Geneva conference and rally spotlight Iran’s human rights crisis

Human rights experts, political dignitaries, activists, and representatives of the Iranian opposition raised alarm over the worsening human rights situation in Iran, particularly the wave of executions at levels unprecedented in the past three decades, writes Shahin Gobadi.

At a conference inside the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, speakers presented new evidence of a dramatic surge in executions and the plight of political prisoners. They urged the UN and the international community to take decisive action, stressing the urgent need to address the regime’s escalating repression.

According to the Iran Human Rights Society, more than 1,100 prisoners have been executed in 2025, the highest figure since 1988.

Iranian opposition leader Maryam Rajavi addressed the event in a video message.

Referring to the alarming record of executions, Mrs. Rajavi said: “This is only part of the horrific picture of human rights violations in Iran. The crimes of the early 1980s—especially the 1988 massacre—remain unpunished and are now being repeated in Iran’s prisons and streets. Governments and United Nations bodies must end this unjust impunity.”

“As the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran emphasized in 2024, states should use universal jurisdiction to issue arrest warrants for Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and others responsible for these atrocities. Remaining silent about these violations, Rajavi warned, only emboldens Khamenei to continue his policies of repression and destabilization,” she added.

Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), further stated: “The international community must defend the rights and freedoms of protesters, the rising youth, and members of the Resistance Units in their fight against the IRGC, as underlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Iranian people’s struggle for freedom is also a struggle for peace in the region and the world. It is upon the international community to stand with them and to recognize their fight for freedom, justice, and human rights.”

Ingrid Betancourt, Colombian presidential candidate and former hostage, condemned the nearly 2,000 executions carried out since Masoud Pezeshkian took office, stressing that each execution destroys a family and silences dissent. She cited the cases of Behrouz Ehsani and Mehdi Hassani, members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) executed solely for their commitment to freedom and warned that fourteen other MEK members currently face imminent execution. Betancourt emphasized that these executions are part of a systematic campaign to crush opposition through fear. She called on UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk and Special Rapporteur Mai Sato to urgently investigate both the ongoing executions and the 1988 massacre, insisting that justice and accountability for these crimes against humanity cannot be delayed.

Laurence Fehlmann Rielle, a member of the Swiss National Council, strongly condemned ongoing human rights violations in Iran, including arbitrary arrests, torture, mass executions, and systematic discrimination against women and minorities. She noted that between March and September 2025 alone, 855 people—including 29 women and five minors—were executed, with some hangings carried out in public to instill fear. Ms. Rielle called for the immediate and unconditional release of all those detained for peacefully exercising their rights, an end to arbitrary executions and unfair trials, and full respect for the fundamental rights of women and minorities. She also pressed for freedom of the press, access to information, and transparent cooperation with UN human rights mechanisms.

Other speakers included Tahar Boumedra, former Chief of UN Human Rights in Iraq and Director of the NGO Justice for Victims of the 1988 Massacre in Iran (JVMI), and Nicolas Walder, a member of the Swiss National Council.

Outside the UN headquarters, supporters of the NCRI rallied alongside survivors of the September 2022 protests—many of whom had been shot by state security forces and forced to flee Iran. An extensive exhibition highlighted personal stories and visual displays documenting the regime’s crackdown. Rally participants demanded an end to executions and repression and voiced support for NCRI President-elect Maryam Rajavi’s “Third Option”: no to war, no to appeasement, and regime change by the Iranian people and their resistance.

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