Iran Must Ensure Free and Fair Elections with Independent Monitors, Says UN

UN Expresses Concern for Mousavi and Karroubi, Calls for Immediate Release of All Prisoners of Conscience

(21 November 2011) The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran welcomed the resolution concerning the Islamic Republic of Iran’s grave human rights violations, adopted today by the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly (GA).

“We embrace the adoption of this resolution and encourage UN member states to continue focusing international attention on Iran’s dismal rights record,” said Campaign spokesperson Hadi Ghaemi.

The draft resolution was adopted with 86 votes in favor, 32 against, and 59 abstentions. Mohammad Javad Larijani, Iran’s highest human rights official, spent this last week in New York defending Iran’s human rights record and addressed the GA just prior to the vote, attempting, unsuccessfully, to rally opposition to the resolution.

“Iran can try to whitewash its record all it wants but time and again distinct UN bodies come to the conclusion that the government’s treatment of its people is inhumane and can no longer be ignored,” added Ghaemi.

In just the past two months, three separate and independent UN authorities, the General Secretary, Ban Ki Moon, the UN Human Rights Committee, and the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, Ahmad Shaheed, have all condemned Iran’s human rights practices. Their reports highlight secret executions, torture, widespread arbitrary detentions, discrimination against women, religious and ethnic minorities, and suppression of speech, association and assembly.

Today’s resolution enjoyed broad cross-regional support including that of key Arab Spring countries, with Tunisia and Libya voting yes, and Egypt changing its vote from no to abstention. The positive votes included Japan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Colombia, as well as South Korea, Senegal, Tanzania and Central African Republic, who changed their votes this year to yes. Turkey refrained from voting altogether. The majority of Latin American states, including Argentina, Chile, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras and Mexico, along with all members of the European Union, voted yes.

The GA took up the issue of elections in Iran, strongly urging Iran “to ensure free, fair, transparent and inclusive parliamentary elections in 2012 that reflect the will of the people and are consistent with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.” For the first time, the GA called “on the Government to allow independent observation, including by civil society and candidates, of the electoral process and to allow independent local and international journalists to freely observe and report.”

“Everyone witnessed the human rights catastrophe that arose out of the 2009 presidential election. This resolution should be a wake up call to authorities that in the next parliamentary elections the whole world will be watching and won’t tolerate a repeat of 2009,” said Ghaemi.

UN member states pressed Iran on its “continuing and sustained house arrest of leading opposition figures from the 2009 presidential elections,” indicating the nine-month house arrest of Mir Hussein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi.

The resolution also called for the immediate release of all prisoners of conscience. More than 400 prisoners of conscience, who have been jailed since Iran’s disputed 2009 presidential election solely for their opinions and beliefs, are languishing in prisons and subjected to ill-treatment. The Judiciary has handed down harsh prison and flogging sentences and fines to activists on baseless national security charges. The GA resolution expressed deep concern for these detentions and for human rights lawyers who have been arbitrarily arrested and prosecuted, including associates of the Defenders of Human Rights Center such as Abdolfattah Soltani, Nasrin Sotoudeh, and Mohammad Seifzadeh.

At a UN press conference just days before the vote, Iran’s human rights chief, Mohammad Javad Larijani, accused Soltani of links to an unnamed terrorist group. In reaction to the unfounded accusation, Soltani’s wife spoke with the Campaign about her husband’s reaction. “He said, ‘If it’s possible, I’ll file the suit … because of the unfounded accusation made against me, a charge about which I have not been informed, nor has it been proven, I will either file a lawsuit … or I will ask my lawyers to do this.’”

Today’s GA draft resolution also challenged Iran on its treatment of ethnic and religious minorities. Member states called on the government “to eliminate discrimination against, and exclusion of … members of the Baha’i faith, regarding access to higher education.” The resolution criticized the “violent suppression and detention of ethnic Arabs and … the violent repression of environmental protests in Azeri territory.” The GA also noted “the high rate of executions of persons belonging to minority groups.”

The GA took serious issue with Iran’s overall use of the death penalty, citing “the continuing high incidence of and dramatic increase … of the death penalty in the absence of internationally recognized safeguards.” This is the first time the GA has criticized Iran’s practice of “secret group executions, as well as reports of executions undertaken without the notification of the prisoner’s family members or legal counsel.”

