Amnesty International calls for immediate release of Mehran Rauf, British-Iranian citizen imprisoned in Evin

Amnesty International has issued a call for the unconditional release of Mehran Rauf, a British-Iranian citizen and labor activist who has been detained in Iran solely for "emphasizing human rights and for his work in the field of labor rights."

By issuing this appeal, Amnesty International called on people and human rights activists around the world to protest Iran's arrest of Mr. Rauf and to demand that the Islamic Republic's authorities immediately end the solitary confinement of this dual-citizen prisoner and protect him from further torture and other ill-treatment.

The human rights organization also called on the Iranian authorities to ensure that Mr. Rauf has access to consular assistance from the British authorities and that he has access to a lawyer of his choice and all necessary medical care, while also being able to contact his family outside Iran.

According to Amnesty International, Mehran Raouf, a British-Iranian dual national, was detained in Evin Prison on Friday, October 15, after IRGC forces raided his home, searched and confiscated some of his personal belongings, and was transferred to prison along with several other workers’ rights activists across Iran. He has been held in prolonged solitary confinement for months, according to Amnesty International.

The organization is also concerned that this imprisoned labor activist is at serious risk of further torture and violations of his other human rights, given the Revolutionary Guards' pattern of torturing detainees in order to extract "forced confessions."

Currently, in addition to Mehran Rauf, several dual citizens – including Nahid Taghavi, Siamak and Bagher Namazi, Aras Amiri, Kamran Ghaderi, Masoud Mosaheb, and Anousheh Ashouri – are imprisoned in Iran.