It has now been more than forty days since international internet access was cut off in Iran. This sustained disruption of communications has severely restricted the flow of information and made it extremely difficult to monitor the situation of detainees, particularly those arrested during the January 2026 protests.
In the aftermath of the widespread crackdown on protests in January 2026, Femena launched a series of reports to document and highlight cases of women detained during the protests, to amplify their voices. However, in recent weeks—amid the escalation of conflict involving the United States and Israel and now under a fragile ceasefire—continuing this work has become increasingly challenging.
During this same period, Iran’s judiciary has accelerated the implementation of death sentences against political prisoners, even as many courts have been operating at reduced capacity. In a deeply concerning pattern, at least seven young individuals arrested in connection with the January protests were executed following opaque judicial processes. Their death sentences were confirmed and carried out in less than three months. Credible reports indicate that all were denied access to independent legal counsel and subjected to torture and other forms of ill-treatment.
On April 13, 2026, human rights organizations reported that four additional detainees were sentenced to death by Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court. Among them is a woman, Bita Hemmati, who was arrested at her home in the early hours of January 9 along with her husband, Mohammadreza Majidi-Asl, and a relative, Amir Hemmati. Two other individuals, brothers Behrouz Zamani-Nejad and Kourosh Zamani-Nejad, who were arrested at the same time, have also been sentenced to death in this case.
The sharp rise in executions in Iran, particularly of political protesters, is deeply alarming. Iranian civil society has long warned that war and external intervention would exacerbate internal repression and further weaken already fragile civic space. Today, hundreds of individuals arrested during the January protests remain in detention under unclear conditions, while the broader population faces severe economic and social hardship driven by conflict, sanctions, and ongoing instability.
At the same time, security forces continue to carry out widespread arrests on a daily basis. Individuals are being detained on charges such as filming missile strike locations, selling VPNs to enable access to the global internet, or sharing videos with Persian-language media outlets abroad. State-affiliated media channels are saturated with reports of arrests of individuals accused of links to “enemy” actors, some of whom are subsequently forced to appear on television to deliver coerced confessions.
Under these conditions, Iranian civil society—already subjected to years of systemic repression, with many activists currently imprisoned—has little capacity to organize or sustain collective action in opposition to executions and broader state violence.
This report is the fourth in Femena’s ongoing series documenting women detained during the January protests, covering more than twenty cases to date. It is important to note that, due to the prolonged internet shutdown, Femena has been unable to verify the current status of many of these individuals, including whether they remain in detention or have been temporarily released on bail. Nevertheless, given that even those released continue to face prosecution and surveillance, Femena remains committed to continuing its work to document these cases and amplify the voices of detained women.
Access to Report No.1, Report No. 2, and Report No.3
Read Full Report No.4: