New York City Bar Association Statement Urging Release from Prison of Nasrin Sotoudeh and Others as the Islamic Republic of Iran Marks Nowruz
COVID-19 Pandemic an Existential Threat to their Health and Safety
The New York City Bar Association urges the Islamic Republic of Iran to include internationally-renowned human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, and others similarly situated, among the 10,000 to be released from prison tomorrow, March 20, as Iran marks the Persian New Year, Nowruz.
Like many others in the international community,[1] the New York City Bar has previously spoken out on the cases of Sotoudeh and other human rights lawyers and rights defenders imprisoned in Iran.[2] The COVID-19 pandemic now presents an existential threat to the health and safety of Sotoudeh and her colleagues.
Apart from Italy and China, Iran is the country which has been hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. As of March 19, 2020, Iran had reported 18,407 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and a confirmed death toll of 1284, with the toll continuing to increase exponentially.[3]
In recent weeks, Iran has been a leader among nations in recognizing the grave and imminent threat that COVID-19 poses to prison populations.[4] Since late February/early March, as a protective measure, Iran has released approximately 85,000 prisoners.[5] Most of those released have been prisoners serving relatively short sentences, for non-violent crimes.[6] All of these releases are temporary.[7]
Now Iran has announced that the nation’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, will be releasing another 10,000 prisoners tomorrow – Friday, March 20 – as the nation marks Nowruz, the Persian New Year.[8] Unlike the prisoners released to date, the prisoners who are released tomorrow will be granted pardons and released on a permanent basis.[9] Those released will include political prisoners.[10]
The New York City Bar urgently calls on Iran to include Nasrin Sotoudeh, and other similarly-situated human rights lawyers and rights defenders, among the 10,000 prisoners to be released tomorrow to recognize Nowruz.
If Sotoudeh and others similarly situated are not released to mark Nowruz, the New York City Bar urges that – at a minimum – they be immediately granted compassionate release on at least a temporary basis, recognizing the threat posed by COVID-19.
About the Association
The mission of the New York City Bar Association, which was founded in 1870 and has 24,000 members, is to equip and mobilize a diverse legal profession to practice with excellence, promote reform of the law, and uphold the rule of law and access to justice in support of a fair society and the public interest in our community, our nation, and throughout the world. http://www.nycbar.org.
Footnotes
[1] See generally, e.g., Statement of the New York City Bar Association on the Imprisonment of Human Rights Lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh and Other Human Rights Defenders in Iran (compiling citations to statements in support of Sotoudeh by wide range of international organizations and institutions) (March 8, 2019), https://www.nycbar.org/reports/statement-of-the-new-york-city-bar-association-on-the-imprisonment-of-human-rights-lawyer-nasrin-sotoudeh-and-other-human-rights-defenders-in-iran/; see also, e.g., Iran: Bloody Crackdown on Dissent (Human Rights Watch, Jan. 14, 2020), https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/01/14/iran-bloody-crackdown-dissent#; Four Iranian Human Rights Lawyers Awarded EU Human Rights Prize (RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty, Nov. 30, 2019) (reporting that the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (“CCBE”) presented its 2019 Human Rights Award to “four Iranian lawyers currently in prison, including prominent rights advocate Nasrin Sotoudeh”), https://www.rferl.org/a/four-iranian-human-rights-lawyers-awarded-eu-human-rights-prize/30300240.html; Haleh Esfandiari, Nasrin Sotoudeh: The Pride of Iran (Enheduanna/The Wilson Center, March 15, 2019), https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/nasrin-sotoudeh-the-pride-iran; Oral Statement to the 40th Session of the UN Human Rights Council from Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada (LRWC), NGO in special consultative status Re: Arbitrary detention and disproportionate sentencing of lawyer Ms. Nasrin Sotoudeh (Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada, March 12, 2019), https://www.lrwc.org/iran-oral-statement-human-rights-council-40th-session-arbitrary-detention-and-disproportionate-sentencing-of-lawyer-ms-nasrin-sotoudeh/; Iran: Nasrin Sotoudeh Should Be Released Immediately and Unconditionally (Freedom House, March 7, 2019), https://freedomhouse.org/article/nasrin-sotoudeh-should-bereleased-immediately-and-unconditionally; Conviction of Writer and Human Rights Lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh a Grave Miscarriage of Justice (PEN America, March 6, 2019), https://pen.org/press-release/nasrin-sotoudeh-conviction-injustice/; Iran must protect women’s rights advocates – UN experts (Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Nov. 29, 2018), https://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=23947&LangID=E; Joint letter on the case of arrest of the lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh in Iran (The Law Society of England & Wales, the Bar Council, the Bar Human Rights Committee of England & Wales, Lawyers for Lawyers, & Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada, Aug. 23, 2018), https://lawyersforlawyers.org/en/joint-letter-on-arrest-nasrin-sotoudeh/; Iran: Free prominent human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh (Gulf Centre for Human Rights, Aug. 15, 2018), https://www.gc4hr.org/news/view/1924.
