association and assembly,18 19 reportedly disproportionately targeting members of minorities.20 21
Moreover, the Government of Iran has been responding to protests with an excessive and
unlawful use of force.22
Iranian authorities have increasingly been repressing human rights lawyers by arresting,
detaining and prosecuting them, solely on the basis of them peacefully exercising their rights to
freedom of expression, association and assembly and for carrying out their profession of
defending their clients.23 Other human rights defenders, including trade unionists, environmental
or abolitionist activists have also faced increasing levels of harassment and persecution due to
their peaceful activities. 24 25 26 27 In the July 2020 report, the Special Rapporteur on the situation
of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran raised serious concerns over recurrent arrests and
detentions of HRDs solely for carrying out their legitimate work. 28 29 30 The Special Rapporteur
also stated that he was “alarmed at the ongoing repression of women human rights defenders
who object to compulsory veiling” and condemned “the recent sentencing of three women
human rights defenders: Yasaman Aryani, Monireh Arabshahi and Mojgan Keshavarz.”31
Despite the existence of several mechanisms that ostensibly accept complaints regarding
violations of citizens' rights, such as the Parliament’s Article 90 Commission (established under
Article 90 of the Constitution, offering a mechanism to citizens to file complaint against any of
the three branches of power) and the Oversight Bodies for the exercise of Citizenship Rights in
the country's provincial courts, there is no evidence to suggest that complaints submitted to these
18
See more : Amnesty International, Caught in a web of repression: Iran’s Human Rights Defenders under attack,
https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE1364462017ENGLISH.PDF
19
While no official figure exists on the number of journalists detained with charges since 2011, documentation on specific cases
of journalists imprisoned by HRANA News Agency, Committee to Protect Journalists, Amnesty International, Centre for Human
Rights on Iran, and Reporters Without Borders and ARTICLE19 suggest the number is over a hundred.
20
See more: Association for the human rights of the Azerbaijani people in Iran, http://www.ahraz.org/association-for-the-humanrights-of-the-azerbaijani-people-in-iran-ahrazs-repot-regarding-the-current-situation-of-the-azerbaijani-arrestees-that-arearrested-during-the-recent-protests-nove/
21
See more: Kurdistan Human Rights Geneva, https://kmmk-ge.org/sd/annual-report-2020/
22
The Governmental crackdown on the November 2019 protests is emblematic of Iran’s repression of the rights to freedom of
expression, assembly and association. See more: Amnesty International, Trampling Humanity: Mass arrests, disappearances and
torture since Iran’s 2019 November protests, https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde13/2891/2020/en/
23
See more: Abdorrahman Boroumand Center, https://www.iranrights.org/projects/timeline
24
See more : ARTICLE 19, Small Media, Human Rights Activists in Iran, Impact Iran, Human Rights Committee, 129th session
(Geneva) 29 June – 24 July 2020,
https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CCPR/Shared%20Documents/IRN/INT_CCPR_ICS_IRN_42315_E.pdf
25
See more: Iran Human Rights, https://www.iranhr.net/en/reports/23/
26
See more: Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, https://iranhrdc.org/controlled-and-pursued-labor-activism-incontemporary-iran/
27
See more: Ensemble Contre la Peine de Mort, https://www.ecpm.org/wp-content/uploads/Rapport-iran-2020-gb-070420WEB.pdf
28
Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, January 2020,
https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/IR/Report_of_the_Special_Rapporteur_on_the_situation_of_human_rights_in_the_
Islamic_Republic_of_IranA4361.pdf
29
See more: United for Iran, database of Iran’s prisons and political prisoners available at https://ipa.united4iran.org/en/
30
See more: EN-Human Rights Activists News Agency, https://www.en-hrana.org/?s=activists
31
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, January 2020,
https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/IR/Report_of_the_Special_Rapporteur_on_the_situation_of_human_rights_in_the_
Islamic_Republic_of_IranA4361.pdf
3