Tehran rejects ‘politically-motivated’ UN report on 2022 riots

In a report published on Friday, the mission accused Iran of committing “crimes against humanity – specifically those of murder, imprisonment, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence, persecution, enforced disappearance and other inhumane acts” during the foreign-backed unrest.

In response, Iran’s High Council for Human Rights dismissed the report as “unreliable, illegal, biased and politically-motivated.”

“The so-called fact-finding committee published an undocumented, biased, and politically-motivated report without any legal basis, which was compiled in an unprofessional manner and based on unverifiable claims, and which is deeply in line with the political goals of some Western countries,” the council said in a statement.

The council further lamented that “politicization of human rights by some Western countries has reached its peak,” with those countries having developed a “sick habit of exploiting self-made political and human rights mechanisms and covering up their motivations and desires” under such reports.

It added that such a trend will end up sacrificing human rights and dashing the hopes of the people of the world toward international human rights mechanisms.

The mission, the statement continued, was formed as a result of lobbying and political exchanges of some Western countries, and its report has been prepared under the pressure of those countries.

“The main role in this political campaign was played by the German government, the same country that equipped Saddam [Hussein]’s regime with weapons of mass destruction, namely chemical weapons, as a result of which more than 13,000 Iranian citizens were martyred and more than 100,000 people injured,” the statement read.

It continues, "With various methods, including granting citizenship, immunity, and providing intelligence and financial support, Western countries have created a safe haven for terrorists. These individuals have the blood of thousands of Iranian citizens on their hands, including women and children. Western nations aid and abet them in their brutal acts, sabotage, and their evasion of punishment."

Moreover, the statement added, these countries have unilaterally imposed systematic sanctions, violating the rights of Iranian women and children. In fact, they have committed crimes against humanity and even label Iran's fight against rioters and terrorist activities as crimes against humanity.

Regarding the Israeli regime, the statement said while the regime has "perpetrated widespread crimes against the people of Gaza, violated all international humanitarian principles and human rights, caused the deaths of over 30,000 people and injuring 72,000 more, destroyed hundreds of thousands of residential, medical, and educational centers, as well as places of worship and infrastructure, which constitute crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocide, and ethnic cleansing, those who claim to support human rights and uphold related international mechanisms remain silent and do not even dare to acknowledge the situation as a 'crime against humanity'."

"However, when a citizen dies, as can happen in any country, these same countries suddenly champion human rights and present themselves as advocates for the rights of Iranian people, women, and children. They interfere in Iran's internal affairs, fuel and support riots, establish mechanisms for human rights monitoring, issue resolutions, and produce false political reports. These hypocritical and contradictory behaviors have little to do with genuine human rights and instead stem from the antihuman policies of countries like the US, the UK, Germany, France, and Germany."

The statement also said that from the onset, the Islamic Republic of Iran has consistently maintained that the mission proposed by Germany in the Human Rights Council is both illegal and politically motivated, adding that the basis for this assertion lies in the flawed and biased assumption that Iran encountered a peaceful gathering and, therefore, should not have taken any measures against the protesters.

In November 2022, Germany succeeded in passing a decision to launch the so-called fact-finding mission to probe into the nationwide riots in Iran.

Here is the full text of the report issues by Iran’s High Council for Human Rights:  

A) Summary of the comments of the I.R of the Iran

The so-called Fact-finding Mission published an undocumented, biased and politically-motivated report that sorely lacking in any justified legal basis, drafted in an unprofessional manner and based on unverifiable allegations, and which is deeply in line with the political goals of some western countries. Unfortunately, in the era of acting responsibly and recognition of accountability, when the people are getting more and more hopeful of promoting and protecting human rights, the politicization of human rights by some western countries has reached its peak, and such countries developed a morbid habit of employing self-fabricated political and human rights mechanisms to conceal their goals and aspirations under their reports. The natural concomitant of this process is the sacrifice of human rights and the disappointment of the world's people in international human rights mechanisms and arrangements.

Founders of the FFM, the main violators of Iranian nation’s rights

This mission was created as a result of lobbying and political give-and-take of some western countries, and its report was written under the pressure of the same countries. The main role in this political campaign was played by the German government, the very country that equipped Saddam's regime with chemical weapons of mass destruction, as a result of which, more than thirteen thousand Iranian citizens were martyred while more than one hundred thousand people were injured. Western countries, in various ways, including granting asylum, granting immunity and financial and intelligence support, provide a safe haven for terrorist groups whose hands are stained with the blood of thousands of Iranian citizens, including women and children, and help to continue their barbaric, destructive actions with impunity. By imposing unilateral sanctions and implementing these cruel sanctions in a systematic and extensive manner, these countries have played a major role in seriously violating the rights of Iranians, including women and children, and have in fact committed crime against humanity. In a politically-motivated report, they could not tolerate the actions of the Islamic Republic

of Iran to establish security and deal with rioters and destructive and terrorist activities during last year's riots and considered it a crime against humanity!

Crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide in Gaza strip: silence with the support of human rights claimants

In a situation where the Zionist regime has committed massive crimes against the defenseless people by killing more than 30,000 people and injuring more than 72,000 innocent people and completely destroying hundreds of thousands of residential, medical, educational, places of worship and infrastructure in the Gaza Strip which fall within the framework of crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocide and ethnic and racial cleansing, and have seriously violated all principles of international humanitarian law and international human rights, human rights claimants from countries and relevant international mechanisms are unable to take any action and they don't even have the courage to call this situation a crime against humanity. But these claimants, on the pretext of the death of one of the Iranian citizens, which can happen in any country, took a human rights pose and presented themselves as defenders of the rights of the Iranian nation and Iranian women and children, utilizing all their capacities such as interfering in Iran's internal affairs, incitement and support of chaos and destruction, creation of human rights monitoring mechanism, adopting resolutions and directing the fabrications of political and false reports. These double and contradictory behaviors have nothing to do with human rights and are completely driven by the anti-human policies and approaches of countries such as the U.S, Germany, U.K, France, Canada, etc.

2022 unrests, a pre-planned project against Iran

From the very beginning, in response to the resolution proposed by Germany in the Human Rights Council, the Islamic republic of Iran explicitly stated that it considered this mission to be political and illegitimate, as its creation was based on the false and biased assumption that last year, Iran was faced with a series of peaceful gatherings, and it should not have taken action to establish security and counter the rioters! This is in stark contrast to the report of the Special Committee to investigate the unrest of 2022 (elected by the president), a copy of which was provided to the HCHR, which reads: “the Islamic Republic of Iran did not face peaceful gatherings last year. Rather, many injuries sustained by law enforcement forces, damage to private and public properties and places, organized riots and the intervention and support of some foreign countries to the rioters and their movements and vandalism indicate that Iran faced full- scale riots. They failed however to achieve their goals due to the vigilance of honorable people and not accompanying the rioters”.

The available data, information and evidence reveal that the opponents of Iran had been long looking for an excuse to give rise to a crisis in the country. Therefore, in the shortest possible time into the publication of the news of the death of Miss. Mahsa Amini, they entered the stage of making waves. Later, by taking over the propaganda space, they started their project centered on the slogan of women, life, and freedom. As a matter of fact, the unrest was a pre-planned security scenario against Iran, and the news of Miss. Amini's death provided the right platform for its inception and expansion.

Non-independence and non-impartiality of the FFM and failure to consider external factors related to 2022 riots

One of the main conditions of investigation of any subject is the independence and impartiality of the investigators. These conditions have been emphasized both as a clause of the resolutions establishing or extending the mission of the Human Rights Council Office Holders and independently, in the form of Resolution 5/2 of the Human Rights Council. Unfortunately, the mission in question lacked even a minimum level of independence and impartiality due to its basic dependence on some western countries. For this reason, throughout the mission's report, there is no hint on the role of foreign countries, foreign and anti-Iranian media, social networks and terrorist groups in the creation and development of disturbances, whose documentation has been provided to human rights mechanisms through numerous reports.

Some findings regarding the impact of external causes on the unrest are as follow

• Involvement and steering function of centers and institutions affiliated with some governments and foreign intelligence services in giving rise to protest rallies and internal inflammation:
• Declaration of explicit and clear support and support of officials and leaders of some countries for unrest in Iran;
• The foreign actors (supporters) in the unrest are as follows: some foreign governments, especially the United States and the Zionist regime; Agents of intelligence organizations and services of some countries; Refugees, fugitives and foreign-based and elements of anti-revolution movements (terrorists such as MKO, terrorist groups, ...); Social networks; anti-Iranian and foreign satellite networks; ethnic, separatist and terrorist outfits based across the borders; foreign- based users of instant messaging apps.

Bold presence of terrorists group 2022 riots

During the 2022 riots in Iran, some events and issues that expose the hidden and visible dimensions of the narrative of these riots can be mentioned as follows:

• The arrest of more than 50 people from the operatives and associates of the terrorist group MKO who were involved in producing fake news that incited rioters, organizing assassinations and destruction, direct presence in the scenes of street riots and destruction of public property, providing various equipment to combat the police and incendiary materials for burning places and public and private cars.
• The arrest of 77 people from terrorist outfits of Komala, Democrat, Pak, PJAK, and some of the high-ranking cadres of these groups who were orchestrating, organizing and steering riots core on both side of the border to inflame western Iran.
• The arrest of 5 members of takfiri-terrorist groups along with 36 kg of explosives, who were trying to use the opportunity of the riots to plant bombs in people's gatherings as well as among rioters and blaming the explosions on the opposite side to intensify the conflict among the interested parties is also noteworthy.
• 9 foreign nationals from some western countries were arrested at the scene of the riots or behind the scenes of the conspiracy.
• Identification and arrest of 164 thugs with a history of prison, drug dealing and consumption, hooliganism, rape, etc. in the unrest.
• Discovery of several Molotov cocktail production workshops and a significant number of pistols, machine guns, cartridges and shotguns from rioters.

