ORAL STATEMENT
Humanists International
UN Human Rights Council, 58th session (24 February – 4 April 2025)
General Debate: Item 4 – Human rights situations that require the Human Rights Council’s attention
Mr. President,
It has been two and a half years since the unlawful killing of Mahsa (Jina) Amini in Iranian detention and the birth of the “Women, Life, Freedom” movement – a movement calling not only for gender equality but for dignity, justice, and the right to live free from state-sanctioned violence.
Despite the courage and resilience of those in the movement, the authorities have continued their brutal and targeted repression since its inception.
The regime has severely curtailed freedoms of assembly and expression. In the past year alone, security forces have arrested dozens of human rights defenders, lawyers, students, and family members of those killed during the protests who have demanded justice and accountability for violations against their loved ones.[1]
All the while, women and girls continue to suffer the very repression which gave rise to the protests in the first place; they are subjected to systemic discrimination in all aspects of their life, including in education, employment, health, and personal status. The enforcement of laws such as the mandatory hijab, the passports law, or the civil code have not only restricted their autonomy but also subjected them to state violence and persecution.[2]
In the month we mark International Women’s day, we again call on the Council to act; to demand accountability from Iran for its denial of a whole host of human rights to its citizens, particularly women and girls; to advocate for the release of detained protesters; and to seek justice for all those harmed, tortured or killed at the hands of the state. We also call on all of those countries hosting individuals involved in the Iranian repression to hold them to account and bring them to justice.
Thank you.
Endnotes
[1] https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/03/iran-government-continues-systematic-repression-and-escalates-surveillance, A/HRC/58/62.
[2] https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/middle-east-and-north-africa/middle-east/iran/report-iran/, https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2024/country-chapters/iran#49dda6, https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/03/iran-institutional-discrimination-against-women-and-girls-enabled-human
'Repression of the “Women, Life, Freedom” movement in Iran', Humanists International