Joint Letter: Global Coalition Demands Immediate Release of Iranian Lawyer, End to Repression of Rights Defenders
August 22, 2022 – In partnership with the Law Society of England and Wales, Lawyers for Lawyers, the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, and the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) has issued a joint letter condemning the Iranian judiciary’s decision to summon 76-year-old prominent human rights lawyer Mohammad Seifzadeh for re-imprisonment. The letter calls for his immediate release and an end to the systematic persecution of human rights defenders in Iran.
“Mr. Seifzadeh has faced relentless harassment, including arbitrary arrest, detention, and prosecution, simply for fulfilling his professional obligations and defending human rights,” states the letter, signed by major bar associations and human rights organizations.
The letter highlights that Mr. Seifzadeh, who has been imprisoned 13 times over the past three decades, has suffered numerous health complications due to the inhumane conditions he has endured in detention.
The coalition demands that the Iranian authorities:
- Drop all charges against Mr. Mohammad Seifzadeh and ensure he is not subjected to further intimidation or harassment, including arbitrary arrest, detention and prosecution;
- Ensure that all individuals charged with offenses are guaranteed fair trial rights pursuant to Iran’s international human rights obligations, and guarantee everyone’s right to effective access to justice;
- Release all lawyers in Iran who have been imprisoned due to their defense of human rights and their defense of detainees and political prisoners;
- Ensure that all lawyers in Iran can carry out their professional duties and exercise their right to freedom of expression and belief without intimidation, hindrance or improper interference.
Read the full letter below and share it across your networks to demand an end to these egregious human rights violations.
H.E Dr Amin Hossein Rahimi
Minister of Justice
Ministry of Justice
Valiasr Ave, Tehran
Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: [email protected]
21 August 2024
Re: Summons for the Reimprisonment of Mohammad Seifzadeh
Your Excellency,
The Law Society of England and Wales, the Center for Human Rights in Iran, Lawyers for Lawyers, Iran Human Rights Documentation Centre and the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (see Annex 1) are gravely concerned about a summons being issued by the Iranian judiciary for the reimprisonment of Mr Mohammad Seifzadeh despite his ailing health. Mohammad Seifzadeh is a prominent human rights lawyer, a former judge, human rights activist and a co-founder of the Centre for the Defence of Human Rights in Iran.
We have been informed that 76-year-old Mr Seifzadeh has recently been summoned to Tehran’s Evin Prison despite a severe heart ailment that has led to repeated hospitalisations. This summons relates to charges of “propaganda against the state” (Article 500 of the Islamic Penal Code) and “publishing falsehoods” (Article 698 of the Islamic Penal Code) for signing a joint letter by 45 Iranian activists calling on the United Nations Secretary-General to speak out against political executions and the repression of the “Women, Life, Freedom” protests.
On 14 May 2023, Branch 29 of Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Court sentenced Mr Seifzadeh to one year in prison on these charges. This sentence was subsequently upheld by Branch 26 of the Tehran Court of Appeals on 25 June 2023. Mr Seifzadeh refused to attend both trials, due to grave violations of his fair trial rights.
Mr Seifzadeh has been subject to harassment, including arbitrary arrest, detention and prosecution for many years, because of his professional duties and defence of human rights. He has been jailed 13 times in the last three decades and has consequently contracted and suffered from several diseases due to inhumane conditions and treatment in detention. Mr Seifzadeh reportedly suffered seven strokes during his last prison term, and at one point stopped breathing and could not feel his arms and legs. Despite warnings from doctors of a risk to life if he remained in prison, the Iranian authorities required him to serve his entire sentence. Further, during his previous imprisonment, in Rajai Shahr (Gohardasht) Prison, Mr Seifzadeh also reports that he was not permitted shoes for exercise time, which resulted in long-term damage to his ankle.
In October 2010, Mr Seifzadeh was sentenced to nine years imprisonment and a ten-year ban from practising as a lawyer on the charge of “acting against national security” for establishing the Centre for the Defence of Human Rights, which was shut down in Iran in 2008 five years after its founding. Two years later, he was sentenced to a further six years imprisonment on charges of “assembly and collusion against national security” for signing a joint statement in defence of Iranian people’s rights from inside prison.
Iran ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) on 24 June 1975 and has an obligation to respect and guarantee the rights established therein, including the right to life, right to a fair trial, the right to liberty and security of person, and the right to be free from torture and ill treatment. Article 10 of the ICCPR also requires that all persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person.
According to Article 16 of the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, governments should “ensure that lawyers (a) are able to perform all of their professional functions without intimidation, hindrance, harassment or improper interference; (…) and (c) shall not suffer, or be threatened with, prosecution or administrative, economic or other sanctions for any action taken in accordance with recognized professional duties, standards and ethics”. Moreover, Article 23 of the Basic Principles states that: “Lawyers like other citizens are entitled to freedom of expression, belief, association and assembly. In particular, they shall have the right to take part in public discussion of matters concerning the law, the administration of justice and the promotion and protection of human rights.”
The signing organisations respectfully urge the relevant authorities to:
- Drop all charges against Mr Mohammad Seifzadeh and ensure he is not subjected to further intimidation or harassment, including arbitrary arrest, detention and prosecution;
- Ensure that all individuals charged with offences are guaranteed fair trial rights pursuant to Iran’s international human rights obligations, and guarantee everyone’s right to effective access to justice;
- Release all lawyers in Iran who have been imprisoned due to their defence of human rights and their defence of detainees and political prisoners;
- Ensure that all lawyers in Iran can carry out their professional duties and exercise their right to freedom of expression and belief without intimidation, hindrance or improper interference.
Yours sincerely,
The Law Society of England and Wales
The Center for Human Rights in Iran
Lawyers for Lawyers
Iran Human Rights Documentation Centre
International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute
cc:
Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran
16 Princes Gate
London SW7 1PT, United Kingdom
Email: [email protected]
Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva
Chemin du Petit-Saconnex 28
1209 Geneva, Switzerland
Email: [email protected], [email protected]
Prof. Margaret Satterthwaite
UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers
OHCHR-UNOG, 8-14 Avenue de la Paix,
1211 Geneve 10 Switzerland
Email: [email protected]
British Embassy Tehran
172 Ferdowsi Avenue
Tehran
11316-99813
Iran
Email: [email protected]
Permanent Mission of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva
Avenue Louis Casaï 58
1216 Cointrin
Geneva, Switzerland
Email: [email protected]
