The independent panel of experts appointed by the U.N. Human Rights Commission has said there are sufficient grounds to believe that war crimes were committed in two separate U.S. airstrikes in Iran.
At the same time, the panel’s report released on Thursday also accused Iran’s theocratic government of committing crimes against humanity against its own people.
This fact-finding team, led by Bangladeshi legal expert Sara Hossain, was established by the U.N. Human Rights Council in 2022. Compiled despite the ongoing war situation, internet shutdowns, and insufficient cooperation from both countries, this report is centered on victims and is based on interviews with 73 people inside and outside Iran, satellite images, and reliable documents.
The report gives detailed mention of the missile attack carried out on a school in the city of Minab in southern Iran on Feb. 28, the first day of the war.
Experts have pointed out that the school nearby was not damaged in the attack on the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps camp, and that the school itself was the main target of the attack.
According to Iranian government information, most of the 168 people killed in the attack on this school were children.
On the same day, 22 civilians were killed in another missile attack targeting a sports arena and a residential area in the city of Lamad.
It has been noted that such actions, carried out indiscriminately against civilians, fall under war crimes. However, the United States has denied involvement in the Lamad attack.
On the other hand, the report has condemned the violent crackdowns carried out by Iranian government forces against their own people over the past two years as “crimes against humanity.”
These include firing on civilians, attacking protesters, and torturing those who were arrested while denying them legal assistance.
It has also warned that more than 70 people, including 5 women and 3 boys, are at immediate risk of being executed there.
It has further urged the United States and Iran to immediately stop such human rights violations and for both countries to provide full compensation to the affected people.
This report, which is to be submitted to the UN Human Rights Council, comprising 47 member states, next Monday, is expected to become an important document that will help uphold justice in international courts in the future, even though it does not have the authority to bind countries.
