Human Rights Campaign Calls for International Investigation into Suspicious Deaths of Prisoners in Iran

The Human Rights Campaign in Iran issued a statement holding the judiciary responsible for the death of Kavous Seyed Emami, an Iranian-Canadian citizen, and called for a United Nations investigation into suspicious deaths in Iranian prisons.

Kavous Seyed Emami, a university professor and environmental activist, was arrested about two weeks ago along with several other environmental activists. The judiciary subsequently announced that he had committed suicide in prison.

In the past two months, this is the third person whose suicide has been announced by judicial authorities following arrest.

On Saturday, the 21st, coinciding with the announcement of Kavous Seyed Emami’s death by his family, Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, the General and Revolutionary Prosecutor of Tehran, stated that several individuals had been arrested for “collecting classified information in strategic areas under the guise of implementing scientific and environmental projects.”

On Sunday, the Tehran Prosecutor confirmed that Mr. Seyed Emami was one of those arrested and claimed that following his confessions or those of others regarding him, he had “committed suicide.”

The Human Rights Campaign in Iran stated in its declaration that the judiciary is “responsible for the death” of Mr. Seyed Emami and called for “international investigations” under the guidance of the United Nations “regarding three deaths that occurred in Iranian prisons over the past forty days.”

Hadi Ghomi, director of the Human Rights Campaign, referring to suspicious deaths of prisoners in Iran, stated: “The increasing deaths in Iranian prisons are catastrophic. This reflects an unaccountable judicial and intelligence system that has no regard for prisoners’ lives. Interrogators and the judiciary are directly responsible for prisoners’ right to life, and that is why, in addition to independent investigations to identify the cause of death and autopsies, those who played a role in such occurrences must answer in a transparent process.”

The Human Rights Campaign in Iran noted that Kavous Seyed Emami is the second Iranian-Canadian citizen to lose his life in Iranian prisons.

Zahra Kazemi, an Iranian-Canadian journalist and photographer, was arrested in front of Evin Prison in 2003 but did not leave the prison alive. The sixth parliament’s investigation committee identified Judge Saeed Mortazavi as the primary defendant in Zahra Kazemi’s death case, but it was not pursued.

The Human Rights Campaign’s statement also mentioned that approximately 11 citizens with dual nationality or permanent residency in other countries are currently imprisoned in Evin Prison.

Sina Qanbari and Vahid Heidari were two other prisoners whose suicides were announced by judicial and security authorities following their arrest in Evin and Arak prisons. These two had been arrested during recent protests.

While the judiciary claimed that footage of Sina Qanbari’s suicide in Evin Prison existed, Alireza Rahimi, one of the representatives present in the Evin prison inspection delegation, announced that no such footage exists.

He wrote on his Telegram channel: “This footage is mistakenly called Sina Qanbari’s suicide video in various places, while the video contains only hours of footage of the prison’s sanitary facilities area, and it does not contain footage from inside the facilities or the incident that led to death, and essentially there is no suicide footage.”

Aside from Kavous Seyed Emami, two other colleagues from the “Wildlife Institute” named Hooman Jokar, Asian leopard project manager, and Morad Tahbaz, environmental activist and cultural heritage activist, have also been arrested.

The Kayhan London newspaper identified another detainee as Nilofar Bayani, the wife of Hooman Jokar and coordinator of activities and planning and former advisor to the UN Environment Programme.

According to Mahmoud Sadeghi, a parliament representative, Kaveh Madani, deputy for international affairs, innovation and social-cultural participation of the Department of Environment, was also arrested on Saturday, the 21st of Bahman.

Reactions to Kavous Seyed Emami’s Death in Prison

On Saturday, the Iranian Sociological Association issued a statement expressing deep regret over Kavous Seyed Emami’s death in prison and called on Iranian officials to explain how he died.

The Iranian Sociological Association’s statement noted that Kavous Seyed Emami “possessed deep knowledge, good ethics, and exemplary tranquility. For this reason, the published news about him is unbelievable, and it is expected that the responsible authorities be accountable for this tragic loss and explain it to the public.”

Based on information published by Imam Sadiq University on its website, this environmental activist studied at American universities and received his doctorate in sociology from the University of Oregon in 1991.

Simultaneously, four scientific associations sent an open letter to Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, requesting that the responsible institutions in Kavous Seyed Emami’s death, a sociologist and environmental activist, be held accountable.

The Political Science Association, the Sociological Association, the Peace Studies Association, and the Iranian Association of Cultural and Communication Studies, in their letter to Iran’s President, requested him as the executive of the Constitution to “clarify and address such consecutive unfortunate hardships that make society concerned and distressed.”

These four scientific associations in their open letter to Hassan Rouhani did not consider the “continuation of security approaches to higher education institutions and scientific and international activities and disregard for relevant laws and procedures” consistent with his slogans and emphasized that this can only result in despair and pessimism.

Meanwhile, according to ILNA news agency, Mahmoud Sadeghi, a parliament representative, stated on Sunday, announcing that there are two accounts about Kavous Seyed Emami’s death: “As stated, contact was made with the family of this Imam Sadiq University professor and they announced that Mr. Seyed Emami had committed suicide. The other account is that this sociologist died due to cardiac arrest.”

Mahmoud Sadeghi added: “According to the parliamentary deputy of the Minister of Intelligence, the arrest of these individuals is not related to the Ministry of Intelligence and he suspected the arrest of these individuals might be through other intelligence agencies.”

This parliament representative, stating that he subsequently followed up with Mahmoud Alavi, the Minister of Intelligence, said: “Unfortunately, contrary to usual practice, I have received no response.”

Source: Radio Farda