So far in 2011, Iran has conducted at least 455 executions, 161 of which were secret, making it the leading per-capita executioner in the world. The vast majority of these executions are for offences for which the death penalty is not permissible under international law, such as drug crimes and consensual sexual conduct. At least three of the people executed this year were under the age of 18 at the time of the crime.

The passage of the resolution will mark the eighth consecutive year the GA has cited Iran’s dramatic failure to abide by its human rights obligations and urged cooperation with UN authorities to address these failures. The resolution called for cooperation with Ahmad Shaheed, the newly appointed Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, allowing him “unfettered access to the country to carry out his mandate.” In recent years, Iran has continued to thwart all international efforts to assist in improving its human rights record and has not had any direct communication with Shaheed since the start of his mandate in August 2011.

The Campaign welcomes the wide-reaching, cross-regional support for the resolution, and urges Iran to begin a program of constructive cooperation with the United Nations to address the concerns raised.

The General Assembly will formally adopt the resolution in December.

Dehghan told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that she visited her husband this morning and told him about Larijani’s statements during his press conference in New York yesterday. “He said, ‘If it’s possible, I’ll file the suit myself, but my hands are tied here as I have no pen and no paper. But because of the unfounded accusation made against me, a charge about which I have not been informed, nor has it been proven, I will either file a lawsuit against him myself, or I will ask my lawyers to do this on my behalf.’”

During a press conference at the United Nations in New York yesterday, Mohammad Javad Larijani, Head of the Iranian Judiciary’s Human Rights Council, responded to a question about the arrests of human rights lawyers such as Abdolfattah Soltani. “No lawyer is in prison because he is a lawyer or he is a defender of human rights. But any person who is involved in activities which are against the security of the state, especially their relations with terrorist groups … Mr. Abdolfattah Soltani has relations with terrorist groups which are responsible for murdering more than 10,000 people in Iran,” Larijani told the reporters.

“Mr. Soltani and his lawyers have been informed about his charges.  The case’s indictment has been submitted, his conviction ruling has been issued, and his case has been transferred to the judicial court branch and we have never heard such things. This is a continuation of Mr. Mortazavi’s [Saeed Mortazavi, former Tehran Prosecutor] story who called Soltani a spy after his arrest several years ago. My husband was acquitted later and of course none of them ever even apologized, let alone paid damages for his serving seven months in prison and in solitary confinement. Really, if someone collaborated with terrorists, how come they only remembered this two months after his arrest?” said Dehghan.

In an earlier interview with the Campaign, Dehghan affirmed her husband’s charges. “Mr. Soltani himself told me when he called that his charges are ‘propagating against the regime,’ ‘establishing the Defenders of Human Rights Center,’ ‘assembly and collusion against national security,’ and ‘accepting an unlawful prize.’ By ‘unlawful prize,’ they mean the Nuremberg International Human Rights Award, which Mr. Soltani received in 2009.”

Authorities arrested Soltani, co-founder of the Defenders of Human Rights Center, on 10 September 2011. Currently, he is being held in Ward 209 in Evin Prison. This is Soltani’s third arrest since 2005.

Reacting to Larijani’s statements, Dehghan told the Campaign, “All I can say is that I’m really sorry. From a legal stance, Mr. Larijan’s conduct is a crime. So long as Mr. Soltani has not appeared before a court and his charges have not been proven, he is not allowed to make such statements. As the Judiciary Deputy for Human Rights, he must know these things. Even if such charges are accurate and Mr. Soltani is a criminal, so long as [these accusations] are not proven, [Larijani] is not supposed to talk about them. And, secondly, based on what reasoning and evidence did he make these statements?”

“Because of the unfounded allegations leveled against my husband and the damage this has caused my family, I want my husband’s lawyers to file suit against Mr. Larijani and I hope that [this lawsuit] is reviewed in an impartial court,” added Dehghan.

According to Abdolfattah Soltani’s wife, the lawyer and co-founder of Defenders of Human Rights Center’s temporary detention orders were extended for two more months today.

“Last Thursday I was able to see Mr. Soltani for about ten minutes. He had lost some weight and was complaining about remaining in prison in a state of limbo. It is really unfair to keep someone in prison for a long time and tell him that ‘it takes a long time to read his case file.’ If they have a reason for his detention, they must present it to the court as soon as possible. Continuing this situation is neither moral nor legal,” said Dehghan.

