Three Human Rights Organizations File Complaint with the UN Due to Continued Judicial Harassment of Tomaj Salehi

Three human rights organizations, representing the family of Tomaj Salehi, have filed a complaint with the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention due to the ongoing detention, torture, and harassment of this imprisoned protest singer. The human rights organizations "Doughty Street Chambers," "Index on Censorship," and "Human Rights Foundation" submitted this complaint to the international body on Wednesday, July 25. In this joint complaint, the three human rights organizations criticized the Iranian government's failure to adhere to its international legal obligations in dealing with Mr. Salehi and called for his immediate and unconditional release. They stated, "Every additional day in prison is another great injustice against this artist, and he has done nothing but demand respect for his fundamental rights and those of other Iranians." Tomaj Salehi supported protesting people, detainees, and political activists during the widespread protests in 2022 under the slogan "Women, Life, Freedom," which began following the death of Mahsa Jina Amini in the custody of the morality police. The Supreme Court of Iran overturned Tomaj Salehi's death sentence. The text of the complaint emphasizes that Tomaj Salehi was first arrested for his "art" and has since been repeatedly detained and subjected to physical torture leading to broken hands, feet, and ribs. Nearly 300 days of detention without communication and access to family or a lawyer, significant delays in notifying charges, considerable restrictions on Salehi's lawyers' access to documents related to the alleged charges, and failure to comply with basic due process requirements in his repeated arrests are among the issues mentioned in this complaint. A significant portion of this complaint is dedicated to preventing Tomaj Salehi from accessing medical and therapeutic facilities, which, despite serious injuries resulting from torture, judicial and prison officials have denied him. The Islamic Republic's treatment of Mr. Salehi is described as "judicial harassment," and it is noted that despite the annulment of his death sentence by the Supreme Court of Iran, this artist remains in detention, and new legal cases have been opened against him. The three human rights organizations wrote that the judicial charges against Tomaj Salehi, including "insulting sacred values" and "spreading falsehoods," stem from his rap songs and his calls for greater freedoms for the people of Iran. The text quotes Arzoo Eghbali Babadi, Mr. Salehi's cousin, stating, "Despite the annulment of Tomaj's death sentence, officials intend to keep him in prison for a long time. They often use cruel tactics such as recharging prisoners with baseless charges to break their minds and instill fear in others seeking freedom." Negin Niknam, a friend of Tomaj and manager of his social media accounts, also stated, "The case-making and baseless accusations against Tomaj Salehi, despite him being in prison for over 20 months, only mean one thing: since the Islamic Republic could not execute him due to global outrage, it is now trying to keep him in prison." Tomaj Salehi's account on X has recently reported on "the conversion of the detention order of this artist's first case into bail and the continuation of his illegal detention due to new case-making." This account referred to the new cases opened against this imprisoned protest artist with charges such as "insulting sacred values, inciting violence and murder, propaganda against the regime, and spreading falsehoods to disturb public opinion," calling them "fabricated" and "lacking legal basis." The account also stated: "Based on the existing laws, there is also the possibility of converting the detention order of the new case into bail so that while judicial agents are listening to and reviewing Tomaj Salehi's released raps and examining his lyrics to find a new excuse for the desired accusations of the scriptwriters, Tomaj can continue his treatment process and rebuild his exhausted body and soul outside of prison." Tomaj Salehi was released on bail on November 18, 2023, after serving over a year in prison, 252 days of which were in solitary confinement. However, security agents re-arrested him on December 9, this time on a street in Babol, and transferred him to Dastgerd Prison in Isfahan. Subsequently, news emerged of a death sentence issued for this protest singer by the Revolutionary Court, which sparked widespread global protests against this ruling, and ultimately, the Supreme Court annulled his death sentence in early July of this year. Amnesty International stated in a letter published in late May of this year that Tomaj Salehi was tortured during his detention and was continuously beaten.