Two Human Rights Activists: Solitary Confinement of Dervishes and Environmental Activists Constitutes Torture

Abdolfattah Soltani and Narges Mohammadi stated in a joint statement that the situation of civil activists in the environmental sector and Gonabadi dervishes who are in solitary confinement is a case of "psychological torture." The statement, published on the website of the Human Rights Defenders Center, where both are imprisoned, asserts that "solitary confinement is a psychological torture aimed at pressuring the accused, and is against the law, Sharia, human rights, and ethical and humanitarian standards, and any confession or admission made under the unbearable conditions of solitary confinement lacks legal and Sharia validity." They emphasized that this statement is issued because "despite the explicit law stating the illegality of confinement in solitary cells and the continuation of this torture against civil activists, there are alarming reports about the situation of dozens of civil activists in the environmental sector and the accused dervishes, as well as distressing incidents such as the suspicious deaths of some detainees held in solitary confinement in security-military detention centers." This statement comes after the violent crackdown on a protest by over 500 Gonabadi dervishes on February 19, 2018, near the residence of Nour Ali Tabandeh, the leader of this sect, by security forces and plainclothes motorcyclists. Reports of their beatings during arrest have emerged, and as activists report on social media, many of these individuals are in poor physical condition in prison and are being tried without lawyers in closed court sessions. Last winter, dozens of environmental activists across Iran were arrested, with the judiciary labeling their charges as "espionage" despite the public opposition of the Ministry of Intelligence. While some were released after months, many were deprived of contact with their families and remained in solitary confinement. The most notable figure among these activists was Kavous Seyed Emami, a university professor and head of the Persian Wildlife Institute, who died in prison after being accused of espionage, with judicial authorities declaring his death a "suicide." Following these events, Ms. Mohammadi and Mr. Soltani called on responsible officials of the Islamic Republic, specifically the "government, members of parliament, especially the Commission on Article 90, civil activists," and even "believers in maintaining and deepening civil society in Iran, domestic and international human rights organizations" to take "effective and urgent measures" to abolish solitary confinement. They pointed out that the solitary confinement of political-ideological defendants in Iran during preliminary investigations, based on the opinions of "interrogators," constitutes "the first cornerstone of violating fair trial rights." According to them, solitary confinement has "illegal and un-Islamic aspects" from both legal and humanitarian perspectives and is "a clear violation of human rights." Narges Mohammadi and Abdolfattah Soltani described solitary confinement as a "systematic psychological torture" with "damaging consequences and psychological and physical illnesses" and labeled the severing of a prisoner's connection with the outside world as "against" the constitution and "a form of double punishment." They criticized the fact that despite the explicitness of Article 524 of the Criminal Procedure Code of 2013, which abolishes solitary confinement as a disciplinary punishment, the 2005 executive regulations of the prison organization still prescribe solitary confinement as a disciplinary punishment for 20 days. For years, civil and political activists in Iran have criticized the psychological torture of prisoners in solitary confinement, with numerous personal experiences recounted. Several political and ideological prisoners have reported after their release that they spent months in solitary confinement, with psychological pressures so severe that they contemplated suicide. Nevertheless, solitary confinement in Iran continues to be used as a means of pressuring prisoners and their families to confess to interrogators' demands, which legal experts say even judges receive orders from. This practice has been condemned by international human rights organizations, which have called on the Islamic Republic authorities to halt this process.