Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran
A/HRC/43/61 para 70(b)
Full recommendation:
The Special Rapporteur recommends that the Government, the judiciary and the parliament, as
appropriate: Ensure that all detained individuals receive adequate health care, without
discrimination on grounds of political or legal situation, ethnicity, religion, political opinion,
gender, sexual orientation or other status;
Assessment using Impact Iran human rights indicators1
Prison regulations of the Islamic Republic of Iran address the management and supervision of all
prisons and detention centers in the country. These regulations also address the conditions in
detention centers, such as the detainees’ ability to access adequate food, water and medical care
and receive visits and communications from family members. The regulations specify that all
prisoners should be granted access to medical care, including regular medical check-ups, and that
their medical needs should be addressed in the detention center to the fullest extent possible,
unless transfer to treatment centers outside the prison is considered to be necessary.2 3
However, a significant number of human rights defenders, who are in a poor state of health, have
been denied medical care and have been kept in detention; in a condition which can exacerbate
their health issues. This suggests that medical attention in Iran is provided on a discriminatory
basis, notably on the basis of political opinion. These include the situations of civil activists and
human rights defenders Mr. Farhad Meysami,4 5 Mr. Arash Sadeghi,6 7 Mr. Soheil Arabi8 9 and
Ms. Narges Mohammadi.10 Special Procedures of the UN Human Rights Council have sent
numerous communications raising concerns about their health while in detention, including for
other human rights defenders, such as Ms. Nasrin Sotoudeh. More recently the same body has
1
CCPR.10.1.S.1
CCPR.10.3.P.2; CCPR.10.2.P.3
CCPR.10.1.O.2
2
See more: Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, https://iranhrdc.org/rights-disregarded-prisons-in-the-islamic-republic-ofiran/
3
See more: Amnesty International, https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE1341962016ENGLISH.PDF
4
United For Iran, https://ipa.united4iran.org/en/prisoner/4599/
5
Special Procedures Communication sent to the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 3 October 2018, UA IRN 12/2018,
https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=24120
6
United For Iran, https://ipa.united4iran.org/en/prisoner/1931/
7
Special Procedures Communication sent to the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 8 September 2020, UA IRN
21/2020, https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=25522
8
United For Iran, https://ipa.united4iran.org/en/prisoner/1917/
9
Front Line Defenders, https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/case/continued-detention-iranian-blogger-soheil-arabi-andjudicial-harassment-his-mother
10
United For Iran, https://ipa.united4iran.org/en/prisoner/2340/
1