Statement by 48 Lawyers on Detainees’ Rights Violations — January Protests

Excerpts of the statement:

"The public protests of December 2025/January 2026, which resulted in the horrific tragedy of the killing of thousands of innocent citizens, have once again plunged Iranian society into profound shock and sorrow. Expressing solidarity with the families of the victims and those who have suffered harm in this tragedy is not merely a moral stance, but a social and legal responsibility of every actor committed to the rule of law, including the legal profession. Accordingly, we, a group of attorneys-at-law, while expressing our sympathy with the Iranian people, believe that under such circumstances, the rule of law and the guarantee of the rights of all citizens—including the recently detained—are of paramount and heightened importance.

The rights of the accused and detainees—including the right to defense, the right of access to legal counsel, the right to be informed of the charges and the contents of one’s case file, the right to the protection of privacy and the observance of human dignity, the right of families to be informed of the competent judicial authority and the place of detention, and the right to assurance of the physical well-being of the detained person—are inherent, mandatory, and self-evident rights.

However, regrettably, in the course of the recent mass arrests, numerous instances have been observed of the complete deprivation of the right to an independent defense attorney at the prosecutor’s office, violations of the right to choose and be accompanied by counsel in certain courts, court sessions lasting only a few minutes, restrictions on providing information to families, the illegal broadcast of televised confessions, limitations on visitation and the non-enforcement of bail orders, severe overcrowding in prisons, the spread of disease, and the failure to provide appropriate medical care and attention to the health conditions of prisoners. In addition, repeated accounts have been heard of violent treatment, the extraction of confessions under pressure, and the holding of detainees in solitary confinement." 

In another part of the statement, the lawyers issued a grave warning about the repeated and ongoing violations of the rights of the accused and detainees in connection with the January protests. They stressed the necessity of strict adherence to the rule of law, the effective and public safeguarding of defense rights, and full compliance with the principles of a fair trial, stating:

“It is evident that these warnings do not mean that we lawyers will hesitate, even for a moment, in fulfilling our professional duties to defend the rights of the people; for undoubtedly, by virtue of the oath we have taken, the more the people are placed under pressure and hardship, the more resolute we will be in pursuing and vindicating their rights.”

Signatories:

Hassan Aghakhani – Mohammad Hossein Aghasi – Masoud Ahmadian – Amin Adel Ahmadian – Shahla Orooji – Astarreh Ansari – Parto Borhanpour – Mahmoud Behzadi Rad – Babak Paknia – Milad PanahiPour – Houshang Pourbabaei – Seyed Hossein Taj – Saeedeh Hosseinzadeh – Shadi Halimi – Maryam Khojasteh – Fatemeh Khorsand – Gholamreza Kheiraldin – Mahdakht Damghanpour – Payam Darafshan – Dariush Razmjooei – Amir Raeisian – Hassan Asadi Zeydabadi – Farzaneh Zilabi – Nazanin Salari – Alireza Shoja – Ali Sharifzadeh Ardakani – Bahareh Sahraeian – Ramin Safarnia

Mazyar Tattai – Mahmoud Taravat-Rouy – Abolfazl Gholami – Babak Eslami Farsani – Abolfazl Ghorbani – Arash Karazma – Mohammad Ali Kamfiroozi – Majid Kaveh – Hojjat Kermani – Maryam Kian-Arthi – Ali Mojtahedzadeh – Osman Mozayyen – Adel Moghaddas Jorahi – Manoosh Manoochehri – Shahab Mirlohi – Zahra Minoui – Behnam Nezadi – Abouzar Nasrollahi – Mostafa Nili – Hassan Younesi

***