Geneva, Jan 31. — The magnitude of the dead and injured from the repression of protests in Iran throughout this month "has been enormous, of thousands of people," but it is difficult to verify the information coming from the country due to continuous restrictions on the ground, a spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights told EFE on Saturday. "It is imperative to ensure independent investigations into all alleged human rights violations, and that they are carried out in accordance with international standards," noted Ravina Shamdasani. A resolution passed last week by the Human Rights Council in an emergency session on Iran denounced that the violent repression of peaceful protests had resulted "in the death of thousands of people, including children, and a large number of injured." Tehran accuses the United States and Israel of the protests that began for economic reasons and quickly spread to call for the end of the Islamic Republic. At least 3,117 people have died, according to the official toll, while opposition NGOs such as HRANA, based in the US, put the death toll at 6,373, with claims that the dead may have exceeded 17,000 unconfirmed and more than 40,000 arrests. The UN Special Rapporteur for Iran, Japanese national Mai Sato, told US media that reports from doctors inside Iran indicated that up to 20,000 deaths may have occurred due to repression, although according to the UN these figures remain difficult to corroborate. Shamdasani recalled on Saturday that the Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, has ordered the identities of those killed during the protests to be made public. The Human Rights Council resolution, approved with the votes in favor of 25 of the Council's 47 members, including France, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom, urged the Iranian authorities to end extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, torture, and other abuses against peaceful protesters. The resolution extended the mandate of the International Independent Investigative Mission on Iran for another two years and that of the rapporteur for one year.
