As Iran Human Rights Monitoring (Iran HRM) previously warned, Khamenei’s repressive regime has now shifted its focus from the streets to the prisons to finalize its incomplete slaughter. The reports we have received confirm this alarming transition.
The Situation in Prisons
- Rasht – Lakan Prison: According to reliable sources from Iran HRM, following the nationwide protests, the injured and detained protesters in Rasht’s Lakan Prison have been placed under total isolation from the outside world. With the entry of security forces into the prison, these detainees are facing torture and “silent death.” Concurrent with the intensification of protests, sections of the prison were evacuated, and a large number of IRGC forces and security agencies entered the facility. This clearly demonstrates the mobilization of Khamenei’s killing and torture machine against arrested protesters and wounded individuals abducted from streets and hospitals.
During the nationwide internet blackout between January 8 and 11, all communication between prisoners and their families was completely severed. Simultaneously, dozens of protesters with gunshot wounds were abducted from Rasht hospitals and transferred to this prison, where no medical treatment—not even basic IV fluids or bandages—was available. Consequently, those in need of urgent hospital care lost their lives. Reports indicate that over 2,000 detainees are held in halls separate from the general population. Food and hygiene conditions are dire, and numerous cases of torture have been observed. The number of detainees continues to rise daily. The abduction of the wounded from hospitals and the deliberate deprivation of medical treatment constitute a clear case of “Torture by Omission,” aimed at the physical elimination of protesters without direct public gunfire.
- Isfahan – Dastgerd Prison: Information obtained regarding one of the detainees, Abolfazl Jamshidi, indicates he is in a critical state. He was severely beaten during his arrest and is currently held without proper medical treatment for a ruptured eardrum caused by the assault. His family has been denied the right to provide him with medical care. Sources also report that protesters in this prison are deprived of food for many hours, sometimes days. Their names are not registered in any official database or institution, leaving security agencies with a free hand to exert any form of pressure or torture. The systematic failure to register names in any official system has placed detainees in a state of “Legal Limbo,” raising the risk of “Enforced Disappearance” and extrajudicial executions to one hundred percent.
- Mashhad – Vakilabad and Lajevardi Prisons: A local source from Mashhad reports that there are more than 25,000 protest detainees in the city. Vakilabad Prison holds at least 18,000 to 20,000, while Lajevardi Prison houses more than 8,000 detainees.
Warning from the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Iran
- Ms. Mai Sato, the UN Special Rapporteur, expressed grave concern regarding the pursued and detained protesters. She emphasized that the presence of security forces in medical centers and the arrest of wounded protesters is a blatant violation of the right to free access to medical services and a clear breach of the Iranian regime’s international obligations. (Special Session of the Human Rights Council on the deteriorating human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran- Jan. 23, 2026)
As Iran HRM has repeatedly warned about the fate of imprisoned protesters—particularly the wounded—this warning from the Special Rapporteur, based on credible evidence, is a serious alarm for the lives of thousands of detainees and requires comprehensive and decisive international action.
“Exemplary Punishment”
On January 26, 2026, Ahmad Khatami, a member of the Assembly of Experts, stated during a gathering with the members of seminaries: “These leaders and mercenaries fall under four criminal jurisprudential titles and must receive the maximum punishment. First, they are ‘Mohareb’ (at war with God)… other titles include ‘Baghi’ (insurgent), ‘Mofsed-fel-Arz’ (corrupt on earth), and murderer. Given these titles, the seminarians demand the maximum punishment for the leaders of the riots.” He continued: “We ask the judiciary officials to punish even the ‘deceived’ in an exemplary manner, so that we never witness their presence in riots again” (Khabar Online – January 26, 2026).
When these statements by Ahmad Khatami—a member of the regime’s highest organ—are placed alongside the remarks of Eje’i (Head of the Judiciary) and Radan (Chief of SSF), they form a complete picture of a planned massacre of detainees through execution, medical neglect and extreme torture.
From the Streets to the Cells: Completing the Puzzle of Crimes Against Humanity in Iran
Documented reports from Iran HRM indicate that the Iranian regime is implementing the second stage of its suppression protocol: “The elimination of witnesses and field leaders within the controlled environment of prisons.” The statements of the regime’s judicial and religious authorities draw a roadmap for systematic executions. The international community must realize that the detention of thousands of protesters, especially the wounded, is the prelude to a massive human catastrophe. According to Article 16 of the “Draft Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts,” the silence and inaction of states in the face of crimes they are aware of can be construed as aid or assistance (complicity) in the crime. Today is not the time for futile diplomacy; it is the time for immediate intervention to save the lives of those standing one step away from the gallows.
Be the Voice of the Anonymous Detainees; Before They Are Buried
Now that the Iranian regime has blinded the world’s cameras by cutting the internet and moving the crackdown to secret detention centers, the responsibility of the UN and free nations is doubled. Thousands of youths in Mashhad, Rasht, Isfahan, and other cities are undergoing what Ahmad Khatami calls “the maximum punishment” without a name or trace. This is a final warning: if immediate diplomatic and legal pressure is not applied, we will face not just a human rights crisis, but a full-scale “human cleansing” within prisons. The world must not allow international silence to become a shield for executioners; every minute of inaction is the signing of a death warrant for the Abolfazls and the thousands of anonymous detainees whose only refuge is the awakened conscience of humanity around the world.
