against Mr. Mortazavi has been investigated and brought before a court. During his
imprisonment, he was repeatedly released from prison on furlough (while other prisoners face
severe restrictions to enjoy this right)7 8and traveled abroad (Iraq).9 He is currently free.
Although Mr. Saeed Mortazavi was prosecuted and ultimately convicted, there have been no
other cases of members of Iranian authorities and law enforcement officials being convicted for
their involvement in cases of torture. Further, Mr. Saeed Mortazavi’s case suggest that Iranian
officials, even when convicted, are not held to account for their crimes in the Islamic republic of
Iran.
The Iranian legal framework does not protect fully against the perpetration of torture and limits
accountability for perpetrators. Article 38 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran
prohibits torture and other ill-treatment, but only when it is “used to extract an admission of guilt
or to obtain information”.10 Similarly, Article 578 of the Islamic Penal Code asserts “any civil
servant or judicial or non-judicial agent who corporally mistreats and abuses an accused person
in order to force him to confess shall be sentenced […]”.11 Such provision is reiterated under
Article 60 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Article 169 of the Prison Regulations prohibits
“corporal punishment of the accused or convicts, and imposing violent, excruciating or
humiliating punishments, in all penal institutions and prisons” and punishments are provided
under Article 587 of the Islamic Penal Code. 12
While Iranian law prohibits - conditionally - torture and certain abusive conducts during
interrogations, it does not provide a definition of torture per se. Torture and other ill-treatment
inflicted on an individual for other purposes than extracting confessions and/or information is
not, therefore, explicitly prohibited.
The prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment is a jus cogens norm under international law
and cannot be restricted in any circumstances,13 including by conflicting domestic laws.
However, the Iranian legal framework does not adequately protect individuals from torture and
further other-ill-treatment and may well facilitate impunity. While Iranian laws provide for the
accountability of officials and authorities who infringed individuals’ rights and punishes the use
of torture in order to force confession, these provisions do not criminalize torture nor do they use
the term “torture”. The absence of a crime of torture in itself under Iranian law prevents
prosecution, which is limited only to cases of torture provided under the law.
7
Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, https://iranhrdc.org/rights-disregarded-prisons-in-the-islamic-republic-of-iran/#3.2.4
OHCHR News, https://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=26244&LangID=E
9
https://www.farsnews.ir/news/13970631000545/ and https://www.khabaronline.ir/news/1223819/
10
Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran English translation
http://www.iranchamber.com/government/laws/constitution_ch03.php
11
Islamic Penal Code of the Islamic Republic of Iran (2013), English translation, Iran Human Rights Documentation Center,
https://iranhrdc.org/islamic-penal-code-of-the-islamic-republic-of-iran-book-five/
12
Ibid.
13
CCPR General Comment No. 20: Article 7, 10 March 1992, https://www.refworld.org/docid/453883fb0.html
8
2