US and Israeli strikes on Iran risk intensifying domestic repression, UN expert warns

Record ID: 2365545

  • Title: US and Israeli strikes on Iran risk intensifying domestic repression, UN expert warns
  • Date: 16th March 2026
  • Summary: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND (MARCH 16, 2026) (REUTERS) MEMBERS OF THE FACT-FINDING MISSION ON IRAN AND CHAIR, SARA HOSSAIN, AND SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON THE SITUATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN IRAN, MAI SATO ARRIVING AT HUMAN RIGHTS SESSION SATO SPEAKING TO U.N. STAFF PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN TO THE U.N. OFFICE IN GENEVA, AMBASSADOR ALI BAHREINI, ARRIVING AT
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: Fact-finding mission Iran Israel Special Rapporteur USA United Nations human rights war
  • Location: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
  • City: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
  • Country: Iran
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Middle East,Military Conflicts
  • Reuters ID: LVA009442016032026RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:The head of a United Nations investigation condemned mounting civilian deaths in Iran on Monday (March 16) and voiced concerns that the current bombing campaign could lead to an intensification of repression to suppress dissent - pointing to a rise in executions after last year's strikes. 
        “The core lesson drawn from our investigations in this context is clear: external military action does not provide accountability or bring meaningful change. Instead, it risks intensifying domestic repression,” Sara Hossain, chair of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran told the U.N. Human Rights Council.
        Hussain also said that an Israeli airstrike last year on the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran, which killed dozens of people, constituted a war crime.
        That same facility has also been hit by bomb damage in the latest U.S.-Israeli airstrikes, raising fears for the detainees which include a British couple.
        "We found reasonable grounds to believe that, in carrying out the airstrikes on Evin prison, Israel committed the war crime of internationally directing attacks against a civilian object", Hossain said.
        Israel has disengaged from the council, which documents abuses and conducts investigations, and left its seat empty. There was no immediate response for comment requests from the Prime Minister's office, the Foreign Ministry or the Israeli Defense Forces.
        Mai Sato, a U.N.-appointed rights expert on Iran, also voiced concern about detainees, including those rounded up during mass protests in January. Families have not been able to reach their loved ones and that acute food and medical shortages are emerging in Iranian prisons, she said.
        Iran's ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva Ali Bahreini said the U.S.-Israeli strikes have killed over 1,300 people in Iran and said the country had been attacked during active negotiations.
    (Production: Cecile Mantovani)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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