Grave Concern regarding the Alarming Situation of Lawyers and the Severe Erosion of the Rule of Law Amid Intensified Nationwide Crackdown

The Institute for the Rule of Law of the Union Internationale des Avocats (UIA-IROL) expresses grave concern over the mass arrests and continued detention of thousands of individuals across the Islamic Republic of Iran, many of them reportedly held without access to legal counsel.

Since the nationwide crackdown that began in late December 2025, reports indicate widespread arbitrary arrests, incommunicado detention and enforced disappearances, as well as expedited proceedings that have led to the imposition of the death penalty.

Of particular concern is the escalating and systematic targeting of lawyers, through arrests, prosecution, denial of access to clients and judicial harassment.

These developments raise serious concerns about due process, the right to a fair trial, and the independence of the judiciary, and signal a broader and accelerating erosion of the rule of law in Iran.

Severe Erosion of Fundamental Legal Guarantees and the Rule of Law Amid the Crackdown  

UIA-IROL is deeply concerned by recent reports of the breakdown of the rule of law, which includes a crackdown on demonstrators, an internet cut-off, and a denial of legal representation to those arbitrarily detained by Iranian authorities as a ruthless response to nationwide protests that began on 28 December 2025. Extensive brutal repression further escalated following the complete shutdown of the Internet and mobile services imposed on 8 January 2026, a measure that seriously undermined access to information and legal safeguards. In this regard, UIA-IROL joins the numerous voices expressing utmost concern about this appalling situation[1]: it is important to preserve the rule of law to take decisive steps to urgently protect civilian population and to ensure independent, impartial, and transparent investigations into all alleged violations, leading to the identification and sanctioning of those responsible, in line with international standards, as an essential prerequisite for the restoration of the rule of law.

UIA-IROL expresses further concern about the situation of thousands of people, including hundreds of children, who have reportedly been arrested in the context of the protests. According to reports, a significant number of them remain incommunicado, at undisclosed or unofficial facilities, while Iranian authorities have consistently declined to provide any information about their whereabouts, legal status, or health to their families or lawyers. UIA-IROL notes with dismay that, in the current circumstances, detainees are highly exposed to the risk of being subjected to torture, ill-treatment, enforced disappearance and other serious abuses, in a context marked by the absence of effective judicial oversight and remedies.

In parallel, lawyers have reportedly been blocked from entering prosecutor’s offices and other official buildings, denied access to the detainees’ cases in general, and banned from representing them, therefore depriving defendants of their right to access to legal representation of their own choosing, a cornerstone of the right to a fair trial and an essential element of the rule of law.

This situation is even more disturbing as international experts and NGOs have highlighted the increasing use by authorities of harsh language to refer to the detainees, associating them to charges that may carry severe convictions --including the mandatory death penalty --coupled with calls from the Iranian authorities, including the Head of the Judiciary, for expedited prosecutions and harsh convictions.

UIA-IROL strongly deplores these developments and warns of the serious and generalized risks of proceedings systematically falling short of fair trial and due process standards, as guaranteed under international law. It further shares the concerns of numerous organizations about the imminent risk of mass executions, which would constitute violations of the right to life and further deepen the collapse of the rule of law in Iran, where there are serious concerns that the judiciary no longer operates as an independent guarantor of rights but, rather as an additional instrument of repression[2]. 

Systematic and Escalating Targeting of Lawyers

As the first line of defence and due to their unwavering commitment to defending human rights and the rule of law in Iran, lawyers have not been spared by this brutal crackdown. According to multiple credible sources, at least eleven lawyers have been arrested across the country in recent weeks. Several are held in undisclosed or secret detention facilities, denied access to their families and legal counsel, and deprived of basic procedural safeguards. Others face prosecution, solitary confinement, or severe charges carrying lengthy prison sentences or even the death penalty.

These developments reflect a major aggravation of the long-standing pattern of systematic and coordinated attack on the independence of the legal profession, aimed at silencing lawyers who defend protesters, political detainees, women’s rights defenders, minority communities, and victims of human rights violations[3], thereby dismantling one of the last of the remaining safeguards against arbitrary power. The targeting of lawyers constitutes a direct attack on the administration of justice and the rule of law itself.

The most recent attacks targeting lawyers started before the eruption of large-scale protests in late December 2025 and followed the suspicious death of human rights lawyer and activist Khosrow Alikordi on 6 December.

As UIA-IROL has learnt, on 12 December 2025, Mr Javad Alikordi, a lawyer and brother of the late Khosrow Alikordi, was violently arrested at his workplace in Mashhad, shortly after he publicly denounced the repression carried out during a memorial ceremony organized in tribute to his brother.

Mr Alikordi, who has been subjected to reprisals for more than 15 years due to his professional and human rights activities, is now being prosecuted for “gathering and collusion against national security” and “propaganda against the state”. He is reportedly held in solitary confinement.

On the same day, dozens of lawyers, activists and civil society figures, including Narges Mohammadi, recipient of the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize, were arrested during the memorial commemoration. At least 39 individuals were reportedly detained, several of whom were denied access to a lawyer, held in solitary confinement, and subjected to high-pressure interrogation. A heavy security presence was deployed around Khosrow Alikordi’s grave to prevent any gatherings.

In early January, and in the context of the protests, the nationwide campaign of arrests targeting lawyers escalated, often carried out through violent raids at homes, law offices, and even court premises.

