1 April 2020, Meeran Haider was arrested on similar charges linked to the 2020 Delhi riots, despite his role in non-violent demonstrations. Gulfisha Fatima was arrested on 9 April, 2020, under multiple charges including rioting and assaulting a public servant, though she too had been involved in peaceful protest. Later that month, on 26 April, Shifa ur-Rehman, president of the Jamia Millia Islamia Alumni Association, was also detained for allegedly inciting violence. In each case, activists appear to have been targeted not for violence, but for their vocal opposition to the CAA and their participation in peaceful civic dissent.

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Ugandan security forces have unlawfully targeted opposition rallies with unnecessary and excessive force and arbitrary arrests, and subjected some attendees to torture or other ill-treatment, Amnesty International said today.

The organization has documented incidents in which security officers launched tear gas at peaceful crowds in Kawempe and Iganga, and pepper-sprayed and beat people. These actions were accompanied by undue movement restrictions aimed at disrupting the opposition party National Unity Platform’s (NUP) campaign rallies.

Amnesty International also received reports and verified digital evidence of such disruptions in other parts of the country.

“The authorities have launched a brutal campaign of repression against the opposition and its supporters, making it extremely difficult for them to exercise their rights to freedom of association and peaceful assembly,” said Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa.

“The Ugandan authorities must uphold their human rights obligations and allow the opposition to hold its campaign rallies without undue restrictions and without subjecting their leaders and supporters to arrests, torture or other ill-treatment.”

An eyewitness told Amnesty International that during the Kawempe rally on 24 November, following the arrival of NUP presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, popularly known as Bobi Wine, “police launched tear gas and pepper spray, to stop the rally”. The ensuing panic led to a stampede which caused dozens of people to fall into a deep ditch nearby.  The police also used dogs to intimidate the crowd, pushed people into a truck with the butts of their rifles and beat them with batons and wires.

The authorities have launched a brutal campaign of repression against the opposition and its supporters, making it extremely difficult for them to exercise their rights to freedom of association and peaceful assembly.

Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa

According to one attendee of the NUP rally at Iganga’s Railway grounds on 28 November, the military used a truck to block one of the exits before opening fire on the crowd as they were attempting to leave the venue from the only remaining exit.  One attendee of the rally, Miseach Okello, 35, died in circumstances that could be indicative of the unlawful use of force; an unknown number of others were injured.

The deceased’s family told Amnesty International that armed security officers prevented them from witnessing the postmortem process, apparently to prevent them from gathering evidence that could suggest that he was killed unlawfully. The family was never given a death certificate, nor were they told the cause of death.

“Nobody should die simply for exercising their rights to freedom of association and peaceful assembly. Authorities must immediately open impartial and thorough investigations into all alleged instances of unlawful use of force by security forces. Those responsible should be brought to justice in fair trials without recourse to the death penalty,” said Tigere Chagutah.

Following the Kawempe and Iganga incidents, the Ugandan police justified their actions by stating that opposition supporters had stoned police and vandalized their vehicles. However, eyewitnesses at both rallies told Amnesty International that the crowds were peaceful and only carried the Ugandan national flag.

International law and standards require police to always apply non-violent means first before resorting to force, and to limit the force used no more than is necessary and proportionate. The use of firearms to disperse assemblies will never meet these conditions and so is always unlawful.

Undue restrictions on freedom of movement

Amnesty International verified a video recorded in Nwoya on 6 November showing security forces using military vehicles to block an opposition candidate and his supporters from campaigning.

Interviewees said that alongside these tactics, security forces also closed roads and diverted opposition processions onto longer routes without providing any legal justification. They believed these movement restrictions were designed either to delay opposition leaders and their supporters from reaching designated campaign venues or to prevent the events from going ahead altogether.

Interviewees also told Amnesty International that NUP presidential candidate was prevented from reaching campaign venues in several other districts.

Such restrictions are not permissible in the context of peaceful assemblies. Any restrictions must have a basis in domestic law, pursue a legitimate aim, and be necessary and proportionate.

Arbitrary arrests and torture and other ill-treatment

According to multiple sources including the NUP and an independent civil society organization, over 400 people have been arrested for attending rallies in different parts of the country, or for being perceived to be supporters of the NUP.  

According to court charge sheets seen by Amnesty International, the majority of those arrested were charged with causing malicious damage to property, obstruction, incitement to violence, and assaulting police officers. While Amnesty International has not been able to investigate all incidents, evidence suggests that, in at least some cases, people were detained solely for their perceived support for the NUP.

Four interviewees who either attended or were in the vicinity of the Kawempe rally said that they were subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment by the police. They reported being beaten with batons pepper-sprayed in the mouth and tasered. They said they witnessed many others being subjected to similar treatment.

Peter*, who was arrested on his way home from work on 24 November, said he was held alongside others who were arrested during an opposition rally. They were held at Mulago police station for three days without access to their loved ones. Because of the torture he was subjected to, Peter lost a tooth, and his arm was broken. Amnesty International reviewed his medical reports that confirmed the broken arm.

Ugandan authorities must commit to respecting, protecting, promoting and ensuring full respect for human rights before, during and after the elections.

Tigere Chagutah

Harrison, * who was also arrested in relation to the Kawempe rally, said the police accused them of “destabilizing the country.”

He described the torture or other ill treatment he endured: “They started pepper spraying us and pulled me out of the vehicle into a police truck… I found 20 comrades who had been beaten seriously. We were taken to Kawempe police station.”

Maria* said: “When they came to our vehicle, they tased us. They separated us and took me to another vehicle where they started beating me. They used a baton to beat me. One officer’s baton broke, and he asked his colleague to give him another baton. Then they asked me ‘Do you still support Bobi Wine?’ I said yes. Then they continued to beat me.”

“Ugandan authorities must commit to respecting, protecting, promoting and ensuring full respect for human rights before, during and after the elections,” said Tigere Chagutah. “They must immediately and unconditionally release anyone detained solely for attending opposition rallies or for their actual or perceived support for the NUP.”

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Today’s military action by the US Trump Administration in Venezuela, which resulted in the capture of Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores, raises grave concerns for the human rights of the Venezuelan population. It most likely constitutes a violation of international law, including the UN Charter, as does the stated US intention to run Venezuela and control its oil resources.

Amnesty International is particularly concerned about the risks of further escalation of human rights violations in the country, stemming either from additional US operations or from the Venezuelan government’s responses to the US attacks.

The organization urges the US government to abide by international humanitarian and human rights law, prioritize the protection of civilians, and uphold the human rights of all persons deprived of liberty, including due process and humane treatment.

It also calls on the Venezuelan authorities to refrain from further repression, reminding them they are bound by international law to respect and protect the human rights of all Venezuelans.

Those most immediately at risk include human rights defenders and political activists who have courageously opposed Maduro government’s human rights violations and crimes under international law for years. Amnesty International stands in solidarity with the Venezuelan people: the thousands of victims and survivors, and the millions who have fled after years of enduring grave violations and crimes against humanity.

Amnesty International reiterates its long-standing call for Maduro’s government to be investigated and, where evidence permits, individuals to be prosecuted before an independent and impartial court to ensure justice, reparation, and guarantees of non-repetition for the survivors and victims of violations in Venezuela.

Amnesty International is alarmed that the attack against Venezuela and capture of Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores by one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council further deepen the breakdown of international law and the rules-based order. These actions signal an international system run by military force, threats, and intimidation, and they increase the risks of copycat actions by others.

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact press@amnesty.org

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