GENEVA (27
April 2016) - A group of United Nations human rights experts* today warned that
over a dozen political prisoners in Iran, including some prominent human rights
defenders, lawyers and political activists, are at risk of death in detention
due to their worsening health conditions and the continued refusal by the
Iranian authorities to provide them with medical treatment.
"The
condition of several prisoners of conscience with serious health problems has
been exacerbated by their continued detention and by repeated refusals to allow
their access to the medical facilities and treatment they so urgently
require," the experts said.
"The
denial of medical care, physical abuse, either in overcrowded prisons or in
solitary confinement and other forms of torture and ill-treatment exposes
prisoners to risk of serious injuries and death," they said noting that
"unfortunately, Iranian prisons are no strangers to such tragedies, many
of which could have been avoided if authorities exercised proper care."
The UN
experts highlighted the cases of political prisoners Mohammad Hossein Rafiee
Fanood and Kamal Foroughi, human rights defender Nargis Mohammadi, lawyer
Abdulfattah Soltani, blogger Hossein Ronaghi Maleki, religious figure Sayed
Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi and experimental laser physicist Omid Kokabee.
Mr.
Kokabee was arrested in January 2011 upon his return from studies in the United
States and is currently serving a ten-year prison sentence for his alleged
'connections with a hostile government'. He was diagnosed with kidney cancer
and recently underwent surgery to remove his right kidney, a procedure that
could have been avoided, had he been provided with adequate and timely access
to proper treatment at an earlier stage. When the care is ultimately provided,
as Mr Kokabee's case, patients are often transferred to and from prisons
chained to their beds.
"The
situation of these prisoners and the continued disregard for their health and
well-being by the Iranian authorities is completely unacceptable," the
experts stressed. "This is especially the case given that allegedly all of
them have been arrested, detained and convicted purely for their peaceful
exercise of their fundamental freedoms and rights."
"We
urge the authorities to consider the release of Mr Kokabee and other political
prisoners on medical or humanitarian grounds and to ensure their well-being by
facilitating regular access to medical care," they said.
The human
rights experts reminded the Iranian Government of its obligations under
international standards to respect the prisoners' right to health and to ensure
their humane treatment. "Failure to provide adequate medical care to
prisoners is in breach of Iran's international human rights obligations and
domestic standards," they underscored.
"We
have repeatedly drawn the attention of the Iranian authorities to allegations
related to the denial of access to medical care and to substandard conditions
of detention and urged them to embark on a more comprehensive prison reform. We
regret that the Government has so far failed to properly investigate these
allegations and take the necessary measures," the human rights experts
concluded.
Mr.
Ahmed Shaheed, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the
Islamic Republic of Iran; Mr. Dainius Puras, UN Special Rapporteur on
the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of
physical and mental health; Mr. Juan E. Mendez, UN Special Rapporteur on
torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; Mr.
Maina Kiai, UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful
assembly and of association; and Mr. Seong-Phil Hong, Chair-Rapporteur
of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.
ENDS
The
Special Rapporteurs and Working Groups are part of what is known as
the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the
largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the
general name of the Council's independent fact-finding and monitoring
mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues
in all parts of the world. Special Procedures ' experts work on a voluntary
basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They
are independent from any government or organization and serve in their
individual capacity. Learn more, log on to: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/SP/Pages/Welcomepage.aspx
UN Human
Rights, Country Page " Iran: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Countries/AsiaRegion/Pages/IRIndex.aspx
For more
information and media requests, please contact Mr. Naveed Ahmed (+41 22 928 9477 /
nahmed@ohchr.org)
For media inquiries
related to other UN independent experts:
Xabier
Celaya " Media Unit (+ 41 22 917 9383 / xcelaya@ohchr.org)
For your
news websites and social media: Multimedia content & key
messages relating to our news releases are available on UN Human Rights social
media channels, listed below. Please tag us using the proper handles:
Twitter: @UNHumanRights
Facebook: unitednationshumanrights
Instagram: unitednationshumanrights
Google+: unitednationshumanrights
Youtube: unohchr
No comments:
Post a Comment