Statement with 363 Signatures Protesting Continued Detention of Civil Activists

Hundreds of political and civil activists have signed a statement condemning the recent arrest of several lawyers and civil activists, calling it a violation of their civil rights. The detainees were in the process of filing a complaint against those responsible for delays in timely provision of coronavirus vaccines.

About a week ago, seven lawyers and civil activists were arrested at the office of the Society for Support of Citizens’ Rights in Tehran. Two of them were released a day later, while the remaining five continue to be detained.

363 political and civil activists signed a statement published on Tuesday, September 2nd on the “Emtedad” website, condemning these arrests as illegal and calling for action against those responsible.

The statement reads: “These activists were holding a meeting to file a complaint against the Barkat Foundation and officials who, through negligence, procrastination, and delay in providing adequate and timely coronavirus vaccines, created conditions leading to the preventable deaths of tens of thousands of Iranians. According to available evidence, the detention of these individuals was due to their intention to seek collective justice in this matter.”

The Barkat Foundation is a subsidiary of the “Execution Headquarters of the Imam’s Decree” and is considered one of the institutions under the office of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, Ali Khamenei.

The foundation was among the first institutions to attempt to develop an Iranian coronavirus vaccine. Apparently, the delay in importing foreign vaccines and Khamenei’s decree on December 10th prohibiting the import of “American and British vaccines” was not unrelated to support for the Barkat Foundation’s vaccine.

“A New Form of Violation of Citizens’ Rights”

According to Article 34 of the Constitution, filing a complaint for the purpose of seeking justice is the right of all citizens. The signatories of the statement, referring to this article, wrote that the detention of people who intended to seek justice “clearly violates the civil rights and freedoms explicitly stated in the Constitution and enacted laws and constitutes a new and concerning form of violation of citizens’ political and civil rights.”

In this statement, the arrest of lawyers and civil activists is described as illegal: “The illegality of the detention of the aforementioned individuals is so obvious that even beginning civil law students know that ‘intent to commit a crime’ is not itself a crime, let alone ‘intent to file a complaint’ against those responsible for the catastrophic delays and procrastination in providing timely coronavirus vaccines.”

On August 14th, security forces arrested Arash Keikharoui, Mostafa Neili, Mehdi Mahmodian, Mohammad Reza Faqihi, Mohammad Hadi Erfaniyan Kasb, Maryam Afrafrazi, and Leila Heidari. Shortly after, two of them were released.

Among those still in detention are Mehdi Mahmodian, a journalist and member of the central council of the Melat Vahdat (National Unity) Party; Maryam Afrafrazi, a civil activist and member of Imam Ali Society; and three other lawyers. The charges against the detainees have not been officially announced.

Khamenei Responsible for Tens of Thousands of Coronavirus Deaths

Two days ago, Abdolkarim Lahiji, head of the Human Rights Activists in Iran, protesting the continued detention of lawyers and civil activists seeking justice, said: “The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, Khamenei, and other officials sacrificed public health and safety for political-ideological considerations and financial interests, causing the deaths of tens of thousands of citizens and putting millions of others at risk of death.”

Recently, the Robert Koch Institute released research results showing that the general vaccination campaign in Germany prevented at least 38,000 deaths of German citizens from COVID-19 disease.

Many experts believe that delays in providing adequate and timely vaccines to Iranian citizens, with a population similar to Germany’s, could be the main cause of the same number of Iranian deaths.

On this basis, 363 political and civil activists concluded their statement by writing: “We call on the judiciary to instead of violating the rights of those who criticize poor coronavirus management, take action against those responsible for this illegal detention and, based on Article 295 of the Islamic Penal Code and the principle of causation, prosecute those who caused delays and procrastination in providing and importing vaccines and were undoubtedly complicit in the preventable deaths of tens of thousands of citizens.”

According to the Ministry of Health statistics, from the beginning of the official confirmation of the coronavirus outbreak in Iran until September 2nd, 103,357 people infected with COVID-19 have lost their lives.

Since not all people who died with symptoms of coronavirus were tested, it is estimated that the actual number of deaths is at least two and a half times the official figures.

Source: DW