Hiwa petitions German prosecutor to investigate Iran’s crimes against humanity
Hiwa has petitioned Germany’s Federal Public Prosecutor General to initiate a structural investigation into possible crimes against humanity in Iran and the systematic use of violence against protesters of ethnic minority backgrounds, the human rights organization’s president told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday.
Human rights organizations have reported that tens of thousands of protesters were killed by the Islamic regime during its attempts to suppress the January protests. Hiwa has urged the prosecutor general to examine specifically whether members of the Kurdish and Baloch minorities were targeted because of their ethnic identity.
The petition is also based on documented human rights violations committed in connection with the suppression of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protest movement in 2022 and 2023, as well as the most recent mass killings and subsequent wave of repression.
Hiwa President Sardar Pashaei told the Post that the petition was intended to send a message to Iran, ensuring that every member of the regime understood that even if they “escape justice today, they cannot count on escaping accountability forever.”
“Under the Islamic Republic’s judicial system, victims of state violence have virtually no path to justice. Where can people turn when they have been imprisoned, tortured, or sexually assaulted? Where can parents seek justice when their children have been shot and killed for protesting? When judges and prosecutors are part of the machinery of repression, who will hold the perpetrators accountable? These families are often denied even the right to mourn,” Pashaei said. “But if justice is denied inside Iran, we cannot allow it to be denied outside Iran as well. Impunity must not follow the perpetrators beyond Iran’s borders.”
Human rights orgs. document unlawful killing, torture, sexual violence
International human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, have repeatedly documented the regime’s use of unlawful killings, torture, sexual violence, arbitrary detention, and the denial of medical care against demonstrators. According to Amnesty International’s findings, 62% of the recorded deaths associated with the Women, Life, Freedom protest movement were among Kurds and Baloch, even though these groups together make up a comparatively small proportion of Iran’s population.
Citing Amnesty International’s conclusion that the disproportionate impact on Kurds and Baloch indicated that killings and torture were also committed with discriminatory intent on ethnic grounds, Hiwa called for an investigation into the crackdown on protesters. It urged Berlin to independently examine whether the selection of victims, the severity of the violence, and the state’s treatment of the affected communities indicated systematic persecution on ethnic grounds.
As part of the evidence submitted with the petition, Pashaei said Hiwa had presented the prosecutor general with the testimony of Farideh Salavati, a Kurdish woman now living in Germany who lost much of her vision after Iranian security forces fired at her eyes during the Women, Life, Freedom protests. Salavati has undergone surgery in Germany that restored some of her vision, but she continues to suffer from pellets lodged in her body.
Hiwa argued that the regime’s documented actions in 2022, 2023, and 2026 should not be examined in isolation, but as part of a recurring pattern of state repression. It said a structural investigation could help establish broader patterns of criminal conduct, institutional links, and possible chains of command and responsibility, while preserving evidence for potential future criminal proceedings.
Hiwa also called on Berlin to investigate any potential links between those responsible for the human rights violations and Germany, so that relevant sanctions, asset seizures, and arrest warrants could be pursued.
Dr. Dunja Hodaie, legal counsel for Hiwa, told the Post, “Preserving evidence and witness testimony now is critical. We do not know when those responsible may face justice, but evidence collected today could make future prosecutions possible.
“The message is clear: time and distance should not guarantee impunity. Those responsible for international crimes may still face prosecution years from now, including when they travel beyond Iran’s borders.”