[2] See Statement of the New York City Bar Association on the Imprisonment of Human Rights Lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh and Other Human Rights Defenders in Iran (March 8, 2019), https://www.nycbar.org/reports/statement-of-the-new-york-city-bar-association-on-the-imprisonment-of-human-rights-lawyer-nasrin-sotoudeh-and-other-human-rights-defenders-in-iran/; Twitter,
New York City Bar President Roger Juan Maldonado’s #1minute4Nasrin video in support of Imprisoned Iranian Lawyer and Rights Defender #NasrinSotoudeh (Dec. 13, 2019), https://twitter.com/nycbarassn?lang=en; Statement of the New York City Bar Association Marking 2020 International Women’s Day (March 8, 2020), https://www.nycbar.org/blogs/statement-of-the-new-york-city-bar-association-marking-2020-international-womens-day/.
[3] See, e.g., Iran Confirms Over 1,000 More Cases of COVID-19 Infection (Iran Front Page, March 19, 2020) (reporting that, according to Iran’s Health Ministry, as of March 19, 2020, Iran had 18,407 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and a confirmed death toll of 1284), https://ifpnews.com/iran-confirms-over-1000-more-cases-of-covid-19-infection?utm_source=onesignal&utm_medium=push-notif&utm_campaign=new-post; Nasser Karimi & Aya Batrawy, Iran’s Coronavirus Death Toll Surges Past 1,100 (Time/Associated Press, March 18, 2020) (reporting that, as of March 18, 2020, Iran reported 17,361 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with a confirmed death toll of 1135), https://time.com/5806091/iran-coronavirus-covid19-death-toll/; Joseph Hincks, Jailed Iranian Activist Begins Hunger Strike to Demand Release of Political Prisoners Amid Country’s Coronavirus Crisis (Time, March 17, 2020) (stating that Iran’s reported death toll (which may in fact be much higher) is “the highest death toll outside China and Italy”), https://time.com/5804725/iran-coronavirus-nasrin-sotoudeh-prisoners/; Iran temporarily releases 70,000 prisoners as coronavirus cases surge (Reuters, March 9, 2020) (reporting that Iran has seen “one of the worst national outbreaks [of COVID-19] outside China, where the new virus originated, and one of the highest death rates from the illness“), https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-iran/iran-temporarily-releases-70000-prisoners-as-coronavirus-cases-surge-idUSKBN20W1E5; Aresu Eqbali & Isabel Coles, Iran Releases Prisoners on a Temporary Basis to Halt the Spread of the Coronavirus (Wall Street Journal, March 3, 2020) (reporting that the death toll in Iran attributable to COVID-19 is “the highest in the world outside China”), https://www.wsj.com/articles/iran-releases-prisoners-on-a-temporary-basis-to-halt-the-spread-of-the-coronavirus-11583244155.
[4] See, e.g., Aresu Eqbali & Isabel Coles, Iran Releases Prisoners on a Temporary Basis to Halt the Spread of the Coronavirus (Wall Street Journal, March 3, 2020) (noting that prisons generally “have emerged as a flashpoint for transmission [of COVID-19]” in other countries such as China”), https://www.wsj.com/articles/iran-releases-prisoners-on-a-temporary-basis-to-halt-the-spread-of-the-coronavirus-11583244155; Jamie Grierson, Diane Taylor, & Josh Halliday, Fears over coronavirus risk in prisons as first UK inmate case confirmed (The Guardian, March 19, 2020) (reporting, inter alia, that “[c]ountries such as Spain and Iran have ordered the release of many prisoners due to the risk of virus transmission among detainees and staff”), https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/18/first-uk-prisoner-with-covid-19-confirmed-at-strangeways-manchester; Gaspard Sebag, France Urged to Free Prisoners to Thwart Virus in Crowded Jails (Bloomberg News, March 18, 2020), https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-18/france-urged-to-free-prisoners-to-thwart-virus-in-crowded-jails?utm_campaign=news&utm_medium=bd&utm_source=applenews; Peter Blumberg, Virus Prompts Early Release of Inmates From Some U.S. Jails (Bloomberg News, March 17, 2020), https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-17/virus-prompts-early-release-of-inmates-in-southern-california; US jails begin releasing prisoners to stem Covid-19 infections (BBC News, March 19, 2020), https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51947802;
German Lopez, A coronavirus outbreak in jails or prisons could turn into a nightmare (Vox, March 17, 2020), https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/3/17/21181515/coronavirus-covid-19-jails-prisons-mass-incarceration.
