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United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention

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United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention PETITION TO: UNITED NATIONS WORKING GROUP ON ARBITRARY DETENTION Chair-Rapporteur: Mr. José Guevara (Mexico) Vice-Chair on follow-up: Ms. Leigh Toomey (Australia) Vice-Chair on communications: Ms. Elina Steinerte (Latvia) Mr. Sètondji Adjovi (Benin) Mr. Seong-Phil Hong (Republic of Korea) HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY In the Matter of Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee, Citizen of the Islamic Republic of Iran v. Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran URGENT ACTION REQUESTED Petition for Relief Pursuant to Resolutions 1991/42, 1994/32, 1997/50, 2000/36, 2003/31 2006/102, 6/4, and 24/7 Submitted by: Kate Barth Alexandre de Gramont Maran Turner Hrishikesh N. Hari Freedom Now Anna Do 1750 K Street NW Jacob Grubman 7th Floor Logan Dalton Washington, DC 20006 Patricia Leeson United States of America Jon Olsson +1(202) 223-3733 (tel) Dechert LLP +1(202) 223-1006 (fax) 1900 K Street NW [email protected] Washington, DC 20006 United States of America +1(202) 261-3320 (tel) +1(202) 261-3333 (fax) [email protected] April 17, 2018 BASIS FOR URGENT ACTION REQUEST The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran (“Iran” or the “Government”) is arbitrarily depriving Ms. Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee of her liberty. Iran’s unlawful detention has already led to dire consequences, as Ms. Iraee has reportedly been brought to the hospital in critical condition. Iran’s continued unlawful detention of Ms. Iraee could result in her death. If Ms. Iraee survives her current medical crisis, her unlawful detention will continue to place her life and health in serious danger. Ms. Iraee is currently serving a 30-month sentence for two alleged offenses. Ms. Iraee initially received a five-year sentence for writing a private fictional short story in her personal journey about the stoning of women to death for adultery. Ms. Iraee received an additional one- year sentence for a Facebook posts in which expressed her support for Shahin Najafi, a dissident rapper living in Germany, and for other posts in which she communicated with the families of certain Iranian prisoners of conscience. Ms. Iraee was convicted of “insulting Islamic sanctities” under Article 513 of the Islamic Penal Code based on the unpublished short story in her personal journal, and she was convicted of “spreading propaganda” under Article 500 of the Islamic Penal Code of Iran based on the Facebook posts. In March 2017, the Government reduced Ms. Iraee’s sentence to 30 months as part of a Nowrooz (Iranian New Year) pardon. In July 2017, after the Government staged a sham tour of Evin Prison for foreign ambassadors, Ms. Iraee and fellow political prisoner Atena Daemi wrote an open letter detailing the poor conditions of the facility, where they were detained at the time. On January 24, 2018, Ms. Iraee and Ms. Daemi were transferred to Shahr-e Rey Prison, a former industrial chicken farm in Varamin, a town on the outskirts of Tehran, where they were detained in conditions that fall well below the standard minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners.1 Prisoners detained in this quarantine section are denied basic rights and sufficient food and potable water.2 In addition to enduring these conditions, Ms. Iraee and Ms. Daemi have suffered multiple beatings, both at the time of their transfer and more recently.3 Further reports indicate that while Ms. Iraee was detained at Shahr-e Rey Prison, three death-row inmates targeted her and Ms. Daemi when they used the bathroom and the showers in an apparent intimidation attempt orchestrated by prison officials.4 Ms. Iraee began a hunger strike on February 3, 2018, to protest her mistreatment and transfer, which she asserts violates Iranian law dictating that prisoners serve their terms near their city of residence or in the district where their sentences are issued.5 The transfer further violates 1 See Iran: New evidence of appalling treatment of women human rights defenders in Shahr-e Rey prison, Amnesty Int’l (Mar. 9, 2018), https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/03/iran-new-evidence-of-appalling- treatment-of-women-human-rights-defenders-held-in-shahre-rey-prison/. 2 See id.; see also Urgent Action: Three Human Rights Defenders on Hunger Strike, Amnesty Int’l (Feb. 8, 2018), https://www.amnestyusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/uaa017413.pdf. 3 United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner, UN experts alarmed by reports of human rights defenders beaten in Iran jail (Mar. 19, 2018), http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=22843&LangID=E. 4 See Amnesty Int’l, supra note 1. 