July 19, 2019
Eight UN human rights experts have expressed concern that Iran continues to deny healthcare to people it holds in jail, despite repeated international calls for it to change its prison policies.
“Over several months, we have communicated to the Iranian government our deep concerns about the physical and mental integrity of detainees,” the experts said in a joint statement. “Despite government assurances, we are frustrated to still receive reports of denial of medical treatment, including in life-threatening situations. These no longer appear to be isolated incidents, but a consistent pattern.”
The appeal was issued by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
The critical condition of human rights defender Arash Sadeghi, who has reportedly been diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer, is particularly alarming, they said. Sadeghi was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment by a Revolutionary Court in August 2015 on charges of “assembly and collusion in the form of propaganda against the State,” “insulting the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran;” “publishing lies in cyberspace;” and “propaganda against the regime.”
The UN experts said his peaceful human rights activism included social media posts and communications with journalists and human rights defenders abroad in relation to the human rights situation in Iran.
Rajai Shahr Prison has reportedly denied him access to medical treatment. Sadeghi’s health condition deteriorated after he was returned to the prison against the advice of doctors following an operation last September.
Grave concern was also expressed for dual nationals Ahmad-Reza Djalali and Kamran Ghaderi. Djalali, a Swedish-Iranian dual national, medical doctor and a researcher at the Karolinska Institute of Medicine in Stockholm, was convicted and sentenced to death on a charge of “corruption on earth” for allegedly spying on Iran. Held in Evin Prison, Djalali has been denied access to healthcare, although medical tests indicate he may have cancer.
Ghaderi, an Austrian-Iranian dual national and businessman charged with espionage, is serving a 10-year prison sentence, also in Evin Prison. He has also been denied medical treatment for a tumor in his leg.
Two women, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Narges Mohammadi, whose health concerns were detailed in a January 2019 public statement, have also continued to be denied medical care, the UN people said.
The experts who issued the statement are Dainius Puras, Special Rapporteur on the situation of the right to health, Michel Forst, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, David Kaye, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Jose Antionio Fuevara Bermudez, Chair-Rapporteur, Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Fionnuala Ni Aolain, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, Agnes Callamard, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Nils Melzer, Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and Javaid Rehman, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran.