Diplomacy that fails to address Iran's human-rights violations is hardly diplomacy at all
Irwin Cotler is the international chair of the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, Canadian former minister of justice and attorney-general, and international legal counsel to Ahmadreza Djalali. Judith Abitan is the executive director of the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights and a fellow of Harvard University's Carr Center for Human Rights Policy and Weatherhead Center for International Affairs Scholars program.
On April 25, 2016, Ahmadreza Djalali, a Swedish-Iranian disaster-medicine expert, was arrested by the Islamic Republic of Iran's Ministry of Intelligence. Despite being invited by the University of Tehran, he was arbitrarily detained and subjected to months of interrogation in solitary confinement at Evin Prison's Ward 209, and then sentenced to death for 'corruption on earth' following a sham trial based on coerced confessions of espionage extracted under torture.
Iranian state media has relentlessly spread falsehoods, portraying Dr. Djalali as a threat to the state and enemy of the people. These slanders have been exploited against him while traumatizing his family in Sweden, exemplifying the intersection of domestic oppression and transnational repression.
Dr. Djalali's wife and children – 13 and 4 when he was taken – have been forced to spend a significant part of their lives away from him. He continues to suffer from debilitating physical and mental health issues due to prolonged detention, denial of access to family, medical care and consular protection – conditions that amount to torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.
Dr. Djalali's arbitrary detention not only violates Iran's international humanitarian obligations under relevant treaties and conventions, it breaches Iran's own civil, criminal, constitutional and Sharia laws. The Iranian Constitution guarantees fair trial rights, including the right to select legal representation, presumption of innocence and protection against unlawful detention – all of which have been violated in his case and in the cases of thousands of other documented detainees.
Yet as we write, the United States is negotiating a new nuclear deal with Tehran. There is no indication that Iran's human-rights violations will be raised as part of a potential deal; its persecution and prosecution of political prisoners, as well as 'the harms inherent in hostage-taking – most notably torture," which the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture has characterized as 'a crime against humanity when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population with knowledge of the attack' – have yet to be redressed.
It is imperative that the negotiations confront Iran's sevenfold threat to international peace and security, its brutal crackdown on dissent, systemic repression of women, persecution of minorities, censorship of expression, violent suppression of protests, torture in prisons and weaponization of the judiciary.
Indeed, any diplomatic engagement that ignores these calculated and sustained attacks on human dignity is not diplomacy – it is complicity.
Inaction only serves to stain the world's liberal democracies. The Swedish government's unassertive action on Dr. Djalali's behalf risks undermining its principles of equality before the law, as seen in other emblematic cases involving detained Swedish citizens such as playwright and journalist Dawit Isaak, who has been jailed in Eritrea for more than two decades, and publisher Gui Minhai, who has been in custody in China since 2015.
Dr. Djalali's exclusion from a prisoner swap last year raises concerns that Sweden has de facto abandoned him, even though diplomatic remedy is an international obligation, not a matter of national discretion. In his own words, '3,288 days of suffering and being under risk of execution show the inefficacy of words and condemnation. Termination of my torture-like conditions needs a real and joint action by the EU and Swedish officials. Otherwise, if I die here, either due to execution or illness, the officials who were careless and neutral about my situation over all these years and left me behind when able to return me home, are also responsible in my death.'
Time is of the essence. In the first 25 days of May, at least 113 people were executed in Iran, averaging four per day, and on May 28, Iranian dissident Pedram Madani was executed. This is not just a travesty of justice; this is state-sanctioned extrajudicial killing.
As Dr. Djalali's health rapidly declines, the international community must act quickly to secure his release. Canada is well-placed to lead this effort by making the appropriate representations to the UN Human Rights Council, invoking the Declaration Against Arbitrary Detention in State-to-State Relations and requesting immediate medical furlough. The Community of Democracies should join France in initiating legal action against Iran at the International Court of Justice, using Dr. Djalali's case to highlight a broader pattern of arbitrary detention, executions and violations of consular rights.
