the term “torture”. The absence of a crime of torture in itself under Iranian law prevents
prosecution, which is limited only to cases of torture provided under the law.
There are mechanisms to receive and investigate complaints of torture and ill-treatment as
provided under Iranian law in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Supervision and Inspection
Board, established under the Law on Respect for Legitimate Freedoms and Safeguarding
Citizen’s Rights, monitors the compliance of policies and conducts with the law and confront
those in breach. The Board’s missions include submitting “the complaints it receives to the
relevant bodies and pursuing the investigation until it yields an outcome”; “deploying inspection
groups to the bodies”; and “preparing reports on the implementation of laws in the country every
three months and making them available to the public every three months.”6 The Supervision and
Inspection Board also has set up a database enabling victims and witnesses to submit their
complaints. On the occasion of its 2019 Universal Periodic Review, the Islamic Republic of Iran
stated that “the prosecutors, through judges stationed in prisons as well as the Secretariat of the
Protection of Citizenship Rights and provincial supervisory boards, conduct regular inspections
and investigate any reports or complaints” with regard to allegations of torture.7 There is no
readily available information that might indicate that complaints have been properly investigated
and adjudicated either by the Board or the Secretariat.
Reports of cases of torture in the Islamic Republic of Iran are regular.8 9 Amnesty International
reported widespread and systematic use of torture by Iranian authorities against protestors during
and after the November 2019 protests.10 As of December 2020, there is no readily available
information that might indicate that Iranian authorities have opened investigations compliant
with international standards into allegations of torture committed by police, security and
intelligence agents and prison officials in the context of the November 2019 protests.
Despite the existence of several mechanisms that ostensibly accept complaints regarding violations
of citizens' rights, such as the Article 90 Commission of the parliament (established based on
Article 90 of the Constitution, offering a mechanism to citizens to file complaint against any of
the three branches of power) and the Oversight Bodies for the exercise of Citizenship Rights in the
country's provincial courts, there is no evidence to suggest that complaints to these bodies are
independently reviewed and investigated.11 Additionally and as aforementioned, the absence of a
6
See Executive By-law of Article 1(15) of the Law on Respect for Legitimate Freedoms and Safeguarding Citizens’ Rights,
available at bit.ly/1nRuftq (accessed on 3 February 2016).
7
Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review, February 2020, https://undocs.org/en/A/HRC/43/12/Add.1
8
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, March 2018,
https://undocs.org/A/HRC/37/68
9
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, January 2020,
https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G20/021/53/PDF/G2002153.pdf?OpenElement
10
Amnesty International, https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE1328912020ENGLISH.PDF
11
Joint submission to the Human Rights Committee, Abdorrahman Center, Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (IHRDC),
Impact Iran and Human Rights Activists in Iran, 2020,
https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=INT%2fCCPR%2fICS%2fIRN%2f42313
&Lang=en
2