[5] See, e.g., Political Prisoners Excluded from Mass Release as COVID-19 Spreads (Center for Human Rights in Iran, March 6, 2020) (reporting that, “[o]n February 26 and again on February 29 [2020], Iran’s Judiciary Chief Ebrahim Raisi issued orders allowing prisoners that met a set of requirements to go on furlough (temporary leave) to prevent the spread of COVID-19 infections in the country’s prisons,” and that, on March 3, “Judiciary Spokesman Gholam-Hossein Esmaili said 54,000 prisoners had been released on furlough” out of the judiciary’s concern for the health of all prisoners), https://www.iranhumanrights.org/2020/03/political-prisoners-excluded-from-mass-release-as-more-inmates-exhibit-covid-19-symptoms/; Aresu Eqbali & Isabel Coles, Iran Releases Prisoners on a Temporary Basis to Halt the Spread of the Coronavirus (Wall Street Journal, March 3, 2020) (reporting that, according to a spokesperson for the Iranian judiciary, as of March 3, 2020, “[m]ore than 54,000 prisoners [had] gone out on furlough after testing negative” for COVID-19 and that it was expected that “several prominent Iranian political prisoners and British dual national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe would be allowed out”; further stating that “[p]risoners with long sentences or those deemed dangerous to the public aren’t among those released” and that “some of those who were freed had to pay large sums in bail”), https://www.wsj.com/articles/iran-releases-prisoners-on-a-temporary-basis-to-halt-the-spread-of-the-coronavirus-11583244155; Coronavirus: Iran temporarily releases prisoners over virus fears (Middle East Eye, March 9, 2020) (reporting that, as of March 9, 2020, “Iranian authorities [had] temporarily freed around 70,000 prisoners in a bid to contain and combat the deadly coronavirus in Iranian jails”), https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/coronavirus-iran-temporarily-freed-prisoners-death-toll; Iran temporarily releases 70,000 prisoners as coronavirus cases surge (Reuters, March 9, 2020) (reporting on Iran’s temporary release of approximately 70,000 prisoners as part of ongoing campaign to combat COVID-19), https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-iran/iran-temporarily-releases-70000-prisoners-as-coronavirus-cases-surge-idUSKBN20W1E5;
Parisa Hafezi, Iran temporarily frees 85,000 from jail including political prisoners (Reuters, March 17, 2020) (reporting that, as of March 17, 2020, Iran had “temporarily freed about 85,000 people from jail”), https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-iran-prisoners/iran-temporarily-frees-85000-from-jail-including-political-prisoners-idUSKBN21410M; Yen Nee Lee & Holly Ellyatt, Spain’s cases surpass 11,000; Iran temporarily frees 85,000 prisoners (CNBC, March 17, 2020) (reporting on Iran’s temporary release of a total of “about 85,000 prisoners”), https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/17/coronavirus-latest-updates.html; Hard-hit Iran frees more prisoners amid coronavirus outbreak (Al Jazeera, March 17, 2020) (reporting that, as of March 17, 2020, Iran had released a total of 85,000 prisoners), https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/hard-hit-iran-frees-prisoners-coronavirus-outbreak-200317110516495.html.
[6] The United Nations has urged Iran to temporarily release all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience. See, e.g., Emma Farge, U.N. urges Iran to free political prisoners temporarily amid coronavirus (Reuters, March 10, 2020) (reporting that the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran stated that he had urged Iran to temporarily free all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience to help stem the spread of COVID-19), https://www.reuters.com/article/us-un-rights-iran/u-n-urges-iran-to-free-political-prisoners-temporarily-amid-coronavirus-idUSKBN20X1YV.