Although the so-called fact-finding mission claims that it was in pursuit of a detailed investigation of the incident and discovery of the truth, by publishing this undocumented and illusory report, it has clearly shown that it has no mission and purpose except to cover up the truth and render a reverse representation of the facts. The report of the fact-finding committee is actually a repetition and a botched effort at legitimization of baseless claims that were repeatedly raised in the anti-Iranian media and from the platforms of some Western governments. The formation of the so-called fact-finding mission with the political motives of a number of certain countries is neither legal nor legitimate.

Relying on unreliable and journalistic sources and deliberately ignoring national report

The most obvious principle in writing an investigation report is to use reliable and verifiable first-hand sources. The report of the fact-finding committee lacked any documentary sources and repeatedly used the method of induction and analogy to justify its baseless arguments. Basing the report on fake information and not complying with the principle of "the need to obtain facts through objective and reliable information from reliable sources" exposes the disingenuity of the drafter of this report and its non-legal nature. A report is said to be considered when people or institutions other than its drafters could verify the claims, or the documents and evidence provided are strong enough to dispel any doubt or uncertainty. The so-called fact-finding mission raised many allegations in its report without being clear about what documents and evidence it had to substantiate such allegations and how it obtained these documents. It is regrettable that the mission did not pay any attention to the provisions of international law regarding "sufficiency", "conclusiveness" and "compelling nature" of cited evidence and proceeded to publish material that do not lend to verification.

There is no denying that the report of the so-called fact-finding mission has been relegated to the assertions made by some fugitive criminals as well as sources related to terrorist groups and adversaries of the Iranian nation. Despite the fact that the Islamic Republic of Iran does not recognize the Fact-Finding mission and considers it illegitimate, it has prepared at least 45 well-documented reports on issues related to last year's riots, many of which are in response to the allegations of this mission. Naturally, these enlightening reports that were sent to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights were also accessible to the fact-finding mission. However, the committee preferred not to refer to these reports and confines itself only to the sources, data and reports provided by groups, individuals and media hostile to Iran. Therefore, the credibility, professionalism, independence and impartiality of the mission have been questioned.

Deliberately ignoring the widespread violence of rioters

A comprehensive look at the various dimensions and angles of the issue proves that professionalism, disinterested treatment and neutrality are among the obvious characteristics of any fact-finding mission. It is truly deplorable that this mission has applied the name of fact-finding to itself, but has deliberately turned a blind eye to the rights of some ordinary people, security defenders, and law enforcement forces, who lost their lives or were injured as a result of the widespread violence of rioters and agitators, failing in the process to address the massive financial losses to public and private places and property. Despite the existence of documented data and information to indicate otherwise, this mission repeatedly emphasizes in the report that the disturbances of 2022 were peaceful. This biased view obviously ignores the rights of the people who have suffered physical and financial injuries as a result of the rioters' violence.

One of the main contradictions of the report is that the mission, on the one hand, approved the destruction of private properties, public and religious places by the protesters, and on the other hand, declared disproportionate the use of less lethal forces such as tear gas or water cannons.

Failure to provide documentation, relying on probabilities and providing general conclusions

In the eighth paragraph of the draft report, the mission states that "the findings presented are not conclusive". This means that in many cases, the mission has reached a general conclusion based on a few examples. This way of reasoning is nothing but reaching a definite conclusion based on presumptive reasons. Therefore, the mission's reasoning in this regard is completely compromised. Instead of finding the truth and referring to certainties, the mission, due to its prejudice, is more likely to insinuate and cling to its presumptions. For example, in the issue of student poisoning, the mission turn to conjectures to induce the view that the government is responsible for these incidents and used expressions such as "probable" and "unlikely" to justify its reasoning and thus "It is unlikely that school poisonings on such a scale would have taken place without the intervention of the government."

In this report, the mission has made various allegations but has failed to back them up with cogent proofs. For example, the allegations of several deaths in custody as a result of torture (paragraph 45), the alleged rape of a woman in Kermanshah (paragraph 47) and the rejection of complaints related to torture and ill-treatment by judges (paragraph 55) have been made, yet unsupported by any documentation or solid statistics. In addition, the mission claimed that there was evidence of the injury inflicted on Miss. Amini during her arrest (paragraph 19), while none of the evidence to prove the claim (witness testimony, footages, medical document, etc.) was presented and is loosely based on alleged “patterns of police brutality". For the allegation of severe restriction of the right to peaceful assembly under Iran's laws (paragraph 21), no legal reason has been produced. This is despite the fact that the text of the Party Law and the holding of thousands of assemblies during a year without police action refute this allegation.

Deviation of the FFM from its mission

In addition, the mission has not even adhered to its political and non-legal mandate.

Some cases of the mission’s deviations from its mandate are as follows:

• The mission's legal decision-making regarding the scope of its authority (paragraph 5): while the scope of the mission's authority is determined by the mission's establishment document (human rights resolution), the mission's members have determined this scope through a document that is an extension of their authority and hence, their recommendations are rendered invalid.
• Judging without investigation about the events prior to 2022 (paragraph 14): The mission was only tasked with investigating the events of 2022; therefore, the allegation of "suppression and impunity of previous protest movements in Iran" is a departure from jurisdiction and an uncorroborated allegation. This is the best indication of the political and journalistic nature of the mission's report.

It is worth noting that the report, with the aim of proving the violation of international obligations of the Islamic Republic of Iran, insinuated that death sentences have not been issued in Iran's judicial courts for the most recent crimes (paragraph 61), whereas determining the most serious crimes in the Covenant International civil and political rights are left to the countries themselves, and the countries have no obligation to follow the advisory opinions of the Human Rights Committee in this regard.

The FFM concealment and dishonestly

In this report, the mission deliberately turned a blind eye to the events of 2022 and has departed from principles of justice and fairness. Some examples of this intentional disregard are as follows:

• The allegation that the majorities of the protests were peaceful (paragraph 21), is aimed at leaving out the fact that the majority of terrorist acts such as attacking the police and... (Documents of which are available) took place in the context of these protests.
• The mission's report, limiting the protests to "chanting slogans, helping others, driving cars as peaceful acts" or "violent acts such as throwing stones, burning tires or obstructing law enforcement" and concluding that these measures were not "imminent threat of death or serious injuries justifying the use of lethal force" and the action of the security forces was unnecessary and proportionate, seeking to prove extra-legal killing and execution by the security forces (paragraphs 25 and 32). In contrast, despite the clear documentation, the mission made no mention of rioters carrying firearms and assaulting officers with weapons and cars, burning cars, premises, equipment and etc.
• Alleging prosecution and punishment of people for performing safe behaviors such as posting on social media (paragraph 52) or alleging threats to employees of the anti-Iranian media BBC Farsi and Iran International and boycotting these networks (paragraph 84), without referring to the content of the mentioned posts and networks, including: teaching how to make IEDs or encouraging attacks on the police and government places, is part of the mission’s cover-up to corroborate the allegations raised by the resolution sponsor.

Repetition opponents and violators of the Iranian nation’s rights literature

The use of sloganeering dictions such as the slogan "Woman, Life, Freedom" is a collective cry for ethnic groups across the country to bring forth their long-standing sufferings and grievances which are driven by structural discrimination and marginalization in law and in practice " (paragraph 91), and repeating the words of the authorities of the countries that violate the rights of the Iranian nation and at the same time support the "killer of Palestinian children and women" regime and the statements of known terrorist outfits such as "the courage and steadfastness of the women, men and children of the "Women, Life, Freedom" movement" is in critical need of global solidarity" (paragraph 126), clearly reveals the solidarity of the authors of the report with the mentioned persons and the lack of independence, impartiality and professionalism of the mission that claims it wants to find the truth.

Remaining budget as an excuse to plan continuation of the work of the FFM

Here is a humorous and at the same time bitter, biting and regrettable comment made by the first secretary of the German delegation in a meeting with the representatives of Iran at the UN building, quoting the members of the fact-finding mission "the budget we allocated to this mission is not exhausted yet and can be used for another term”. It is regrettable that a human rights mechanism is determined for a country simply because of spending the budget, revealing the gross degradation of international human rights due to the political actions of some Western countries that claim to be advocates of human rights.

Accountability of the I.R. Iran

All this political game took place while during the riots of 2022, the Islamic Republic of Iran carried out extensive protective measures based on responsibility and sent the report of these measures through enlightening reports to the office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, measures that the mission deliberately leaf out of consideration, struggling instead to deny any action towards accountability in the Islamic Republic of Iran by presenting misleading analysis and biased interpretations.

Some actions based on the responsibility of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which actually negate the creation of a fictitious and politically-motivated mandate of the so- called fact-finding mission, can be mentioned as follows:

On October 31, 2022, by the order of the Minister of Interior, a working group was formed in this ministry to prepare an independent and impartial report on life and financial damage sustained by citizens and law enforcement forces, as well as damage to public and private property and submit the same to the President. Following the presentation of the initial report of the Minister of Interior, the President, as the highest executive authority of the country, on May 7, 2023, issued a decree to establish a Special

Committee for clarification, detailed and impartial investigation, and to remedy and compensate for any violation of the rights of citizens during the unrest.

In general, the results of the special committee's investigation confirm that the relevant government institutions, including the law enforcement and security agencies and the judicial system of the Islamic Republic, acted responsibly in the face of the unrest of 2022. Issuing urgent, timely and decisive instructions for law enforcement and security agencies to control riots with the least amount of resorting to force and based on self-restraint, fielding trained forces and acting based on a code of conduct, the judicial system's efforts to minimize the number of cases, widespread amnesty of the accused and convicts related to the 2022 riots within the framework of the Supreme Leader's amnesty decree, handling public complaints regarding the behavior of law enforcement officers and judicial officers during the riots, dealing with offenders due to negligence or fault, payment of financial damages and blood money to the survivors and heirs of the deceased, payment of damages to the injured, payment of medical expenses of the injured, payment to the victims of the unrest of 2022 out of the special fund of Ministry of Justice, as well compensation of damage sustained by public and private caused by unrest in the country's provinces are manifestations of this responsibility. The investigations of the Special Committee reveal that despite some few violations by some law enforcement forces, these violations don’t reflect in any way or manner the principled behavior of the government and were caused by the behavior of an individual. In addition, there has been the necessary will to deal with such infractions in law enforcement and judicial institutions.

