Amnesty calls on Iran, UN to investigate death of Iranian-Australian in Tehran prison

Aveen Karim

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Amnesty International on Tuesday called on Iranian authorities and the United Nations (UN) to conduct an immediate “impartial, transparent, and effective investigation” into the death of Iranian-Australian Shokrollah Jebeli in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison on Sunday.

The rights watchdog issued a series of tweets on Sunday denouncing Iranian authorities for not releasing Jebeli from prison sooner and for denying him access to adequate healthcare, following torture and ill-treatment.

A dual Iranian-Australian national, Jebeli died in Evin prison on Sunday after authorities prevented him from accessing life-saving medication, despite repeated warnings from his family and from Amnesty.  Imprisoned since January 2020 over financial disputes in Iran, Jebeli was critically ill.

In its tweets, Amnesty also called on the UN’s Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to investigate “the most serious crimes under international law” committed against prisoners in Iran. 

The news of Jebeli’s death came days after two British-Iranian nationals, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori, were freed by Tehran in return for $530 million of debt paid by the UK Government.

Speaking at a press conference in London on Monday, Zaghari-Ratcliffe called for attention to be given to the countless other detainees “suffering in prison” in Iran, adding that “justice in Iran does not have any meaning.” Zaghari-Ratcliffe touched upon the process of unfair trials in Iran and explained that prisoners have to rely on luck to be assigned a moderate judge, a rare occurrence. 

Amnesty International has previously called on Iran’s authorities to provide accountability for deaths of prisoners, like Jebeli, who endured torture and ill-treatment, later being denied life-saving medical attention.

In a report issued by the watchdog in September 2021, Amnesty International said Iranian authorities have failed to account for at least 72 men and women have died in custody since 2010.

More than half appear to have died from torture and ill-treatment. “In 46 cases, informed sources including the relatives and/or fellow inmates of the deceased reported that the death resulted from physical torture or other ill treatment at the hands of intelligence and security agents or prison officials,” said Amnesty.