Amnesty International released its 2024 annual report on April 29, detailing human rights violations in Iran.
In Amnesty International’s 2024 annual report on the human rights situation in Iran, widespread and systematic violations of fundamental rights in the country are addressed. The report emphasizes that Iran’s regime continued suppressing freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly over the past year and carried out hundreds of arbitrary executions. Victims of this repression included women, children, religious and ethnic minorities, migrants, and asylum seekers.
Read more in our State of the World’s Human Rights report: https://t.co/5yFgUQu4jf
— Amnesty International (@amnesty) April 29, 2025
Amnesty International documented cases of arbitrary arrests, torture, amputations, flogging, unfair trials, and widespread use of the death penalty, even against juvenile offenders. Additionally, regime officials have refused to pursue legal accountability for crimes such as the 1988 massacre of political prisoners, and the perpetrators have enjoyed impunity.
According to the report: “Systemic impunity prevailed for past and ongoing crimes against humanity relating to prison massacres in 1988 and other crimes under international law.”
The report criticizes the systemic impunity enjoyed by Iranian regime officials regarding past and ongoing crimes and notes that efforts to uncover the truth about cases such as the downing of the Ukrainian plane or the 1988 massacre have yet to yield results.
In the area of civil liberties, Iran’s regime has severely restricted public space through heavy media censorship, blocking of social platforms, and bans on political and union activities. Labor activists, teachers, and workers faced harassment for peaceful protests. The so-called “Protection of Cyberspace” plan and increased security measures following the death of former regime president Ebrahim Raisi were also cited as signs of intensified repression.
Amnesty International added: “Authorities censored media, jammed satellite television channels, and continued to block or filter mobile apps and social media platforms.”
In detention facilities, reports show individuals had forcibly disappeared in secret detention centers and tortured to extract confessions. These confessions continued to be broadcast on state media, and political detainees were denied medical care. Psychiatric facilities were also used to suppress dissent.
The report states: “Several individuals arbitrarily detained for political reasons in psychiatric facilities were subjected to torture and other ill-treatment, including through enforced administration of pharmaceuticals.”
In the area of women’s and girls’ rights, structural discrimination continued in areas such as marriage, inheritance, and employment. Women who defied compulsory hijab laws faced punishments including imprisonment and flogging. Enforcement of hijab was intensified through facial recognition technology and digital surveillance, and women faced violence in public spaces.
Ethnic and religious minorities continued to face structural discrimination, arbitrary arrests, and violence. Groups such as Kurds, Baluch, and Arabs were denied access to education, employment, and public services. Security forces opened fire on cross-border porters and fuel carriers. Bahá’ís, Christians, and other religious minorities faced property confiscation, arrests, and the destruction of religious sites.
In the area of executions and impunity, hundreds of executions were carried out for offenses unrelated to the “most serious crimes,” including drug-related charges and political dissent. Minorities, especially Baluch and Afghan individuals, faced the highest risk of execution. Even juveniles were executed for crimes committed while underage, in violation of international law.
Finally, Amnesty International’s report highlights the Iranian regime’s failure and negligence in managing the environmental crisis. The drying of water resources, air and soil pollution, and disregard for marginalized communities such as those in Khuzestan and Sistan and Baluchestan provinces have contributed to the deaths of thousands and a widespread humanitarian crisis.
