Human Rights Experts: Iran Must End Harassment of Journalists
United Nations human rights experts and investigators have called on the Islamic Republic to stop the detention, intimidation, and prosecution of journalists and civil activists, and to release imprisoned journalists ahead of parliamentary elections.
A group of UN human rights investigators and experts issued a statement on Wednesday (November 11) calling for an end to the detention, intimidation, harassment, and prosecution of journalists in Iran, and urging the country’s judicial authorities to release imprisoned journalists and civil activists ahead of Iran’s parliamentary elections.
According to Reuters news agency, the UN experts’ statement also called on Iran to release Jason Rezaian, Washington Post correspondent in Tehran, who was “arbitrarily and unlawfully detained for peacefully advocating for fundamental [citizens’] rights.”
The 39-year-old Jason Rezaian, who holds dual Iranian-American citizenship, has been in detention since last summer. He was tried in a closed-door court presided over by Judge Moghaddas on charges of “espionage and actions against Iran’s national security” and was convicted a month ago, but his sentence has not yet been issued. It is reported that Iranian authorities intend to use him as leverage for negotiations over prisoner exchanges with Iranians detained in the United States.
The recent wave of journalist arrests in Iran began last week by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ information protection unit. The detention of these journalists, whom media outlets close to the IRGC have labeled as “enemy infiltrators,” drew a response from Hassan Rouhani, Iran’s president. He called on responsible officials to stop file-building against journalists “to exert pressure and settle political scores with the government.”
Ahmad Shaheed, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, described the detention and summons of journalists in Iran for interrogation as “a new round of suppression of freedom of expression and media freedom.”
Read more: Government and IRGC Conflict Over “Infiltrators” Detention
Isa Saharkhiz, a journalist and political activist, Ehsan Mazandarani, editor-in-chief of Farhekhtegan newspaper, Afarin Chitsaz, columnist for government newspaper Iran, Hassan Sheikh Aqaei, manager of Ravangeh website, and Saman Safarzadeh, a secretary at Andishe Pouya publication, are among the journalists who have been arrested in recent crackdowns. It is reported that more than 20 journalists have also been summoned by the IRGC’s intelligence unit for interrogation.
Reporters Without Borders identified Iran in March this year as one of the countries with the highest number of imprisoned journalists, with 46 journalists in prison. Iran is known as the “hell for journalists” in the world.
