Iran deploying drones and apps to enforce hijab wearing, UN warns

Telegraph

15-03-2025

In 2024, at least 618 women were detained under the Noor plan, the UN report says. Many have been summoned to revolutionary courts, where evidence from surveillance tools, including photos and security reports, has been used to convict them. Some have been fined, while others have faced more severe punishments.
'For two years, Iran has refused to adequately acknowledge the demands for equality and justice that fuelled the protests in 2022. The criminalisation, surveillance and continued repression of protesters, families of victims and survivors - in particular women and girls - is deeply worrying,' said Sara Hossain, chairman of the Fact-Finding Mission.
On Nov 23, Roshnak Alishah was lashed 14 times after being convicted of 'disturbing public chastity'. She had been arrested weeks earlier for posting a video, which showed her without the mandatory hijab, in which she confronted a man on a motorcycle who had harassed her.
In March, prominent Iranian singer Mehdi Yarrahi was flogged 74 times for a song criticising the mandatory hijab.
The Iranian parliament has been pushing to formalise harsher hijab laws under the Hijab and Chastity bill, which could see women sentenced to up to 10 years in prison or fined up to $12,000 (£9,000) for non-compliance. The law would also expand the role of security forces and private citizens in enforcement.
While the bill was set to take effect in December 2024, Iran's Supreme National Security Council has since suspended its implementation, citing ongoing internal debate. However, human rights advocates fear that the delay is merely procedural and that the government will soon press forward with increased restrictions.
'We are unarmed and powerless'
In November, authorities announced the opening of a so-called 'clinic' where young girls caught without a hijab would undergo 'scientific and psychological treatment' to correct their behaviour.
Beyond digital crackdown, UN investigators conducted nearly 300 interviews with victims and witnesses, revealing deep flaws within Iran's judiciary. The report describes a legal system that operates without true independence, where victims of state abuse face further persecution, and their families are subjected to systematic intimidation.
The UN mission also documented instances of extrajudicial killings, including the execution of three child protesters and three adults, later falsely classified by authorities as suicides.
Further evidence uncovered by investigators details shocking accounts of sexual violence in custody. One woman, the report states, endured brutal beatings, two staged executions, and repeated sexual assault, including gang rape, during detention in 2023.
'One day, like my friends, I'll leave this doomed country and never return. Iranian women are brave and fighting every day, but a change seems impossible because they don't care about women. They have guns and no mercy, we are unarmed and powerless,' the female protester said.
The UN's findings will be formally presented to the Human Rights Council on March 18.