Indecision Surrounding Yasin Kobdani and Mohammad Darvish Naroui 450 Days After Their Arrest

Human rights news sources reported on the indecision surrounding Yasin Kobdani and Mohammad Darvish Naroui, two detained Baluch teenagers, 450 days after their arrest. The Baluch Activists Campaign stated that Yasin was only 17 years old at the time of his arrest on January 6, 2023, and Mohammad Darvish was 19 years old. According to the report, these two detained teenagers were accused of 'Moharebeh' (waging war against God) and 'Efsad-e fil Arz' (corruption on earth) without any valid evidence. The Baluch Activists Campaign also reported that 'the families of these two teenagers requested their release by posting bail, but the Intelligence Department of Zahedan prevented it.' Published reports indicate that the last court session regarding the cases of these two teenagers was held in January 2024 and, according to the Baluch Activists Campaign, concluded without addressing or presenting valid evidence. Reports indicate that Yasin Kobdani's political sponsorship was taken on by Michael Sukkar, a member of the Australian Parliament, and Mohammad Darvish Naroui was sponsored by Yosuf Zondag, a member of the German Parliament. News sources have reported that these two teenagers were subjected to 'physical and psychological torture' for a month in the detention center of the Intelligence Department. Over the past four decades, the Islamic Republic has not independently investigated any claims of torture made by victims and political and ideological prisoners and has consistently denied any form of torture in its prisons. In recent decades, hundreds of cases of torture against prisoners have been documented by human rights organizations, including various mechanisms of the United Nations, but Iranian officials deny them. The Islamic Republic is among the countries in the world that has not accepted the 'Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment' and has left the continuous requests of the United Nations to join this convention unanswered. More than two decades ago, the government of Mohammad Khatami and the sixth parliament approved a bill to join this convention, but the Guardian Council deemed the sixth parliament's resolution 'against Sharia' and rejected it. Reports from Amnesty International indicate that the situation of freedom of expression, the repression of women, torture, and executions by the Islamic Republic worsened in 2023. The U.S. Department of State reported that the human rights situation in Iran deteriorated in 2023. Aryan Yavari, a 19-year-old protester, committed suicide 'under security pressure.' The Baluch Activists Campaign states that the Revolutionary Court of Zahedan considers attending the Makki Mosque a 'crime.' A statement from dozens of human rights organizations against drug-related executions in Iran calls for cooperation with the Islamic Republic to be conditional on stopping executions.