Freedom from Torture joins NGO call for Iran to improve its human rights

Freedom from Torture has joined a number of human rights organisations calling on members of the UN Human Rights Council, currently meeting in Geneva, to renew pressure on Iran on human rights and the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran.

Last year Freedom from Torture received 158 referrals for survivors of torture from Iran, the charity’s second highest country group for referrals after Sri Lanka.

The vote on whether or not to renew the mandate of Ahmed Shaheed the Special Rapporteur is likely to take place on Thursday 24 March. Despite, the government of Iran consistently denying access or support for his work, Shaheed’s most recent report detailed widespread human rights abuses including torture and also executions, unfair trials, poor prison conditions and mistreatment of prisoners.

The NGOs’ joint letter calls for the international community, through the UN Human Rights Council, to help improve the human rights situation throughout the country.

Ann Hannah, International Advocate and Researcher at Freedom from Torture, said:

“Iran has an atrocious human rights record. The UN Special Rapporteur has made great efforts to bring torture and ill-treatment throughout the country to international attention.

“At Freedom from Torture we treat large numbers of Iranians who have suffered torture. We welcome the steps taken by a number of Human Rights Council member states to re-establish and strengthen diplomatic relations with Iran but we want to see this coupled with continued pressure on the government to address human rights abuses including substantive action to end torture practices.

“The renewal of the Special Rapporteur’s mandate sends a strong message that the international community expects Iran to prevent continued violations of human rights. It also lets survivors of torture, both inside the country and those who have fled for their safety, including our clients, know that they have not been forgotten.”

Signatories to the letter include Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr Shirin Ebadi, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Impact Iran.

Background

Ahmed Shaheed is Deputy Director of the Human Rights Centre at the University of Essex. He is a former Minister for Foreign Affairs for the Maldives (2005-2007 and 2008-2010). He has been UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran since 2011.

Since its inception in 1985, more than 57,000 men, women and children have sought help from Freedom from Torture. The charity provides services to more than 1,000 clients from around 80 countries a year, with significant numbers from Sri Lanka, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Since 1985, more than 5,000 Iranians have been referred to us for treatment or forensic documentation of torture injuries. In 2015, Freedom from Torture received 158 referrals for Iranians, making Iran the second top country of origin for those referred to the organisation.

In 2013, Freedom from Torture published a study of 50 Iranian torture cases documented by clinicians in our Medico Legal Report Service. All of the cases involved torture perpetrated in the lead-up to and during the period following the disputed 2009 presidential elections. The study indicated that a wide range of physical, psychological and environmental torture methods were practised in a highly systematic way by torturers in Iran during this period and that torture was used against many people – and their family members - who had been involved in very low level grassroots activism.