Iran Human Rights Campaign: Islamic Republic Officials Have Violated International Commitments in Dealing with Nurses

The Iran Human Rights Campaign noted the approximately one month of protests and strikes by nurses and healthcare staff in various public hospitals across Iran, stating that officials of the Islamic Republic have threatened and detained several protesting nurses while continuously violating international commitments. This human rights organization urged the Islamic Republic officials to respect the rights of nurses and healthcare staff, who are essential to public health, to uphold their right to protest, and to immediately cease violent crackdowns. According to Hadi Ghaemi, director of the Iran Human Rights Campaign, "For years, the healthcare workforce and nurses in Iran, who are mostly women, have been systematically exploited." Ghaemi stated, "Without the freedom to organize and the existence of independent unions, workers in Iran face severe retaliatory actions from the government simply for pursuing their legitimate demands." He emphasized that "the international community must not remain silent in the face of these protests and their suppression," adding that "the global community must hold Islamic Republic officials accountable for the blatant violation of the right to peaceful protest and stand in solidarity with Iran's healthcare workers." The Iran Human Rights Campaign's website reported that assessments indicate the current protests by nurses and healthcare staff in various cities are unprecedented in nearly a century since the establishment of the country's health system. The protests and strikes by nurses began on July 12 in the city of Karaj, in Alborz province, and then spread to other cities and provincial centers. According to reports collected by Voice of America, these protests have taken place in over 50 public hospitals in at least 21 cities in Iran. The Iran Human Rights Campaign pointed out that the protests in some cities have been met with clashes, confrontations, and even the detention of several protesters, including the arrest of some protesting nurses and healthcare staff in Bushehr, the three-day detention of Zahra Tamadon from Masih Daneshvari Hospital in Tehran, and the arrest of Pouya Esfandiari from Milad Hospital in Tehran. One participant in the protests on August 27 in Mashhad told the Iran Human Rights Campaign: "Many nurses and healthcare staff had gathered in the hospital (name withheld) for a protest and were chanting slogans when suddenly a group of plainclothes individuals, whose affiliation was unclear, attacked the gathering and violently dispersed the nurses." The participant stated that "the protesting nurses stood firm against the plainclothes forces and did not allow the confrontation to escalate. Eventually, hospital officials came and threatened the nurses, saying that if they continued their protests and strikes, all contract nurses and healthcare staff would be fired and threatened that those dismissed would have nowhere to turn." According to this nurse participant, "the majority of the nurses and healthcare staff participating in the protests and strikes were younger individuals, and the number of middle-aged and older nurses among the protesters was less noticeable." The participant noted that "although the intensity of protests in the larger hospitals of the city has decreased and officials have persuaded some nurses and healthcare staff to abandon their strikes and protests with promises, everyone knows that if the crises facing nurses and healthcare staff continue, these protests and strikes will resume." In recent days, officials from the Ministry of Health, after several days of silence, promised to pay the demands of protesting nurses, which have been reported to exceed 7 trillion tomans. In this regard, Mohammad Reza Zafarghandi, the Minister of Health, who had previously promised that the demands of nurses would be paid promptly, announced on Wednesday the payment of the first part of the arrears. The Iran Human Rights Campaign, in its report on the protests of nurses and healthcare staff in public hospitals and the security responses to them, pointed out that although Article 26 of the Islamic Republic's Constitution refers to the freedom of "professional associations" alongside Islamic and religious associations, the reality is that officials of the Islamic Republic have summoned, threatened, detained, prosecuted, and sentenced labor and professional activists to heavy prison terms for over four decades for attempting to create "free" and "independent" organizations, unions, and associations. This is while emphasizing that "Iran is one of the founding members of the International Labour Organization and a signatory to the two 1966 UN covenants or the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights." Behnam Darayizadeh, a journalist and lawyer with the Iran Human Rights Campaign, told Voice of America: "The Islamic Republic has never recognized the right to strike for workers" and added: "The reality is that neither in the Constitution, nor in labor law, nor in other laws and regulations of Iran is there any reference to the right to strike." He added: "The Islamic Republic intentionally and with a clear intent refuses to sign some of the most fundamental conventions of the International Labour Organization, such as Conventions 87 and 98, to keep the level of labor and professional demands low in Iran." Convention No. 87 of the International Labour Organization concerns the freedom of assembly and the formation of professional organizations, and Convention No. 98 concerns organization, the formation of unions, and the right to "collective bargaining," both of which are important documents of the International Labour Organization. The campaign emphasized that "the Islamic Republic has systematically and continuously suppressed the right to strike and labor protests of workers and wage earners. For example, the right to strike is not recognized in the text of the Constitution or in the text of the labor law of the Islamic Republic." According to Hadi Ghaemi, "Despite the obligation to adhere to domestic laws and international conventions to support workers' rights, the Islamic Republic has repeatedly violated these commitments in practice." He emphasized that "this relentless repression is the result of several decades of impunity and the failure of the international community to hold the Islamic Republic accountable for widespread human rights violations."