Hana Human Rights Organization strongly condemns a recent live broadcast on the Islamic Republic’s state television in which a presenter mocked the deaths of thousands of innocent citizens killed in state violence and treated their bodies as material for ridicule and a raffle-like “drawing.” This conduct is an egregious assault on human dignity and a deliberate retraumatization of grieving families.
This broadcast is not merely “offensive content.” It constitutes public dehumanization of victims and can amount to incitement and hate-based humiliation. When mass death is trivialized on national television, it normalizes cruelty, legitimizes persecution, and signals institutional tolerance for violence. The systematic character of such messaging is legally significant: it may help demonstrate intent, awareness, and a broader policy context relevant to crimes against humanity, including the mental element and the element of a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population.
Hana calls on international human rights mechanisms, relevant UN mandate holders, and independent media oversight bodies to urgently preserve the footage, identify the responsible individuals and supervisory authorities, and ensure a prompt, independent investigation. Hana further urges states to support credible documentation efforts, protect witnesses and survivors, and pursue targeted measures against officials and entities implicated in serious human rights violations.
We stand with the victims and their families. Their dignity is inviolable. Their right to truth, justice, and reparation must be upheld.