Human Rights Defenders: End Campaign of Harassment Against Families of Those Who Died Suspiciously in Iranian Prisons

Four human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have called on Iranian authorities in a joint statement to end the “campaign of harassment and intimidation against families of individuals who have died under suspicious circumstances in prisons.”

Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, and Justice for Iran are the organizations that released this statement on March 14.

Human rights defenders have called on Iranian authorities to allow a UN special rapporteur to visit Iran and to permit the establishment of an independent investigative commission.

These four organizations state that since December of last year to the present, at least five deaths have occurred during detention; Sina Ghanbari, Vahid Heidari, and Kavous Seyed Amami are among these five individuals whom the Islamic Republic’s judicial authorities claim committed suicide. Despite the statements of judicial authorities, relatives and human rights organizations have rejected these claims.

Saro Qahremani and Mohammad Raji are two other individuals mentioned in the statement. Mr. Qahremani lost his life during widespread December protests, and the Islamic Republic’s judicial authorities stated he was killed “in clashes.” Mr. Raji was also among the Gonabadi Dervishes who died following clashes between security forces and dervishes in Tehran and subsequent widespread arrests. Tehran’s prosecutor general denied that Mohammad Raji died during interrogation, but his daughter told Radio Farda that after authorities announced that one of the detainees had fallen into a coma “as a result of blows inflicted,” they spoke of her father’s death.

However, the deaths and suicides that human rights organizations have described as “suspicious” have had consequences for the families of the deceased. For instance, in a recent case involving the death of Kavous Seyed Amami, Tehran airport officials prevented his wife from leaving Iran and traveling to Canada, a country to which members of Seyed Amami’s family hold citizenship.

The four human rights organizations state that in all five cases of “suspicious death during detention,” Iranian judicial and security authorities have “threatened the families of the deceased.” The human rights organizations have also accused Iranian judicial and security authorities of undertaking “a coordinated and organized set of measures to conceal evidence of torture, mistreatment, death, and the desecration of the deceased.”

Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, and Justice for Iran have also referenced other instances of “harassment and intimidation” in their joint statement; according to them, in addition to threatening families, even before announcing news of their relatives’ deaths, lawyers have been threatened and arrested, and “campaigns to discredit” them are underway. The human rights organizations state that Iranian authorities have concealed evidence of torture and suspicious deaths during detention and have fallen short in conducting independent and transparent investigations.

The Islamic Republic’s judicial authorities have not yet responded to the statement by these four organizations. Iranian authorities have, in other cases, not only rejected criticisms but have also accused human rights defenders and even the UN Secretary-General of lying and making “false” statements. Previously, Human Rights Watch had noted that Iran has not allowed UN experts to visit the country since 2005.

Source: Radio Farda