A statement with 363 signatures protesting the continued arrest of civil society activists

Several hundred political and civil activists called the recent arrest of several lawyers and civil activists a violation of their civil rights in a statement. The detainees were filing a complaint against those who have prevented the timely provision of the coronavirus vaccine.

About a week ago, seven lawyers and civil society activists were arrested at the office of the Association for the Protection of Citizens' Rights in Tehran. Two of them were released a day later, and five others are still in detention.

In a statement, a copy of which was published on the "Imtadat" website on Tuesday, September 2nd, 363 political and civil activists called these arrests illegal and called for action against the perpetrators.

The statement said: "These activists were holding a meeting to file a complaint against the Barakat Foundation and officials who, through negligence, procrastination, and delay in providing the coronavirus vaccine urgently and in sufficient quantities, have caused the avoidable deaths of tens of thousands of people in Iran. According to available evidence, the arrest of these individuals was due to their intention to seek collective justice in this regard."

The Barakat Foundation is a subsidiary of the "Imam's Command Executive Headquarters", which is an institution subordinate to the office of the Leader of the Islamic Republic, Ali Khamenei.

The foundation was one of the first institutions to attempt to produce an Iranian coronavirus vaccine. Apparently, the delay in importing foreign vaccines and Khamenei's January 10 decree banning the import of "American and British vaccines" were not unrelated to the Barakat Foundation's support for the vaccine.

“A new form of violation of civil rights”

According to Article 34 of the Constitution, filing a complaint for the purpose of seeking justice is the right of all citizens. Referring to this principle, the signatories of the statement wrote that the arrest of individuals who intended to seek justice “clearly violates the civil rights and freedoms enshrined in the Constitution and applicable laws and is a new and worrying form of violation of the political and civil rights of citizens.”

The statement called the arrest of lawyers and civil activists illegal: "The illegality of the arrest of the aforementioned is so obvious that even beginner civil rights trainees know that "intent to commit a crime" is not a crime, let alone "intent to file a complaint" against those responsible for the catastrophic delay and procrastination in providing the coronavirus vaccine on time."

On August 13, security forces arrested Arash Kaykhosravi, Mostafa Nili, Mehdi Mahmoudian, Mohammad Reza Faghihi, Mohammad Hadi Erfanian Kassab, Maryam Afrafaraz, and Leila Heydari, and released two of them shortly after.

Those still in custody include Mehdi Mahmoudian, a journalist and member of the Central Council of the Ittehad-e-Mellat Party, Maryam Afrafaraz, a civil rights activist and member of the Imam Ali Association, and three other lawyers. The charges against the detainees have not been officially announced yet.

Khamenei is responsible for tens of thousands of coronavirus deaths

Two days ago, Abdul Karim Lahiji, head of the Society for the Defense of Human Rights in Iran, protested the continued arrest of lawyers and civil society activists, saying: "The Leader of the Islamic Republic, Khamenei, and other officials have sacrificed public health and hygiene 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."

The Robert Koch Institute recently published research results showing that the general vaccination campaign in Germany has prevented at least 38,000 deaths from Covid-19.

Many experts believe that the delay in providing sufficient and timely vaccines to Iranian citizens, with a population similar to Germany's, could be the main reason for the number of Iranians who have fallen victim to the virus.

Accordingly, 363 political and civil activists wrote at the end of their statement: "We call on the judiciary, instead of violating the rights of those who criticize the harmful management of the coronavirus, to deal with the perpetrators of this illegal arrest and, based on Article 295 of the Islamic Penal Code and the rule of attribution, to prosecute those who caused delays and procrastination in the procurement and import of vaccines and who undoubtedly contributed to the avoidable deaths of tens of thousands of citizens."

According to statistics from the Ministry of Health, 103,357 people infected with COVID-19 have died since the official confirmation of the coronavirus outbreak in Iran as of September 21.

Since not all those who died with symptoms of coronavirus have been tested, it is estimated that the actual number of victims is at least two and a half times the official figure.

Source: DW