Iran's mistreatment of Dr. Djalali is not only an affront to Sweden but a crime against all member states. Now, justice must be served without delay.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBC
2 hours ago
- CBC
With no embassy in Tehran, Canada reacts to turmoil in Iran from afar
Social Sharing Neither Israel nor Iran is backing down from an escalating conflict that has endangered civilians in both countries, and because Canada has no embassy in Iran, Ottawa is having to work from afar to support thousands of Canadian citizens stuck there. While Canada has an embassy in Israel, it severed diplomatic relations with Tehran more than a decade ago. Though having an embassy presence would provide Canada with certain advantages, analysts and observers say there are limits in what can be done on the ground with so much chaos unfolding. WATCH | Urgent talks at a tense time: Talks and tensions: The CBC's Natasha Fatah talks with former U.S. ambassador Philip Reeker 12 hours ago Duration 8:40 European officials urged Iran to restrict its nuclear program hoping for off-ramp from conflict before President Trump decides whether to join Israel's bombing campaign. Get the latest on the CBC News App, and CBC News Network for breaking news and analysis That said, Bruce Mabley, a retired diplomat whose postings included stints in the Middle East, says having a diplomatic presence at least allows both countries to potentially talk to one another. "It's stupid not to be there," he said. A long way to the border Global Affairs Canada did not respond to questions from CBC News about how the lack of an embassy presence was impacting Ottawa's efforts to support Canadians inside Iran. But even if Canada did have an embassy in Tehran right now, that wouldn't change the fact that flights aren't leaving the capital. Both Iran and Israel had closed their airspaces while launching numerous attacks over the last week, though Iran recently allowed an Indian flight to leave from another part of the country, and several more were reportedly expected to follow. Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand has publicly urged Canadians fleeing both Israel and Iran to head to Jordan, Armenia and Turkey. But the journey to neighbouring nations of Turkey or Armenia is a long one for anyone living in the Iranian capital, which is hundreds of kilometres from either of those destinations. "The border is really far away," said University of Toronto history professor Mohamad Tavakoli-Targhi, who was born in Tehran and has family still in Iran. He says the roads out of the Iranian capital have been jammed with people trying to flee, making that route out more difficult. A tense journey One of his students, Hanieh Bakhtiari, recently travelled back to Iran to visit her parents, and the fighting started days after she arrived. Bakhtiari and her partner fled the country on a bus, in a tense, 11-hour journey to Turkey, during which she says she was "constantly watching" the skies for potential attacks. "We were … very much scared of being attacked while we were on the road," said Bakhtiari, who spoke to CBC's As It Happens about her journey out of Iran. Israel began a wave of attacks on June 13, targeting Iranian military and nuclear sites with airstrikes that have killed high-ranking Iranian generals and nuclear scientists. The Washington-based group Human Rights Activists in Iran says that as of Thursday, at least 657 people have been killed in the Israeli attacks, and of those, at least 263 were civilians. Iran has launched retaliatory strikes, which the Israeli military estimates have involved at least 450 missiles and 1,000 drones. At least two dozen people in Israel have been killed. The Israeli push against Iran may draw U.S. involvement, though U.S. President Donald Trump has delayed making a decision. WATCH | From 2013, a look at the top-secret closure of Canada's Embassy in Iran: Inside Canada's top-secret diplomatic exit from Iran 12 years ago Duration 4:26 One year later, CBC's Terry Milewski has exclusive new details The costs of cutting ties Opinions are split among observers on whether it would be better for Canada to have an embassy in Tehran. "Having an embassy in Tehran would not be a panacea," said Peter G. Bates, a retired Canadian diplomat who was twice posted to Tehran and helped close the Canadian embassy there in 2012. Phil Gurski, a former Iran intelligence analyst for Canadian spy agencies, finds himself "on both sides" of the debate. On one hand, he says there's a point where a line is crossed that cannot be tolerated, but when an embassy gets shut down and ties are cut, "you're essentially flying blind." Gurski says there are other ways for the government to monitor events in Iran — including reviewing information from satellites, the use of signals intelligence, or conferring with friendly embassies about what's unfolding on the ground. Gurski, Mabley and Bates all note that when an embassy is closed, a government will typically ask an ally with an embassy presence in that same region to provide support in its absence. However, any friendly embassy doing favours for Canada will expectedly prioritize the needs of its own citizens first. And as things escalate between Israel and Iran, any such ally may also be getting similar requests from other nations that don't have a diplomatic presence in Tehran. U of T's Tavakoli-Targhi sees a clear benefit that an embassy provides, beyond giving diplomatic staff better access to citizens abroad.
Toronto Star
2 hours ago
- Toronto Star
The Latest: 2nd week of Israel-Iran war starts with renewed strikes
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The second week of the Israel-Iran war started with a renewed round of strikes despite talks between European ministers and Iran's top diplomat. Friday's talks, which aimed at de-escalating the fighting between the two adversaries, lasted for four hours in Geneva, but failed to produce a breakthrough. Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump continued to weigh his country's military involvement and concerns spiked over potential strikes on nuclear reactors.
Winnipeg Free Press
2 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
The Latest: 2nd week of Israel-Iran war starts with renewed strikes
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The second week of the Israel-Iran war started with a renewed round of strikes despite talks between European ministers and Iran's top diplomat. Friday's talks, which aimed at de-escalating the fighting between the two adversaries, lasted for four hours in Geneva, but failed to produce a breakthrough. Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump continued to weigh his country's military involvement and concerns spiked over potential strikes on nuclear reactors. Still, European officials expressed hope for future negotiations. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he was open to further dialogue but stressed Tehran wasn't interested in negotiating with the U.S. while Israel continued attacking. Here is the latest: Tehran vows to make Grossi 'pay' A senior adviser for Iran's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, vowed in a social media post Saturday to make the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency 'pay' once the war with Israel is over. Ali Larijani's threat comes as IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi has become a major target for many Iranian officials who say his conflicting statements about the status of Iran's nuclear program incited the Israeli surprise attack last week. Grossi told the United Nations' Security Council Friday that while Iran has the material to build a nuclear bomb, it appears they have no plans to do so.
