International conference in Geneva

Geneva conference calls on UN Security Council to take action against human rights violations in IranInternational conference in Geneva

On November 20, 2025, an international conference was held in Geneva, attended by Swiss parliamentarians, former UN rapporteurs, legal experts, and Iranian human rights activists, to draw attention to the dramatic deterioration of the human rights situation in Iran.

The discussions centred around three major themes: the unprecedented rise in executions across Iran in 2025, the systematic and gender-based violence directed against women, and the enduring shadow of the 1988 mass execution of political prisoners.

Jean-Charles Rielle, former president of the Grand Council of Geneva, said that the executions in Iran were not judicial acts but political terror by the regime, and he called for concrete measures: official condemnations, diplomatic pressure, targeted sanctions, and a UN mission to inspect Iranian prisons.

Prof. Javaid Rehman, former UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, welcomed the fact that, in their annual resolution on Iran, the UN member states had officially recognized the extrajudicial and arbitrary executions of 1988 for the first time. He said this was an important milestone for justice. He called on the international community to create a mechanism to investigate and prosecute those responsible for crimes against humanity and genocide.

Taher Boumedra – Director of the organization “Justice for the Victims of the 1988 Massacre”
He said that Khomeini’s fatwa ordering the 1988 massacre had never been revoked and remained valid. He called on states to apply the principle of universal jurisdiction and bring the perpetrators to justice even outside Iran.
Alfred de Zayas – UN expert on the promotion of a democratic international order (2012–2018)

He emphasized the need to use all United Nations mechanisms, including the International Criminal Court in The Hague. He also referred to the possibility of applying universal jurisdiction. In addition, politicians can hold the regime accountable.

Laurence Fellman Rielle, a Swiss National Council member, criticized the inadequacy of “behind-the-scenes diplomacy,” highlighting the number of women and minors among the 2,025 people executed and emphasizing the role of women in the Iranian resistance.

Neda – Human rights activist stated: This conference is taking place just one day after the vote in the Third Committee on the Iran resolution. This historic progress is the result of decades of tireless work by the Iranian resistance, which has documented the regime’s crimes and brought the voices of the victims to the international stage. She supported the call to immediately refer the regime’s crimes to the UN Security Council.