Arbitrarily detained Iranian human rights defender Narges Mohammadi is being tortured and otherwise ill-treated in Shahr-e Rey prison in Varamin, outside Tehran, including by being intentionally denied the specialized healthcare she requires in reprisal for her human rights work. She is a prisoner of conscience who must be immediately and unconditionally released.
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Head of judiciary, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei
c/o Embassy of Iran to the European Union, Avenue Franklin Roosevelt No. 15, 1050 Bruxelles, Belgium
H.E. Majid Takht Ravanchi
Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran
622 Third Avenue, 34th Floor
New York, NY 10017
Phone: 212 687-2020 I Fax: 212 867 7086
Email: [email protected] , [email protected]
Twitter: @Iran_UN , @TakhtRavanchi
Salutation: Dear Ambassador
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear Mr. Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei,
Prosecution authorities on the instruction of Ministry of Intelligence agents are subjecting human rights defender Narges Mohammadi, 50, who is arbitrarily detained in Shahr-e Rey prison (also known as Gharchak) in the city of Varamin, Tehran province, to torture and other ill-treatment. They are deliberately denying her adequate healthcare in reprisal for her public campaigning against the use of solitary confinement in Iran’s prisons and for seeking accountability for hundreds of unlawful killings during the November 2019 nationwide protests. From about late April 2022 to mid-May 2022, the authorities withheld the medication she requires for serious health conditions, including for her heart and lungs. Narges Mohammadi reported that on February 3, 2022, following a heart attack, the prison doctor denied her adequate healthcare, while prosecution officials barred her transfer to hospital outside of prison for urgent healthcare, placing her life at risk. Only after Narges Mohammadi suffered a series of heart attacks on February 16, 2020, she was transferred to hospital, where she had emergency heart surgery. Against medical advice and before she recuperated, on February 19, 2022, authorities took her back to prison.
Narges Mohammadi has been unjustly in and out of prison for over a dozen years in relation to her human rights work. Most recently, Narges Mohammadi was convicted and sentenced to a total of 10 years and eight months in prison, 154 lashes and other sanctions in two separate cases both stemming solely from her human rights work; and in late April 2022, prosecution authorities summoned her for questioning in a new case also in relation to her peaceful human rights activities. Narges Mohammadi’s latest imprisonment resumed on April 21, 2022, when Ministry of Intelligence agents arrested her while she out of prison on medical leave, began on February 22, 2022, and sent her to Gharchak to resume serving her sentences. There, prison authorities are holding her in cruel and inhumane conditions. In recent weeks, prisoners in Gharchak have reported overflowing sewage resulting in filthiness and foul odours, putting prisoners at risk of disease and exacerbating the unsanitary conditions in the wards, washing and toilet facilities. She is also held with women convicted of violent crimes and in late May 2022 her lawyer reported that a prisoner threatened to kill Narges Mohammadi and another prisoner held for political reasons.
I call on you to immediately and unconditionally release Narges Mohammadi as she is prisoner of conscience detained solely for her peaceful human rights activities, quash her unjust convictions and sentences, and drop any criminal proceedings against her in relation to the peaceful exercise of her human rights. Pending her release, she must be provided with adequate health care, including for treatment unavailable in prison, and protected from further torture and other ill-treatment. A prompt, independent, effective and impartial investigation into her allegations of torture and other ill-treatment must be conducted, with a view of bringing those responsible to justice in fair trials.
Sincerely,
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