Amnesty International Calls for 'Immediate Release' of Cecile Koehler, French Citizen Imprisoned in Iran

On Thursday, July 7, Amnesty International issued a statement emphasizing that the Islamic Republic has taken Cecile Koehler, a French teacher and citizen, hostage since May 2022 to 'force French officials to take specific actions.' Amnesty International highlighted Koehler's uncertainty and stressed the need for her release, urging Iranian authorities to protect her from further torture and mistreatment, and to ensure her access to phone calls with her family, medical services, a chosen lawyer, and consular services. Cecile Koehler and her husband, Jacques Paris, French labor activists, were arrested on May 17, 2022, after meeting with several labor and teacher activists in Tehran. In May 2023, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the hostage-taking policy and ongoing extortion by the Islamic Republic, publicly stating that the Islamic Republic has taken Cecile Koehler and other French citizens imprisoned in Iran hostage. The human rights organization's statement noted, 'While the first 10-minute consular visit for Cecile Koehler took place on December 2, 2022, Iranian authorities have refused to inform her family and French officials about her fate and whereabouts through enforced disappearance, a crime recognized in international law.' This consular visit occurred after approximately seven months of this French citizen's detention. According to the statement, Cecile Koehler spent the first three months of her detention in solitary confinement, and the Islamic Republic's state television broadcast her forced confessions as part of a propaganda effort. Amnesty International has described solitary confinement as a violation of the prohibition on torture and other ill-treatment, and the broadcast of this French citizen's 'confessions' by Iranian authorities as a violation of the presumption of innocence and the right not to incriminate oneself. This human rights organization has emphasized the long-standing history of Iranian authorities in detaining dual nationals and foreign citizens to use them as leverage against other countries, labeling the detention of this French teachers' representative as 'arbitrary.' The international organization has called on France to conduct a thorough, independent, and impartial investigation into the status of Cecile Koehler and other French citizens, using the 'International Convention Against the Taking of Hostages,' and to take action to protect and secure her freedom and hold the perpetrators accountable if this crime is proven against Cecile Koehler. Currently, at least three French citizens, including Cecile Koehler and Jacques Paris, are imprisoned in Iran. France refers to them as 'state hostages' of the Islamic Republic. Recently, the human rights group 'Justice for Iran' and several victims of human rights violations filed a complaint against Bashir Bi-Azar, the former head of the music office of the Islamic Republic's state television, who is under arrest in France for 'torture.' A gathering was held in Paris demanding the release of French citizens imprisoned in Iran. France's response to the detention of its two citizens in Iran: the allegations are 'lies.' Macron confirmed the release of one French citizen from the Islamic Republic's prison; three other French citizens remain imprisoned. Anousheh Ashouri has urged British officials not to succumb to the Islamic Republic's extortion.