Letter to Special Rapporteur Mr. Javaid Rehman
To: Mr. Javaid Rehman
From: Union for Secular Republic and Human Rights in Iran
Subject: Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran
Date: June 17, 2018
Dear Mr. Rehman,
We are delighted to learn that the Human Rights Council of the United Nations has selected you as the next Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran. We are aware of the tough task facing your mission and our members will be happy to assist you by providing relevant information and witnesses as you pursue your investigation. The prior reports of Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the International Commission of Human Rights and the Human Rights Council of the United Nations have documented the gross violations of human rights in Iran.
These reports reveal that every segment of the Iranian society - women, lawyers, students, workers, academicians and environmentalists - have been imprisoned for advocating the right to free expression or seeking to establish non-governmental organizations. Over the past three years an estimated thirty dual nationality Iranians have been incarcerated without specific accusations or open trial. Prominent representatives of these groups are lawyer Abdolfattah Soltani, Human Rights activist Narges Mohammadi, children’s rights activist Atena Daemi, Iranian-British dual national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and reformist political activist Mohammad Reza Jalaeipour. In December 2017, the regime’s coercive agents brutally repressed peaceful demonstrations in eighty towns and cities protesting political repression, growing poverty and unemployment. Twenty five demonstrators were killed, dozens wounded and hundreds arrested.
Human rights violation does not end with civil society activists alone. Executions of non- violent drug offenses or those who committed crime while minor age, is extensive.
As you know, your predecessors, Mr. Ahmed Shaheed and Ms. Asma Jahangir, were denied permission to visit Iran with the purpose of interviewing Iranian authorities and spokespersons for civil society as well as victims of human rights abuse. They were particularly interested in gathering information about prison conditions and mistreatment of prisoners. We believe this should be the most important part of your work. Thus we urge you to continue the demand of your predecessors and consider visiting Iran the priority of your investigation.
Respectfully,
Mehdi Amini
