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Iran
Nasrin Sotoudeh (right) with her daughter, in a photo shared on Facebook by her husband in December 2013. Photo: Reza Khandan on Facebook
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – United Nations human rights experts called on Friday for Iran's temporary release of prominent human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh from prison to be made permanent, on the grounds of her chronic health issues and "serious concerns that her current detention is arbitrary."
Sotoudeh was allowed out of prison on a temporary basis “upon consent of the women’s prison prosecutor,” the Iranian judiciary’s Mizan news agency reported on November 7. The move was welcomed by the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner (OHCHR), but only as one step in the right direction.
“The Iranian authorities have made the right decision to grant Nasrin Sotoudeh temporary release given her underlying health condition. However, there remain serious issues in connection with her convictions, sentences and detention that must be resolved urgently,” the OHCHR statement reads.
Sotoudeh, who represented women arrested after participating in demonstrations against compulsory hijab laws, was herself arrested in 2018. Accused of acting against national security, she was sentenced to 38 years in prison.
“Notwithstanding her temporary release, Ms. Sotoudeh’s convictions and prison sentences still stand despite a multitude of evidence that shows the arbitrary, unlawful and disproportionate nature of these decisions. We reassert that the Iranian authorities should immediately quash her convictions, review her case consistent with international standards and ensure that she remains free during the review process,” the UN experts urged.
Soutoudeh undertook several hunger strikes in protest against horrific prison conditions during the coronavirus pandemic, during which many political prisoners have been left in jail despite being eligible for temporary release. She was briefly hospitalized in September after 40 days of a hunger strike.
In late October, she expected to be returned to hospital for emergency testing on her heart, but was instead moved from Evin prison to Qarchak prison, notorious for its poor conditions, and her daughter was summoned to court.
The OHCHR statement also reiterated a UN call for all arbitrarily detained prisoners to be temporarily released from Iran's overcrowded prisons amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
In concern for another ailing prisoner in Iranian detention, Amnesty International urged on Friday for authorities to release 73-year-old Austrian-Iranian dual national Massud Mossaheb, who is being held at Tehran's Evin prison on security charges.
Mossaheb "suffers from heart failure and diabetes & is at heightened risk of severe illness or death if he contracts COVID-19 in prison," a tweet from Amnesty read.
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