Human Rights Defenders Express Concern Over Broadcast of Jason Rezaian's 'Forced Confessions'

"The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran" has expressed concern that Iran's judiciary, "based on its history of relying on forced confessions," may take similar action regarding Jason Rezaian, the imprisoned Iranian-American journalist. The new statement from the campaign comes after a group of members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly called for the broadcast of Mr. Rezaian's 'confessions.' Leila Ahmadi, Rezaian's lawyer, reported in the second week of Shahrivar that her client's sentence has been issued but has not yet been communicated. During this time, new statements have emerged from some Iranian officials regarding Mr. Rezaian. Two days before the request from 11 representatives for the broadcast of Rezaian's 'confessions,' the spokesperson for the National Security Commission of the Iranian Parliament stated that the 'Intelligence Organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' has provided a report on him. In this report, the Iranian-American journalist was described as 'an agent executing the thoughts of those [members] of the U.S. Senate' who believe that if the U.S. can restore its relations with Iran to the pre-revolution level, the Iranian government can be easily overthrown. These statements were made without providing details about this 'thought,' the specifics of Mr. Rezaian's connections, or the names and details of the senators who hold such ideas. The Washington Post and U.S. officials describe the allegations against Mr. Rezaian, including 'actions against national security' or 'espionage,' as baseless. Hadi Ghaemi, the executive director of the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, told the campaign's website on Mehr 14 that 'Iranian officials have no evidence to substantiate their claims against Rezaian.' He added, 'As a result, they have resorted to their usual tactic: coercing confessions, broadcasting them, and condemning with impunity.' The broadcast of confessions that human rights defenders or the accused themselves describe as 'forced' has occurred before. The documentary film 'Forced Confessions' by Maziar Bahari, a journalist and former prisoner in Iran, is one of the cases that addresses this issue. Protests against obtaining such confessions have a long history, from cyber defendants to those arrested during the 2009 protests. Jason Rezaian will have been in detention for 444 days by the upcoming Friday, Mehr 17. His 444-day detention holds symbolic significance for American media; The Washington Post and The New York Times state that this period of detention is 'illegal' and reminiscent of the hostage crisis of Americans during the attack on their embassy in Tehran after the 1979 revolution.