BBC staff complain to UN about Islamic Republic: Our elderly relatives are being imprisoned in solitary confinement
Some staff members of BBC Persian have reported in a new complaint to the United Nations that the Islamic Republic's authorities are escalating their abuse of their families - including solitary confinement, interrogation, and humiliation.
The BBC News Agency announced on Monday, December 8, that BBC Persian staff members filed an urgent complaint with UN special rapporteurs stating that harassment of their families in Iran has intensified following the recent protests.
According to the BBC, BBC Persian staff told UN reporters about the severity of the conditions they and their families face, explaining that the Islamic Republic authorities have been holding their elderly relatives in solitary confinement, under interrogation, and in humiliating conditions.
The news organization's staff also expressed concern about recent threats by the Islamic Republic against journalists from Persian-language media outlets outside Iran. The Islamic Republic's authorities accuse Persian-language media outlets abroad of fueling the protests and inciting the protesting public.
The BBC's World Service Director said: "While our staff have suffered years of harassment by the Iranian authorities, the Islamic Republic has increased its attacks on journalists from other media outlets who reported on the protests."
In recent days, following increased threats against journalists outside Iran and harassment of their families, the US State Department's Special Representative for Iran announced that the United States condemns the Iranian regime's targeting of journalists and their families.
The US State Department's Persian page tweeted, quoting Brian Hook: "The Iranian regime has targeted journalists from the Persian service of the Voice of America, Radio Farda, and the BBC."
Mr. Hook further added that "the United States condemns the targeting of journalists and their families and continues to take decisive steps to support freedom of expression and the press."
Previously, Republican US Senator Ted Cruz reacted to the Islamic Republic's actions against Persian-language media journalists outside Iran, writing on Twitter that "the Iranian regime is working to intimidate and silence Persian-language media journalists because it knows the truth is the greatest threat to the continuation of their rule."
In recent weeks, it was announced that the government and judiciary of the Islamic Republic had once again imposed restrictions, including a ban on trading, on journalists working for some Persian-language media outlets outside Iran.
Reporters Without Borders also announced that 25 cases of harassment of families of Iranian journalists abroad have been reported in the past 11 months.
This report was accompanied by a reaction from Amanda Bennett, the director of Voice of America, and Ms. Bennett strongly condemned the treatment of Persian-language media reporters abroad, including Voice of America, by the Islamic Republic's intelligence agencies, and the threats and intimidation of their families.
The US Secretary of State also condemned the Iranian regime's threats against Iranian journalists working in media outlets outside Iran, calling it an example of Iran's vicious behavior that President Trump had previously warned about.
Source: Voice of America
