The Global Impunity Dilemma: Why Bringing Iranian Atrocity Architects to Justice Remains an Up-Hill Battle

When Zhino Babamiri gets a call from Urmieh Central Prison in Iran, she drops everything to answer it. Her father, Rezgar Beigzadeh Babamiri, is on the line, though she never knows when he will be able to reach her again. Arrested in April 2023 for allegedly providing medical assistance to demonstrators during the Women, Life, Freedom movement, the 48-year-old was subjected to severe torture during interrogation and handed three death sentences. For Zhino, a Kurdish-Iranian Norwegian citizen living in Norway, these brief phone calls serve as an agonizing lifeline after spending more than two years unable to speak with him.

Mr Babamiri's case reflects the widespread suffering of thousands who faced the wrath of the Iranian state following protests sparked by the death of 22-year-old Jina Mahsa Amini in police custody. According to campaigners, hundreds were killed and tens of thousands arrested during the unrest. Amnesty International and the UN’s Fact Finding Mission on Iran have documented extensive crimes against humanity, including murder, torture, enforced disappearances, and rape, carried out by security forces during crackdowns.

Despite mounting evidence, human rights lawyers and activists point to significant hurdles in bringing the perpetrators to trial. Bureaucracy, geopolitical pressures—including US President Donald Trump's stance weakening the International Criminal Court—and a lack of political will among European nations severely impede accountability efforts. Kaveh Moussavi, a human rights lawyer in the UK who spearheaded the legal complaint leading to the 2019 arrest of former Iranian prison official Hamid Nouri in Sweden, noted that while a strong case could be made for indicting culprits of the recent violence, high-ranking officials have simply stopped traveling abroad.

European prosecutors have also shown reluctance to open formal files. In February, Germany's prosecutor general rejected a universal jurisdiction request from the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights to investigate the recent crackdown in Iran, citing a lack of a direct link to Germany and limited access to evidence. Alexander Schwarz of the ECCHR criticized the decision, arguing that waiting for suspects to enter the country risks losing vital evidence. Meanwhile, organizations like Mnemonic are meticulously preserving millions of digital records, and legal experts maintain that ample witness testimony exists to support structural investigations across Europe.

However, fear of retaliation remains a major deterrent. Kaveh Moussavi warned that European nations hesitate to issue arrest warrants against traveling Iranian officials out of concern that Tehran will seize foreign nationals as hostages, a tactic previously seen in prisoner swaps involving individuals like Hamid Nouri, Johan Floderus, and Saeed Azizi. Norway's public prosecutor Marit Formo confirmed that her country has prioritized ongoing domestic investigations rather than opening a probe into Iran.

At the international level, paralysis within the UN Security Council makes a referral to the International Criminal Court highly unlikely due to potential vetoes from Russia and China, alongside opposition from the Trump administration. Raha Bahreini of Amnesty International suggested that the UN General Assembly could alternatively establish a special investigative mechanism, though building the necessary political consensus remains a formidable challenge amid competing global crises.

Despite these overwhelming obstacles, activists and relatives like Zhino Babamiri vow to keep speaking out. By ensuring that the world hears about the abuses committed by figures such as judge Reza Najafzadeh and various IRGC commanders, human rights defenders hope to strip perpetrators of their impunity and lay the groundwork for future justice should the regime eventually collapse.