Three UN reports on the human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran have been published in recent weeks.  The the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission’s report concludes that the crackdown by Iranian authorities on the Dec 2025- Jan2026 protests amount to crimes against humanity of murder, imprisonment, torture and other inhumane acts. It also finds reasonable grounds to believe that the US committed the war crime of launching an indiscriminate attack, both in striking a primary school in Minab and in using a wide-dispersal munition over a sports centre and homes in Lamerd. ohchr.org/sites/default/file…   The Secretary-General’s report covers August 2025 to May 2026. It shows how the authorities invoked national security to expand executions amid serious fair-trial concerns, carry out mass arrests and impose internet shutdowns. Sanctions, the hostilities and the shutdown compounded pre-existing socioeconomic hardship and further undermined the enjoyment of socioeconomic rights. Its recommendations include structural change: reform at the legislative and constitutional level and a moratorium on the death penalty. It urged Member States to end the hostilities, to integrate human rights into their diplomatic and economic engagement with Iran. ohchr.org/en/documents/count…   My report is organised around impacts: the killed and executed; the detained and missing; those who defend, document and mobilise; livelihoods; and the environment. In each, the external and internal sources of harm converge. Warnings of incoming strikes were posted to social media that the authorities’ own shutdown had made unreachable, and prisoners were reportedly locked in as the strikes fell. The war did not loosen the repression; it tightened it: protesters were recast as agents of the attacking States, and executions continued throughout. The burden fell hardest on those already at the margins. My recommendations are accordingly addressed to all parties: Iran, the US and Israel, and all States. ohchr.org/en/documents/count…   The common thread is impunity. I know of no investigation by the Iranian authorities into the killings by their forces, and the US and Israel have published no findings on their strikes. When those responsible will not investigate themselves, independent documentation is what stands between the victims and erasure. These reports, built on the work of survivors, families and civil society, are that record, and accountability will one day depend on it. Until then, the reports converge on what must happen now: end the hostilities through diplomacy, with human rights at the heart of any agreement; halt executions; release those detained for exercising their rights; investigate every death independently; and grant UN mechanisms access.

“On the night of 27 July, people kept vigil in Alikhani Square until dawn. There is something profoundly human about it: standing in the darkness so that another person does not have to face death alone.” This comes from the testimonies of people who rushed to Alikhani Square that night. The square had been prepared for the public execution of three protesters from the January 2026 protests in Isfahan. A scaffold had been erected; families had been summoned. There was a heavy security presence surrounding the area. People rushed there to stop the executions. They were met with violence, including lethal force. Yet people stayed refusing to give up on the men's lives until the very last moment. Gathering to plead for a life is not a crime, least of all against a public execution, which is incompatible with international human rights law. In the end, two of the three men were executed that night in public before the eyes of their families, and of the people who had spent the night hoping to save them. They were made to witness every moment. Public execution turns death into a spectacle and exposes an entire society to the violence of the State. Alireza Sepahi was not executed that night, but he was far from safe. He was executed today, 5 October. He was arrested at his home on 10 January 2026, and was one of 12 defendants sentenced to death in the case concerning the deaths of four security personnel at Alikhani Square, which the defendants were accused of causing. The case has been accompanied by serious allegations concerning the treatment of the defendants and the fairness of the proceedings. Reports say that Sepahi’s mother was tortured in his presence, and that he and his cousin were beaten and tortured in front of members of their family. Sepahi was sentenced to death by the Isfahan Revolutionary Court and was scheduled to be publicly hanged that night, alongside the other two men. But shortly before the scheduled execution, he suffered a heart attack and was transferred to hospital. He was discharged a few days later and returned to prison, where he lived every day in fear of execution, until the moment arrived. On 2 September, his appeal was accepted and his case was referred for retrial. However, the Isfahan Revolutionary Court reportedly dismissed the application without holding a hearing. The sentence was carried our early hours of 5 October, while his lawyer and legal counsel were still trying to find a way for his retrial. Public executions constitute cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. No one should face this punishment, and no society should be made to watch. My mandate’s communication about Alireza Sepahi would be published here soon. spcommreports.ohchr.org/Tmse…