On the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, Iran’s record illustrates how torture functions not as an aberration, but as an institutional instrument of authoritarian rule—and why accountability remains essential to ending it.
June 26 marks the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, established by the United Nations General Assembly to commemorate the entry into force of the Convention Against Torture in 1987. The observance is intended not merely to condemn torture, but to reinforce the international commitment to eradicate it, restore the dignity of survivors, and hold perpetrators accountable.
Torture is among the gravest violations of human rights. It is designed not simply to inflict physical pain, but to destroy human dignity, identity, and the capacity to resist. Throughout history, authoritarian governments have relied on torture as a political instrument to silence dissent, intimidate society, and preserve their grip on power. Iran under the system of Velayat-e Faqih represents one of the clearest contemporary examples of this dynamic.
Torture as a Mechanism of Governance
In Iran, torture has never been an isolated abuse committed by rogue officials. Rather, decades of documented testimonies, human rights investigations, and survivor accounts point to a systematic practice embedded within the country’s security and judicial institutions.
Political detainees frequently report that violence begins immediately after arrest. Initial beatings often serve as psychological intimidation before more prolonged interrogations commence in detention facilities controlled by intelligence agencies or the judiciary. Inside these facilities, physical and psychological abuse is reportedly used to force confessions, extract information, or compel prisoners to implicate themselves and others.
When detainees die under interrogation, authorities have often attempted to attribute the deaths to suicide, illness, or other alternative explanations rather than acknowledging responsibility. Such patterns have been documented repeatedly by international human rights organizations over the past four decades.
For prisoners whose cases attract domestic or international attention, release is frequently conditioned upon heavy financial bail, written pledges prohibiting public disclosure of their treatment, and explicit or implicit threats of re-arrest or retaliation against them or their families. The result is a climate in which many survivors carry the physical and psychological consequences of torture long after leaving prison, while remaining unable to speak openly about their experiences.
Forms of Torture Used Against Political Prisoners
The methods attributed to Iran’s security apparatus extend well beyond physical violence and encompass a broad range of practices prohibited under international law.
Psychological Torture
Long-term solitary confinement remains one of the most widely reported methods used against political detainees. Prisoners also describe sensory deprivation, sleep deprivation, prolonged interrogations, mock executions, and threats directed against family members. These measures are intended to break a prisoner’s psychological resilience before or alongside physical abuse.
Severe Physical Abuse
Former detainees have consistently reported beatings with cables and batons, stress positions, suspension techniques, denial of medical treatment, and other forms of physical abuse designed to inflict pain while coercing compliance during interrogations.
Particularly concerning is the deliberate withholding of healthcare from political prisoners suffering from chronic illnesses, transforming medical neglect into another form of punishment and coercion.
Forced Confessions
One of the defining features of Iran’s security system has been the extraction of televised confessions. These statements are frequently broadcast through state-controlled media before judicial proceedings conclude, undermining due process while serving both propaganda and intimidation purposes.
Human rights organizations have repeatedly argued that many such confessions are obtained under conditions involving physical or psychological coercion.
Judicially Sanctioned Cruel Punishments
Beyond abuses occurring during detention, Iran’s legal system itself authorizes punishments that many international legal experts classify as torture or cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment. These include flogging, amputation, and blinding, all of which remain permissible under certain provisions of Iranian law despite widespread international condemnation.
Why Structural Torture Persists
The persistence of torture in Iran cannot be understood solely as a law enforcement problem. It reflects the broader structure of political power.
In systems where security institutions operate without independent judicial oversight, where accountability mechanisms are absent, and where dissent is treated as a national security threat, torture becomes an instrument of governance rather than an exception to it.
This structural reality explains why international criticism alone has had limited impact. While United Nations mechanisms and human rights organizations continue documenting abuses, meaningful change has remained elusive without corresponding political and legal reforms inside the country.
Accountability as a Prerequisite for Change
Ending torture requires more than condemning individual perpetrators. It demands accountability at every level of command.
Documenting violations, preserving evidence, identifying interrogators and officials responsible for abuses, and pursuing legal action through international mechanisms—including the principle of universal jurisdiction where applicable—can reduce the sense of impunity enjoyed by those responsible for serious human rights violations.
Equally important is sustained support for Iranian civil society, independent documentation efforts, survivors, and families seeking truth and justice. Without accountability, cycles of abuse tend to reproduce themselves regardless of personnel changes.
More Than a Symbolic Date
The International Day in Support of Victims of Torture is more than a symbolic observance on the global calendar. For thousands of Iranian political prisoners, former detainees, and grieving families, it represents recognition of lived experiences that continue to shape Iranian society.
As long as torture remains embedded within the country’s political and security institutions, international attention, documentation, and accountability efforts will remain essential. Ultimately, eliminating torture requires not only legal prohibition but also political conditions in which state institutions are subject to genuine oversight, independent justice, and respect for fundamental human rights.
For Iran, the struggle against torture is therefore inseparable from the broader struggle for accountability, the rule of law, and democratic governance.
