In the first 50 days of the protests, at least:

7,015

people were killed

6,508

of those were protesters

226

were children like Sahand

These figures, while a conservative estimate, are more than double those admitted by the Iranian regime.

Dr Mai Sato (UN Special Rapporteur on Iran) described the regime’s response to the protests as:

“some of the most severe violence deployed against protesters in recent history”

And massaging the death toll is only one of their cowardly attempts to avoid accountability.

Bloodshed in the dark 

On 8 January 2026 – the peak of the protests, and the last day of Sahand’s short life – the regime began a near-total communications blackout, shutting down internet, phone, and mobile networks nationwide.

With no way to communicate:

• Protesters couldn’t warn each other of danger, access emergency healthcare, or seek legal assistance
• Families couldn’t contact their loved ones – or even find out if they were dead or alive
• Eye-witnesses couldn’t get online to share evidence of the authorities’ flagrant human rights violations with the world. 

And make no mistake: their violations were legion.

The authorities’ cold-blooded brutality poured salt into the wounds of grieving families like Sahand’s. 

Shooting young people, from behind, at close range.

Refusing to release protesters’ bodies unless their families paid up to US $7,000 – or signed documents claiming their deceased relatives were paramilitaries.

Raiding hospitals to arrest injured protesters and seize dead protesters’ bodies, and assaulting anyone who stood in their way.

And all in the service of a singular goal:

To intimidate and silence anyone who peacefully took to the streets to call for democracy, freedom, justice, and human rights. 

Rapid response to immediate threats

When people are arrested in Iran, the authorities often forcibly access their online accounts (including emails, social media, text messages, and dating apps) and rely on the ‘evidence’ they find there in sham trials – with punishments ranging from vicious to deadly.

When the protests broke out, ARTICLE 19 sprang into action.

We worked 24/7 to secure people’s accounts in as little as 5 minutes.

Our successful rapid-response efforts are the result of years of building relationships and trust with communities on the ground, as well as with tech companies, which we inform about the unique risks Iranians face – and how they can keep people safe. 

‘Thank God you acted quickly… They would have tortured him… You’ve saved so many people’

– Security Helpline user

Preserving families’ memories 

When the worst happened, ARTICLE 19 supported grieving families to keep their deceased relatives’ memories alive.

Sahand’s sister contacted us to ask us if we could have his Instagram account memorialised. She shared photos and videos of him with us, told us about his dreams for the future, and asked us to tell his story to the world. 

We were honoured to help.

Memorialising people’s accounts like this prevents Iran’s security forces from deleting them or accessing their private information. 

And it provides those left behind with a dedicated space to remember their loved ones, share precious memories, and connect with other grieving families.

‘We didn't know that one day these photos will be all we have left of you… A world of dreams and hopes flew away with you.’

– Sahand’s sister

Keeping people connected

Iran’s 2026 blackout was the longest nationwide internet shutdown in history.

But it wasn’t the first time the regime had shut down communications – and it wasn’t our first time responding.

Since 2022, ARTICLE 19 has developed and distributed thousands of free VPNs to help people in Iran evade the censors and get online.

If a VPN stops working, our network feeds that information back to us, we fix it, and we redistribute it to the community: a sustainable ecosystem that we created when the Woman, Life, Freedom protests first erupted. 

Despite the hurdles, we refined our digital ecosystem throughout the protests, helping people to access and share information, seek support, and share evidence of the regime’s crimes.

How we do it 

• We train a small group of trusted people. Many of these are Iranians who have fled the regime and live abroad. By teaching them new digital skills, we are helping them to help others back home, strengthening their asylum claims, and supporting them to gain well-paid employment.

• They train many other people. These individuals are drawn from their existing networks – and ours: by being a trusted partner in a dangerous context, ARTICLE 19 has painstakingly built a huge network over many years.

• They support the Iranians who most need it, when they most need it. 

So far in 2026, we have trained nearly 1,000 people.

From local to global

As well as working with individuals, ARTICLE 19 documented the regime’s human rights violations and amplified them on the world stage. 

With our partners, we pushed for the UN Human Rights Council to hold a special session on Iran. Following our advocacy, two such sessions were held, pressuring the regime to stop the bloodshed. 

We also collected and verified information from our trusted contacts on the ground and shared it with Dr Mai Sato (UN Special Rapporteur on Iran), who included our evidence – including Sahand’s story – in her March 2026 report.

We have supported Dr Mai Sato since she began her role, equipping her with the digital tools she needs to carry out her crucial mandate safely.

“[ARTICLE 19]'s security briefing proved invaluable. It equipped me with essential digital protection skills—not just for my own security, but crucially for safeguarding the NGOs, victims and their families who entrust me with their communication.”

– Dr Mai Sato (UN Special Rapporteur on Iran)