The FBE Human Rights Commission is gravely concerned by reports that lawyers in Iran who have sought to represent protesters or document violations of due process have been subjected to harassment, intimidation, prosecution, arrest, or threat of arrest in connection with their professional activities, underscoring concerns that the legal profession is operating under sustained threat.

We call for the release of detained lawyers: Shima Ghoosheh,  Mohammad-Hadi Ja’farpour,  Enayatollah Karamati,   Nazanin Baradaran,  Hossein Shokri, Mehdi Ansari, Mehran Ansari,  Ja’far Keshavarz, Ja’far Zarei,  Zohreh Javani, Sepideh Taheri,   Teymour Salari,  Alireza Farzaneh Jajroomi, Amir Bahadorifar,  Mohsen Darginezhad, Dariush Ganjeh-Pour Qashqaei,  Masoud Shirmardi Shahghasemi.

The FBE Human Rights Commission calls on the Iranian authorities, in line with their obligations under international human rights law, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, and the UN Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment, to immediately release all lawyers detained solely for carrying out their professional responsibilities, and ensure their physical and psychological integrity.

The FBE Human Rights Commission calls on the United Nations, including the UN Fact-Finding Mission on Iran, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, to actively follow up cases of detained, persecuted, and killed lawyers, and to take appropriate measures within their respective mandates.

The FBE Human Rights Commission stands in solidarity with lawyers in Iran who continue to defend fundamental rights and the rule of law.