The issue of Iran’s human rights abuses was not sufficiently tackled during the diplomatic negotiations undertaken between Washington and Tehran, the Council of Europe determined while adopting a new resolution based on the report of German parliamentarian Max Lucks last week.
The Memorandum of Understanding signed by Washington and Tehran calls for eventual negotiations on a nuclear agreement, cessation of hostilities, and the opening of the Strait of Hormuz, but fails to address the Islamic regime’s repressive policies or use of the death sentence.
Asserting that “lasting peace and stability in Iran could not be achieved in the absence of respect for human rights, democracy and the rule of law,” the leading human rights organization called on European countries to strengthen support for human rights defenders in Iran and enhance dialogue with the country’s civil society and opposition movements.
The parliamentarians expressed deep concern at “the pattern of transnational repression attributed to Iranian authorities” targeting individuals in Council of Europe member states and urged states to protect said individuals.
Additionally, the resolution also called for the “immediate establishment of a moratorium on the use of the death penalty in Iran, with a view to its full abolition,” and for the immediate release of all persons detained for exercising their rights to freedom of expression, assembly, and peaceful protest.
Already known for its extensive use of the death penalty, the Islamic Republic’s human rights record came under renewed scrutiny in January amid the violent suppression of protests. Human rights groups say tens of thousands were killed by security forces and tens of thousands more were arbitrarily detained, many of whom now face the death penalty for their alleged participation in the demonstrations.
Since the beginning of 2026 alone, at least 45 political prisoners and individuals on security-related charges were executed, according to the Center for Human Rights in Iran.
'A system of arbitrary detention'
Speaking at the council meeting on Wednesday, Jacques Paris, a former French hostage held by the regime until his release in April, said, “The Islamic revolutionary courts deliver justice without requiring evidence and without the right to an independent defense; it is a system of arbitrary detention and the harshest sentences, very often the death penalty.
"Cécile (Kohler) and I were victims of a system whose sole purpose is to ensure the regime’s survival through terror. Fundamental freedoms - of conscience, opinion, expression, and association - are constantly being flouted,” he added. “For the Iranian people, the situation is even more difficult than at the beginning of the war. The Iranian regime is neither new nor reformed, but has hardened.
All of the regime’s institutions and its repressive arms are still in place," Paris continued. "The Iranian people, exhausted by war, repression, and deprivation, need peace and freedom more than ever.”
Further highlighting concerns about accountability in Iran, the World Organization Against Torture confirmed on Thursday in its 2026 Global Torture Index that Iran remains among the world’s highest-risk countries for torture, impunity, and state violence.
The report rated the Islamic Republic as “repressive” in its transparency protocols and assessed it as either “high risk” or “very high risk” across all thematic pillars, including “Freedom from Torture while Deprived of Liberty,” “Ending Police Brutality and Institutional Violence,” and “Political Commitment Against Torture.”
“Rape is only partially and inadequately criminalized, while marital rape is not recognized at all in law," the report said. "Rape and sexual violence have been widely documented as tools of torture in detention, targeting women and girls, evident in the case of the 2022 protests.
"Moreover, the criminalization of consensual same-sex relations, punishable by the death penalty, legitimizes the torture and sexual violence directed at LGBTQIA+ detainees specifically because of their sexual orientation or gender identity,” the report noted.
“The detention facilities in Iran are extremely overcrowded, and people deprived of liberty are routinely subjected to torture and ill-treatment, including physical, psychological, and sexual violence, to obtain confessions, humiliate, intimidate, or punish detainees," the report continued. "Deaths and injuries in custody resulting from life-threatening conditions, including denial of medical care, are documented as a recurring pattern in Iranian prisons.”
Flogging, amputation, crucifixion, stoning
The report also noted that a number of harmful practices, including flogging, amputation, crucifixion, and stoning, remain lawful penalties, with at least 223 victims being subjected to amputations since the Islamic revolution in 1979.
Most recently, singer Parastoo Ahmadi, musicians Ehsan Beiraqdar and Soheil Faqih Nasiri, and six members of the production team for the audienceless Caravanserai Concert were ordered to be lashed 74 times by the Qom Provincial Criminal Court. The punishment came in response to the singer performing a nationalistic song without a hijab and has been widely condemned by human rights activists.
Outside of politically motivated executions, the Islamic Republic is among roughly 35 countries that still impose the death penalty for drug-related offenses.
More than 60 human rights organizations wrote to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) last week, demanding that the agencies condemn the use of capital punishment in drug-related cases and urging both bodies to ensure that their technical assistance, capacity-building, and support for drug law enforcement do not directly or indirectly contribute to death sentences for convicted individuals.
Issa Rahmani, a Baluch man from Saravan, was hanged in Zahedan Central Prison on Wednesday after being sentenced to death on drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court, according to the non-profit Iran Human Rights (IHR). The execution reportedly came days after 28-year-old Reza Nazif and 27-year-old Nourjalal Mojahed were executed in Yazd Central Prison for drug-related offenses.