This mission that was created by some western countries, especially Germany, with the money donated by them in December 2022 and after the failure of Iran's internal destabilization project, published an organized series of distortions of facts and lies. Not only did they fail to find the truth, but has also made the facts appear to be purposefully upside down. Therefore, the report of the so-called fact-finding mission lacks any legal validity   whatsoever, and   the   Islamic   Republic   of   Iran   completely   rejects it.

B) The main content flaws and contradictions of the report

1. In the introduction of the report in paragraph 2, the mission claims that "it has had 20 correspondences with the government of Iran, yet has not received any response”.

          As mentioned in the introduction, despite the fact that at the time of approving the mandate of the fact-finding mission, the Islamic Republic of Iran explicitly announced that it did not recognize this mission and would not cooperate with it due to the political nature of the mission and its goals, it prepared at least 45 enlightening reports about the allegations made regarding the 2022 riots and sent them to countries and international human rights mechanisms, including the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Many of these reports have been prepared in response to the unfounded allegations raised by the fact-finding mission. As might be expected, the fact-finding committee has had access to these reports like other mechanisms. It is regrettable that the mission not only did not make any use of these enlightening reports, but also claimed in a prejudiced manner to have had no access to Iran's answers.

2. In paragraph 2, the mission has also claimed that "in its engagements with the special committee to investigate the unrest of 2022, it did not receive a basic answer".

          This wrong judgment is raised when even though the Special Committee to investigate the 2022 Unrest did not have any mandate to talk with the so-called fact- finding mission, it had video conferences with the so-called fact-finding mission twice in March 2023 and February 2024 with the aim of clarifying and receiving possible data of the fact-finding mission for a more detailed investigation of the issue, and informed it about the following issues: the mission of the Special Committee, its modus operandi, setting up the secretariat, method of selection of the staff of the secretariat, receiving public complaints, action plan, forming specialized working groups, ways of identifying victims and alleged violators, making provincial trips and meeting with some victims, methods of receiving information from government groups and organizations and compensation methods. It also requested the fact-finding mission to send any information or data that it might have to the special committee to help a more detailed investigation of the incidents, but unfortunately, the mission preferred to persist with its political method and refrain from substantive interaction with the committee.

3. In the literature section of the report (Paragraph 13), the mission claimed "suppression of peaceful opposition".

          This assertion is premised on two wrong assumptions. First, it is peaceful to consider riots that result in a high level of violence, incitement, destruction, terrorist acts and disturbance, and secondly, to ignore and pass over the measures taken by the law enforcement forces in order to minimize harm to citizens, including avoiding using firearms and lethal force and accountability during the 2022 unrest. Since the outbreak of the unrest in 2022 and with the aim of observing the rule of law, observing the Sharia and legal limits in the implementation of legal duties and dealing with insecurity, the Islamic Republic of Iran adopted various security measures, including the issuance of instructions to avoid the use of firearms and lethal force during unrest, a tolerance-based treatment of women in the process of dealing with illegal gatherings, the use of specialized and trained forces to deal with riots and paying compensation.

        For this reason, from the very beginning, security forces were repeatedly given official orders to avoid the use of lethal weapons. Here you can refer to such announcements:

• In an announcement on September 22, 2022, the General Staff of the Armed Forces emphasized "that the use of combat firearms by the forces fighting the rioters is prohibited and they should only use anti-riot equipment and tools to counter the rioters. In very rare cases, only employing non-lethal weapons such as paintballs and gas launchers is permitted.
• On September 21, 2022, the Command of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also issued a notification regarding “completely avoiding carrying and using any firearms in dealing with the unrest."
• The Faraja command also issued a notification on September 20, 2022 regarding "the prohibition of the use of firearms of any kind to deal with rioters and control street riots and emphasizing the employment of other tactics and police equipment available in the management of gatherings and street riots".

          On September 25, 2022, the Minister of the Interior emphasized in a notification to the General Police Command that "in dealing with women present in illegal gatherings, it is necessary to strictly observe the limits and regulations, to deal with them based on Islamic principles, to avoid unnecessary coercive measures and to use women's forces as much as possible. Also, emphasis was placed on treating female detainees with respect and using detention and referral to judicial authority as a last resort.

The policy of tolerant treatment towards women in the process of dealing with illegal assemblies was also seriously followed by the law enforcement forces. On September 23, in a notification issued by the Security Council, it was emphasized that in the process of dealing with riots, only specialized forces should be deployed to deal with riots that are equipped with non-lethal and authorized anti-riot equipment, and have received the necessary training in regard to obeying the relevant laws and the regulations as also the observance of citizens’ rights. It was also emphasized on the necessity of using "official and identifiable uniforms" for all the forces countering the riots.

          Regarding calling the riots of 2022 peaceful, the mission should also be asked” Upon what logic a riot is considered peaceful in which sixteen gangs and an organized arms smuggling network were identified and investigated? How could this unrest be declared peaceful when from September 17 to December 5 2022, 2,827 combat weapons, 5,487 riot weapons, and a total of 8,314 weapons were discovered from the rioters?! Can any impartial observer claim that the riots that resulted in the martyrdom of about 79 and more than seven thousand injured and wounded members of the security and law enforcement forces as also thousands of billions of Rials in damages to public and private property were peaceful!? It is regrettable that the mission, by repeatedly using the concept of peaceful, has tried not only to present a fake narrative of the riots of 2022, but also is at pains to uphold the allegations of the Western countries, which are both the drafters of the mandate of this mission and its financiers.

4. In paragraph 18 of the explanation of Miss. Amini's death, the mission claimed "arbitrary detention of Miss. Amini" and in an irrelevant and unwarranted conclusion, linked the occurrence of this incident to "conflict of laws and policies related to hijab with international law". In another paragraph (68), the mission also addressed the issue of hijab and considered it "discriminatory" regardless of the religious, cultural and legal roots of hijab in an interventionist move.

          First of all, it should be noted that the mission’s claim of detaining Miss. Amini is completely false. Basically, in this particular case, there was no question of detention at all. Rather, she was only being led to the Social Administration and Women's Education Hall of the public security police for a few hours to receive some trainings and recommendations on how to comply with the hijab law.

          Regarding the mission's desperate attempt to present the occurrence of a conflict between the laws related to hijab with international law and its discriminatory concept, it is also worth noting that this approach is basically a continuation of the efforts made by some western countries as the sponsors of this mission in order to impose western culture and lifestyle and values which is definitely reprehensible, unacceptable and in contravention of the rules of human rights.

          In Iranian society from ancient times until now, observing hijab has been a cultural requirement and has an inseparable link with the cultural tradition of Iranian society. Historical studies show that Iranian women in pre-Islamic Iranian dynasties observed a complete hijab. As a matter of fact, in the context of Iranian history, women's clothing is a result of cultural and social, religious and moral values and has been and is respected by the society. After the arrival of Islam in Iran, the hijab gained more glory with the influence of the rich Islamic culture, and Iranian women safeguarded the principle of the hijab for religious and cultural reasons. In Islamic teachings, the observance of the hijab is emphasized and many verses have been revealed regarding the obligation to observe the hijab.

          The religion of Islam and the popular culture of Iranians, like all divine religions, emphasize the preservation of hijab and chastity as a moral and social virtue in response to the call of nature and human primordial essence. This is because the observance of hijab in Iran has deep cultural and religious support. This very background prompted Iranians to resist the violent decree of "removing the veil" by the Pahlavi dictator on January 8, 1936, and to die in the way of protecting the hijab.

          After the victory of the Islamic Revolution, a tremendous change occurred in the attitude towards the role and status of women in Iranian society. In Iranian and Islamic culture, the family is the fundamental unit of society and the epicenter of human growth and excellence. In such a conception of the family unit, the woman can no longer be deemed as an object and while recovering the important task of raising human beings, she has been the leader and companion of men in the public and political arenas, and as a result, according to the Islamic point of view, she will have a higher value and dignity. Based on this, according to the 10th Article of the Constitution, all laws, regulations and planning should be aimed at facilitating the formation of a family, protecting its sanctity, and strengthening the relationship between men and women and children based on Islamic laws and ethics. After the Islamic revolution, in parallel with the growth of women's social presence, the social manifestation of the culture of hijab and chastity increased in the social relations of the Iranian people. For this reason, observing hijab became a legal requirement and emerged in the hierarchy of the normative and legal system of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

          Making hijab a law became one of the levers of pressure against Iran from the very beginning. Some western governments tried to whip up politically-motivated atmospheres by presenting hijab as mandatory, distort the religious, cultural and legal background of the hijab which is main reason for its survival in Iranian society, and find a new tool to exert pressure on Iran. But the important point here is the efforts that are made in order to force cultures towards embracing the western values and lifestyle through international human rights institutions and mechanisms, which is definitely reprehensible, unacceptable and against the rules of human rights. The diversity of cultures in the global arena and the laws and regulations of countries should be respected. Some mechanisms and countries try to make all countries think and behave like them. This is a kind of imposition and is completely contrary to the principle of self- determination and national sovereignty of countries. The West and human rights mechanisms must come to the terms that Iran is an Islamic country and is governed based on Islamic standards, and is not supposed to follow their specific standards. This does not mean that the Islamic Republic of Iran opposes its internationally recognized obligations in the field of human rights, but it means that Iran opposes the imposition of the Western lifestyle.

          One of the obvious contradictions in the report is that while the mission claimed at the beginning of the report that it "used the laws, orders, regulations and policies, statements and official reports and judicial documents issued by the Iranian authorities" and stated in paragraph 11 that "it considered the legal framework of Iran for the preparation of the report", it has referred to hijab, which is a legal requirement in Iran, with the biased word “mandatory” and considered it discriminatory.