Abdolfattah Soltani was arrested on the afternoon of 10 September 2011. Throughout his career, Soltani has represented many prisoners of conscience such as Akbar Ganji and Haleh Esfandiari, as well as the families of Zahra Kazemi and Zahra Baniyaghoub, who died under suspicious circumstances while in detention. Soltani was previously arrested in 2009, and was released after two months in prison.

Dehghan told the Campaign that her husband’s case has been forwarded to Branch 26 of Tehran Revolutionary Court, adding, “We expect that Mr. Soltani and his lawyer are allowed to read the case file. I also expect his case will be forwarded to a qualified, fair, and impartial branch, and that the legal process of his case is expedited as he has been in prison for two months without clarification of his situation, and his life and work have been disrupted. This treatment is not moral, based on Sharia, or legal.”

Dehghan also spoke about the personal items that were confiscated during Soltani’s arrest, saying, “Things we urgently need, such as ATM cards, Mr. Soltani’s automobile registration card, keys to his law offices, and even my personal educational CDs and family albums have not been returned yet. Despite orders from the court to return our personal items, I don’t know why they have not yet returned anything to us.”

“I expect my husband’s family and lawyers to be allowed to visit with him. The family is also entitled to in-person visits. These are our minimum requests. Based on Iranian laws and citizen’s rights, each prisoner should have these rights,” she added.

 In an interview with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, Reza Khandan, Nasrin Sotoudeh’s husband, said that the second court session reviewing her disbarment was cancelled. “My wife’s second court session at the Tehran Bar Association was scheduled for Sunday, 18 September, but she was not transferred from prison to court, and the the court session was not held, naturally. Of course the prison authorities had previously informed the court officials that Ms. Sotoudeh would not be brought to court today, but I don’t know why. They just told me that the prison authorities have announced that Ms. Sotoudeh would not be transferred to the court session,” he said.

Following the inappropriate conduct of prison officers during Sotoudeh’s last visit with her family six weeks ago, Nasrin Sotoudeh stopped appearing at her weekly visitations to protest their mistreatment. Khandan told the Campaign that she had a short visit with her family this week. “Ms. Sotoudeh’s court session at the Bar Association was scheduled for this Sunday, which coincided with the Evin Prison visitation day. That’s why when we realized that she would not be brought to court, we went to Evin Prison quickly to see whether we could see her in the remaining visitation time. First they said she did not wish to come, but when she found out that the kids were with us and we had been to the court, she came and we were able to see her for 15 minutes after six weeks,” said Khandan. He also that in the six weeks since he last saw her, she had lost a lot of weight.

Reza Khandan told the Campaign that one of Sotoudeh’s lawyers has been arrested and another has left the country., “Unfortunately, Mr. [Abdolfattah] Soltani, the lawyer, was arrested a few days ago, and this is why we unaware of the status of Ms. Sotoudeh’s case. Ms. Parakand, her other lawyer, was under pressure and she chose to leave the country a while ago. Of course Ms. Sotoudeh has other lawyers, too, but since her case was forwarded to the Revolutionary Court, only Mr. Soltani and Ms. Parakand, and most recently only Mr. Soltani, knew about the case’s progress,” Khandan added.

Dehghan told the Campaign that she was able to retrieve only three of the many items taken from her home during Soltani’s arrest, but the other items remain in the custody of Intelligence Ministry forces.

“We are concerned, as Mr. Soltani has not called home in five days. He suffers from digestive track illness and this worries us. In his last contact, my husband said that he is inside Ward 209 of Evin Prison along with 10 or 12 other prisoners. He contacted us three times the first week and now we are shocked that he has not contacted us even once in five days. His lawyer went to prison and asked around, but the authorities told him that he has no problems and is well. But we are worried,” said Dehghan. “The prison authorities told him that his objection to his detention has been forwarded to the court and now we have to wait for the court’s opinion, to see whether this objection is overruled or he will be released on bail,” she added.

Abdolfattah Soltani has represented many political and human rights activists and their families such as Akbar Ganji, Zahra Kazemi, Zahra Baniyaghoub, Haleh Esfandiari, several Nationalist-Religious figures and Iranian union activists. He has been arrested several times. He was arrested in 2005 and was acquitted of all charges seven months later. He was arrested again in 2009 after the presidential election, and served two months in prison.