On 2 January 2026, Ms Soheila Hejab, a Kurdish lawyer and former political prisoner from Kermanshah residing in Karaj, was arrested and transferred to Kachooei Prison. She has been denied regular contact with her family and effective access to legal counsel.

On 10 January 2026, Mr Enayatollah Karamati, a lawyer affiliated with the Judiciary’s Legal Advisors Centre in Mashhad and a former detainee linked to the Woman, Life, Freedom movement, was arrested following a raid on his private residence. He was transferred to Vakil-Abad Prison. Since his arrest, no contact has been permitted with his family, and no information has been provided regarding his physical or psychological condition. No charges or legal basis for his detention have been disclosed. Earlier in 2025, authorities had refused to renew his license to practice law, an apparent administrative reprisal.

On 16–17 January 2026, Ms Shima Ghoosheh, a women’s rights lawyer and member of the Central Bar Association in Tehran, was arrested at her home. She is reportedly held in solitary confinement in Ward 209 of Evin Prison, under the control of the Ministry of Intelligence, where torture and ill-treatment have been widely documented. She is said to have been allowed only one brief phone call and has been denied effective access to a lawyer.

On 18 January 2026, Mr Mohammad-Hadi Ja’farpour, a lawyer and member of the Human Rights Commission of the Fars Bar Association, was arrested at his residence in Shiraz and transferred to Adel-Abad Prison. Despite repeated attempts by lawyers to represent him, the investigating judge reportedly refused to accept powers of attorney, amounting to a serious breach of the right to defence.

By late January 2026, the repression further intensified, with several lawyers transferred to undisclosed locations and effectively disappeared.

According to information verified by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, the following lawyers have been arrested and transferred to unknown places of detention, with no information on their fate provided to their families or lawyers, in some cases:

• Mehdi Ansari, member of the Fars Bar Association, arrested on 28 January 2026 after a violent raid on his home in Shiraz;
• Jafar Keshavarz, member of the Fars Bar Association, arrested in Shiraz;
• Jafar Zarei, member of the Fars Bar Association, arrested in Shiraz;
• Mehran Ansari, lawyer, arrested in front of the Shiraz courthouse;
• Omid Darabi, member of the Tehran Bar Association, arrested on 29 January 2026;
• Nazanin Baradaran, arrested during the early days of the protests; the exact date remains unknown;
• Dr Hossein Shokri, Kurdish senior lawyer from Eyvan (Ilam Province), arrested on 25 January 2026.

Call for Immediate Action Consistent with International Standards

UIA-IROL recalls that incommunicado detention, enforced disappearance, denial of access to legal counsel, solitary confinement, and the absence of judicial oversight constitute serious violations of Articles 9 and 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Iran is a State Party, and are incompatible with the basic requirements of the rule of law.

UIA-IROL further recalls Articles 16 and 23 of the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, which guarantee that lawyers must be able to perform their professional duties without intimidation, harassment or reprisals, and must not be prosecuted or sanctioned for their legitimate professional activities or expression, as a fundamental condition for an independent justice system.

In the current context of intensified repression and increasing erosion of the rule of law in Iran, UIA-IROL reaffirms that the role of lawyers remains crucial at all times and it becomes indispensable where legal remedies are systematically undermined. As numerous courageous Iranian colleagues have consistently demonstrated, lawyers are essential to documenting violations, challenging abuses where possible, preserving evidence for future accountability, and maintaining the principle that no individual should be deprived of liberty without defence or oversight. They must be adequately protected.

UIA-IROL strongly condemns the arbitrary arrest, detention, enforced disappearance and prosecution of lawyers in Iran.

UIA-IROL urges Iranian authorities to:

• Fully comply with its international obligations under the ICCPR, including those relating to the right to a fair trial, due process guarantees, and the independence of the legal profession;
• Immediately disclose the whereabouts, legal status and charges, if any, against all detained persons, including lawyers;
• Guarantee their physical and psychological integrity and protect them from torture and ill-treatment;
• Ensure immediate, confidential access to lawyers of their choice and regular contact with their families;
• Immediately and unconditionally release all lawyers detained for the exercise of their professional duties or fundamental rights;
• Cease all forms of harassment, reprisals and administrative sanctions against lawyers;
• Implement a complete moratorium on the death penalty.

 
UIA-IROL calls upon the international community, including regional mechanisms, to:

• Launch or pursue diplomatic efforts to promptly and adequately address the human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran, with the main objective of protecting the population while strictly respecting international law;
• Support international reporting and accountability mechanisms established to address human rights violations and crimes under international law relevant to this situation, in compliance with the UN Charter;
• Urgently raise the situation of lawyers mentioned here above with the Iranian authorities;
• Closely monitor the situation of detained lawyers and publicly condemn reprisals against the legal profession in Iran;
• Support protection measures for lawyers and human rights defenders at risk.

 Failure to act will further entrench impunity and will irreversibly undermine the administration of justice in Iran.

 UIA-IROL will continue to monitor this situation with the utmost attention. We express our solidarity with our colleagues in the legal profession in Iran in their commitment to the rule of law.

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[1] See for instance “High Commissioner Türk calls on Iranian authorities to end their brutal repression”, delivered by the High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk at the Briefing to Specia Session of the Human Rights Council on Iran, on 23 January 2026.
[2] See, for instance, UIA-IROL and UIA’s issued in the context of the 2022 crackdown in response to the “Women, Life, Freedom” nationwide protests, following the death of Mahsa Amini, available here and here.