See also, e.g., Hard-hit Iran frees more prisoners amid coronavirus outbreak (Al Jazeera, March 17, 2020) (reporting that the first 70,000 prisoners released by Iran in response to the COVID-19 pandemic were “mostly non-violent offenders serving short prison sentences”), https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/hard-hit-iran-frees-prisoners-coronavirus-outbreak-200317110516495.html; Parisa Hafezi, Iran temporarily frees 85,000 from jail including political prisoners (Reuters, March 17, 2020) (reporting that, of the 70,000 prisoners whose release was announced on March 9, 2020, “none were political detainees”; noting that, as of March 9, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran “stated that he had asked Tehran to free all political prisoners temporarily,” and that “only those serving sentences of less than five years had been freed, while prisoners charged with heavier sentences and those linked to participation in anti-government protests remained in jail”; further stating that, according to rights activists, Iran has more recently “freed at least a dozen political prisoners . . . but that the most prominent political prisoners remain incarcerated”), https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-iran-prisoners/iran-temporarily-frees-85000-from-jail-including-political-prisoners-idUSKBN21410M; Yen Nee Lee & Holly Ellyatt, Spain’s cases surpass 11,000; Iran temporarily frees 85,000 prisoners (CNBC, March 17, 2020) (reporting that, according to Iranian authorities, the prisoners released through March 17, 2020 included some “political prisoners,” and, indeed, that “[s]ome 50% of those released are security-related prisoners”), https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/17/coronavirus-latest-updates.html; Political Prisoners Excluded from Mass Release as COVID-19 Spreads (Center for Human Rights in Iran, March 6, 2020) (stating that “Iranian authorities have excluded political prisoners from the mass prisoner release that was announced by Judiciary Chief Ebrahim Raisi in late February to control the growing COVID-19 . . . outbreak”), https://www.iranhumanrights.org/2020/03/political-prisoners-excluded-from-mass-release-as-more-inmates-exhibit-covid-19-symptoms/.
[7] See, e.g., Coronavirus: Iran temporarily releases prisoners over virus fears (Middle East Eye, March 9, 2020) (reporting that releases of prisoners are temporary releases and stating that Iranian officials “did not elaborate on when the released detainees would have to return to prison”), https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/coronavirus-iran-temporarily-freed-prisoners-death-toll; Hard-hit Iran frees more prisoners amid coronavirus outbreak (Al Jazeera, March 17, 2020) (reporting that prisoners are being released on temporary furlough, to help “reduce pressure on [Iran’s] prisons system”), https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/hard-hit-iran-frees-prisoners-coronavirus-outbreak-200317110516495.html; Yen Nee Lee & Holly Ellyatt, Spain’s cases surpass 11,000; Iran temporarily frees 85,000 prisoners (CNBC, March 17, 2020) (reporting that release of prisoners is on a temporary basis, and noting that news outlets lack information as to “when those released would have to return to jail”), https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/17/coronavirus-latest-updates.html.
Calling for the release of political prisoners in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Nasrin Sotoudeh recently embarked on a hunger strike, which has since been joined by others. See, e.g., Joseph Hincks, Jailed Iranian Activist Begins Hunger Strike to Demand Release of Political Prisoners Amid Country’s Coronavirus Crisis (Time, March 17, 2020), https://time.com/5804725/iran-coronavirus-nasrin-sotoudeh-prisoners/; Other Iranian Political Prisoners Join Activist Sotoudeh’s Hunger Strike (RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty, March 18, 2020), https://www.rferl.org/a/other-iranian-political-prisoners-join-activist-sotoudeh-s-hunger-strike/30495416.html.
[8] See, e.g., Parisa Hafezi, Iran’s supreme leader to pardon 10,000 prisoners, including political ones (Reuters, March 18, 2020), https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-prisoners-idUSKBN2153RN; Patrick Wintour, Iran to pardon 10,000, including ’security’ prisoners (The Guardian, March 18, 2020), https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/19/iran-to-pardon-10000-including-security-prisoners.
[9] See, e.g., Parisa Hafezi, Iran’s supreme leader to pardon 10,000 prisoners, including political ones (Reuters, March 18, 2020) (quoting judiciary spokesperson Gholamhossein Esmaili’s March 18, 2020 statement to state TV that “[t]hose who will be pardoned [on Nowruz] will not return to jail”), https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-prisoners-idUSKBN2153RN; Patrick Wintour, Iran to pardon 10,000, including ’security’ prisoners (The Guardian, March 18, 2020) (quoting 18, 2020) (quoting statement of judiciary spokesperson Gholamhossein Esmaili that “[t]hose who will be pardoned will not return to jail”), https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/19/iran-to-pardon-10000-including-security-prisoners.
[10] See, e.g., Parisa Hafezi, Iran’s supreme leader to pardon 10,000 prisoners, including political ones (Reuters, March 18, 2020) (quoting judiciary spokesperson Gholamhossein Esmaili’s March 18, 2020 statement to state TV that the pardons will include a significant number of “security-related prisoners with less than five-year jail sentences”), https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-prisoners-idUSKBN2153RN; Patrick Wintour, Iran to pardon 10,000, including ’security’ prisoners (The Guardian, March 18, 2020) (quoting statement by judiciary spokesperson Gholamhossein Esmaili that “almost half of those security-related [political] prisoners will be pardoned . . . . The unprecedented point is that the [Nowruz] pardon also includes . . . security-related prisoners with less than five-year jail sentences”; further noting that, in previous years, Nowruz pardons generally have not included political prisoners), https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/19/iran-to-pardon-10000-including-security-prisoners.