5. The so-called fact-finding mission claimed in another paragraph (19) that "Miss. Amini was subjected to physical violence that led to her death" and in the next paragraph it claimed that "the government failed to fulfill its duty to investigate this death”.

          It is regrettable that the mission deliberately ignores the comprehensive efforts of Iran for launching an immediate, quick and transparent investigation of this incident and denies such efforts altogether. In this regard, it should be mentioned that as soon as the incident occurred, the heads of the three powers issued separate orders to investigate the incident immediately, accurately and transparently. Following these orders, special investigation teams were set up as follows to clarify all aspects of the incident and discover the truth:

• The investigation committee of the Ministry of Interior, following the order of the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, under the supervision of the Security and Law Enforcement Deputy Minister and the Secretary of the National Security Council;
• Specialized investigation team from the Medical Examination Organization;
• The investigation team of the Islamic Consultative Assembly following the order of the Speaker of the Parliament
• The formation of a medical committee with the presence of the Deputy Director of the Ministry of Health, the Vice Chairman of the Health Commission of the Islamic Parliament, the head of the Medical Examination Organization, the head of the Medical Board Organization, the representative of the Cardiovascular Scientific Association, the representative of the Neurosurgeon Association and the representative of the Radiology Association in order to review medical and therapeutic dimensions and medical records of Miss. Mahsa Amini.
• Following the order of the head of the Judiciary, a criminal case was filed in the Tehran Public Prosecutor's Office. By forming a special team and appointing a special investigator for the case, Tehran Public Prosecutor issued the necessary instructions to conduct investigations and clarify the dimensions of the issue.

          The investigation committees published the results of their works. In its expert report, which was published on October 7, 2022, the Medical Examination Organization announced that the death of Miss. Mahsa Amini was not caused by a blow to the head or the vital organs of the body. In this report, it was stated: "Based on the hospital medical documents, the examination of CAT-scan of the brain and lungs, the results of the physical examination of the body and autopsy, pathology tests, the death in question was not caused by blows to the head and vital organs and parts of the body”. The highlights of the report of the Parliamentary Committee on the death of Miss. Mahsa Amini, which was presented in the open chamber on Sunday, October 16, 2022, are presented as follows:

          According to the contents of the case, the written announcements of the relevant agencies, the explanations of the relevant officials, the review of the full CCTV footage of the Public Security Police, the minutes of the local examination and the field investigation of the special inspection of the Greater Tehran Police Command, the statements of those present at the scene and the hall of the Public Security Police Training Department, a number of citizens, businesses and drivers of passenger cars based in the place at the time of the incident, checking the documents and considering the proofs, there was no assault or physical attack during the encounter, transfer and deployment of the late Miss. Amini at the public security police station.

However, the need to project a correct picture regarding the unrest and its causes, investigate the possible violations of the citizenship rights of individuals and law enforcement forces, physical and financial damage and the need to compensate them according to the Constitution as well as the relevant laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Therefore, following the presentation of the report of the working group formed in the Ministry of Interior on October 31, 2022 on the human and financial damage sustained by citizens and government forces as well as the damage caused to private and public property, the President as the highest executive authority of the country issued a decree On May 7, 2023 to form a Special Committee for clarification, detailed and impartial investigation, and to remedy and compensate for any violation of citizens' rights during these unrest. To this end, the Special Committee held specialized meetings to verify the results of the investigation carried out regarding the death of Miss. Mahsa Amini, and reviewed the hospital medical records, the results of CAT-scan of the brain and lungs, the results of the physical examination of the body and the autopsy, and the pathology. The results of the investigations of the Special Committee confirm the findings of the Medical Examination Organization that Miss. Amini's death was not caused by a blow to the head or the vital organs of the body.

          The fact-finding committee must answer this question first of all" based on what rationale it ignored the results of the investigations of specialized and legal authorities such as the Medical Organization Organization and the Investigation Committee of the Parliament, which were issued after examining the evidence and documents?

While it did not have access to any documents, how did it make the false allegation that "Miss. Amini's death was caused by physical violence"? In addition, every fair observer has the right to know that the mission has not referred to any unilateral, immediate and transparent measures adopted by the Islamic Republic for a detailed investigation of the incident. Failure to pay attention to these measures has revealed an unprofessional and biased view in writing this report.

6. In another paragraph (21), the mission has claimed that "protesters have been presented as a threat to public order and internal security due to their behavior protected under international law."

          The claim that Iranian authorities called the protestors as rioters and enemy elements clearly contradicts the publicly available statements of Iranian authorities, such as the supreme leadership, that it is necessary to separate rioters from the deceived people and the youth.

          The mission's allegation that people have been apprehended and prosecuted simply for participating in gatherings and engaging in protected behavior under international laws is complete untruth. During the riots of 2022, only people who committed terrorist acts and other serious and violent crimes such as murder, destruction and incitement, etc., were arrested and tried. It is necessary to note that the freedoms included in the human rights documents, according to the provisions of these documents, are subject to restrictions such as the need to respect the freedom of others, order, security and public health. Moreover, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, in 2020, by publishing the 58-page guidelines regarding the application of restrictions on peaceful gatherings in the event of violence and riots, stated that "law enforcement officers, if necessary and to the extent which is necessary to perform the duty, may use force." The General Assembly of the United Nations, in a resolution entitled "Rules of Conduct for Police Officers" approved on December 17, 1979, also cited the same issue and stated: "Law enforcement officers, if necessary and to the extent necessary to discharge their duties may use force." According to Interpretive Opinion No. 37 of the Human Rights Committee, gatherings should not have the content of propaganda for war, or support for racial, religious and national hatred. And if they promote discrimination and violence, appropriate restrictions should be applied. When the government is unable to protect the participants from the opposition, the restriction may be applied”.

          As a result of the widespread violence of rioters and terrorists, 25 people and 54 law enforcement officers were martyred while in excess of 7000 law enforcement officers were injured or wounded. According to the findings of the Special Committee to investigate the riots of 2022, by January 15, 2023, the amount of 10967843 million Rials of damage to property and 9066351 million Rials of damage to places had been caused by the rioters' actions. The question that the mission should answer here is, “based on which internationally recognized standard the acts of terrorism, chaos and violence that resulted in the martyrdom and injury of this number of ordinary people and law enforcement forces were characterized as peaceful? How can this amount of systematic and extensive attacks and damage to government, administrative, public and private properties and places, including to civilian administrative centers and public services such as banks, ATMs, ambulances (despite carrying patients), transport vehicles and public transport, police cars, fire engines, etc. can de conceived as peaceful?” This is particularly interesting in that the mission, in paragraph 21 of its report, "acknowledges that security forces have been killed and injured and that there have been instances of violence by protesters," but claims in a contradictory conclusion that "the vast majority of protests were peaceful"! Which of the western countries that founded the mandate of this mission have faced this amount of violence and terrorist acts during their gatherings, and if the same governments are facing military attacks and terrorist acts that endanger people's lives and property, will not deal with it?

          For example, in 2019, according to the orders of the London police, any gatherings related to environmental issues in London were stopped and the police banned all further protests by these groups. Following this violent treatment of protests, a law regarding the duties of the police was approved by the Parliament of England, which gives considerable leeway to the police to resort to violence in connection with peaceful gatherings. As a matter of fact, the law of police duties, which critics call the "repression bill", on the one hand, causes a significant and unprecedented increase in the powers of the police force to apply or impose undue restrictions on peaceful protests, and on the other hand, criminalizes any deprivation of public comfort and provides a sentence of up to 10 years of imprisonment for the usual cases of peaceful protests.

          In US, attacking the police or security forces brings about a heavy punishment. Every year, the US police have killed hundreds of people just because of the possibility and suspected intention of an attack, while no attack actually takes place, and most of the killer policemen are acquitted in court. Furthermore, the violent behavior of the American police against children, students and black people and the occurrence of racism and discrimination between blacks and whites in America are still persistent.

          Following a group protest in Germany and sitting on the ground in the streets, the German Minister of the Interior responded: "This is illegal in Germany and the protesters consider themselves above the law. By closing the street, they are committing a crime that violates the limits of legitimate protest." He continued: "The police have my full support to suppress these protesters." On the other hand, more than 3000 German police and security forces arrested 250 political opponents under the pretext of their plot for a coup. Among those arrested, there was a 71-year-old man. Arresting these people, who only wished to bring about changes to the German political system without picking up arms, closing the streets or killing police officers on the charge of attempted subversion, and banning their support on social networks is considered a suppression of freedom of speech and opinion.

          In France's protests last year, more than 90,000 security forces and a number of armored combat vehicles were deployed against 123,000 protesters across the country. According to published news, the number of arrests reached 1385 while 975 were taken into custody. 118 protesters also sustained injuries. In general, popular protests in France against rising inflation and the energy crisis are severely suppressed by the police. In one of the gatherings, where many students joined the protests, the police brutally engaged students in at least 30 high schools.

          The Prime Minister of Canada also used the law declaring a state of emergency in this country from February 14 to February 23, 2022, to end the massive protest of truckers known as the "Freedom Caravan". These truckers were protesting the mandatory vaccination and border restrictions imposed following the Covid-19 pandemic. While declaring a state of emergency, Justin Trudeau announced that the necessary powers will be given to the police to arrest and fine protesters in order to suppress the protesters. He claimed that declaring a state of emergency to end the truckers' protest at the beginning of this year was a measured and correct action.

          It should be noted that there should be drawn a clear boundary between peaceful gatherings and non-peaceful ones (with violence, carrying white weapons and firearms, using hate speech, etc.). Peaceful gatherings should be supported while non- peaceful gatherings should be dealt with according to the law.

