Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
A/HRC/34/52/Add.1 para 398
Full recommendation:
The Special Rapporteur urges the Iranian Government to immediately drop all charges against
Ms. Rahemipour and to halt any acts of retaliation against relatives, witnesses and human rights
defenders who report cases of enforced disappearances, pursuant to article 13 (3) and (5) of the
Declaration on the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance adopted by General
Assemble resolution 47/133.
Assessment
A. The Special Rapporteur urges the Iranian Government to immediately drop all
charges against Ms. Rahemipour.
The Iranian Government failed to immediately drop all charges against Ms. Raheleh
Rahemipour. Ms. Rahemipour was sentenced to one year imprisonment in January 2017 after
Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran convicted her of “spreading propaganda against
the system” through her peaceful efforts to learn the truth about the whereabouts of her brother
Hossein Rahemipour, who was summarily executed in 1984, and his baby daughter Golrou
Rahemipour, who forcibly disappeared 15 days after she was born in Evin prison.
In May 2018, Ms. Rahemipour faced a second trial, again on the charge of “spreading
propaganda against the system”, following her complaint filed with the UN on the enforced
disappearance of her brother and infant daughter. The Ministry of Intelligence reportedly told
Ms. Rahemipour that the prosecution would cease if she withdrew her complaint.1 Ms.
Rahemipour was ultimately sentenced to pay a fine.2
Ms. Rahemipour was again arrested in November 2019 before being released on bail the
following month.3
B. The Special Rapporteur urges the Iranian Government to halt any acts of
retaliation against relatives, witnesses and human rights defenders who report cases
of enforced disappearances, pursuant to article 13 (3) and (5) of the Declaration on
the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance adopted by General
Assemble resolution 47/133.
1
Amnesty International, https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/05/iran-raheleh-rahemipour-goes-on-trial/
Iran Human Rights, https://iranhr.net/en/articles/3694/
3
United for Iran, https://ipa.united4iran.org/en/prisoner/3705/
2
1