A UN rights investigator said in a report released on Thursday that human rights activists in Iran are subjected to torture.

The UN special rapporteur on human rights in Iran, Ahmed Shaheed, said in a report to the UN General Assembly that the activists are subject to beatings with batons, mock hangings, rape, sleep deprivation, and threats that family members will be raped or killed. He added that Iranian authorities undermine press freedoms, watch some journalists constantly and detain and persecute others.