Human Rights Watch: Iran's Most Prominent Human Rights Lawyers Are Now in Prison
Human Rights Watch has warned in a statement that the Islamic Republic has intensified its crackdown on human rights activists and defenders. The statement comes as four more human rights activists and lawyers have been jailed in Iran in just one week, joining the ranks of other activists and lawyers.
On Friday, September 29, Payam Darfashan and Farrokh Forouzan, two lawyers, were arrested at the family home of imprisoned lawyer Arash Kaykhosravi.
Just one day later, on the morning of Saturday, September 1, Hoda Amid, a lawyer and women's rights activist, was arrested in her home.
The arrests were not limited to lawyers, and Reza Khandan, the husband of human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, who is currently in prison, has also been arrested.
Payam Derfashan represents Arash Kaykhosravi, who was arrested on August 17, along with Qasem Sholeh Saadi and Masoud Javadieh, two other lawyers, in front of the parliament.
Farrokh Forouzan is a lawyer who works in the field of children's rights, and Ms. Amidi is a lawyer and women's rights activist who also supported the "Changing the Masculine Face of Parliament" campaign in 2015.
Nasrin Sotoudeh, a lawyer, is a prominent and well-known defender of human rights, children's rights, and women's rights in Iran.
Narges Mohammadi and Abdul Fattah Soltani are other prominent lawyers who are in prison.
Sarah Lee Whitson, West Asia director at Human Rights Watch, told the organization's website on September 4, "Iranian authorities are further undermining their domestic and international credibility by imprisoning dozens of lawyers and activists for the "crime" of defending citizens' fundamental rights."
Ms. Whitson added, “The [Iranian] government, at a time when daily life is becoming increasingly difficult for millions of Iranians, should embrace human rights defenders as a vital part of the solution to collective problems, rather than making them the primary targets of repression.”
“The most prominent human rights defenders, who reflect the message of discontent of millions of Iranians, are now in prison,” says the senior Human Rights Watch official. Human Rights Watch has warned that Iranian authorities are “only contributing to instability by silencing the voice of peaceful protest.”
Iran has not yet responded to this statement. Of course, in other cases, the Islamic Republic's judiciary has rarely responded to similar statements. The secretary of the Human Rights Headquarters of the Islamic Republic's judiciary had previously said during a press conference that "there are no political prisoners in Iran."
Freedom House said in its report last year that “the Islamic Republic’s judiciary mistreats political activists and human rights defenders, often subjecting them to unfair trials.” The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has also repeatedly criticized “human rights violations” in Iran. The organization also says it has received numerous reports of the arrest of human rights defenders, which “confirm violations of the right to freedom of expression.”
Source: Radio Farda
