This page summarizes cases raised with Iran by the Special Rapporteur between May 1, 2011, (when the Special Rapporteur took up his functions) and February 28, 2017 (the date of the last public release of communications). Communications are released to the public once per year. This page also contains observations on these communications and on responses received from Iran. Communications and observations are divided into sections based upon which observation report they originally appeared. Each communication is referenced as urgent appeal (UA), allegation letter (AL), joint urgent appeal (JUA) and joint allegation letter (JAL) - the hyperlinks lead to these documents. This is followed by the date the communication was issued, as well as the case number and the State reply (also hyperlinked if available). Summaries and communications are published only in the language of submission (in the case of Iran, English). First Report (May 1, 2011 to March 15, 2012) Joint urgent appeal, 8/7/2011. Case no. IRN 9/2011. State Reply: None to date. Alleged arbitrary detention of human rights defenders and persons peacefully exercising their freedoms of expression and assembly. Joint urgent appeal, 11/10/2011. Case no. IRN 13/2011. State Reply: None to date. Alleged arrest and detention, ill-treatment,... Continue reading →
GENEVA – Iran must end the harassment of a woman trying to learn the fate of her brother and his newborn daughter, who disappeared from prison more than 30 years ago, a group of United Nations human rights experts has said. The campaign against Raheleh Rahemipour may be a direct reprisal for her search, according to the experts*. Ms. Rahemipour is now facing criminal charges and has undergone a lengthy interrogation at the same jail where her brother and the baby were last seen in 1984 - Evin prison in Teheran. The UN experts are calling on Iran to drop all charges against Ms. Rahemipour and halt the campaign against her. “Rather than investigating the alleged disappearance of Ms. Rahemipour’s relatives, the government of Iran has decided to launch a campaign of harassment and intimidation against her,” the experts stated. “We are concerned that the judicial process against Ms. Rahemipour may be a direct reprisal for her human rights activism in the search for her relatives, as well as the exercise of her rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression.” “We urge 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... Continue reading →
Issue No. 24 of the Assembly and Association Briefing, the newsletter of Maina Kiai, UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association. In this issue: • In final presentation to UN General Assembly, Special Rapporteur reflects on time in mandate; warns that situation for civil society remains ‘precarious’ • Corporate power undermining workers’ assembly and association rights, Kiai warns • Litigation project: Developments in cases in Kazakhstan, Brazil and USA • UN experts urge India to release prominent Kashmiri human rights defender • Democratic Republic of Congo: experts urge end to ‘unjustified’ ban on protests • Ethiopia: call for international investigation into systematic violence against protesters • Maina Kiai’s Foreword to the Civic Charter: the Framework for People’s Participation • Experts blast Kenya for excessive force against anti-corruption protesters • Mauritania: UN experts concerned about situation of jailed rights activists • Egypt NGO law: Special Rapporteur Kiai warns about growing restrictions on civil society • Iran: UN expert Shaheed calls for the immediate release of dual nationals • Assembly & association rights: By the numbers • Special Rapporteur news in... Continue reading →
GENEVA – United Nations Special Rapporteur Ahmed Shaheed today called on the Islamic Republic of Iran for the immediate and unconditional release of a British-Iranian national sentenced to five-years in prison for charges unknown to her, and two elderly dual nationals who are suffering from serious health conditions that require urgent and adequate medical attention. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested on 3 April 2016 along with her 22-month-old daughter. The authorities confiscated their passports, preventing her daughter from traveling back to the UK to be with her father. On 14 August, Ms. Zaghari-Ratcliffe was tried, on secret charges, in a Tehran revolutionary court and, on 6 September, she was convicted and sentenced to five years’ imprisonment. She was only able to meet her lawyer three days before the beginning of her trial. Her health has also seriously deteriorated since her arrest. “Sentencing individuals for charges that are kept secret from defendants and their defence lawyers is a mockery of justice,” Mr. Shaheed said. “It is also evidence of the Iranian judiciary’s complete disregard for the most basic fair trial and due process guarantees enshrined both in Iranian domestic laws and the International Covenant on Civil and Political rights, to which Iran is a State... Continue reading →
Issue No. 21 of the Assembly and Association Briefing, the newsletter of Maina Kiai, UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association. In this issue: • Kiai tells Human Rights Council that fundamentalist intolerance is degrading assembly & association rights • Kenya: UNSR tells court that 2015 protest ban violated assembly rights • Contribute to the UNSR’s next report: FoAA rights in the context of labor • Human rights must gain new momentum at World Humanitarian Summit • Problem of closing civic space creeps into UN NGO Committee • Rapporteurs urge India to repeal law restricting NGO’s access to foreign funding • UN expert deplores harsh sentencing of Tajikistan opposition leaders and warns of radicalization • Egypt: Worsening crackdown on protests • UN human rights experts urge Cambodia to stop attacks against civil society • Iran: Denial of adequate medical treatment to political prisoners unacceptable • ‘A travesty of justice’ – UN experts condemn conviction of prominent Iran activist • China: Newly adopted Foreign NGO Law should be repealed, UN experts urge • Somalia: Experts alarmed over growing persecution against trade unionists • Kazakhstan clampdown on land reform... Continue reading →