7. In another paragraph (22), the mission claimed that "551 people were killed during the unrest".

          Due to the high level of violence unleashed by rioters during last year's riots, their employment of white weapons and firearms, as well as the infiltration of the riots by a number of terrorist operatives, a number of people as well as law enforcement forces lost their lives. Taking into account the available documents and proofs, including the reports of relevant domestic institutions such as the Medical Examination Organization, military, law enforcement and security agencies, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Justice, as well as meeting and talking with some families of the deceased, the Special Committee managed to establish the status of the deceased and martyrs of riots of 2022, the correct statistics of which will be announced by this Committee. According to the investigations, the official statistics are much lower than the fictitious statistics of the so-called fact-finding mission. The Special Committee also examined the alleged list of 538 dead people published by a so-called human rights non-governmental organization, which seems to be the basis of the so-called FFM report, as far as possible. 18 of the alleged people who were introduced as dead are currently alive. Another 78 people, who were introduced as victims of the riots, also died in incidents not related to the riots, such as illness, accident, suicide, intentional homicide by another person, etc. Many of the alleged people were also examined, but the lack of necessary specifications made it impossible for the Special Committee to identify and examine their cases. Merely proposing a series of names without precise and unverifiable identity specifications cannot secure recognition for these allegations.

8. In paragraph 24 of its report, the mission claimed that "in a document, the judiciary officials emphasized that during one evening, the law enforcement forces used more than 300 rounds of live ammunition".

          The existence of such a document is completely denied and it is a desperate attempt by the mission to document its claims with fabricated documents. This claim is made while the law enforcement forces were not allowed to carry and use firearms during the gatherings according to the announced policies. It is worth noting that on the first day of the riots the Chief of Law Enforcement Forces the Islamic Republic of Iran, issued and communicated an instruction for maximum restraint to all the police forces across the country in order to protect the rights of the citizens. In this instruction, the following actions were underscored:

• Prohibition of carrying weapons by police forces during protests;
• Banning entering universities and educational centers by police forces;
• The need to respect the rights of detainees, including the prohibition of any assault and battery or insulting action;
• Prohibition of any arbitrary detention;
• Providing all treatment and medical services to detainees;
• Guaranteeing the right of those taken into custody to communicate with their families and lawyers

9. In paragraph (33), the mission claims "arbitrary arrest of protesters due to a wide range of protected behaviors" and in paragraph (34) it claims that "more than 60,000 people have been arrested during the unrest".

          During last year's riots, no person was arrested for participating in the gatherings, and only people who committed crimes such as violence, incitement, destruction, and the like were taken into custody. The then Public Prosecutor of the country issued a special order to the prosecutors across the country on September 28, 2022. In this order, the Public Prosecutor, while emphasizing compliance with legal standards and fast and accurate handling of all cases, stressed that "people who do not have any criminal record and there are no convincing proofs, documents, reports of witnesses and reports of law enforcement, security and intelligence officers to prove their guilt and the expert committee has confirmed that they did not play a role in the unrest, should be released after being given the necessary guidance and instructions. The then Public Prosecutor also emphasized that "people who have caused the martyrdom or injury of security guards and people, those who have destroyed and set fire to private and public properties and places, offices, banks, gas stations, ATMs, etc., people who have attacked military, law enforcement and security headquarters and places, thugs and mobsters with criminal records and abusers of cyberspace who played a prominent role in inciting, encouraging and organizing the rioters, provided that their accusation file has sufficient documentation, evidence and proofs, should be detained a court hearing is held and a final sentence is issued. Such cases should be followed up with accuracy, speed and determination and the court should be requested to issue the necessary rulings”.

          The mission's statistics of 60,000 arrests are completely fabricated and are denied. The Special Committee to Investigate the Riots of 2022 has stated in its report about the detainees that during the Riots of 1401, cases were filed for about 34 thousand people (filing a case is not the same as detention) and their status is as follows:

• Given the emphasis of Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, to conduct an immediate investigation regarding the death of Miss. Mahsa Amini, and the order of the Honorable Head of the Judiciary to investigate the matter in detail, as well as the instructions of the Public Prosecutor of the country and the directives of the National Security Council regarding how to deal with those detained, many people who were in the detention center were released by issuing appropriate judicial orders. For this reason, more than 90% of the people were outside the prison with appropriate judicial orders. Later, many of them received orders of non-suit and their cases were dismissed. By looking into the available documents and reports, it was found that in the early days, with the aim of settling the cases of those apprehended as quickly as possible and handling possible complaints, officers and relevant judicial officials were stationed at the detention centers round the clock.
• Thanks to the general amnesty of the Supreme Leader, the criminal cases filed for 22,000 defendants and convicts of the 2022 unrest were closed and their criminal records were expunged, both those under arrest or those who had been released on bail or owing to other judicial orders regardless of the stage of their prosecution, pending or otherwise.
• Investigations of the Special Committee show that until the preparation of this report, only 292 people are still in custody for committing violent criminal acts, including causing extensive damage, arson, and committing security crimes and terrorist acts. 158 of these people have been sentenced to incarceration while the rest have been indicted.

          Another inconsistency in the mission's report is that, announcing the figure of 60,000 detainees, it claims in paragraph 41 that "Iranian authorities usually kept detainees incommunicado and/or in solitary confinement for long periods of time tended to refrain from informing their families about the place of custody of their loved ones." The first point is that the families of the detainees were usually notified on the first day. The results of the visits of judicial and oversight boards confirm this issue. The second point is that the detainees were generally kept in public wards, whether in detention centers or in prisons. The surprising issue is why this non- professional and political mission did not ask whether there are 60,000 solitary cells in any country, including Iran?!

10. In other paragraphs, including (36, 37, and 46), the mission has put forward baseless allegations regarding "physical and sexual violence against detainees while being transferred to the detention centers" and, in its opinion, has established a pattern of sexual and gender-based violence.

Rape, harassment and sexual violence are not only prohibited in Islamic laws and subject to severe punishment, but also criminalized in the criminal laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran and in the most severe form, subject to death penalty. The judicial authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran seriously investigate and handle any claims or complaints regarding sexual violence, rape and sexual harassment. In this connection, two complaints have been submitted to the judicial authorities, one of which has led to the issuance of verdict and the other is in the process of investigation. The defendants in this cases have no connection with the law enforcement forces. This issue indicates the seriousness and responsible approach of the Islamic Republic of Iran in dealing with such crimes and pursuing the rights of possible victims.

          It is noted that during the visits of judicial authorities, MPs, the High Council for Human Rights and the Special Committee to women's detention centers and prisons and talking with the prisoners, the allegations were followed up, but they were not confirmed. Also, one of the convicts who made allegations of rape and sexual assault against some women on social networks also did not submit any documents to the Public Prosecutor's office to corroborate his claims. Therefore, drafting and publishing fake lists with no accurate and verifiable identity specifications cannot lend credibility to such claims.

11. In paragraph 55, the mission alleges "systematic violation of fair trial guarantees" during the unrest of 2022.

          In the laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran, due process is considered as an indispensable part of the proceedings. The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran has been the most important step to establish the rule of law after the Islamic Revolution. In the Constitution, eliminating unfair discrimination and creating fair opportunities for everyone in all material and spiritual fields is among the most important duties of the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Also, providing the comprehensive rights of both men and women and guaranteeing fair judicial security for everyone and the equality of the public before the law is one of the duties of the Islamic Republic of Iran (Article 3 of the Constitution). Common laws have also recognized the principles of fair proceedings based on Islamic standards. The guarantee of the implementation of the articles providing for fair proceedings as stipulated in the Constitution has been specified in common laws.

          According to Article 34 of the Constitution, litigation is the right of every person, everyone may refer to the competent courts for the purpose of filing a lawsuit, and no one can be prohibited from the court that they have the right to refer to.

          By virtue of Article 156 of the Constitution, the Judiciary as an independent power has been identified as the protector of individual and social rights and responsible for the realization of justice. It is responsible for such duties as handling and issuing judgments on grievances, violations, and complaints, settling lawsuits and resolving disputes, restoring public rights and expanding justice and legitimate freedoms (Article 156). Other guarantees of fair proceedings stipulated in the constitution are the open court principle (Article 165), the legality of judges' rulings (Articles 166 and 167), the legality of crime and punishment (Nullum crimen sine lege, Article 169), equal rights of all Iranian people and absence of any kind of unfair discrimination (Article 19 and paragraph 9 of Article 3), equality of all Iranian people before the law (Article 20), prohibition of arbitrary arrest and detention and the right of the accused receive explanation of charges and undergo trial as soon as possible (Article 32), the right to counsel (Article 35), the principle of presumption of innocence (Article 37), the prohibition of torture to obtain a confession and the protection of human dignity and dignity (Articles 39 and 38). Also, according to the Constitution, punishment and its execution must be dispensed only by a competent court and according to the law (Article 36) and the court's rulings must be substantiated, documented by the law and principles based on which the sentence was issued (Article 166). Compensation for damages is also emphasized in case of fault, omission or mistake of the judge (principle 171).

          In order to prove that the mission's allegation is false, one can safely assert that the relevant recognized international standards have not been overlooked in Iran's judicial system. Also, considering the Islamic nature of the ruling system in Iran, some additional standards have also been put in place to protect the rights of defendants. Accordingly, the right to a fair trial is one of the rights recognized and guaranteed both in the legislative system of the Islamic Republic of Iran and in its executive system, and if there are instances of its violation, they will be prosecuted.

12. In other paragraphs, including (39) and (40), (57) and (58), the mission claimed "arrest of children during protests" and "lack of access of those detained to lawyers" and "lack of access of those detained to the contents of the case".

          The mission's allegations in this regard were due to the lack of attention to Iran's laws coupled with partiality in the preparation of the report. It is worth noting that among the detained people, there were only a few people less than 18 years of age. Detained persons under the age of 18 were immediately released on bail or other judicial sureties upon the order of the judicial authority. In very few cases, due to the seriousness of the crimes committed, they were immediately directed to juvenile detention centers. During the visit of the Secretary of the High Council for Human Rights to the Tehran Juvenile Detention Center (the capital) during the riots, only 20 detainees under 18 years of age (17 and 18 years old) were present in the center, some of whom were subsequently released.

