Impact Iran

The Special Rapporteur urged the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to take all necessary measures to guarantee that the rights and freedoms of Mr. Mahmoud Mohammad Matin-Azad, Mr. Arash Ahmad-Ali Basirat and Mr. Ramtin Soodmand are respected. She also requested that the Government ensures the compatibility of any new legislation adopted by the Iranian Parliament with international human rights law.

He calls upon the authorities to ensure a thorough, prompt and impartial criminal investigation of the death of Mr. Satar Beheshti, as well as to criminally prosecute and punish all those responsible.

He calls upon the authorities in the Islamic Republic of Iran to ensure the highest level of respect of the rights and freedoms of Mr. Younos/Yunes Aghayan.

Only the full respect for stringent due process guarantees distinguishes capital punishment as still allowed under international law from a summary execution, which violates the most fundamental human right. We therefore urge your Excellency's Government to take all necessary measures to guarantee that the rights under international law of Messrs Ali Saedi, Walid Naisi, Majid Fardipour (Majid Mahawi), Doayr Mahawi, Maher Mahawi, Ahmad Saedi, and Yousuf Leftehpour are respected. Considering the irreversible nature of capital punishment, this can only mean suspension of the death sentence against the seven men until the question of whether fair trial guarantees were respected has been clarified and the allegations of torture have been thoroughly investigated and all doubts in this respect dispelled.

Without in any way implying any conclusion as to the facts of the case, we should like to appeal to your Excellency's Government to seek clarification of the circumstances regarding the cases of the persons named above. We would like to stress that each Government has the obligation to protect the right to physical and mental integrity of all persons. This right is set forth inter alia in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

Ensure that deaths in custody and allegations of violations of due process and of ill-treatment are promptly, independently, impartially and effectively investigated by an independent competent authority with a view to holding perpetrators accountable and in compliance with the right to a fair trial.

Respect and fulfil the duty to conduct prompt, independent, impartial and effective investigations into all reports of torture or other ill-treatment, and hold perpetrators accountable;

Ensure furlough and family visitation rights to all prisoners

Ensure that prisoners are provided with food of appropriate nutritional value, quantity and quality and that drinking water is made readily available to all prisoners;

Make substantial investments in all prisons to reduce overcrowding, provide adequate sleeping facilities to prisoners and ensure that the essential personal hygiene of prisoners is maintained;

Pending its abolishment, ensure that solitary confinement is used only in exceptional cases, as a last resort and for as short a time as possible, following authorization by a competent authority and subject to independent review;

Pass the parliamentary bill introduced in September 2019 aimed at ending the recording and broadcasting of confessions on State-funded media prior to trial and ensure punishments for those involved in recording and broadcasting such confessions

Ensure that medical care for detainees is never made conditional upon their making confessions and that officials who deny medical care to prisoners and detainees or who withhold medication as a form of coercion, as punishment or to elicit confessions are punished;

adopt regulations restricting the use of restraints in accordance with international laws and standards, including by ensuring that restraints are never used in a degrading, humiliating or painful manner or as a form of punishment and that they are used only when strictly necessary;

Ensure that medical decisions that relate to ongoing care and observation of the prisoners outside prison and the necessity of their release on medical grounds are only taken by the relevant, responsible health-care professionals;

End the unlawful practice of requiring prisoners to pay for medical treatment, which violates both international and Iranian law;

Ensure that all prisoners requiring specialist or any other treatment not available within prison are transferred free of cost to specialized institutions or outside hospitals to receive such treatment and that they remain in those institutions or hospitals for as long as the treatment is deemed necessary by specialist doctors;

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

Ensure that medical care is urgently provided to those individuals in detention who need it, in light of the imminent threat to life or serious deterioration of their health, and that all individuals in custody receive adequate, prompt and regular health care, including specialist care as needed, on the basis of their informed consent

Immediately release all dual and foreign nationals arbitrarily detained

Ensure that prisoners and detainees are protected from all forms of torture and ill-treatment and that confessions obtained through torture or ill-treatment are never admitted as evidence against the accused

Ensure that all those arrested, including those arrested during the November 2019 protests, for the peaceful exercise of their rights to freedom of opinion, expression, assembly and association are released, and ensure also that the detaining authorities promptly report the whereabouts and situation of detainees to their families;

Undertake prompt, independent and impartial investigations into all acts of violence that have taken place in the context of the November 2019 protests, including deaths of protesters and reported deaths in custody, and into reports of ill-treatment, and to hold those responsible accountable

The Special Rapporteur is also deeply concerned by the ongoing, numerous, and consistent reports received of due process violations, including but not limited to the use of prolonged solitary confinement and significant limitations placed upon the ability of the accused to access a lawyer. In particular she calls upon the Government to strictly limit the use of solitary confinement and ensure full access to their choice of lawyer. She further reiterates her recommendation to abolish the revolutionary tribunals and religious courts in line with the recommendations made by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention following its visit to the country.

The Special Rapporteur further reiterates her call upon the Government to release all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience including those whose situation has been reflected in current and previous reports and communications, and all individuals identified as arbitrarily detained by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.

The Special Rapporteur notes with grave concern a pattern of denial of medical treatment to certain categories of detainees, especially prisoners of conscience, political prisoners, and human rights defenders, and urges the Government to investigate, address, and remedy such allegations, in light of the imminent threat to life in many circumstances.

The Special Rapporteur urges the Government to investigate and address allegations of physical and psychological torture and other ill treatment in detention, and to prevent their reoccurrence, including through ensuring accountability of the perpetrators. International organizations should be permitted regular, unhindered and without-notice access to all places of detention.

The Special Rapporteur recalls that the right to be free from torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment can never be limited or interfered with, and urges the Government to abolish all provisions that authorize such punishments such as flogging and amputation.

In connection with the recent protests, the Special Rapporteur urges the Government to promptly report to the families the name, location, and other relevant information of all individuals taken into custody, and to carry out prompt, independent and effective investigations into the authorities' response to the protests and the circumstances of the deaths in custody of those arrested, with a view to holding the perpetrators of any violations committed accountable.

The Special Rapporteur accordingly calls upon the Government to ensure prompt, thorough, and effective investigations by independent and impartial bodies of allegations of violations documented, and that those responsible are held accountable. The Government could further consider the use of modern technology to monitor detention centres to deter the torture and other ill-treatment of those detained, interrogated or imprisoned, whilst ensuring that such monitoring is conducted in line with international human rights standards.