Massoumeh Dehghan, Abdolfattah Soltani’s wife, is a retired teacher who has never engaged in any political activities. She was arrested on 5 July after appearing before Evin Prison Court following a summons she had received three days earlier. She spent five days in a solitary cell and was later released on bail of $30,000. Her charge was accepting the “illegal” Nuremberg International Human Rights Prize. In 2009, when Soltani was awarded the Nuremberg International Human Rights Prize, Dehghan received the award on Soltani’s behalf because he was banned from foreign travel. Dehghan received a summons stating her charge following her arrest  to appear before Branch 15 of Tehran Revolutionary Court on 8 November.

“Four men went to my husband’s legal offices. The offices were closed at the time, so they broke the lock and entered. After inspecting the premises, they went to the Revolutionary Court and arrested my husband, who was at the courts to review the case file of one of his clients. They then came to our home with my husband and inspected our entire house. They took CDs, papers, and documents. They took an unopened Shahram Nazeri music CD, which clearly indicated what was inside. They even took some video CDs of family gatherings and our children’s celebrations,” said Dehghan.

“I told the forces: ‘At least show me what you are taking with you.’ But they said: ‘You are not allowed to see.’ I asked them: ‘What are Mr. Soltani’s charges?’ They said: ‘Mr. Soltani himself knows his charges and he knows that we are allowed to search [the home].’ They took several bags full of CDs, documents, and papers belonging to myself, my children, and my husband, and said I should go to Evin Prison Court to get them back.”

“They came at 1:30 p.m. and they left the home at 4:00 p.m. along with Mr. Soltani and the things they were taking. Then they went back to my husband’s legal offices. This time the office was open and the secretary opened the door for them. They took the computers and the case files with them,” Dehghan added. “I don’t know what his charges are or where they took him.”

Abdolfattah Soltani has represented several political and human rights activists, including Akbar Ghanji, Zahra Kazemi, Zahra Baniyaghoub, and Haleh Esfandiari. He was earlier arrested in 2009 and released after two months.

(24 August 2011) The Iranian Central Bar Association should come to the aid of embattled lawyers subjected to harassment, unfounded criminal charges, or prison sentences for defending prisoners of conscience and advocating for human rights, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today.

* Due to recently acquired information we  have added to these lists and updated our original data.

One day later, Tehran’s Prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi confirmed the arrest of three female lawyers at Imam Khomeini Airport, adding that they had been transferred to Ward 209 of Evin Prison. Dolatabadi further announced the arrest of two other lawyers without mentioning their names or where they are being detained. He said the five lawyers were charged with “committing security crimes,” and “actions committed abroad which are inconsistent with the values of Islamic Republic of Iran,” claiming that these individuals were arrested on orders from the Security Branch of the Shahid Moghaddas Judicial Complex.

Iranians lawyers have not yet speculated about the identity of their two unidentified colleagues, their names remaining unknown.  The reason for the three lawyers’ travel to Turkey is also unknown. Of the three lawyers whose identities are known, Sara Sabaghian is a member of the Iranian Bar Association’s Committee for the Defence of Women and Children’s Rights. She was previously arrested along with a number of other lawyers on 8 July 2009, as forces attempted to arrest Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, a prominent human rights lawyer who represented student activist Majid Tavakoli. She is also one of the lawyers representing Hossein Ronaghi Maleki, a blogger known as Babak Khorramdin. Maryam Kian Ersi represents a woman sentenced to stoning, Kobra Najjar.

One day before the arrests of the lawyers, Sadegh Larijani, Head of the Iranian Judiciary, criticized lawyers who sat for interviews with foreign media calling their actions “an insult to the legal society.”

Many Iranian human rights lawyers, including Nasrin Sotoudeh and Mohammad Oliaifard, have been in prison for months.  Mohammad Seifzadeh, another prominent lawyer and founder of Defenders of Human Rights Center, was recently sentenced to nine years in prison. Mohammad Ali Dadkhh, Abdolfattah Soltani, and Khalil Bahramian also have open cases with the Iranian Judiciary.

(31 October 2010) The Iranian Judiciary should end its systematic targeting of human rights defenders and lawyers who are being sentenced to lengthy prison terms solely for their human rights work and defending their clients, Shirin Ebadi said today in a joint statement with the Iranian League for Defense of Human Rights (LDDHI) and the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.