          Regarding access to a lawyer as one of the main indicators of access to justice, Iranian laws have recognized the right to choose a lawyer at the highest level (Article 35 of the Constitution). Article 48 of the Code of Criminal Procedure defines the time of access to a lawyer from the beginning of being taken into custody. Note to Article 48 of the Code of Criminal Procedure passed in 2013 by recognizes the right a lawyer to be present at the stage of preliminary investigation in specific crimes against internal and external security as well as organized crimes. This is an important step in line with the right to have access to lawyer in all proceedings stages, which has been accepted by the legislation of the Islamic Republic of Iran and thus no person could be deprived of the right to have a lawyer in the preliminary stage.

          In this regard, the Special Committee to investigate the riots of 2022 has stated in its findings: "Presentation of issued orders and explanation of charges and the right of access to a lawyer have also been considered as the principles of fair proceedings and the rights of the accused by the law enforcement forces and judicial authorities. However, if the arrested or summoned people have a complaint, they may refer to the competent authorities”.

          The mission's allegations regarding the lack of access of detained persons to a lawyer are full of internal contradictions. Although the mission has claimed in paragraph 57 that "the vast majority of detained persons did not have access to a lawyer during the investigation, and those who had access were usually denied access to independently appointed lawyers in court", in another paragraph (79) claimed that "... defense lawyers have been summoned or prosecuted in criminal courses in cases associated with the protests". The question is “if the arrested people did not have access to a lawyer, how such lawyers were summoned or prosecuted?!

13. In paragraph 80 of the report, the mission has claimed that "some lawyers have been arrested due to their professional activity".

          The mission's allegation regarding the arrest of lawyers because of their profession is a complete lie. It is necessary to note that there are 130,000 lawyers working in Iran without any issues. No person is arrested or prosecuted for engaging in a specific profession, including the profession of lawyer. If perhaps a lawyer is also arrested, it not because of their profession, but according to the laws and because of the crimes committed or their illegal actions. Therefore, the independence of lawyers has been taken into consideration in the laws. Also, the legal bill on the independence of the Bar Association approved in 1955 was the expressive will of the legislative body to guarantee the independence of lawyers. In Article 1 of the Bar Association Independence Bill, the association is defined as an independent institution.

14. In paragraphs of its report, including (42, 45, 55, 118), the fact-finding mission has made a general and vague claim of "protesters being tortured, death due to torture, judges not paying attention to complaints related to torture".

          It is deplorable that the mission made a general and vague claim without providing evidence for verification. Basically, in the legal system of the Islamic Republic of Iran, torture is prohibited. According to Article 38 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, any torture to extract a confession or information is prohibited. Forcing a person to testify, confess, or swear is not allowed, and such testimony, confession, and oath possess no value and validity, and the violator of this principle will be punished according to the law. Also, as per Article 578 of the Islamic Penal Code approved in 2013, "Any judicial or non-judicial government employee and official who tortures or physically harasses an accused person in order to force them to confess, in addition to retribution or payment of compensation, shall be imprisoned from six months to three years. If someone has given an order in this regard, only the one who gave the order will be sentenced to the aforementioned imprisonment. If the accused dies due to torture and ill-treatment, the agent will be punished as the murderer and the enabler will be punished as the perpetrator of the murder”.

Therefore, it is not possible to obtain a confession from a person by force or any other means, and this confession has no legal basis. The accused has the right to remain silent in front of the investigator's questions, and it is the investigator who must present their evidence that the person is guilty.

          According to Article 169 of the Islamic Penal Code approved in 2013, "confessions obtained under coercion, duress, torture, or mental or physical torture and abuse are worthless and the court is obliged to re-investigate the accused". Invoking the confession of the defendant is legally valid only when such confessions have been made willingly from any pressure and reluctance. Otherwise it will be recognized as lacking any validity according to Article 38 of the Constitution and Articles 168 and 169 of the Islamic Penal Code. Also, as per Article 108 of the Executive Regulations of the Organization of Prisons and Security and Educational Measures of approved in 2021, the use of any torture and ill-treatment is prohibited: "Committing misbehavior, such as aggression, derogatory behavior and speech, and any mental and physical harassment by the institution's employees towards the prisoners is absolutely prohibited, and as the case may be, it can lead to disciplinary or criminal prosecution of the offender".

          In the framework of the legal and judicial system of the Islamic Republic of Iran, acts of torture and similar behaviors are criminalized and are subject to punishment, and anyone who claims to have been tortured may file a complaint with the competent authorities. Therefore, making general and baseless claims without specifics and especially the lack of filing a complaint by those leveling such allegations cannot give credibility to such claims.

15. In other paragraphs of the report (61), (62) and (63), the mission claims "the possibility of receiving the death sentence for 100 people", "the issuing of death sentences for 28 people" and "the lack of observance of fair proceedings for people who are sentenced to death for their sentences have been executed”.

          Similar allegations were raised earlier by some so-called human rights organizations, and unfortunately, this committee repeated the same allegations in its report. Based on the inquiries from the competent authorities, the investigations carried out on the names of the persons mentioned in the published reports and the answers received from the relevant entities, it was determined that some of these names did not exist at all or could not be identified due to the lack of additional information. Many of the people mentioned in the media who are allegedly facing death sentences or have received capital punishment sentences have been released either by virtue of the Supreme Leader's amnesty decree or after receiving a suspension of prosecution or an order of non-suit upon the completion of preliminary investigation. Also, some of these names refer to those defendants who have been sentenced to several years of incarceration and are now serving their sentences after going through all the legal formalities and passing a due process. They have received lenient rulings despite perpetration of serious crimes with several public and private implications because of expressing remorse for their actions and crimes and on the grounds of Islamic compassion and mercy. Some of the names are related to people whose cases have been investigated or are pending decision due to intentional murder or membership in armed or terrorist groups.

          With the investigations carried out regarding the alleged lists, it was found that 30 people have received prison sentences and 29 people have been granted orders of on-suit. Moreover, 6 people were pardoned by the Supreme Leader, 3 people were acquitted and 3 people were released on bail. One death sentence has also been overturned in the Supreme Court and been referred to a parallel branch for re- examination. Due to failure to provide complete information, no records were retrieved for 8 people. The sentence of retribution (Qisas) or capital punishment of 9 people has been executed. The crimes committed by these people are attached to this report. 21 people have been indicted for committing crimes and their cases have been sent to the court for consideration.

16. The mission claimed in another paragraph (43) that "the detainees, including children, were injected with unknown substances and did not have access to medical care".

          As explained, a very small number of people under the age of 18 were detained in juvenile correctional centers for committing crimes such as property destruction, arson, etc. On the other hand, the mission's allegation regarding the injection of unknown substances is pure falsehood, and it is not known on what documents and evidence this baseless claim is founded. It is truly regrettable that the mission did not make any effort to verify this allegation in advance.

          In line with Article 137 of the Executive Regulations of the Prisons Organization and Security and Educational Measures approved in 2021, all people who are kept in detention centers and prisons, regardless of the type and title of their charges or conviction, have easy and quick access to the prison infirmary and physicians round the clock. Should special medical facilities and equipment in prisons be found wanting, inmates could be sent out of the prison at any hour to pursue their treatment.

17. In paragraph 60, the mission claimed the existence of "a pattern of orders to suspend prosecution and suspended sentences to create deterrence from protesting or expressing opposition" and stated that "the precondition for granting a state amnesty is acceptance of the crime and expression of remorse even for those who have not been convicted of any crime."

          It is deplorable that this political body has expended all its efforts in reverse representation of fact and demonizing, to the extent that it analyzes the use of legal and judicial leniency possibilities such as order of non-suit, suspension of punishment and amnesty within the framework of political goals. It is also necessary to mention that in any judicial system, one of the conditions for benefiting from leniency possibilities is to express remorse for committing a crime. Of course, the mission's claim that innocent people have also received amnesty with the precondition of expressing remorse is completely baseless because no innocent person has been arrested to be pardoned.

18. The mission has claimed in another paragraph (76) that "435 students have been suspended or expelled for participating in protests" and "more than 2000 students have been called to the disciplinary committee".

          It is unfortunate that the so-called fact-finding mission has used anti-Iranian and foreign media sources for this allegation as in the case with other parts of this report. These media have quoted the number 435 by quoting a council known as the Students' Union Council, whose nature is not known, and the mission has presented it as its own documented and reliable information without any investigation and documentation verification.

19. In paragraph 78 of the report, with a quote from the Minister of Education regarding the change of nearly 20,000 school principals, the mission tried to relate it to the unrest and some kind of purification bid.

          Unfortunately, the so-called fact-finding mission, for its political agenda, only quoted a part of the minister's interview and deliberately passed over his next comment, which was made following the abuse of some streams and an attempt to link this issue to the riots. Following his statement, which was made on November 5, 2023, the minister clearly stated that the discussion of transformation in education and the change of 20,000 school principals was not in line with purification and making such claims is a kind of conspiracy. Such changes have always been a natural process in the administrative and educational system.

20. In paragraph 72, the mission dealt with the death of Miss. Armita Gravand and claimed that "Miss. Gravand went into a coma following a fight with a female hijab- enforcer and subsequently being pushed by the latter in a subway car and blames the government for failing to investigate and prosecute the responsible persons".

          First of all, the death of Ms. Gravand happened on October 1, 2023. Therefore, what does it have to do with the mandate of the so-called fact-finding mission to investigate the disturbances of 2022?! Secondly, while the mission has announced at the end of this paragraph that its investigation into the causes of Miss. Gravand's death has not been completed and is ongoing, how did it allow itself to make a judgment and link her death to being pushed by a the hijab- enforcer in the subway car?! Thirdly, on the basis of what document and evidence, the mission makes an allegation that is in clear contradiction with the explicit statements of the deceased's parents, relatives, classmates and friends?!

