Two Human Rights Organizations Hold the Islamic Republic Responsible for the Death of Bakhtash Abtin

On the third anniversary of Bakhtash Abtin's death, a poet and filmmaker imprisoned in Iran, the International Foundation for Human Rights Defenders and the American PEN Association issued a joint statement holding the Islamic Republic of Iran responsible for his death due to delays in providing appropriate medical care and medical leave. According to the Telegram channel of the Iranian Writers' Association, these two organizations also called for an 'international and impartial' investigation into Bakhtash Abtin and other individuals targeted by the Islamic Republic for their 'human rights and freedom of expression activities.' Bakhtash Abtin, a poet, filmmaker, and secretary of the Iranian Writers' Association, died in prison after contracting COVID-19 and being sent late to the hospital in January 2022. Mr. Abtin was a recipient of the American PEN award. The case of Bakhtash Abtin, along with two other writers, Keyvan Bazhan and Reza Khandan Mahabadi, was initiated in 2015 following a complaint by the Ministry of Intelligence of the Islamic Republic, and their sentences for 'acting against national security and propaganda against the regime' were upheld in a court of appeals in December 2019. According to the issued sentences, Bakhtash Abtin was sentenced to six years in prison. He was transferred to Evin Prison in October 2020 to serve his sentence during the peak of the COVID-19 outbreak in Iran. During his imprisonment, Bakhtash Abtin contracted COVID-19 twice, and the second time, after being kept among his fellow inmates and in the prison clinic for some time, he was eventually transferred to Taleghani Hospital, where he was chained to the bed throughout his stay. The International Foundation for Human Rights Defenders and the American PEN Association emphasized that the investigations they called for should aim to publish results and 'bring the responsible parties to justice.' These two international organizations also noted in their statement that the officials of the Islamic Republic, instead of conducting immediate, comprehensive, and impartial investigations into Bakhtash Abtin's death, increased retaliatory actions against individuals detained for defending human rights. The International Foundation for Human Rights Defenders and the American PEN Association have urged UN member states to pressure Islamic Republic officials, particularly regarding the provision of 'appropriate, timely, and non-discriminatory' medical care to prisoners. The Iranian Writers' Association also previously issued a statement on the occasion of the third anniversary of Bakhtash Abtin's death, calling it 'premeditated murder' and emphasizing the necessity of prosecuting 'the perpetrators and instigators of this crime and all political crimes in recent years.'