GENEVA – A group of United Nations experts, including Maina Kiai, expressed outrage today at the recent conviction and sentencing of Narges Mohammadi, a prominent activist and human rights defender, to 16 years’ imprisonment by a Revolutionary Court in Tehran, and called for her immediate and unconditional release. On 18 May 2016, Ms. Mohammadi’s lawyer announced that Iran’s judiciary had sentenced his client to 16 years in prison for her activities on behalf of a grassroots organization calling for the abolition of the death penalty, ‘assembly and collusion against national security’, and for ‘propaganda against the state’. She was allegedly tried behind closed doors. Prior to her arrest on 5 May 2015, the human rights defender was subjected to constant harassment, verbal assaults and interrogations for her peaceful human rights activities. Ms. Mohammadi, who suffers from a critical neurological condition, had previously been sentenced to six years in prison. “There is absolutely no reason why Narges Mohammadi should spend one more hour in prison, let alone 16 years,” said the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ahmed Shaheed. “I call on all the relevant authorities in Iran, including President Rouhani, to do their utmost... Continue reading →
GENEVA – A group of United Nations human rights experts, including Maina Kiai, today warned that over a dozen political prisoners in Iran, including some prominent human rights defenders, lawyers and political activists, are at risk of death in detention due to their worsening health conditions and the continued refusal by the Iranian authorities to provide them with medical treatment. “The condition of several prisoners of conscience with serious health problems has been exacerbated by their continued detention and by repeated refusals to allow their access to the medical facilities and treatment they so urgently require,” the experts said. “The denial of medical care, physical abuse, either in overcrowded prisons or in solitary confinement and other forms of torture and ill-treatment exposes prisoners to risk of serious injuries and death,” they said noting that “unfortunately, Iranian prisons are no strangers to such tragedies, many of which could have been avoided if authorities exercised proper care.” The UN experts highlighted the cases of political prisoners Mohammad Hossein Rafiee Fanood and Kamal Foroughi, human rights defender Nargis Mohammadi, lawyer Abdulfattah Soltani, blogger Hossein Ronaghi Maleki, religious figure Sayed Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi and experimental... Continue reading →
Issue No. 7 of the Assembly and Association Briefing, the newsletter of Maina Kiai, UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association. In this issue: • Kiai makes official visit to Oman; says it’s time for sultanate to build on economic development and fully embrace human rights • UN experts urge Bahrain to release human rights defender Maryam Al-Khawaja • Iran: Kiai condemns the recent wave of arrest and sentencing of civil society actors • UN experts urge Tasmania to drop bill that would limit protests against businesses • Kiai and others call on the government of Azerbaijan to stop persecution of rights activists • UNSR makes follow-up visit to Rwanda • Freedom of association and assembly: By the numbers • Special rapporteur news in brief: July-September 2014 • World briefing: Freedom of assembly and association in the news For a link to the newsletter, click on the image at right or click here (3.1MB file) or here (9.5MB full resolution file). To subscribe to our newsletter, please drop us a line at info@freeassembly.net with the subject line “subscribe to newsletter.” For other recent newsletters, see the links below: The Assembly and Association Briefing, Vol. 1, Issue 4 (May 2014) The Assembly and Association Briefing,... Continue reading →
GENEVA – United Nations human rights experts, including Maina Kiai, today expressed grave concern over the recent escalating trend of arrest and sentencing of individuals exercising their rights to freedom of expression and opinion, peaceful assembly and association. Since 22 May 2014, at least 36 individuals that include journalists, bloggers, filmmakers and authors, many of whom are also human rights activists, have been arrested summoned or sentenced in connection with their journalistic activities or for simply expressing their opinion on social media websites. Some of them have also been charged for ‘gathering and colluding against national security’ following their participation in peaceful assemblies. “Convicting individuals for expressing their opinion is absolutely unacceptable,” the experts stressed. “Freedom of expression and opinion is necessary for the realization of all human rights, and it is a right reserved for all individuals, even if that individual expresses an opinion with which the Government disagrees.” A number of these cases include situations where persons are held in solitary confinement or unknown locations and for unknown charges. Many of the trials were allegedly riddled with procedural irregularities, including deprivation of legal representation and... Continue reading →
A group of United Nations independent human rights experts today warned that unreasonable limitations placed on the right of Iranian citizens to stand for Presidential office, discrimination against women candidates for elections and ongoing restrictions on freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly, constitute a serious violations of rights guaranteed by international law. On 21 May, the Guardian Council, a 12-member body of theologians and jurists, which vets presidential candidates, approved only 8 individuals out of the 686 people registered as candidates for the June 14 presidential elections. Several key political figures and all the 30 female candidates were disqualified, raising serious concerns about the fairness and transparency of the vetting procedures. Several candidates were apparently excluded on the basis of their affiliation with the 2009 post-election protests and their exercise of fundamental human rights, including the rights to freedom of expression, assembly and association. “This mass disqualification including that of women wishing to stand in the presidential elections is discriminatory and violates fundamental right to political participation, and run contrary to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Iran has ratified,” said the... Continue reading →
