often held against human rights defenders, are not eligible for furlough8 unless requested otherwise by the prosecutor or the chief judge of the judicial district.9 10 Prisoners of conscience and human rights defenders therefore have a limited right to furlough in the Islamic Republic of Iran. In February 2020, the Head of the Judiciary enabled the temporarily furlough of up to 120,000 prisoners to mitigate the risks of COVID-19 in prisons. However, UN Special Procedures noted that such furlough has been denied to many eligible prisoners, notably human rights defenders.11 12 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.13 Additionally, in its 2019 National Report to the Universal Periodic Review, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran reported that the Citizenship Rights Watch Board carries periodic inspections within prisons and detention centers. According to the Government the body has “received and handled 3,275 complaints and reports, through the complaint system, in relation with civil rights violations. Between 2015 and 2018, a number of 28,504 inspections were carried out to prosecutors' offices, prisons and detention centers.”14 There is no readily available information about the outcome of such inspections and whether they led to the improvements of detention conditions. In short, furlough and family visitation rights are not ensured to all prisoners in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Recommendation Status: This recommendation has NOT been implemented. 8 Individuals convicted of armed robbery, espionage, acting against national security, running brothels, abduction, gang crimes, disrupting the economic system, individuals convicted twice for the same crime, individuals serving a life sentence, individuals awaiting execution or qisas, and those known to be “malfeasant” are not eligible for furlough. 9 Article 226, Regulatory Code of 11 Dec. 2005 (Governing the Prisons Organization and Security and Corrective Measures), available at http://www.prisons.ir/index.php?Module=SMMPageMaster&SMMOp=View&PageId=27 10 See more: Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, https://iranhrdc.org/rights-disregarded-prisons-in-the-islamic-republicof-iran/#3.2.4 11 Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, July 2020, https://documentsdds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N20/190/27/PDF/N2019027.pdf?OpenElement 12 OHCHR News, https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=26244 13 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 14 National Report, UPR 2019, Islamic Republic of Iran, https://undocs.org/A/HRC/WG.6/34/IRN/1 2

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