15 human rights organisations, including Amnesty International, Frontline Defenders, Article 19, Together against the Death Penalty (EPCM), Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) and 10 national NGOs, have issued a statement requesting international bodies such as the UN to take necessary action to stop the Iranian government’s harassment and persecution of the Iran Atrocities (Aban) Tribunal witnesses and their families.
Since November 2021, after the first hearings of the Iran Atrocities (Aban) Tribunal that heard witnesses against the Iranian government’s actions in November 2019, at least six witnesses who testified openly and their families have been subjected to arbitrary arrest and detention, violence, unjust prosecution, summoning for coercive interrogations, death threats, and other forms of harassment.
Some families have also agreed to give false video statements under duress by security forces, for fear of their families’ safety.
The NGOs asserted that “these violations constitute a form of torture, or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.” This has intensified after the second hearing which was concluded in February 2020.
They included Amin Ansarifar, whose son was killed in the protests and has been dealing with arbitrary arrest and detention since. His family have also been threatened, detained and persecuted. This has been magnified since his testimony in November 2021.
The human rights organisations call on the UN Human Rights Council to establish an investigative mechanism to collect, analyse and preserve evidence of crimes under international law committed in Iran to facilitate fair criminal proceedings in the future.
We ask that you spread the word against the heinous crimes being committed in Iran right now. Share the statement with anybody who will listen.
Read the full text of the statement below:
