OHCHR and NGOs frequently report cases of solitary confinement in the Islamic Republic of
Iran.16 17 18 19 20 21
Iranian authorities regularly hold individuals in solitary confinement during the preliminary
investigation phase and in cases of political and national security-related charges.22 In recent
decades, human rights organizations have documented numerous cases of civil, political, ethnic
and religious rights activists being held in solitary confinement for prolonged periods of time,
sometimes up to several years, 23 24
Far from strictly limiting its use, reports indicate that Iranian authorities have resorted to solitary
confinement for its own sake and on a large-scale basis.
B. The Special Rapporteur calls upon to Government to ensure full access to their
choice of lawyer
Article 35 of the Iranian Constitution guarantees the right to legal defence and the right to choose
a lawyer.25 Article 190 of the revised Code of Criminal Procedure (CCP) protects the right of a
suspect to “be accompanied by a lawyer during the preliminary investigations”. Article 48 of the
Code of Criminal Procedure (CCP), revised in 2015, permits the accused to “demand
the presence of a lawyer from the start of detention.”26 27 However, a Note to Article 48 of the
2015 CCP28 specifies that individuals facing charges for certain offences, including those
relating to national security and organized crime, must select their legal counsel from among a
limited list of lawyers approved and announced by the Head of the Judiciary at the phase of
16
OHCHR News, https://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=26716&LangID=E%20
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, January 2021,
https://undocs.org/Home/Mobile?FinalSymbol=A%2FHRC%2F46%2F50&Language=E&DeviceType=Desktop
18
Human Rights Watch, https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/06/06/iran-free-students-long-solitary
19
Amnesty International, https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE1328912020ENGLISH.PDF and
https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE0113572020ENGLISH.PDF
20
Amnesty International, https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/07/iran-leaked-letters-reveal-state-denial-of-covid19crisis-in-prisons/
21
See more : Abdorrahman Boroumand Center, https://www.en-hrana.org/wpcontent/uploads/2020/09/COVID19_FEAR_IN_IRANS_PRISONS_.pdf
22
https://www.ihrr.org/ihrr_article/violence-fa_violence-against-political-prisoners/
23
HRW <https://www.hrw.org/legacy/campaigns/torture/iran/ >
24
HRW <https://www.hrw.org/reports/2004/iran0604/5.htm>;
Nobel Womens Initiative < https://nobelwomensinitiative.org/white-torture-an-open-letter-from-narges-mohammadi/>
25
Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran < http://www.iranchamber.com/government/laws/constitution_ch03.php>
26
Code of Criminal Procedure of the Islamic Republic of Iran (2015) as referenced in the 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 >
27
Code of Criminal Procedure of the Islamic Republic of Iran (2015) original version http://dotic.ir/print/5584
28
Code of Criminal Procedure of the Islamic Republic of Iran (2015) as referenced in the 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
17
3