Teachers’ organisations in Iran have launched a call to document the killing, injury, and detention of children during the January crackdown, having already identified 163 child victims. At the same time, Iranian lawyers have filed a formal complaint with the International Criminal Court seeking prosecution of those responsible for crimes against humanity. International solidarity is also growing, with major teachers’ unions condemning the violence and demanding the release of detained educators. Together, these developments reflect the expanding justice-seeking movement of Iranian society:
The Coordination Council of Teachers’ Trade Associations of Iran has issued a call to document the stories of children and adolescents who were killed, injured, or detained during the violent suppression of protests on 8 and 9 January 2026.
The council has so far compiled and published the names of 163 children and adolescents killed during those days. In a statement addressed to grieving families, colleagues, and protesting citizens, the council has called for the submission of testimonies and reports to ensure full documentation of these organised crimes. Families whose children were killed, injured, or detained are urged to send their accounts through the council’s communication channels.
In the closing section of the call, the council states:
“This council stands alongside you, seeking justice for the killed and injured children. Recording these testimonies is a way of breaking silence and confronting official denial — a collective effort to ensure that these crimes are not forgotten and that truth is not erased from public memory.”
The Worker-communist Party of Iran, while valuing this important initiative, calls on everyone to support this campaign and to take part in justice-seeking against the regime’s brutal genocide.
Legal action at the International Criminal Court
Iranian society is demanding justice, and a central demand of millions is the prosecution of the Islamic Republic’s criminal leaders in international courts. In this context, the “One Word” Lawyers’ Network has announced that it has formally submitted a complaint to the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, seeking the prosecution of those who ordered and carried out the suppression and killing of protesters in Iran.
The complaint, filed under Article 15 of the Rome Statute, is supported by a collection of data, evidence, and documentation. It calls for the initiation of judicial proceedings into the “crimes committed by state agents in the bloody suppression of the January 2026 protests.”
According to the complaint:
- The conduct of government forces meets the definition of crimes against humanity under Article 7 of the Rome Statute.
- A widespread, organised, and nationwide pattern of armed repression against the civilian population has taken shape in Iran, unprecedented or nearly unprecedented in scale and intensity in the country’s history of political repression.
- Evidence includes attacks on civilian sites such as hospitals, the military use of ambulances and emergency vehicles, the killing of injured protesters, the abduction of patients, and other forms of organised violence.
The network has noted that some of the submitted evidence has not yet been made public and has requested that the ICC Prosecutor use their authority under Article 15 to open a preliminary examination. The complaint also calls for the identification of those primarily responsible and the initiation of procedures to issue international arrest warrants against them.
International solidarity from teachers’ organisations
In the latest international development, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), representing 1.8 million members, issued a solidarity letter dated 3 February 2026 as part of the global teachers’ movement. In the letter, Randi Weingarten, President of the AFT, addressed Iran’s representative to the United Nations, expressing deep concern and strong condemnation of the deadly violence used against protesters in recent weeks.
The letter calls on the Iranian government to:
- End all use of force against protesters.
- Restore full and sustained access to the internet.
- Comply with its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
The letter states:
“According to reports, the number of those killed has reached into the thousands. The nationwide internet shutdown — which appears to have been imposed to conceal these crimes — is a clear violation of United Nations principles regarding freedom of expression, access to information, and the sanctity of human life.”
The AFT letter also highlights the high number of arrests, including the detention of Abdollah Rezaei, a labour activist and retired teacher who is a member of a teachers’ union executive board. Emphasising that the federation stands with its colleagues in Iran, the AFT demands the immediate and unconditional release of all imprisoned teachers and trade union activists.
Worker-communist Party of Iran
5 February 2026
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