| Iran HRD Report 2019 920 KB |

Paris-Geneva,
August 20, 2019 - Human rights defenders in Iran, long-time targets of the
government, have been subjected to systematic judicial harassment since late
2017. The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, an
FIDH-OMCT partnership, sheds light on this wave of repression in a new report
released today.
The
report, titled Indefensible: Iran’s systematic criminalisation of human
rights defenders, documents how human rights defenders, including human
rights lawyers, have been frequently arrested without
charges, held in prolonged pre-trial detention without access to legal
representation of their choosing, sentenced to lengthy prison terms on vague
charges following unfair trials, and incarcerated in poor conditions. This
criminalisation pattern is aimed at curbing their human rights activities and
undermining their rights to freedom of expression.
The report is based on the analysis of 28 individual
cases addressed by the Observatory in 2018 and the first half of 2019,
including well-known activists and lawyers Nasrin Sotoudeh, Reza Khandan, and
Mohammad Najafi. Of these cases,
15 are women’s rights defenders and 13 are human rights lawyers. Thirteen of
them are currently detained, and 15 are at risk of imminent re-arrest.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran is a
hostile regime for human rights defenders. Any form of dissent on their part is
systematically criminalised and subjected to harsh reprisals by the
authorities. The government of Iran must stop persecuting defenders and start
taking urgent measures to protect them”,
said FIDH Vice President Guissou Jahangiri.
Many
human rights defenders, both male and female, have been targeted for their
defence of women’s rights and their support of the protests against mandatory
hijab laws. Meanwhile, lawyers are regularly targeted for taking up human
rights cases and for representing other prosecuted human rights lawyers. Human rights lawyers
have been particularly targeted because of their criticism of the judiciary,
including the judiciary’s treatment of their clients and fellow lawyers.
“Iran has a long history of criminalising
human rights defenders by prosecuting them under so-called national security
charges. Far from being a protector of rights as required under the treaties
ratified by Iran, the judiciary remains subservient to the Supreme Leader and,
as shown in our report, acts as a willing executioner of the repression of
human rights defenders. Urgent reform is needed to ensure respect for the rule
of law and the integrity and independence of judges, lawyers, and prosecutors”, said OMCT Secretary General Gerald Staberock.
In
many cases, human rights defenders who are arrested under so-called national
security charges are denied access to a lawyer of their choice, particularly
during the investigation process. They are handed down harsh prison sentences -
up to 15 years in prison for a single charge - after unfair trials held in
Iran’s notorious Islamic Revolution Courts.
Most
of the human rights defenders whose cases are detailed in the report are
detained in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison, infamous for its serious
overcrowding and unhygienic conditions. They are kept for long periods of time
in solitary confinement, are deprived of essential medical care, and are
frequently denied visits by their families or lawyers.
The report addresses a series of recommendations to the Iranian authorities as well as United Nations and European Union stakeholders. It urges the government of Iran to immediately and unconditionally release all detained human rights defenders and to recognise the legitimate and essential role they play in society.
For further information, please
contact:
· FIDH:
Eva Canan: +33 6 48 05 91 57 / Email: ecanan@fidh.org
· OMCT: Iolanda
Jaquemet +41 79 539 41 06 / Email : ij@omct.org; Delphine Reculeau: +41 22 809 49 39 / Email: dr@omct.org
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights
Defenders (the Observatory) was created in 1997 by FIDH and the World
Organisation Against Torture (OMCT). The objective of this programme is to
intervene to prevent or remedy situations of repression against human rights
defenders. FIDH and OMCT are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the European Union Human Rights Defenders Mechanism
implemented by international civil society.
| Tweet |
English