Head of the Judiciary:
Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani
c/o Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations
622 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10017, USA
Postage: $1.20
Fax: 1 212 867 7086
Email: iran@un.int
Salutation: Your Excellency
Amnesty International is a very polite organization. They are doing their best to save people around the world who have been falsely accused and arrested and detained for no good reason. Unlike Amnesty International, however, both the United States government and the Canadian government are not as polite or as politically correct towards cruel and abusive leaders. Is the Republic of Iran filled with cruel and savage leaders? Do your so-called "Revolutionary Guards" dictate the policies of Iran?
Do Iranian leaders follow the teachings of the Prophet who I am positive is filled with love and compassion or are they monsters who enjoy torturing people?
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. Dr Homa Hoodfar is a prominent scholar and anthropologist whose decades-long teaching and research activities relate to development, culture, gender, and electoral politics. She has written and co-authored a number of books, including Between Marriage and the Market: Intimate Politics and Survival in Cairo (Comparative Studies on Muslim Societies), Electoral Politics: Making Quotas Work for Women and Sexuality in Muslim Contexts: Restrictions and Resistance.
Dr Homa Hoodfar suffers from myasthenia gravis, which is a rare long-term condition that causes certain muscles to become weak. It mainly affects muscles controlling eye and eyelid movement, facial expression, chewing, swallowing and speaking. The condition can also affect the muscles of the arms, legs and neck, causing mobility problems and difficulty performing physical tasks. Dr Homa Hoodfar’s family told Amnesty International that her symptoms become worse when she is under stress. Dr Homa Hoodfar’s family and lawyer have not been permitted to visit her since her arrest, or to deliver her medication to the prison.
Amnesty International has documented several other complaints made by prisoners who have been denied essential medication in Iran’s prisons. The practice contributes to new health problems or exacerbates pre-existing conditions. In some cases, the withholding of medication is apparently a form of punishment. Depriving prisoners of medication for no legitimate medical purpose, whether by intent or neglect, is contrary to the rights to health and against the prohibition of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. Whenever such deprivation is intentional, and inflicts “severe pain or suffering” for such purposes as punishment, coercion or intimidation, obtaining a “confession”, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, this constitutes torture.
The denial of the right of detainees to communicate with the outside world and to receive visits is a violation of the right to a fair trial and facilitates other human rights violations in custody, including torture and other ill-treatment and enforced disappearance. Under Article 49 of Iran’s new Code of Criminal Procedure, which entered into force in June 2015, the parents, spouse, children and siblings of arrested individuals are entitled to inquire about them from the local Office of the Prosecutor, the Provincial Prosecutor, and the Head of the Justice Department in each province. The Article notes that responding to the queries of the individuals mentioned in the provision is obligatory so far as “this does not infringe on the social and familial status of the detainees.”
Article 180 of the Executive Regulations for the Organization of State Prisons and Security and Corrective Measures stipulates that all prisoners and detainees are permitted to have contact with their relatives and acquaintances under supervision and in full compliance with Prison Regulations.
Under Article 48 of Iran’s new Code of Criminal Procedure, individuals who face criminal charges can request the presence of a lawyer from the start of detention and the lawyer can meet the detainee, paying due attention to the confidentiality of the investigations. The Code, however, does not guarantee the right to access an independent lawyer of one’s choosing in cases such as those related to national security. In such cases, the accused individuals are limited to choosing their lawyer from a list of lawyers approved by the Head of the Judiciary.
Article 14(3) of the International Covenant Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Iran is a state party, guarantees the right of detainees to have adequate time and facilities for the preparation of their defence and to communicate with counsel of their own choosing. The UN Human Rights Council has stated: “The right to communicate with counsel requires that the accused is granted prompt access to counsel.” Under international human rights law, delaying access to legal assistance may only be permitted under exceptional circumstances, which must be prescribed by law and limited to occasions when it is considered to be indispensable to maintain security and good order. However, even in such limited cases, access should not be delayed by more than 48 hours from the time of arrest or detention.
