The following is based on a communication written by the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders and another UN expert to the Government of Iran on 30 September 2024. The communication remained confidential for 60 days before being made public, giving the Government time to reply. The Government replied on 15 November 2024, in which they asserted that the arrest, sentencing and detention of Zohreh Dadras, Zahra Dadras and Jelveh Javaheri was carried out in compliance with domestic and international laws.
Since the sending of the communication, the Special Rapporteur has received information that Jelveh Javaheri was conditionally released from Lakan Prison on 28 October 2024, after her sentence was overturned by the Supreme Court of Iran. Her case has been referred to Branch 12 of the Court of Appeals in Gilan Province for retrial, and the Supreme Court has provisionally suspended her one-year prison sentence.
This is a shorter version of the original communication.
BACKGROUND
Topic: the arrest, sentencing, and imprisonment of several women human rights defenders in Gilan including Zohreh Dadras, Zahra Dadras and Jelveh Javaheri, all of whom have been advocating for the rights of women and girls in Iran.
Zohreh Dadras’s activism has focused on student rights and advocacy for the rights of disadvantaged children and women.
Zahra Dadras promotes the health and well-being of disadvantaged women in Gilan province through her human rights work.
Jelveh Javaheri is a member of the One Million Signatures campaign, which seeks to abolish discriminatory laws against women in Iran. She has authored numerous writings on women’s issues and has been actively involved in women’s rights NGOs. Ms. Javaheri has been repeatedly targeted for her peaceful human rights activities, with incidents occurring in 2007, 2008, 2019, and 2020.
ALLEGATIONS
On 15 and 16 August 2023 Zohreh Dadras, Zahra Dadras, Jelveh Javaheri, along with ten other women’s rights defenders from Gilan Province were arrested by security forces at their homes in the cities of Fuman, Anzali, Lahijan, and Rasht. The arrests were allegedly conducted without legal warrants, and all the human rights defenders were reportedly subjected to physical and psychological abuse during the arrest. Following their detention, they were allegedly held in solitary confinement at an undisclosed location for several weeks, during which they were denied access to legal representation and visits from their families. After their temporary release, they all reported being subjected to torture, ill-treatment, threats, and sexual harassment during interrogations. Specifically, the women human rights defenders reported being faced with threats of rape and killing by security forces. Following their temporary release, the women human rights defenders spoke of these conditions in public letters.
Between 16 September and 1 October 2023, the women’s rights defenders, including Zohreh Dadras, Zahra Dadras, and Jelveh Javaheri, were released on bail from Lakan Prison on different dates.
On 11 November 2023, in the same province in Gilan, five other women’s rights activists were arrested for activities relating to their activism and were sentenced by the third chamber of Rasht’s revolutionary court on charges of “Assembly and Collusion” and “Propaganda against the regime”.
On 12 March 2024, the Third Branch of the Rasht Revolutionary Court sentenced thirteen women’s rights defenders to imprisonment in a collective case. Among those sentenced were Zohreh Dadras, who received a prison sentence of six years and one day for ‘forming a group with the aim of disrupting national security’, as well as an additional three years, six months, and one day for ‘assembly and collusion with the intention of acting against national security’. Zahra Dadras was sentenced to three years, six months, and one day for ‘assembly and collusion with the intention of acting against national security’, along with two years, seven months, and 16 days for membership in dissident parties. Jelveh Javaheri was given a prison sentence of one year on the charge of ‘propaganda against the state’.
On 18 November 2023, the Court of Appeals in Rasht upheld the sentences.
On 10 July 2024, Zohreh Dadras was detained at her home without prior summons or notice for the Enforcement of Judgments. Similarly, Zahra Dadras was arrested the same day after appearing at the Criminal Sentences Execution Branch. Both were subsequently transferred to Lakan Prison in Rasht. Additionally, the other nine defendants in this case, including Jelveh Javaheri, were also summoned and began serving their sentences at Lakan Prison on 13 July 2024.
On 29 August 2024, Zahra Dadras was temporarily released from Lakan Prison in Rasht to receive medical treatment.
At Lakan Prison, these women human rights defenders, including Zohreh Dadras, Zahra Dadras, and Jelveh Javaheri, have reportedly faced dire conditions. The prison is overcrowded, with inadequate access to clean water, medical care, and basic hygiene facilities. Additionally, they have allegedly been subjected to repeated verbal abuse and threats from prison authorities, with some of the women human rights defenders undergoing further interrogation by the intelligence services. They have also allegedly been threatened with the arrest of their family members if they continue to publicize news about their situation. The psychological and physical health of all the women human rights defenders have deteriorated due to the harsh conditions and the ongoing denial of necessary medical treatment.
CONCERNS
In the communication, we express our grave concern that the conviction and imprisonment of women’s rights defenders, including Zohreh Dadras, Zahra Dadras, and Jelveh Javaheri, appear to be linked solely to their peaceful human rights activism. The dire conditions they face in Lakan Prison further exacerbate these concerns. These actions seem to be in clear violation of international human rights law, including the right to freedom of expression, the right to a fair trial, the prohibition against arbitrary detention and torture, and the “United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners.”
While we welcome the temporary release of Zahra Dadras for medical treatment, we are deeply troubled by reports that her condition worsened in prison due to the lack of access to adequate medical care. We are also alarmed by the allegations of torture, ill-treatment, and sexual harassment that many of them endured during interrogation, as well as the ongoing threats by security forces and prison authorities on them.
Furthermore, we are concerned that the incidents are not isolated but are part of a broader pattern of targeting and silencing of women human rights defenders in the exercise of their fundamental rights.
