The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
At the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva, UN Human Rights spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani made the following statement on Iran.
“Some sources suggest that as many as 23 children have been killed and many others injured in at least seven provinces by live ammunition, metal pellets at close range, and fatal beatings. A number of schools have also been raided, and children arrested by security forces. Some principals have also reportedly been arrested for not cooperating with security forces,” Shamdasani said.
“On 11 October, the Minister of Education confirmed that an unspecified number of children had been sent to “psychological centres” after they were arrested allegedly for participating in anti-State protests,” she said.
“Under human rights treaties accepted by Iran, the Islamic Republic has an obligation to protect children’s right to life under any circumstances, and to respect and protect their right to freedom of expression and peaceful protest,” Spokesperson stated.
Along with the mass arrests of protesters, the Un Human Rights Office has also received reports of the arrests of at least 90 members of civil society including human rights defenders, lawyers, artists, and journalists. On 12 October three lawyers were arrested as they demonstrated outside the bar association in Tehran.
“A large number of human rights defenders, journalists, students, lawyers, opposition politicians and environmentalists are among those held at Evin prison in Tehran, where a fire broke out on 15 October. Details of the incident remain unclear, but there were also reports of explosions and gunfire, and officials say at least eight prisoners died and 61 were injured.”
A number of prisoners were reportedly beaten during the incident by the security forces and transferred to other detention centres.
Un Human Rights repeat previously expressed concerns about patterns of ill-treatment, torture and medical neglect of prisoners. Violations of due process including keeping prisoners incommunicado in solitary confinement with no access to a lawyer are common.
“The continued unnecessary and disproportionate use of force against protesters must stop. Arresting people solely for exercising their rights of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression constitutes an arbitrary deprivation of liberty. We call for the immediate release of all those arbitrarily detained. We remind authorities that under international law they have obligation to protect inmates’ physical and mental health and well-being,” she said.
“We call on the Iranian authorities to hold prompt, impartial and independent investigations into all alleged violations, including the killing of children, and to ensure those responsible are prosecuted. Broadly, we urge the authorities to address the underlying causes of the grievances of the population instead of using violence to suppress the protests,” she said in conclusion.
For more information and media requests, please contact: In Geneva: Ravina Shamdasani - + 41 22 917 9169 / ravina.shamdasani@un.org Jeremy Laurence + +41 22 917 9383 / jeremy.laurence@un.org or Marta Hurtado - + 41 22 917 9466 / marta.hurtadogomez@un.org In Nairobi Seif Magango - +254 788 343 897 / seif.magango@un.org
Tag and share - Twitter: @UNHumanRights and Facebook: unitednationshumanrights
- Exterior shot: Palais des Nations, Geneva.
- Wide shot: wide shot press conference
- SOUNDBITE (English)—Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “Some sources suggest that as many as 23 children have been killed and many others injured in at least seven provinces by live ammunition, metal pellets at close range, and fatal beatings. A number of schools have also been raided, and children arrested by security forces. Some principals have also reportedly been arrested for not cooperating with security forces.”
- Cut away: wide shot press conference
- SOUNDBITE (English)—Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “On 11 October, the Minister of Education confirmed that an unspecified number of children had been sent to “psychological centres” after they were arrested allegedly for participating in anti-State protests.”
- Cut away: participants
- SOUNDBITE (English)—Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “ Under human rights treaties accepted by Iran, the Islamic Republic has an obligation to protect children’s right to life under any circumstances, and to respect and protect their right to freedom of expression and peaceful protest.”
- Cut away: camera
- SOUNDBITE (English)—Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “ “A large number of human rights defenders, journalists, students, lawyers, opposition politicians and environmentalists are among those held at Evin prison in Tehran, where a fire broke out on 15 October. Details of the incident remain unclear, but there were also reports of explosions and gunfire, and officials say at least eight prisoners died and 61 were injured.”
- Wide shot: wide shot press conference
- SOUNDBITE (English)—Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “The continued unnecessary and disproportionate use of force against protesters must stop. Arresting people solely for exercising their rights of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression constitutes an arbitrary deprivation of liberty. We call for the immediate release of all those arbitrarily detained. We remind authorities that under international law they have obligation to protect inmates’ physical and mental health and well-being.”
- Wide shot: wide shot press conference
- SOUNDBITE (English)—Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “ “We call on the Iranian authorities to hold prompt, impartial and independent investigations into all alleged violations, including the killing of children, and to ensure those responsible are prosecuted. Broadly, we urge the authorities to address the underlying causes of the grievances of the population instead of using violence to suppress the protests,”
- Cut away: wide shot press conference
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO , OHCHR
Gaza aid site horror continues as more starving people shot trying to get food
Amid intensifying hopes for a new Gaza ceasefire, UN humanitarians confirmed disturbing details on Friday of continued killings and injuries of Palestinians desperately seeking food at aid sites.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA
A clearer picture of needs across Iran is beginning to emerge after the conflict this month with Israel, which left hundreds dead, several hospitals hit and a spike in Afghan refugees returning home, the UN’s top official in Tehran said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WMO
The blistering early-summer heatwave that’s brought life-threatening temperatures across much of the northern hemisphere is a worrying sign of things to come, UN weather experts said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk made the following remarks to the Human Rights Council annual panel on adverse impacts of climate change.
1
1
2
Edited News | WHO
The first meagre midweek delivery of urgently needed medical goods to enter Gaza in months will provide scant relief to the enclave’s people, who continue to be shot and killed as they search for food, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.
2
1
2
Statements , Edited News | HRC
Enhanced interactive dialogue on the High Commissioner’s report on Myanmar presented by Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and oral update by Thomas Andrews, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar
1
1
1
Edited News | UNOG
The conflict-impacted people of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) urgently need much more international assistance than they are getting today, the UN’s top aid official said on Thursday.
1
1
2
Edited News | UNOG
Violence in Myanmar is spiralling as the military junta increases its attacks on monasteries, schools and camps sheltering people uprooted by the civil war, a top independent human rights investigator warned on Wednesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan on Palestinians killed seeking food in Gaza
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
Iran-Israel war: UN rights office concerned over strike on Tehran prison, reported espionage arrests
Tehran’s notorious Evin prison known for holding dissidents should not be a target, the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) said on Tuesday, a day after a reported Israeli strike on the complex.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF , WHO
Death and suffering in Gaza are ever-present and the enclave's people now have little choice but to risk their lives to fetch aid supplies, UN agencies said on Friday. “I met a little boy who was wounded by a tank shell at one of these sites on the final day of me leaving Gaza - I learnt that this little boy had since died of those injuries,” said UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) spokesperson James Elder. “That speaks to both what is happening at these sites and what is not happening when it comes to medical evacuations.”
1
1
1
Edited News | UNCTAD
UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) launched today the World Investment Report 2025. Global foreign direct investment (FDI) fell by 11%, marking the second consecutive year of decline and confirming a deepening slowdown in productive capital flows, according to the report.