The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, Mai Sato, has called on the international community to stand in solidarity with the Iranian people by safeguarding their fundamental rights and holding the Iranian government accountable. She also urged full support for the UN-established fact-finding mission tasked with investigating allegations of ongoing violence in the country.
Sato made the remarks on Friday during an emergency session of the UN Human Rights Council convened to address the situation in Iran.
“Now is the time for the international community to stand behind efforts to protect the fundamental rights of the Iranian people and ensure accountability,” Sato said. She called for strengthening the mandate of the fact-finding mission to guarantee transparent, impartial, and credible investigations into protest-related human rights violations.
She noted that a near-total internet shutdown in Iran has severely limited access to reliable information, making it difficult to assess the true scale of violence. According to Sato, the shutdown has enabled state authorities to control the flow of information, creating confusion over the actual number of casualties.
Citing official figures, she said that more than 3,000 people have been killed in the violence. However, estimates from civil society sources suggest that the death toll may be significantly higher. The lack of internet access, she added, has made independent verification of these figures virtually impossible.
Sato further told the Council that the United Nations has received multiple allegations of serious abuses, including the use of lethal force against unarmed protesters, mass arrests—including schoolgirls—security force operations inside hospitals, and the coercion of detainees into making false confessions.
She emphasized that these allegations point to a grave human rights crisis in Iran and underscore the urgent need for international scrutiny and decisive action.