or suspected for ordinary crimes that the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center has investigated, all
detainees were interrogated without the presence of an attorney.31 Reports have shown a pattern
of cases where prisoners remain incarcerated without proper access to legal representation at all
stages of their trial process. 3233
HRDs face a heightened risk of being prosecuted, sentenced on charges of national security, and
subjected to legal procedures that regularly deny them access to legal counsel, among other
violations of their right to fair trial. NGOs34 and OHCHR35 36 37 38 regularly report on cases of
HRDs being sentenced solely for their peaceful activities and following unfair trials. 39 40 41 42
B. The Special Rapporteur appeals to the Government to take all necessary measures
to guarantee that all human rights defenders are subject to fair proceedings
before an independent and impartial tribunal.
Proceedings related to charges concerned with national security, which often concern human
rights defenders (HRDs), are tried before the Revolutionary courts of the Islamic Republic of
Iran.
Revolutionary courts are among Iran’s criminal courts listed under Article 294 of the new CCP
(2015) and, according to Article 297, are to be established in the capital of each of the state’s
provinces.43 Revolutionary courts have jurisdiction over crimes against national and external
security, moharebeh (“enmity against God”), efsad-e fel-arz (“corruption on earth”), baghi
(“armed rebellion against the state”),44 “gathering and colluding against the Islamic Republic”,
armed activities, arson and “destruction and plunder of resources with the purpose of opposing
the system”, “insulting the founder of the Islamic Republic and the Supreme Leader”, all
31
Abdorrahman Boroumand Center, joint submission to the Human Rights Committee from the Abdorrahman Boroumand
Center, Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, Impact Iran, Human Rights Activists in Iran, 2020,
https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CCPR/Shared%20Documents/IRN/INT_CCPR_ICS_IRN_42313_E.pdf
32
HRANA https://www.en-hrana.org/political-prisoner-denied-access-to-an-attorney
33
HRANA https://www.en-hrana.org/arash-sadegh-golrokh-iraeis-lawyers-access-cases
34
Human Rights Watch, https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/02/19/iran-environmentalists-unjust-sentences-upheld
35
OHCHR news, https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=24333&LangID=E
36
OHCHR News, https://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=26543&LangID=E
37
OHCHR News, https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=26106&LangID=E
38
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
39
See more: Abdorrahman Boroumand Center, https://www.iranrights.org/projects/timeline
40
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
41
See more: Iran Human Rights, https://www.iranhr.net/en/reports/23/
42
See more: Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, https://iranhrdc.org/controlled-and-pursued-labor-activism-incontemporary-iran/
43
Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, https://iranhrdc.org/amendments-to-the-islamic-republic-of-irans-code-of-criminalprocedure-part-1/
44
Defined under Articles 279 to 285 and Articles 286 to 288 of the Islamic Penal Code (2013), Iran Human Rights
Documentation Center, https://iranhrdc.org/english-translation-of-books-i-ii-of-the-new-islamic-penal-code/
4