Nasrin Sotoudeh Writes to Judiciary Chief About Environmental Activists: Solitary Confinement is Torture
Human rights activist Nasrin Sotoudeh has written a letter from Evin Prison to the head of the judiciary regarding eight environmental activists, stating that keeping them in solitary confinement for more than one year and six months is “illegal and constitutes torture.” She has written that obtaining confessions under such torture is legally “baseless.” This letter was published by the Human Rights Defenders Center website on Friday, July 28th.
At the beginning of her letter to Ibrahim Raisi, the head of the judiciary, Nasrin Sotoudeh wrote: “You are well aware that according to Court Ruling No. 435 dated October 28, 1982, the competent authority, the Administrative Justice Court, declares that solitary confinement is punitive in nature and the imposition of punishment requires proof of crime in a competent court and violates Article 36 of the Constitution. Solitary confinement is a clear violation of the rights, dignity and honor of a prisoner and violates Article 39 of the Constitution. This ruling also refers to the very destructive psychological consequences and torture of a person in solitary confinement.“
This human rights activist continued in her letter, referring to information received: ““According to accurate and reliable information, a number of detainees have been arrested during different periods and are now in very difficult and painful conditions with regard to their physical health and psychological and mental pressures, and are suffering from exhausting diseases while being held in solitary confinement.“
Continuing and referring to their confessions obtained under torture, she wrote: “According to reliable reports, they made statements under severe psychological pressure that were false and lacking legal and religious validity and were obtained under pressure from interrogators. A number of accused persons have denied and exposed these statements in court, and not only has no action been taken but they have been placed under greater pressure. Of course, you are certainly aware that many of the accused who confessed against themselves or others in solitary cells have later retracted their confessions after being released from those conditions, stating that the reason for their confessions was the exhausting pressures of interrogation and solitary confinement.”
Ms. Nasrin Sotoudeh asked the head of the judiciary: “According to law and religious law, can judges under your supervision use these false confessions obtained under pressure and torture of the accused as sufficient evidence and basis for issuing their verdicts?”
This human rights activist, criticizing the judicial system and the conduct of judges, stated: “For what reason and with what legal and religious authorization do judges and prosecutors under your supervision, by trampling on the explicit text of the Constitution and the court’s ruling, proceed to imprison the accused in solitary confinement and comply with the requests of interrogators from security agencies (Ministry of Intelligence and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) and keep the accused for months and years in solitary confinement cells of security wards in inhumane conditions?”
Ms. Sotoudeh, recounting the names of some prisoners who have died in Iran’s judiciary’s solitary confinement cells, wrote: “So far, a number of accused persons, including Zahra Kazemi, Zahra Bani Yaqoub, Sattar Beheshti, Kavous Seyed Emami, and others, have died in solitary confinement cells, and many accused have been afflicted with fatal physical and mental illnesses. Furthermore, physical and sexual assaults (verbal and behavioral) have been committed against the accused, which have never been investigated, and unfortunately this psychological torture has continued systematically in security wards under the order and accompaniment of judges, prosecutors and justice officials.”
This human rights activist wrote at the end of her letter: “Has the time not come to end this horrific, illegal and unreligious torture? Despite what the environmental activists have suffered, is their trial in accordance with fair trial standards? Is keeping environmental defendants in cells in complete isolation, even without access to a lawyer during trials, not a sign that the charges are baseless and that this is case fabrication and charge-mongering?”
Sepideh Kashani, Niloufar Bayani, Amirhossein Khaleghi, Hooman Jokar, Morad Tahbaz, Abdolreza Koohpayeh, Sam Rajabi, and Taher Ghadirian are eight environmental activists who were arrested on the 4th and 5th of February by the IRGC’s Information Protection branch. Some of them are accused of espionage and two of them are accused of the serious charge of “corruption on earth.” So far, two court sessions were held for Niloufar Bayani and Morad Tahbaz in February 2019, however, Niloufar Bayani was not transferred to her second court session and only her lawyer was present. However, contrary to promises made, the trials of the remaining detainees have not yet been held.
The families of these environmental activists have so far written letters to Iran’s Supreme Leader, representatives of Parliament, and three letters to the head of the judiciary requesting the release of their children and demanding accountability for their unjustified arrest without any documents provided. However, none of these letters have received a response.
Nasrin Sotoudeh, a human rights activist sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment to be executed (from a 16-year sentence), has so far written many letters about the dire situation of political prisoners such as Nazanin Zaghari in prison and also wrote a letter regarding the illegal existence of solitary confinement cells to members of parliament, but her letters have gone unanswered.
Source: Iran Human Rights Campaign
