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Mr. President Maurer,
Iranian prisoner and human rights defender, Arash Sadeghi has been diagnosed with a bone tumor that may be cancerous. He is critically ill, and the Iranian authorities are disregarding medical advice, on the orders of the Revolutionary Guards, that recommends his immediate transfer to a facility specializing in cancer treatment.
As the guardian of the Geneva Conventions, the International Committee of the Red Cross (“ICRC”) is an impartial, neutral, and independent organization whose exclusively humanitarian mission is to protect the lives and dignity of victims of armed conflict and other situations of violence and to provide them with assistance.
It is with utmost urgency that the Iran National Council for Free Elections (IRANNC) appeals to your high office to take urgent action to save the life of Arash Sadeghi through an immediate and firm intervention to ensure his immediate treatment.
In Iran, as you are fully aware and have reported accordingly, there is a silencing war against the public. Many Iranians are frequently arrested merely for voicing their objections to everyday-life’s difficulties and/or violations of their most basic human rights. According to Human Rights Watch’s World Report of 2017, the Iranian government continues to strongly restrict free speech and dissent; authorities continue to arrest journalists, bloggers, and online media activists for exercising their right of expression. Iranian dual-nationals and citizens returning from abroad have been targeted for arbitrary arrests, interrogation and incarceration by security authorities. Upon arrest, citizens are often charged with false and groundless allegations. Charges have included “Western agents,” “warring against Islam,” “conspiracy against national security,” “propaganda against the regime,” “enmity against God,” “insulting the Prophet,” and “insulting government officials,” while in the infamous prisons of the Islamic Republic, prisoners face extremely cruel and inhumane conditions including lack of adequate and timely medical care. As a last resort, said prisoners might attempt to protest their confinement with the only means possible—a hunger strike—to acquire the attention of human rights advocates and the international community.
As the ICRC is mandated to promote and act as guardian of international humanitarian law. This involves visiting Iranian prisons, assessing detention conditions, protecting prisoners and preserving their lives, and restoring the dignity of these individuals adversely affected by the kleptocratic regime in Iran.
Among the many thousands of political prisoners now rotting away, inmate Arash Sadeghi is isolated between the prison walls from any external “intrusion” or the eyes of any “unauthorized” persons. He lost his mother, Farahnaz Dargahi, in November 2009 – four days after she suffered a heart attack following the security agents raid of her home. Arash Sadeghi went on hunger strike in October 2016 to protest against the imprisonment of his wife Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee, also a human rights defender, for writing an unpublished story against the punishment of stoning. Sadeghi’s hunger strike led to a public outcry which compelled the authorities to release Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee on temporary prison leave on January 2, 2010. However, she was immediately rearrested on January 22, 2010 to resume serving her sentence.
According to Amnesty International, Arash Sadeghi, human rights defender, aged 30, is suffering from worsening digestive complications and respiratory problems since his 71st day of hunger strike due to the persistent refusal of prosecution authorities to allow his hospitalization outside of Tehran’s Evin prison.
Iran National Council for Free Elections strongly denounces this egregious violation against Arash Sadeghi and Golrokh Iraee, who have been imprisoned solely for their humanitarian views.
Based on the foregoing, we appeal to the international community to prevent the slow death of Arash Sadeghi in prison through a firm and strong diplomatic response by forcing Tehran to allow the ICRC to visit the prisoners. We are extremely concerned about the continuous wave of the declining health conditions of several prisoners of conscience.
We are fearful that these innocent men and women will not escape execution without an outcry from the Free World. Their practices represent a threat not only to Iranian citizens, but also to the dignity of all people. The Iranian regime’s discriminatory policies contradict the numerous international conventions to which Iran is a party. International laws create both rights and duties for member states, and when a state consistently disregards its duties, it cannot expect the rest of the international community to respect its rights.
We sincerely thank you for your assistance in, and consideration to, this urgent humanitarian matter.
Very truly yours,
Nazila Golestan
