International Day in Support of Victims of Torture; In an Iran Where Torture is a Governance Tool, the Scope and Scale of Torture Reaches an Unprecedented Phase June 26, 2026

June 26, 2026; Coinciding with the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) has identified Iran as one of the worst and highest-risk countries globally regarding torture, emphasizing that in Iran, torture is not an exceptional practice but the system itself and a tool for governance. The Kurdpa Human Rights Organization also highlighted the escalating use of torture, particularly against minorities, stating that the dimensions and scope of torture in the Islamic Republic have expanded significantly. The government has pushed suppression to an unprecedented level through severe torture, prolonged arbitrary detentions, expanding enforced disappearances, widespread deprivations, and putting pressure on families.
 

Kurdpa Human Rights Organization: The Scale of Torture Has Reached an Unprecedented Level:

Kurdpa states that Iran is one of the world's worst torturing nations, where the use of torture has grown increasingly. Minorities, such as Kurds—who face detentions at a rate more than 3.5 times their population proportion—are subjected to the most severe forms of torture, forced confessions, and violations of fundamental rights. Based on its statistical tracking, data, and documentation, Kurdpa states:

• Escalation During Crises: While torture and the mistreatment of detainees have always been part of the Islamic Republic's apparatus of suppression, they skyrocket during domestic or external political and social crises, such as protests and security upheavals.
• Fatalities Under Torture: During the "Woman, Life, Freedom" revolutionary uprising, at least 8 Kurdish detainees lost their lives under torture. This trend escalated dramatically during the December 2025 protests and recent conflicts to extract and broadcast forced confessions.
• Information Blackouts: Due to widespread internet shutdowns, mass killings of protesters, and thousands of arrests during the December 2025 protests, many details regarding the treatment of detainees and the number of individuals who died in detention centers and prisons remain unknown.
• Cutting Off Communication: Since the December 2025 protests, due to the high volume of detainees, individuals have frequently been denied even a single phone call to their families. Widespread killings, massive arrests, internet blackouts, and the onset of war left many families searching for weeks just to locate the bodies of their children, while many still do not know if their loved ones were killed or remain detained. For instance, Arman Ma'refati, a December protester sentenced to death, was held in total isolation for 20 days post-arrest; when his family called his mobile phone, security forces merely responded: "We killed him, we killed him with 3 bullets."
   

Legislative Tightening and Prolonged Incommunicado Detention

In addition to passing new laws that stiffen penalties for "espionage"—which are primarily used to suppress dissidents—and judicial mandates for the rapid processing of protest-related cases, executions in Iran have surged. Within just five months, 42 political prisoners were executed, 20 of whom were protesters from the December 2025 wave.

Furthermore, the Islamic Republic has significantly prolonged temporary detentions in undisclosed locations compared to the past. Calls, family visitations, and access to defense lawyers have been severely restricted, leaving hundreds of detainees in absolute isolation for months, amounting to a widespread practice of enforced disappearance.
 

Forced Confessions and Visual Manipulation

The Islamic Republic relies heavily on forced confessions extracted under extreme torture. Among the 20 executed protesters from December, the forced confessions of the vast majority were broadcast. Notably, the confessions of many of these individuals were initially aired with their faces covered; following the execution of their sentences—often before any news of their initial arrest had even been made public—the exact same confessions were rebroadcast by state media with their faces fully visible.
 

Pressure on Families and Psychological Torture

The December 2025 protests, massive crackdowns, the world's longest internet shutdown engineered by the state, and the unresolved fates of hundreds of detainees have severely restricted information flow. Concurrently, families have faced intense pressure to remain silent, being told that any media coverage would harm their detained relatives.

Torture has also directly targeted the families of detainees and those killed in the December 2025 massacres. In many instances, the bodies of the deceased were returned only after families signed pledges and faced threats against holding funeral or memorial services. Burials have been forcibly conducted under the heavy presence of armed security forces. The prolonged lack of information and dehumanizing responses from officials stating "we don't know" have doubled the psychological agony of families, demonstrating that the broader society itself is a target of psychological torture.
 

New Security Infrastructure and Judicial Barriers

Kurdpa has obtained information indicating that the infrastructure and scope of torture have expanded significantly:

• New Detainment Facilities: New security wings, quarantine sectors, and solitary confinement cells have been constructed within prisons, including Dieselabad Prison in Kermanshah and Mahabad Prison, to hold temporary detainees in inhumane conditions and facilitate enforced disappearances.
• Denial of Legal Counsel: The extensive use of the death penalty continues. In capital cases, only state-appointed lawyers are accepted, and even these lawyers undergo ideological vetting, as evidenced by the case of Mehrdad Mohammadinia, an executed December protester. Many detainees are left for months without any legal representation.
• Elimination of Temporary Release: Temporary release on bail has been virtually abandoned in many cases. Courts are held online while the accused remains in detention, ensuring that arbitrary arrest directly transitions into sentencing and execution. In other cases, bail amounts are set so high that families cannot afford them.
• Delayed Prison Transfers: The extensive use of torture has prolonged the duration of temporary detention in secret cells before prisoners are moved to general central prisons, allowing time for framing files, extracting confessions, and letting the visible marks of physical torture heal.

Kurdpa emphasizes that alongside physical torture, the Islamic Republic weaponizes the long-standing economic, social, and political vulnerabilities it has imposed on ethnic minorities and women to further silence them, engaging in widespread character assassination and psychological degradation.
 

World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT): Torture is the System and an Instrument of Governance in Iran:

In its latest report assessing 39 countries, the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) designated Iran as one of the most high-risk and worst countries globally regarding torture, state violence, and impunity. The OMCT evaluated that in Iran, torture is not an exceptional occurrence or a glitch in the machinery, but rather the system itself, utilized as a fundamental tool for governance.
 

Performance Indicators

The OMCT utilizes 7 core pillars for its global index. According to the report:

• Iran sits at the most critical level possible in 6 out of the 7 core pillars: Political Commitment, Police Violence, Impunity, Victims' Rights, Right to Defend Human Rights, and Protection for All.
• In the pillar of Detention Center Conditions, Iran is classified at the "High-Risk" level.

This paints a harrowing picture of a nation where torture is deeply institutionalized across laws, policies, and daily practices. The OMCT warned that following the crackdown on the December 2025 protests and the recent military conflicts involving Israel, the United States, and the Islamic Republic of Iran, the risk of torture and arbitrary detention has soared.

The organization emphasized that women, girls, ethnic minorities, LGBTQIA+ individuals, human rights defenders, journalists, and lawyers face the highest volume of risk. The OMCT called for an immediate halt to executions and corporal punishment, the criminalization of torture, an end to forced confessions, and unhindered access for the UN Fact-Finding Mission.

Key Drivers of Torture in Iran Listed by the OMCT:

1. Legality and Lack of Criminalization: Iran has not ratified the UN Convention Against Torture, does not criminalize torture in its domestic legislation, and legally mandates punishments like flogging and amputations.
2. Confession-Dependent Judiciary: Courts issue convictions based almost exclusively on "confessions," rewarding and incentivizing interrogators to use torture. These confessions are subsequently broadcast on state television.
3. Appalling Execution Rates: In 2025, at least 1,639 executions were recorded in Iran, including individuals who allegedly committed offenses while under the age of 18.
4. Absolute Impunity: No independent bodies exist to investigate torture or suspicious deaths in custody, and overcrowded detention centers operate entirely devoid of external oversight.

United Nations: Torture is Absolutely Prohibited and Constitutes a Crime Against Humanity:

June 26 was designated as the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture by the UN General Assembly in 1997, marking the date in 1987 when the Convention Against Torture came into force. Its purpose is to uphold the absolute prohibition of torture, support victims, and enforce state obligations regarding prevention, prosecution, and redress.

Under international law, torture is strictly prohibited; no circumstances whatsoever—including war, states of emergency, counter-terrorism, or national security—can justify it. The ban on torture is a peremptory norm of international law (Jus Cogens), binding on all states. Furthermore, the widespread or systematic practice of torture constitutes a crime against humanity.

Over the decades, the UN has established numerous international mechanisms to prevent torture, monitor state behavior, protect victims, and hold perpetrators accountable through the Convention Against Torture (1984), the Committee Against Torture, the Special Rapporteur on Torture, the Optional Protocol (OPCAT) for inspecting detention facilities, and the UN Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture.

On this day, the UN and human rights organizations reiterate that torture is not limited to physical harm; forced confessions, degrading treatment, deprivation of contact with family and counsel, prolonged solitary confinement, and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatments fully fall within the international definition and absolute prohibition of torture and ill-treatment.
 

Compiled by: Ewin Mostafazadeh