Press Release: The cruel & inhuman treatment of Ms. Nargess Mohammadi must stop

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Paris-Geneva, October 19, 2015. TheObservatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme ofthe International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World OrganisationAgainst Torture (OMCT), strongly denounces the cruel and inhuman treatment ofthe arbitrarily imprisoned human rights defender Ms. Nargess Mohammadi in Iran.

Ms. Nargess Mohammadi, theSpokesperson and Vice-President of the Defenders of Human Rights Centre (DHRC)who has been arbitrarily imprisoned since May 2015[1],has been chained hand and foot to her bed since her transfer to hospital onOctober 11, 2015. Ever since her hospitalisation, she has suffered convulsionsat least three times. A female security officer is sitting by her bed round theclock and two guards are on watch outside her room and prevent her friends fromvisiting her, but some family members have been granted restricted visits.

Ms. Mohammadi, who suffers from muscularparalysis and lung complications, had a nervous attack on October 6, 2015, thatled to partial numbness of her body. She was taken to specialists in a hospitaloutside of prison on the same day, where neurologists instructed her immediatehospitalisation. The officials did not heed this instruction and she wasreturned to Evin prison. Finally, prison officials decided to dispatch her tohospital on October 11, at which point they forcefully handcuffed her beforeleaving the prison and caused her to have a panic attack.

Ms. Mohammadi was arbitrarily arrestedon May 5, 2015, allegedly in order to serve the remainder of a6-year prison sentence she had commenced serving between April 21 and July 31,2012, when she was released on bail for medical reasons, as she was sufferingfrom the same conditions that have now caused her hospitalisationw.Since her arrest she has been subjected to increasing judicial harassment andviolations of her rights[2].

The authorities have twice scheduled judicial proceedings against her onJuly 6 and October 6, but both were postponed without any explanation.

“The inhuman chainingof Ms. Mohammadi to her bed and the ongoing judicial harassment and violationsof human rights against her appear to be aimed at punishing her and her familyfor her activities promoting human rights”,said Karim Lahidji, FIDH President.

“The Iranianauthorities must end the cruel and degrading treatment of Ms. Mohammadi. The UNWorking Group on Arbitrary Detention, which has received an official complaintregarding Ms. Mohammadi’s case, must also urgently issue an Opinion on thiscase”, said Gerald Staberock, OMCT Secretary General.

Ms. Mohammadi has been facing continuous judicial harassment related toher human rights work, including repeated summons, interrogations and trialsfor several years now[3].Furthermore, the Observatory urges the Iranian authorities to guarantee thephysical and psychological integrity of Ms. Mohammadi, and to release herimmediately and unconditionally. The Observatory more generally urges theIranian authorities to put an end to all harassment - including at the judiciallevel - against all human rights defenders in Iran.

The Observatory for the Protection ofHuman Rights Defenders (OBS) was created in 1997 by FIDH and the WorldOrganisation Against Torture (OMCT).The objective of this programme is tointervene to prevent or remedy situations of repression against human rightsdefenders.

For more information,please contact:

· FIDH: Arthur Manet /Audrey Couprie: + 33 (0) 1 43 55 25 18

· OMCT: Miguel Martin Zumalacarregui: + 41 (0) 22 809 49 24

[1] See Observatory Press Release of May 5, 2015.

[2] See Observatory Press Release of July 10, 2015.

[3] See Observatory Press Release of July 10, 2015.