On the second anniversary of the house arrest, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association and the Chair-Rapporteur of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention called for the immediate release of two key opposition leaders in Iran, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi and their family members. The Special Rapporteurs also expressed concerns about the detention of two daughters of Mr Mossavi, Ms Zahra Mossavi and Ms Nargis Mossavi, who were reportedly detained today after speaking out against their parents’ house arrest. “I urge the Iranian government to immediately and unconditionally release the two opposition leaders and their family members, and to end all restrictions on their movement and legally protected activities,” said Ahmed Shaheed, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran. Former presidential candidates Mehdi Karoubi and Mir Hossein Mossavi, along with his wife Zahra Rahnavard, have been kept largely “incommunicado” in their homes since February 2011. Two years ago, they were detained after staging a rally in solidarity with protesters in Egypt, for which they had sought permission from the authorities. “As a party to the International Covenant... Continue reading →
A group of United Nations independent experts, including Maina Kiai, today urged the Iranian authorities to halt the execution of five Ahwazi activists, who are at imminent risk after their death sentences were recently upheld by the Supreme Court. According to reports, Mr Mohammad Ali Amouri, Mr Sayed Jaber Alboshoka, Mr Sayed Mokhtar Alboshoka, Mr Hashem Shabain Amouri and Mr Hadi Rashidi, all founding members of Al-Hiwar, a scientific and cultural institute, were sentenced to death on charges including Moharebeh (“enmity against God”), Mufsid-fil-Arz (“corruption on earth”) and spreading propaganda against the system in 2012. “It is absolutely unacceptable for individuals to be imprisoned and condemned to death for exercising their rights to freedom of peaceful assembly, association, opinion and expression, and affiliation to minority groups and to cultural institutions,” stressed the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ahmed Shaheed. On his part, the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Maina Kiai, reminded the Iranian authorities of their international obligations, recalling that “Iran is party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantees the... Continue reading →
