The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has strongly condemned “the brutal, murderous and systematic repression of the protests” that began in Iran in December 2025 and the intensification of this repression since the beginning of the armed conflict in February 2026 with Israel and the United States, including the expansion of the death penalty and the use of torture.
The Council of Europe statutory body emphasised that “the worsening regional situation must not divert attention from the plight of the Iranian population”, who continue to suffer human-rights violations, internal displacement, a lack of access to essential services, and restrictions on communications.
Europe should support Iranian civil society
Adopting a resolution based on a report by German parliamentarian Max Lucks, the Parliamentary Assembly stated that human-rights concerns had not been sufficiently integrated into diplomatic processes, and that “lasting peace and stability in Iran could not be achieved in the absence of respect for human rights, democracy and the rule of law”.
In this context, the Parliamentary Assembly called on European countries to “strengthen support for Iranian civil society”, particularly human-rights defenders, journalists and other democratic actors, and encouraged enhanced dialogue with representatives of Iranian civil society and the opposition.
Furthermore, the parliamentarians expressed deep concern at “the pattern of transnational repression attributed to Iranian authorities” targeting individuals in Council of Europe member states and called for the effective protection of individuals at risk.
Lastly the adopted resolution called for “the immediate establishment of a moratorium on the use of the death penalty in Iran, with a view to its full abolition” and for the immediate and unconditional release of all persons detained for exercising their rights to freedom of expression, assembly and peaceful protest.
Former French hostage gives testimony
Jacques Paris, a former French hostage held in Iran – released on 7 April along with Cécile Kohler – spoke during the debate, describing his extremely difficult conditions of detention over nearly four years.
“The Islamic revolutionary courts deliver justice without requiring evidence and without the right to an independent defence; it is a system of arbitrary detention and the harshest sentences, very often the death penalty,” Jacques Paris said. “Cécile and I were victims of a system whose sole purpose is to ensure the regime’s survival through terror. Fundamental freedoms – of conscience, opinion, expression, and association – are constantly being flouted,” he added.
“For the Iranian people, the situation is even more difficult than at the beginning of the war. The Iranian regime is neither new nor reformed, but has hardened. All of the regime’s institutions and its repressive arms are still in place. The Iranian people, exhausted by war, repression, and deprivation, need peace and freedom more than ever,” he concluded.
