In his 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. 32 33 34The Special Rapporteur also stated that he was
“alarmed at the ongoing repression of women human rights defenders who object to compulsory
veiling.”35
Since 2016, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) has found at least 38 cases of
arbitrary detention in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Despite these opinions, many remain in
detention as of January 2021.36 Individuals found to be arbitrarily detained in the Islamic
Republic of Iran by the WGAD include but are not limited to: Mr. Arash Sadeghi (Opinion no.
19/2018), Ms. Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee (Opinion no. 33/2019), Ms. Atena Daemi (Opinion no.
83/2018) notably based on the exercise of their right to freedom of opinion, expression and
peaceful assembly.
Despite the existence of several mechanisms that ostensibly accept complaints regarding
violations of citizens' rights, such as the Article 90 Commission of the parliament (established
based on 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 to these bodies are independently reviewed and investigated.37 Additionally, as the
State relies on the Iranian legal framework to repress the rights to freedom of expression,
assembly and association, access to justice is particularly limited.
The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has not released all detainees who have been
imprisoned for exercising their right to freedom of opinion, expression and peaceful assembly
and has not quashed the prison sentences that have been handed down against others for similar
reasons.
32
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
33
See more: United for Iran, database of Iran’s prisons and political prisoners available at https://ipa.united4iran.org/en/
34
See more: EN-Human Rights Activists News Agency, https://www.en-hrana.org/?s=activists
35
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
36
See more: United for Iran, https://ipa.united4iran.org/en/prisoner/
37
Joint submission to the Human Rights Committee, Abdorrahman Center, Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (IHRDC),
Impact Iran and Human Rights Activists in Iran, 2020,
https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=INT%2fCCPR%2fICS%2fIRN%2f42313
&Lang=en
4