5 See Mother of Ailing Hunger Striker Atena Daemi Assaulted in Front of Evin Prison, Center for Human Rights in Iran (Feb. 15, 2018), https://www.iranhumanrights.org/2018/02/mother-of-ailing-hunger-striker-atena- daemi-assaulted-in-front-of-evin-prison/. Iranian law by housing Ms. Iraee and Ms. Daemi alongside non-political prisoners, including potentially violent offenders.6 By March 2018, Ms. Iraee, who suffers from chronic asthma, had begun to experience significant health problems, including spasms and severe weight loss.7 In early April 2018, the Human Rights Activists News Agency reported that Ms. Iraee was transferred to Baghyatollah Hospital after experiencing severe vomiting and nausea.8 Reports suggest that Ms. Iraee had begun to experience issues with her gallbladder and that intravenous treatment was ineffective.9 United Nations (“U.N.”) human rights experts have expressed urgent concern about reports that Ms. Iraee and Ms. Daemi have been subjected to beatings in detention, and have called for their immediate release and for the women to receive appropriate medical care.10 The U.N. experts have attempted to confer with the Iranian authorities on these issues to no avail.11 Recent events also suggest heightened danger to Ms. Iraee, even if she survives her urgent and life-threatening medical issues. Since the start of 2018, several Iranian activists have been found dead in their prison cells, and the Government has claimed that these deaths were suicides despite evidence to the contrary.12 Family members and human rights groups have become increasingly concerned about the safety of outspoken human rights activists in prison.13 As described herein, Ms. Iraee herself has been subjected to particularly abusive treatment for exercising her protected rights. Given the escalating mistreatment of Ms. Iraee, the recent pattern of Government critics being found dead in their prison cells though alleged suicide, and Ms. Iraee’s rapidly deteriorating health, Ms. Iraee’s life is in imminent danger. The Petitioner hereby requests that the Working Group consider this Petition pursuant to the Working Group’s “Urgent Action” procedure. 6 Two Female Political Prisoners to Begin Refusing Food and Water Over Sudden Transfer to New Prison, Center for Human Rights in Iran (Feb. 9, 2018), https://www.iranhumanrights.org/2018/02/two-female-political- prisoners-to-begin-refusing-food-and-water-over-sudden-transfer-to-new-prison/. 7 See Hunger Striking Political Prisoner Golrokh Iraee in Critical Health, Iran Human Rights Monitor (Mar. 11, 2018), http://iran-hrm.com/index.php/2018/03/11/hunger-striking-political-prisoner-golrokh-iraee-in-critical- health/. 8 See Golrokh Taken to Hospital, Human Rights Activist News Agency (Apr. 4, 2018), https://www.hra- news.org/2018/hranews/a-14791/; see also Iran: Golrokh Iraee’s condition alarming after 71 days, NCRI Women Committee (Apr. 16, 2018), https://women.ncr-iran.org/iran-women-news/4976-iran-golrokh-iraee-s-condition- alarming-after-71-days. 9 Id. 10 See United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner, supra note 3. 11 Id. 12 See, e.g., Thomas Erdbrink, In Iran, Protester ‘Suicides’ Stir Anger and Calls for Accountability, The New York Times (Jan. 14, 2018), https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/14/world/middleeast/iran-protests-deaths.html; Iran: Investigate Reports of Protestor Deaths in Custody, Amnesty Int’l (Jan. 9, 2018), https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/01/iran-investigate-reports-of-protester-deaths-in-custody/; Golnaz Esfandiari, Death of Protester in Detention Raises Concerns Over Fate of Iran Detainees, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (Jan. 8, 2018), https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-protester-death-custody-sparks-fears-fate- detainees/28963373.html. 13 See Amnesty Int’l, supra note 12. 2 QUESTIONNAIRE TO BE COMPLETED BY PERSONS ALLEGING ARBITRARY ARREST OR DETENTION I. IDENTITY 1. Family Name: Iraee 2. First Name: Golrokh Ebrahimi 3. Sex: Female 4. Age at the Time of Detention: 34 5. Nationality: Iranian 6. (a) Identity document (if any): Unknown (b) Place of Issue: N/A (c) On (date): N/A (d) No.: N/A 7. Profession and/or activity (if believed to be relevant to the arrest/detention): Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee is an Iranian accountant and the wife of Iranian political activist Arash Sadeghi. Ms. Iraee was initially arrested in 2014 alongside Mr. Sadeghi at Mr. Sadeghi’s workplace. Ms. Iraee had never previously been charged with any criminal misconduct. 8. Address of usual residence: Unknown Tehran, Iran II. ARREST 1. Date of arrest: September 6, 2014 (initial arrest); October 24, 2016 (arrest after conviction); January 22, 2017 (rearrest after release for temporary leave) 2. Place of arrest (as detailed as possible): Ms. Iraee’s first arrest occurred at Mr. Sadeghi’s workplace, a stationery store in Tehran. She was taken to a safe house in or around Sharyati Street for interrogation, then transferred to Evin Prison before her release on bail. After her conviction, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps arrested her at her apartment and brought her to Evin Prison to begin serving her sentence in October 2016.
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