On 24 September 2024, the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation (UNPO) together with the Kurdistan Human Rights Association Geneva (KMMK-G) submitted a report to the UN Special Rapporteurs and Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD). This report draws attention to the arbitrary arrest, trial, and disproportionately severe sentencing of Jina Modares Gorji – an Iranian Kurdish journalist and human rights defender. Jina, like many women and ethnic minorities in Iran, was targeted as a result of her work in preserving Kurdish culture and promoting women’s rights in the country.
The Islamic Republic of Iran (Iran) is notoriously known for its repressive policies – particularly against women and ethnic minorities – as well as their outright abuse of human rights through arbitrary arrests, extrajudicial killings, and the violation of freedom of association and assembly. The international community, including the UNPO, has regularly condemned the actions of Iran and its targeting of minority groups. The arbitrary arrest and detention of Jina marks a larger pattern of repression and discrimination of ethnic minorities (like the Kurdish community) residing in Iran. The Kurdish community disproportionately represents those affected by state repression.
Jina Gorji is a strong advocate for the rights of Kurdish women and girls as well as the broader community’s sociocultural rights. Since the wake of the ‘Women, Life, Freedom’ movement, Jina has been arrested twice by the Iranian authorities – first on 21 September 2022 and again on 10 April 2023 when she was ambushed on her way home by Iranian Intelligence Department forces. Jina was charged with threatening national security and spreading propaganda against the state, which was largely justified by Iran’s anti-terrorist legislation. During her detentions, Jina was subjected to deplorable prison conditions and physical assault. Following her second arrest, Jina was arbitrarily detained for three months and spent the first month in solitary confinement. In between these arrests, Jina continued to be subjected to pressure and surveillance by Iranian authorities.
The arbitrary detentions and the repression of the Kurdish community in Iran has been an ongoing concern which the UNPO has and continues to condemn. Following a petition for the release of Kurdish Iranian teacher, Ms Zara Mohammadi, the WGAD issued an opinion indicating that Ms Mohammadi’s imprisonment for teaching the Kurdish language and literature to children resulted in a deprivation of liberty ‘on discriminatory grounds, on the basis of her ethnicity and language’. Similarly, in July, 2024 a detailed report was submitted to the WGAD regarding the arbitrary arrest and detention of five members of the Nojin Cultural Association by Iranian state authorities who were targeted for their association with Nojin and their efforts to uphold Kurdish cultural identity. The UNPO continues to support the rights of the Iranian Kurds and encourages greater accountability of the Iranian Government.
Jina Gorji is at risk of further detainment and exile as a result of an unjustifiably severe sentence by the Iranian judiciary. In these circumstances, the UNPO has requested the WGAD and UN Special Rapporteurs to follow up on and seek an explanation for Jina’s case. It further requests that the following recommendations are made to the Iranian Government:
- Ensure a full and independent investigation of the circumstances surrounding the arbitrary deprivation of liberty of Jina Modares Gorji and the allegations of physical assault against her during her arrest and detention and publish the findings.
- Overturn the convictions against Jina Modares Gorji.
- Conduct an impartial investigation and hold those responsible accountable;
- Cease targeting human rights defenders in Iran and ensure in all circumstances that they can carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisal and free of all restrictions, including judicial harassment.
- Bring Iran’s laws, particularly those regarding the legal conditions of arrests, into conformity with the country’s commitments under international human rights law.
- Take appropriate political, practical, and legal measures to prevent future arbitrary arrests or detention of political opponents. For example, create an independent mechanism to monitor prisons and detention centres, to prevent the ill-treatment and torture of imprisoned individuals.
- Take appropriate and swift measures to ensure more transparent and direct access to information concerning detainees.
Photo credit: https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/profile/jina-modares-gorji