On Saturday, 30 October, Branch 15 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court sentenced prominent lawyer Mohammad Seifzadeh to nine years in prison and a ten year ban from practicing law. Seifzadeh is charged with “acting against national security” by “establishing the Defenders of Human Rights Center (DHRC).” Abdolfattah Soltani and Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, two other co-founders  of DHRC are also under prosecution for similar charges.

Nasrin Sotoudeh, another lawyer affiliated with DHRC, has been in detention since 4 September 2010, and held in solitary confinement. Mohammad Oliyaiefard, another lawyer, is serving a one year sentence for having interviewed with the press regarding the case of one of his clients.

In an interview with LDDHI and the Campaign, Seifzadeh said: “I believe this ruling is not worded in proper legal language.  It seems to be more of a partisan or political statement against a human rights organization.  Judging by the words used, this statement demonstrates how much the gentlemen hate human rights.  They said we were “supposedly” active in the field of human rights.  Because we wrote letters to authorities, criticizing the justice system’s conditions, or made suggestions for correcting the laws, or represented those who were pursued by the Judiciary, [they have concluded] that we have committed crimes.  These actions, however, were a part of the people’s rights, the Center’s duties, and our duties as their lawyers.”

“As you can see, the gentlemen consider defending people’s rights and legal activities as crimes.  Which one of these activities is a crime, warranting the charge of “acting against national and regime security” in the verdict?  I am addressing the same regime when I ask that the laws need to be changed.  I am addressing the same regime when I say that the summonses are not in accordance with the law.  Please note that when prominent lawyers of this country, such as Ebadi, Dadkhah, and Soltani practice law according to the law, in the gentlemen’s eyes they are committing a crime,” Seifzadeh added.

Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi said, “This unjust sentence demonstrates that the Iranian Judiciary’s independence is vanishing with each passing day. Noting the 1999 UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, I call on the High Commissioner for Human Rights to react to this development, and request that she recommends acquittal of Mr. Seifzadeh and reminds the Iranian government of its obligations under the Declaration.”

Karim Lahidji, president of LDDHI and vice-president of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), reacting to Seifzadeh’s prosecution, said, “ For the first time, a lawyer is being sentenced to prison and banned from practicing his profession solely for human rights work and defending clients. Banning him from practice is in clear contradiction with the independence of the Bar Association. The only institution that can issue such a sentence, banning a lawyer temporarily or permanently from practice, lies with the Disciplinary Court for Lawyers, and not the Revolutionary Courts.”

Ebadi and the two human rights organizations expressed their deep concern at the ongoing systematic persecution of human rights defender and its chilling effect on the ability of lawyers to provide proper defense for their clients.

“How can there be any semblance of due process for defendants when their lawyer can end up in jail for years simply for doing his job?” asked Hadi Ghaemi, the spokesperson for the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.

“I ask you, esteemed lawyers, to enable me to seek partial compensation for my material and non-material damages, as I face new illegal and cruel charges in prison, so that I may find justice in international courts,” he states.

“I formally submit my case against Mr. Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, to international courts and ask you, esteemed lawyers and any other emancipated individuals to ascertain that this request for justice follows its legal process and is effectively followed through,” writes the veteran Iranian activist.

“I would like to press charges against Mr. Ali Khamenei for all the crimes listed and for compensation for material and non-material damages, in his capacity as the leader of the regime who holds absolute power, above the law, unaccountable, and for lifetime,” states Tabarzadi at the end of a detailed list of Ali Khamenei’s crimes.

“Shutting down all my partisan, organizational, and legal activities through arrest, suppression, and deprivation of my basic rights in this area; putting me under pressure through security forces and creating fear and insecurity for my family through telephone threats or repeated storming of my office and my home; preventing meetings and peaceful protests which are some of the basic rights of every free citizen; preventing my free participation in determining my fate through free elections–these activities have been suppressed under the charges of ‘collusion’ and ‘gatherings with the intent to disrupt national security,” are some of the charges Tabarzadi mentioned in his letter.

Heshmatollah Tabarzadi is a political prisoner who has been sentenced to nine years in prison. He concludes his letter by stating that he has evidence for all his charges and will produce them as soon as international courts are convened.

Some of the lawyers he addressed in his letter are Nasrin Sotoudeh, Shirin Ebadi, Mohammad Oliaifard, Mohammad Mostafaee, Mehrangiz Kar, and Abdolfattah Soltani.