Human Rights Council focuses on Iran, Syria, Venezuela

This article is published in association with United Nations.

Top independent experts reported to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Tuesday, putting the records of Iran, Syria and Venezuela under the spotlight during the 47-member body’s latest session.

Council-appointed experts pointed to grave violations of fundamental rights in Iran, linked to popular protests following the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022.

Sara Hossein, chair of the Fact-Finding Mission on Iran, said that during peaceful protests, “children were killed and severely injured after being fired at with ammunition containing metal pellets”.

The youngsters then faced extremely violent treatment in detention – including torture and rape, according to the investigators’ latest report.

No acknowledgement

“For two years, Iran has refused to adequately acknowledge the demands for equality and justice that fuelled the protests in 2022. The criminalisation, surveillance and continued repression of protesters, families of victims and survivors – in particular women and girls – is deeply worrying,” she said.

Today in Iran, State-led repression of basic freedoms continues, Ms. Hossain maintained, with victims, survivors and their families “harassed, intimidated and threatened”.

Shaheen Ali, who also serves on the Fact-Finding Mission, said that although it was the Iranian Government’s “primary duty to provide redress to victims, we have heard from countless victims and survivors that they have neither confidence nor trust in Iran’s judicial and legal system, to provide meaningful truth, justice and reparations.”

“It is therefore imperative that comprehensive accountability measures also continue to be pursued outside the country.”

The Iranian delegation strongly opposed the probe’s findings.

Truth must emerge: Syria

The Syria crisis also featured at the Human Rights Council, where head of the Commission of Inquiry on Syria, Paulo Pinheiro urged greater efforts to uncover the truth about the fate of tens of thousands of disappeared people, victims of the Assad regime.

Mr. Pinheiro welcomed the new caretaker authorities’ willingness to work with his investigators on several human rights issues, while warning that Syria’s economic and humanitarian situation “remains catastrophic”.

At the same time, humanitarian funding is dwindling, the veteran rights investigator said, warning that economic despair is known to fuel violence, calling for an end to all sanctions “and the removal of other barriers to recovery and reconstruction”.

Meeting families

He said his team of investigators had met many families whose missing loved ones were not among the prisoners released in December following the immediate overthrow of the old regime.

“They now want the truth about their fate, and they want justice,” he said.

“The clarification of the fates of the tens of thousands who remain disappeared will require a large-scale effort led by the caretaker authorities along with technical support from human rights and humanitarian entities, including Syrian civil society,” he added.

“We stand ready to assist those efforts, including by sharing the relevant data we have gathered since 2011, and reiterate the importance of preserving all related evidence and information that can aid in this regard.”

Political Repression in Venezuela

In her presentation to the Council, Marta Valiñas, chair of the Independent International Fact-finding Mission on Venezuela, highlighted ongoing severe human rights violations, including political repression, arbitrary detentions, and persecution.

The 2024 presidential election results were contested but ultimately dismissed by the Supreme Court of Justice without thorough examination.

The National Electoral Council failed to release the total vote count or polling station tally sheets, raising concerns about electoral transparency. Ms. Valiñas stated.

“Credible testimonies indicated that council members received political instructions to announce a predetermined result – deviating from the result obtained at the polling booths.”

Before the presidential inauguration on 10 January 2025, there was a surge in arbitrary detentions of opposition figures and perceived dissidents. Security forces and civilian groups, known as “colectivos”, suppressed anti-government protests, leading to numerous rights violations, she said.

The mission also investigated fatalities during post-election protests. One significant incident involved the death of seven people during a protest near the San Jacinto Obelisk in Maracay, Aragua state, last July.

After analysing over 80 videos and 100 photographs, the mission confirmed that members of the Army and the Bolivarian National Guard had used firearms against protesters.

Deaths due to ‘health complications’

Ms. Valiñas expressed concern over the deaths of multiple detainees in state custody, attributed to “health complications”.

Investigations revealed that many detainees were subjected to torture and inhumane treatment. She cited one case where an individual was believed to have suffered beatings with wooden and metal rods under interrogation.

In response, the Venezuelan Government rejected the findings, calling them politically motivated and biased.

The Venezuelan representative stated, “this mission produces its propaganda based on invented or politically motivated sources, without scientific rigour and with malicious premeditation.”