An exhibition: Iran: Crackdown on Protesters, Arbitrary Killings and Executions co-sponsored by the WNC at the European Parliament, together with MEPs Nora Junco and Diego Solier, paid tribute to the victims of Iran’s January uprising and brought renewed attention to the escalating human rights crisis under the Iranian regime.

The exhibition transformed statistics into human stories. Photographs and testimonies shown at the European Parliament in Brussels, depicting schoolchildren, teenagers, young women, fathers, mothers, and entire families who lost their lives during the crackdown on nationwide protests. The display served not only as a memorial, but as an indictment of a regime that continues to rely on repression, executions, and fear to silence dissent.

The timing of the exhibition carried particular urgency. Even as the European Parliament hosted this commemoration, the Iranian regime intensified its campaign of political repression. Reports indicate that executions surged dramatically in recent years, with approximately 1,000 executions carried out in 2024 and nearly 2,000 in 2025. The use of capital punishment has increasingly served to intimidate society and crush opposition.

Women have been among the victims of this machinery of repression. Last year alone, 60 women were executed, reflecting the regime’s continued targeting of women despite the central role women played in leading protests and calls for democratic freedoms.

The exhibition also highlighted the violence that followed the internet shutdown of 2026. With communications cut off and independent reporting severely restricted, over 600 deaths have nevertheless been reported. Activists and observers fear that the true number may be significantly higher. The blackout represented more than a technological restriction; it became a tool of state violence, isolating citizens while security forces acted with impunity.

Particular attention was given to political prisoners, whose executions remain among the darkest chapters of the regime’s conduct. Families of detainees have repeatedly described unfair trials, forced confessions, torture, and secret executions. The killing of political prisoners has become emblematic of the broader atrocities committed by the authorities against anyone seeking freedom.

The event also featured a series of emotional speeches delivered by four young girls, whose testimonies focused on the struggle of Iranian women for freedom and equality. Speaking with courage and clarity, they described the role women have played at the forefront of the protests and condemned the violence directed against them. Their speeches emphasized that the uprising in Iran is not only political, but deeply tied to women’s fight for dignity, bodily autonomy, and democratic rights.