Unmasking Iran's murderous enforcers: Amnesty names 87 officials who oversaw brutal campaign of killing, torture and rape in crackdown on women's rights protest

Amnesty International has named 87 Iranian officials who oversaw a brutal campaign of killings, torture and sexual violence during the 2022 'Woman, Life, Freedom' protests.In a landmark 1,000-page report, the human rights organisation has called for the officials to be investigated for crimes against humanity, drawing on testimonies from 270 witnesses and survivors who described the abuses they endured during the crackdown.Amnesty also conducted an extensive review of audiovisual evidence, analysing more than 2,000 videos recorded between September 16 and December 31, 2022 in connection with the uprising.The investigation found that the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and the Police Command of the Islamic Republic of Iran (FARAJA) led deadly operations to disperse protesters.Official statements and leaked documents revealed instructions for a 'firm and severe' response to the protests. One memo instructed security forces to 'respond mercilessly and go as far as causing death'. Security forces repeatedly opened fire on crowds using lethal military-grade assault rifles, handguns and shotguns loaded with metal pellets. They also pursued fleeing protesters and bystanders, closing in on unarmed people who posed no threat before shooting them at close range.One man named Mahshid, who protested in Mahabad, told Amnesty: 'I had never seen such scenes before… The situation was very frightening and felt like a war zone. The security forces just kept shooting.' Amnesty International has named 87 Iranian officials who oversaw a brutal campaign of killings, torture and sexual violence (6 officials pictured here, including Ali Khamenei (top left) and Mohammad Bagheri (second from bottom left) Iranians protest 22-year-old Mahsa Amini's death in Tehran in September 2022 Security forces allegedly used batons, electric shock devices, kinetic impact projectiles and tear gas to harm people (Pictured: violent crackdown on a protest on Imam Khomeni Street)Another man named Iman, who protested in Sanandaj, said: 'The agents would shoot anyone in their sight, not caring if they were women, children, passersby or protesters... Many people were injured by metal pellets striking their legs, bodies, chests and faces.'Security forces allegedly used batons, electric shock devices, kinetic impact projectiles and tear gas to harm people.Protesters were subjected to physical violence including kicking, punching, dragging, being thrown to the ground, being stamped on and having their hair pulled.A large number of protesters and bystanders died from their injuries, in some cases after security forces denied them access to medical treatment.Those who survived were left with severe physical trauma. This included permanent vision loss, wounds to the head, face, neck and torso, fractures to the ribs, skull, facial bones, teeth and limbs.Victims also experienced traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries, damage to internal organs, nerve and vascular injuries and internal bleeding.Many suffered lasting health complications such as chronic pain, mobility or speech impairments, recurring infections and debilitating headaches. In some cases, doctors were unable to remove fragments of metal pellets embedded in victims' bodies, leaving them in pain and at risk of infection, brain damage or organ failure.Amnesty also documented torture of people held in state custody, allegedly carried out to intimidate, punish and humiliate detainees, as well as to extract forced confessions. A plainclothes officer is seen shooting at a target offscreen during the 2022 protests in Iran A man who has been shot during the protests lies on the ground A collage of 23 protesters and bystanders who died under suspicious circumstancesMethods of torture included beatings with implements such as batons and chains as well as slapping, kicking, punching, flogging, hair pulling, and electric shocks.Other forms included prolonged placement in solitary confinement, exposure to extreme temperatures, forced administration of chemicals and painful stress positions.Detainees also reported being denied medical care and food and water, with at least one person being told to eat their own faeces.Others recounted being submerged under water, having needles inserted into sensitive areas, having their nails forcibly removed, being sprayed with pepper spray, subjected to mock executions and suspended by their necks or wrists.Psychological torture reportedly included threats of more torture, killing or life imprisonment. Detainees were also reportedly exposed to sustained light or sound, forced to perform humiliating acts, subjected to degrading insults and made to listen to the screams of other detainees being tortured. Amnesty also found that prisoners were held in cruel and inhuman conditions, subjected to extreme overcrowding, filthy and unsanitary conditions, infestations of cockroaches and mice, lack of weather-appropriate accommodation and bedding and barely any access to toilet and washing facilities. Protesters gather in Sulaimaniyah on Sept. 28, 2022, to protest the killing of Mahsa Amini A woman standing on top of a vehicle as thousands make their way towards Aichi cemetery in Saqez, Mahsa Amini's hometownPrisoners were also subjected to threats to arrest, kill, harm, rape or forcibly disappear relatives.The investigation documented the cases of 16 people who were raped while detained in connection with the uprising. They included six women, seven men, a 14-year-old girl and two teenage boys aged 16 and 17.Four of the women and two of the men were subjected to forced sexual penetration by multiple male officials.Women and girls were penetrated vaginally, anally and orally, while men and boys were subjected to anal penetration.Wooden and metal batons, glass bottles, hosepipes, fingers and the sexual organs of security agents were used to carry out the sexual abuse.The organisation also documented 29 other people who were subjected to forms of sexual violence other than rape while arbitrarily detained.This included security forces putting their hands under female victims' clothing and into their underwear and grabbing or groping them.Women and girls were also beaten on their breasts, genitals or buttocks, stripped in front of male detainees, and held naked for hours or days, including in freezing conditions.Some were threatened with rape, including threats against their female relatives.Security forces used gendered insults and vulgar language against detained women, stating they deserved to be punished with rape for protesting compulsory veiling. Uniformed and plainclothes officers pursue protesters and bystanders with rifles Guards drag an emaciated prisoner, at Evin prison in TehranMen and boys also reported being threatened with rape, forced to undress and exposed to cold temperatures.Others were subjected to electric shocks to their genitals, had needles inserted into their genitals or had their testicles or buttocks touched, kicked or beaten.The report also revealed that the family members of those killed by the regime were subjected to a wide range of human rights violations. Loved ones were pressured to accept false narratives about the causes and circumstances of their family member's death and coerced to comply with cruel restrictions on funerals and memorial ceremonies. Meanwhile, authorities denied families access to autopsy reports, imposed restrictions on viewing and photographing injuries on their loved ones' bodies, and failed to issue death and burial certificates or issued certificates that were incomplete or inaccurate, and concealed key evidence, including CCTV footage of the incidents. Officials also denied families their right to justice by issuing rushed public statements with predetermined conclusions in the absence of genuine investigations, pressuring families to abandon complaints, and prematurely terminating investigations.The list of 87 individuals is made up of 62 security force commanders, including 33 from the IRGC and 27 from FARAJA, alongside 25 Ministry of Interior officials, including provincial and county governors. Here shown are methods of torture used by Iranian officials Female detainees at Evin prison in Tehran, IranAmong those named is the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, as well as the late head of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, Mohammad Bagheri.Both were killed in the February 2026 attacks on Iran carried out by the US and Israel.The investigation also names Ahmad Vahidi, who was interior minister at the time of the protests and has since become General Commander of the IRGC, as well as Majid Mir Ahmadi, the then deputy interior minister for police and security.Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International's Secretary General, said: 'This investigation exposes the layers of command and coordination behind the Iranian authorities' deadly protest crackdowns. 'The agents on the streets operated within a hierarchical and coordinated chain of command linking them to officials who directed, enabled, facilitated and supported crimes committed on a massive scale,''The officials named remain beyond the reach of justice in Iran. Most remain in positions from which they can unleash further deadly repression while some even climbed the chain of command after the crimes against humanity in 2022. 'The cost of continued impunity has been devastating. It is beyond time to establish an international criminal justice mechanism for Iran before another protest massacre.'Amnesty International's full report can be found here.