28 March 2019
The Centre for Supporters of Human Rights submitted jointly with the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center a UPR submission to the UN on behalf of the family members of foreign and dual nationals arbitrarily detained in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
This UPR submission documents how foreign and dual national detainees have been targeted and arbitrarily detained because of their links with outside the country. They have been subjected to sham trials which have failed to meet basic fair trial standards and convicted of offences on the basis of fabricated evidence or, in some cases, no evidence at all. Fabrications and forced confessions were broadcast on State television in advance of trials, violating the presumption of innocence. Any semblance of lawfulness has been removed by the conduct of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and/or the Ministry of Intelligence (MoI) in these cases. Authorities have provided limited and selective disclosure of information, given repeated promises of release later reneged, ‘bargained’ and made threats over access to basic necessities such as doctors, family contacts and lawyers.
The families argue that these cases evince a systemic practice of arbitrary detention of dual and foreign nationals. Dual and foreign nationals (and certain Iranian nationals living outside of Iran) that are ‘perceived as having links with Western academic, economic, and cultural institutions’, are being targeted as ‘infiltrators.’ It is part of a concerted effort by Iran to use them as diplomatic leverage. This is a form of hostage-taking.
The detainees and their families call upon the UPR Working Group to recognise these patterns and to engage effectively with Iran so that it commits to the urgent release of all arbitrarily and unlawfully detained dual and foreign nationals, and to returning their passports and allowing them to return home.
Click below to read the full submission
CHSR & IHRDC UPR submission – detention of foreign and dual nationals
