Iranian authorities use mock executions and sexual violence to force confessions from protest detainees

Hengaw – Saturday, January 31, 2026

Testimonies from individuals detained during the late December 2025 to January 2026 protests show that protesters were arrested in groups and transferred to undisclosed locations, including sites that were not formal detention facilities. There, detainees were subjected to severe and systematic abuse aimed at extracting rapid confessions, according to findings documented by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights through interviews with former detainees who have since been released.

Detainees were frequently denied information about their place of detention and exposed to a wide range of abusive practices. These included mock executions, sexual violence and threats of rape, as well as repeated physical and psychological torture, used deliberately and systematically to coerce confessions.

Sources told Hengaw that many detainees, a significant proportion of whom were teenagers and young adults of different genders, were subjected to sexual abuse or explicit threats of sexual assault. Several reported being threatened with imminent execution, often between four and five in the morning, and forced to record video confessions under these conditions.

One former detainee told Hengaw:

“They pressured us to confess that we were spies and that we intended to send information to foreign media networks.”

The same person added that “they blindfolded me and ordered me to take off my clothes, saying I was ‘permissible’ to the guards. I felt someone touching me. They placed a noose around my neck and said, ‘Since you won’t write, we will execute you without trial.’”

Interviews indicate that security forces initially detained women and men together and transferred them to unknown residential locations. Detainees were later separated and moved to detention facilities. Most individuals interviewed described the torture as extreme, emphasizing that the psychological pressure was particularly unbearable.

Former detainees said interrogators demanded confessions that they had been “deceived,” had received money from named individuals, had used drugs, or were connected to networks outside Iran. To extract these confessions, interrogators employed escalating forms of abuse, including forcing detainees to lie on the ground during questioning, removing cellmates and pretending they had been executed, and staging mock executions by transferring detainees to execution rooms in the early morning hours, playing the call to prayer, and placing nooses around their necks.Threats of gang rape were also reported.

One former detainee told Hengaw that in the final days of detention, interrogators poured drops into his eyes and claimed it was acid, warning that he would soon go blind. He said this coercion forced him to confess to everything demanded, after which he was released on bail. Others released under similar conditions reported that their temporary freedom was secured only through the imposition of extremely heavy bail amounts.

Many protesters detained during the latest protests, particularly in major cities, were not initially transferred to official prisons or detention centers. Instead, they were first held in so-called “safe houses” or unidentified warehouse-like facilities before being moved to more formal detention sites.

Based on repeated interviews, Hengaw has determined that threats of execution and staged mock executions of fellow detainees were systematically used by Iranian authorities during the recent protests to force confessions. Numerous detainees reported being compelled to make statements against themselves and others following these practices.

Hengaw’s findings indicate that the Islamic Republic of Iran carried out mass arrests during the recent protests and employed extrajudicial methods that went beyond even its own judicial framework. The use of torture in detention facilities whose locations are often undisclosed, combined with the apparent legal impunity enjoyed by interrogators and security personnel, reflects a serious escalation in the scale and severity of state-sponsored abuses.

According to data held by Hengaw’s Statistics Center, more than 30,000 people have been arrested by security forces across Iran since the start of the latest protests. Hengaw has so far verified the identities of 1,000 detainees, including 120 women and 65 children under the age of 18.

Hengaw issues a serious warning over the lack of transparency by Iran’s judiciary regarding the number, identities, and locations of detainees, the use of physical, psychological, and sexual torture to break predominantly young and inexperienced protesters during interrogations, and the pressure placed on families to prevent public disclosure. Hengaw urges families and acquaintances of detainees to report arrests to human-rights organizations.