UN human rights chief demands Iranian authorities to initiate reforms

By Nash Villena, Philippine Canadian Inquirer
January 24, 2026

(Photo courtesy: United Nations/Facebook)

GENEVA, Switzerland — United Nations (UN) Human Rights Chief Volker Türk strongly condemned Friday, January 23, the humanitarian crisis in Iran amid continuous nationwide unrest and reported abuses.

Türk urged the Iranian authorities to initiate reforms, outlining the need to end their brutal repression of people’s human rights, the release of all arbitrarily detained, the complete moratorium on the country’s death penalty, and the end of Iran’s prolonged internet and communications shutdown.

“The violent repression of the Iranian people does not solve any of the country’s problems. On the contrary, it creates conditions for further human rights violations, instability and bloodshed,” said Türk in a statement.

“[It is] my most fervent wish for this crisis to become a turning point for change that puts the rights, aspirations, and needs of the Iranian people first,” Türk stressed.

Meanwhile, the Iranian judiciary news agency Mizan recently reported that the government executed two men responsible for a 2023 pilgrim-hailing bus bombing that was bound from Tehran to Ilam.

The Iranian authorities identified the two as affiliated with the Islamic State who were involved in the bomb planting on the bus.