Germany, IGFM, August 27, 2024
The human rights situation in Iran is dramatic. Between the end of July and the end of August, over 100 people were arbitrarily executed. Thousands more are unlawfully imprisoned, including several dual nationals such as Nahid Taghavi (center), Ahmad Reza Jalali (top right), and Jamshid Sharmahd (bottom right). On August 28, the German-Iranian Nahid Taghavi will spend her 70th birthday in custody.
Prison cell instead of birthday party:
To mark the 70th birthday of the imprisoned German-Iranian Nahid Taghavi on August 28, the International Society for Human Rights (ISHR) is drawing attention to the ongoing dramatic human rights situation in Iran. Between July 22 and August 21, at least 106 people were executed in Iranian prisons, including many political prisoners and demonstrators convicted in show trials. The ISHR is calling for the immediate release of women’s rights activist Nahid Taghavi and more active efforts to secure the release of German political prisoners in Iran.
“The human rights situation in Iran has not improved under the new President Massud Peseshkian. The Islamic Republic of Iran remains an unjust state and continues to systematically disregard human rights. More than 100 executions in one month should provoke an international outcry,” explains Edgar Lamm, Chairman of the ISHR.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate receives no medical care
On August 6, some female prisoners in Evin Prison protested the execution of Reza Rasaei, a demonstrator arrested during the nationwide protests in 2022. On the same day, about thirty prisoners were barred from using telephones or meeting their families. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi was injured by prison staff during the protests. According to the ISHR, she has also been suffering from a slipped disc for months and is not receiving any medical care in prison.
Dual nationals used as bargaining chips
The ISHR particularly points out detainees with dual citizenship, who are being used as “bargaining chips by the regime” in international negotiations.
Nahid Taghavi from Cologne was arrested in October 2020 at her apartment in Tehran and sentenced to ten years and eight months in prison in August 2021 for “membership in an illegal group.” She was held in solitary confinement for an extended period and fell ill several times. Medical assistance was long denied, and after a brief leave from January to February 2024, she was imprisoned again.
Swedish citizen and doctor Ahmad Reza Jalali was arrested in 2016 during a visit to Iran and accused of spying for the Israeli secret service. He was sentenced to death and is imprisoned in Evin Prison. He went on hunger strike in June 2024 to protest being excluded from the prisoner exchange between Sweden and Iran.
German citizen and journalist Jamshid Sharmahd was abducted by the Iranian secret service during a trip to Dubai and taken to Iran, where he was sentenced to death on February 21, 2023, for “corruption on earth.”