          After the accident, Ms. Gravand fell into a coma, Armita Gravand's mother, Shaheen Ahmadi, said, "We have seen all the Metro movies, the incident that happened was an accident, and we ask people to pray for our daughter's health." Regarding the details of the accident, Armita's mother added: "My daughter had made an appointment with her friends to go to school in Shohada metro station. After entering the train station, she experienced a drop in blood pressure while boarding, lost her balance and banged her head on the edge of the subway car. Then she was taken out of the train carriage by her friends. EMS was immediately contacted and minutes later, Armita was rushed to the hospital”. As regards the news jacking of the hostile media and the exploitation of the incident by some opportunists, Armita's mother remarked "We saw the pictures and videos of the subway from the time of arrival to the moment of boarding the train, so the claims made by them are not true." Armita's father also stated: "My daughter boarded the train on Sunday morning with two of her friends at Shohada metro station line 4, when she suddenly fainted due to a drop in pressure. They brought her outside the train and after calling the emergency department, they took her to the hospital”. He added: "Together with my wife, we checked all the subway videos and it has been proven to us that this event was just an accident."

          Fatemeh and Mahla, classmates, close friends and companions of Armita Gravand, have also described what has happened to Armita only an incident. They also rejected any claims on hijab warning.

          Another allegation raised by the mission in this regard is why the videos and pictures inside the subway car were not published. Regarding this allegation, the chief manager of Tehran Metro Line 4 explains: "On Sunday, October 1, 2023, Armita Ground entered the subway and the carriage of one of the 134 series trains. Immediately after entering, she hit the ground due to the pressure drop. After that, she was immediately taken to the platform by our colleagues at the station and the help of his friends, and then to the hospital by the EMS. He said: Tehran metro trains are the old generation 200 series, which are red trains and serve inside line 2, and while a series of blue 100 series trains serve on line 1, which are also old. The old generation AC trains of the 100 series (from 121 to 152) are not fitted with cameras.

          After the incident, according to the order of the Tehran Prosecutor, the Head of Tehran District 27 Prosecutor's Office was personally sent to the hospital and various people, including her companions and those present at the scene and her family, were investigated. It was found that there was no conflict. After Mrs. Gravand's death, on October 29, 2023 a complete autopsy was performed with the presence of the forensic pathologist. The judicial investigation indicates that her death was not caused by trauma or injury, and the issue had nothing to do with the hijab.

21. In paragraph (89) of its report, the mission addressed the claim of poisoning of the students and claimed that "Poisoning was probably done with the aim of intimidating the girls" And "It is unlikely that school poisonings on such a scale would have taken place without the intervention of the government".

          By employing terms such as "probably" and "unlikely", the politically- motivated fact-finding mission has tried to provide a definite summary about the issue of poisoning. Obviously, the proof of any claim requires the presence of valid documents and evidence, not relying on probabilities. It is noted that the high-ranking officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran issued an order to deal with the issue as soon as the news about the poisoning of students was published. In this regard, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution called the poisoning of students a great crime and called for identification of and severe punishment for its perpetrators. The president of the Islamic Republic of Iran also assigned the ministers of interior and intelligence to investigate this issue and provide a clear report to the people. The head of the Judiciary also called this action an example of corruption on the earth, which will result in severe and unrelenting punishment. He also ordered that a special branch be allocated in the justice departments across the country to deal with this issue and associated matters.

          In order to identify the causes and agents of these incidents, various intelligence, security, technical, law enforcement and laboratory methods and tools were employed. Some results of the official investigation regarding the allegations of poisoning of students are as follows:

Comprehensive and detailed surveillance of the country's intelligence and security forces regarding these incidents indicate that toxic substances have not been spread in any of the country's schools. However, non-poisonous agents that have caused panic have been used inadvertently or intentionally in some of the reported environments.

• Regarding human factors, several people who were accused of using the above- mentioned substances were identified, summoned or arrested and were cautioned, booked or introduced to the judicial authority according to their violations or crimes.
• There is no network for the distribution of poisonous substances in the country, but there are many networks in the virtual space (from inside or outside the country) to produce and spread rumors, to incite school-phobia, to try to close schools, to prompt parents of students to stage protests, to deliberately accuse Islamic Republic of Iran were tracked down and identified, and all of them have been prosecuted.
• The role of mass hysteria in many of the mentioned events is undeniable.
• The role of some countries and media in fueling rumors is completely certain and undeniable.

22. In paragraphs 90 to 97, the mission made baseless allegations about ethnic groups and religious minorities and claimed "structural discrimination and grievances of minority groups", "torture of ethnic or religious minority prisoners", etc.

          The Islamic Republic of Iran has a pluralistic society with ancient cultural and religious fusions. For this reason, there are many ethnic groups in Iran, and applying the title of minority to ethnic groups is completely wrong and is done for political purposes. Iranian peoples with different languages and dialects such as Kurds, Baloch, Turks, Arabs, Lors, Fars, etc., have played an equal role in the country's destiny, security and development, and during the Imposed War, they fought with all their might, defended their country and gave many martyrs to protect the state.

          It is truly regrettable that the board is deliberately trying to create fictitious divisions in the Iranian society and compromise the national unity of Iran by addressing the Kurdish and Baloch who are Iranian ethnic groups. This is despite the fact that Iranian Kurds and Baloch are not only not considered among the country's minorities, but considering the diversity and ethnic plurality of the country's population, they are one of the original and deep-rooted Iranian ethnic groups, which, as evidenced by history, have a brilliant history in have supported the territorial integrity of Iran. While the Kurdish people of Iran are losing their lives due to the actions of terrorist groups such as Komala, PJAK, Democrat, etc., and the Baloch people of Iran are suffering due to the actions of Takfiri terrorist groups based in the eastern borders of the country, instead of condemning terrorist acts, some western countries and human rights political mechanisms stand by these groups and by spreading hatred, struggle to provoke fabricated conflicts among the people of Iran. It is worth noting that so far, a significant number of law enforcement forces have been martyred or wounded in operations against Western-backed terrorist groups in Kurdish and Baloch areas.

23. In paragraph 95, the mission discussed the incidents in Zahedan and alleged that "the security forces fired at the citizens from the police station in front of the prayer hall with weapons of war, which resulted in the death of 103 worshipers, protesters and passers-by and the injury of 350 people".

          Zahedan incident had nothing to do with riots. After the Friday prayer of the Sunni community was held in Makki Mosque in Zahedan (on Friday, September 30, 2022), a number of armed people attacked the police station adjacent to the place of prayers in a takeover bid. These armed people who were trying to execute a premeditated plot, while creating unrest in the city and attacking two other police stations, destroyed and set fire to public property. A fire truck, an EMS station, several chain stores and several bank branches were looted and set on fire by these armed men. These people also showered the police station with bullets and threw some Molotov cocktails at the police station. According to the statistics announced by the relevant local officials, since the armed attackers had embedded themselves among the common people after the Friday prayer, 35 people, including some of the people praying in the mosque and the armed men, lost their lives to this terrorist incident. 4 law enforcement forces were also killed in this attack.

          Following this incident, the Minister of Interior travelled to Zahedan upon the direct order of the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Subsequently, with the follow-up of the country's top security, defense and law enforcement officials, expert teams were sent to Zahedan to investigate the causes, contexts, manner and dimensions of this incident, and comprehensive measures were put on the agenda to obtain an accurate and true account of the events that occurred. The investigation teams and delegations sent to Zahedan, in addition to talking with the police commanders and security officials, checking the CCTV footage of the city, collecting field evidence, talking to the eyewitnesses and injured people of the accident and meeting with the clan heads, religious scholars, tried to re-enact the scene of the unrest and how the police forces acted.

          The Provincial Security Council also investigated the case and some officers who had failed to discharge their prescribed duties were reprimanded. For example, the then chief of police station No. 16 and Zahedan chief of police were dismissed from their jobs. Also, compensation for the damage caused to the innocent victims and their families was placed on the agenda. Furthermore the cases of those involved in Zahedan incidents, including the instigators and attackers as well as the guilty police officials were sent to the judicial authority to deal with their violations and crimes in an accurate manner and according to legal criteria.

          In continuation of the investigations as well as the adoption of remedial measures, Hojjatul-Islam "Mohammed Javad Haj Ali Akbari", the Chair of the Policy- making Council of the Friday Imams of the country, along with his delegation paid a visit to this province on November 13, 2022 on behalf of the Supreme Leader. He had been tasked with investigating the terrorist incidents that took place in Sistan and Baluchistan province and console the families of those killed or injured in the Zahedan incident. During this trip, the representative of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution met and talked with the Sunni scholars, Friday prayers imams of Zahedan, the families of the security martyrs and the victims of this incident, and discussed the Leader’s measures to solve the problems of Sistan and Baluchistan with the elders of the province and various groups.

          In a meeting with a group of leading Shia and Sunni scholars, elders, patriarchs and managers of Sistan and Baluchistan, the representative of the Supreme Leader said: The Supreme Leader was upset and worried about the incident in Zahedan and Sistan and Baluchistan province and ordered an investigation. After reports were sent to the Supreme Leader, he demanded that specific aspects of the issue and documents and reasons be fully investigated. In this meeting, the representative stated that one of the objectives of the delegation's trip to the province is to meet with the families of martyrs defending security and the innocent victims. According to the Supreme Leader's opinion, people who died innocently in Zahedan incidents are recognized as martyrs. During this trip, nearly 100 people who had been arrested in the Zahedan incident and did not have network and organizational connections, were treated with Islamic mercy upon emphasis of the Supreme Leader and the Head of the Judiciary and got released.

24. In paragraph 99 of its report, the mission stated that "it has established a pattern of shutting down the Internet and blocking social media platforms and messaging services during protest times and places."

          After the pass of Miss. Mahsa Amini, protest rallies took place in different parts of the country, which unfortunately turned from a peaceful state into disturbances and destruction. The amount of violence and destruction was such that jeopardized the order and security of the society. Violent agitators and rioters, using the platform of some virtual networks, piggybacked the civil protests and diverted them. Us and some western countries, by harnessing all their facilities and tools and in a completely unconventional move and contrary to international standards, started to step into the fray and supported the rioters by openly interfering in Iran's internal affairs. Other external factors such as terrorist outfits and some satellite channels also encouraged and directed their agents to participate in these disturbances and supported them in the process. In this context, two platforms, Instagram and WhatsApp, contrary to their basic principles and conditions of dealing with violent, hateful and extremist content, did not create any restrictions even for terrorist groups, and in fact, they have started to promote the violent and terrorist content of rioters.

