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FFMI - Call for Submissions

Farsi/ فارسی

The FFMI invites individuals, groups and organizations to submit information and documentation relevant to its mandate. In particular, the FFMI would welcome information concerning:

  • Allegations of human rights violations in the Islamic Republic of Iran related to the protests that began on 16 September 2022, including with respect to women, children and persons belonging to minorities;
  • Facts and circumstances surrounding the allegations of human rights violations pertaining to the mandate of the FFMI as per Human Rights Council Resolution S-35/1. This includes, but is not limited to, allegations of the “violent crackdown on peaceful protests by security forces in the Islamic Republic of Iran, including alleged arbitrary arrests and detentions, sexual and gender-based violence, excessive use of force, torture and other inhumane treatment and enforced disappearances, as well as the deaths of hundreds of peaceful protesters and thousands of arrests”; “arbitrary arrest, detention and physical, psychological and sexual abuse of women and girls in the Islamic Republic of Iran for exercising their human rights and fundamental freedoms”; “arbitrary arrest of children in relation to the protests, including in raids on schools, and the incarceration of children in ‘psychological centres’ ”; “the arbitrary arrest and detention of members of civil society and human rights defenders, in order to restrict their right to participate in or organize peaceful protests, and reports of charges that carry the death penalty being applied to protesters for offences that are less than the most serious crimes”; and “restrictions on communications affecting landline and mobile telephone usage, including Internet shutdowns and the blocking of social media platforms”.
  • Facts and circumstances related to the gender dimension of the alleged violations, including their different impact and consequences on women, men, girls and girls; the differentiated treatment allegedly perpetrated against men and women, boys and girls, among others; as well as forms of discrimination and violence perpetrated against LGBTIQ+ people.
  • The underlying causes of the protests;
  • Identification of those responsible, including security forces, judicial entities, institutions and individuals involved in different capacities in perpetrating or enabling the alleged human rights violations;
  • Recommendations on measures of prevention, protection, and reparation. These could include amongst others, policy and normative measures, accountability measures with a view to avoiding and ending impunity for any individual involved in ordering, facilitating, or perpetrating crimes under international law, as well as reparations measures for victims and survivors and their families.
  • Recommendations on measures to be taken by third States, multilateral institutions, companies, and the private sector to increase human rights protections and the promotion of equality, truth, justice and reparations are also encouraged.

The Human Rights Council requested the Fact-Finding Mission to present an oral update to the Human Rights Council during an interactive dialogue at its fifty-third session (June/July 2023) and to present to the Council a comprehensive report on its findings during an interactive dialogue at its fifty-fifth session (March 2024). As a result, submissions should be sent as soon as possible -- DEADLINE EXTENDED UNTIL 10 JANUARY 2024 -- to enable the FFMI Secretariat to process the information, including any follow-up if necessary.

Information and documentation can be submitted in English and/or Persian/Farsi.

The FFMI attaches the utmost importance to the protection of sources, notably concerning the respect for confidentiality and the ‘do no harm’ principle (not to jeopardize the life, safety, freedom and well-being of victims, witnesses and other cooperating persons). It will only disclose the identity of cooperating persons strictly subject to their informed consent and will use the information provided by them in accordance with their stated wishes when providing it.

Any communication from the FFM will be with one or more staff assisting the FFM, who will be able to present UN credentials. The FFM will contact individuals, including victims and witnesses, or civil society organisations through secure channels of communication. In case of doubt about a contact you have received in relation to the FFM, please contact the FFM Secretariat directly at: ffmiran@un.org, following the steps provided below/above for communicating via encrypted means.

Individuals, groups and organizations wishing to submit information and evidence to the FFMI are encouraged to follow the below steps:

  • Send your submission to the following email submissions-ffmiran@un.org and enclose the following submission form (ENG) / submission form (Farsi/ فارسی). You may also use the following simplified submission forms in English, Farsi or Kurdish. 
    Please send your information from an encrypted email account to help protect your messages and attachments. Do not include sensitive information in the subject of the email. Please also attach all relevant written submissions, reports, documents and information.
    Some email service providers offer encrypted email service including Tutanota, Hushmail, Protonmail or Virtru. Mailvelope can also be used with popular web mails including Gmail and Yahoo. It can be added as an extension to browsers like Google Chrome and Firefox. Outlook has an option to encrypt messages too. For an additional layer of security, it is also recommended to encrypt files before attaching them to the email. Do not include the password of the encrypted files in the email. The FFMI will contact you in due time to access the files provided.
  • If you wish to submit large videos, digital materials, or other files, please inform the FFMI in advance via the above email. The FFMI will contact you in due time to enable the submission of the big size file/s in a safe manner.

Suggested additional safety measures:

Keep your communication with the FFM confidential. Please do not, to the extent possible, tell your family, friends or others that you are communicating with the FFMI or sending information.

When communicating with the FFMI or sending information, please do so when there is no one around you. For example, do not send information from public places where you may be observed.

After sending a message to the FFMI, fully delete it from your device (including from the Trash folder), and do not save the FFM submission email address in your contacts.

Please note that individual acknowledgements of receipt of information will not be sent. It should be noted that not all information provided will necessarily be reflected in public reports. In particular, cases alleging violations falling outside the mandate cannot be considered.