          By abusing these two platforms, the members of terrorist outfits such as MKO, Jaish al-Adl, PJAK, Komala, Democrat, Pak, Harakah al-Nidal, etc., promoted terror and violence. Surprisingly, the managers of these networks refused to impose restrictions on them in a completely political and biased act. By abusing the cyberspace, terrorist outfits, as well as the authorities of some countries, incited and encouraged even children to take to the street and commit violent and dangerous behaviors, thereby exposing the basic rights of children to serious violations. For example, below two cases of incitement to violence appear as published on Instagram:

• "For tomorrow, there is a need to implement more sabotage patterns. Burnt engine oil and diesel will block the way of the motorcycle detachments and they will fall to the ground. Also, short 5-cm hoses that are hooked up with screws in a couple of places can immobilize police vehicles”.
• "Consider collecting used tires. Burning tires will attract people's attention and secure their support. Pour burnt engine oil or diesel on the path of police bikes. Fill a nylon bag with oil and throw it a little further in the path of the bikes. Do it. The tires get oily. The bike will be useless."

At the same time as some western countries embarked upon inciting and encouraging riots and terrorist groups were busy carrying out planned violence during the riots, the Islamic Republic of Iran started to temporarily restrict two platforms that were being misused to achieve this goal. In this regard, some basic points are important:

• The first point is that these restrictions are in accordance with the laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran as well as Iran's international obligations arising from international treaties.
• The second point is that people's access to the Internet was not blocked by Iran, and all internal and external messengers and websites (except two networks) were available to the public without any restrictions.
• The third point is that the restrictions on these two networks were announced as completely limited and temporary. As the relevant officials pointed out, with the acceptance of Iran's reasonable condition by the managers of these platforms to adhere to their basic principles in the field of preventing the spread of hatred and violence, such restrictions will be eliminated.
• The fourth point is that all the temporary and legal restrictions were applied in order to protect and guarantee the rights of citizens, the security of society and public order. In this framework, protecting the rights of children received particular emphasis so that they do not face such violent content.

25. In paragraph 113 of the report, the mission has claimed that many cases of so- called serious violations of human rights have been committed as "crimes against humanity" in a political manner and without regard to legal principles.

          To prove its false claim, the mission has pointed to cases whose reality has not been verified. Imprisonment is one of the legal punishments in every legal system. The process of arrests during the riots was completely legal and was done with the aim of establishing public order and security. The general amnesty of the Supreme Leader and the settling the case of many detainees in a short time by the judicial authorities also indicate that the detention was not intended for a long-term process.

          The Islamic Republic of Iran considers itself committed to its relevant and accepted international obligations, Constitution and the Islamic principles, hence it considers torture and sexual violence and assault as most heinous and reprehensible crimes. If established, such cases will be dealt with decisively. However, the contents mentioned by the mission are only some claims without any possibility for verification.

          Regarding the claim of forced disappearance, considering that proving such a thing requires detailed information and the mission’s report lacks detailed information in this regard, it is not possible to prove forced disappearance. In addition, no reliable report has been received regarding this matter. As anyone would expect, if there is accurate information in this field, the government welcomes providing this information for review and consideration.

         This politically-induced report has been prepared while the sponsors of this mission are involved in the all-round sanctions against the people of Iran and also the assassination of more than 17 thousand innocent people, which have brought about murder, destruction and crimes against humanity. Cruel and inhumane sanctions in violation of the right to life, the right to health and other fundamental rights of women and children in Iran have resulted in completely negative consequences. For example, among the 720 patients who died with thalassemia in Iran as a result of lack of access to medicine and vital equipment from May 2017 onwards, 320 victims were girls aged 3 to 30. According to the evaluations, some of these patients were girls under 10 years old, while some other young mothers had young children. In the wake of the death of these mothers, a family and their innocent children have suffered serious mental and emotional crises. Out of the total number of 10,000 thalassemia patients who have been seriously injured as a result of not receiving the medicine, more than 5,000 of them are girls and women aged 2 to 35 years. Is this incident nothing but a crime against humanity?!!!

         It is worth noting that the Special Rapporteur on the Negative Impact of Unilateral Coercive Measures on the Enjoyment of Human Right expresses the negative impacts of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights in paragraph 63 of her report on her visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran to the 51st session of the Human Rights Council states that “sanctions and resulting economic pressures undoubtedly have a pronounced gender dimension. Economic sectors traditionally employing women have been particularly affected, including manufacturing, handicrafts and family businesses, and an increasing number of women have had to engage in the informal economy to make a living and to meet the financial needs of their households in the context of rising inflation. Furthermore, women’s entrepreneurship, which the Government has supported and encouraged in recent years in different economic sectors, has also been impacted. Several interlocutors also raised concerns about the precarity of the approximately 3 million femaleheaded households and the vulnerability of the 9 million women in low-income categories who face difficulties in accessing basic services, including health care. The Government has undertaken measures to ensure the participation of 255,000 female heads of households in social and economic empowerment programmes, including subsidized employment schemes and business support and development programs”.

          Furthermore, in paragraph 81 of her report on her visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran to the 51st session of the Human Rights Council, the Special Rapporteur on the Negative Impact of Unilateral Coercive Measures states that” the designation of all Iranian banks and a long list of companies and nationals active in different economic sectors, including the pharmaceutical and food industries, have undermined national efforts towards economic self-sufficiency as a response to the sanctions- induced socioeconomic pressures, have led to reduced State revenues and growing poverty and have exacerbated existing socioeconomic inequalities, resulting in insufficient resources to guarantee the basic needs of low-income people and other vulnerable groups, including people suffering from rare or severe diseases, persons with disabilities, older persons, migrants and refugees, women-led households and children”. It is unfortunate that the so-called fact-finding mission and its founders and sponsors close their eyes on the crimes against humanity that are happening against the Iranian nation and instead accuse Iran?!!

          More than 30,000 people, over 70% of whom are women and children, were martyred and more than 72,000 people were injured in Gaza under the intense bombardment of the Zionist regime. Also, more than 2 million people have been displaced, each of whom can be subjected to the most severe international crimes; However, no special mechanism has been established to deal with such crimes due to the opposition of the countries claiming to be advocates of human rights. In such a situation, making the false allegation of commission of crimes against humanity during last year's riots in Iran constitutes covering up the crimes of some Western countries and the United States against the Iranian nation. It also serves to divert the attentions from the silence and political agendas of international human rights mechanisms with the ultimate goal of marginalizing the catastrophic situation and crimes experienced in the Gaza Strip.

26. In the part related to immunity and paragraphs "121, 122 and 123", the mission has claimed that "there was no form of accountability, including criminal investigations regarding allegations of human rights violations and compensation during the unrest".

          This allegation was raised while the rioters, with the support of some foreign countries, caused a lot of damage to public and private properties and places, and martyred or injured a significant number of law enforcement forces. Nevertheless, with the aim of protecting the rights of its citizens, the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has taken extensive measures in terms of accountability, dealing with possible claims of human rights violations, and compensation for damage incurred.

          The principle of compensation is one of the principles proposed in all legal systems, including Islamic law, being also reflected in the laws and regulations of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Civil Liability Law approved in 1960 in its Article 1 provides for payment of damages: "Anyone who, without receiving legal clearance, intentionally or recklessly impairs life or health or property or freedom or personal and trade reputation or any other right provided by law, causing material or moral damage to another person in the process, is liable for compensation for the damage caused by their actions. According to the general rules of civil liability, anyone who causes damage to another will be responsible for compensation. Therefore, in the new Code of Criminal Procedure, the government's responsibility for the damage caused by the arrest of innocent defendants is recognized, whether the responsibility is based on the fault or error of the judge or other officials. Accordingly, so far 1,871,427,171,159 Rials has been paid by the relevant agencies in damages to the survivors of the dead, injured and wounded.

          The investigations of the Special Committee show that the judicial system of the Islamic Republic of Iran handled more than 244 cases of people's complaints against law enforcement officers in connection with the 2022 unrest, with accusations such as assault and battery, insult, destruction, arrest, murder, etc. The relevant general statistics, based on the latest status of the cases until February 2024, are as follows:

Pending decision	Decision  of no jurisdiction and sending the case to competent judicial authority	Sent to the Supreme Court to adjudicate disputes on jurisdiction	Convicted to fines	Sentenced to incarceration	Sentenced to retribution (sent to the Supreme Court for review)	Acquitted	Order of discontinuance of prosecution	Order of nonsuit
61	64	13	19	4	2	1	23	57

In the same framework, confirming the responsible acts and proper protective measures adopted by the Iranian government during last year's unrest, the Special Committee to investigate the unrest of 2022 states: “In general, the results of the special committee's investigation confirm that the relevant government institutions, including the law enforcement and security agencies and the judicial system of the Islamic Republic, acted responsibly in the face of the unrest of 2022. Issuing urgent, timely and decisive instructions for law enforcement and security agencies to control riots with the least amount of resorting to force and based on self-restraint, fielding trained forces and acting based on a code of conduct, the judicial system's efforts to minimize the number of cases, widespread amnesty of the accused and convicts related to the 2022 riots within the framework of the Supreme Leader's amnesty decree, handling public complaints regarding the behavior of law enforcement officers and judicial officers during the riots, dealing with offenders due to negligence or fault, payment of financial damages and blood money to the survivors and heirs of the deceased, payment of damages to the injured, payment of medical expenses of the injured, payment to the victims of the unrest of 2022 out of the special fund of Ministry of Justice, as well compensation of damage sustained by public and private caused by unrest in the country's provinces are manifestations of this responsibility. The investigations of the Special Committee reveal that despite some few violations committed by some law enforcement forces, these violations don’t reflect in any way or manner the principled behavior of the government and were caused by the behavior of an individual. In addition, there has been the necessary will to deal with such infractions in law enforcement and judicial institutions.”

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