Washington is calling on Tehran to release three Iranian opposition leaders who have been under house arrest since 2011 without being formally charged with any crime.
The U.S. State Department issued the call on February 14 – marking the third anniversary of the detention of former presidential candidates and opposition leaders Mehdi Karrubi and Mir Hossein Musavi, and Musavi’s wife – women’s rights advocate Zahra Rahnavard.
Karrubi and Musavi ran in Iran’s disputed 2009 presidential election, in which former President Mahmud Ahmadinejad was declared the official winner.
They were placed under house arrest in February 2011 after calling for demonstrations in support of Arab Spring uprisings.
Earlier on February 14, the human rights group Amnesty International also called on Iranian authorities to “immediately end the arbitrary detention” of the opposition figures.
It said they have been held without charge or trial for three years, with no possibility to challenge the lawfulness of their detention.
Amnesty said it was concerned about the health conditions of the three figures, all of whom are elderly and suffering from physical ailments.
Based on reporting by RFE/RL
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U.S. calls for release of detained opposition leaders
The U.S. Department of State has called on Iranian authorities to end the house arrest of MirHosein Mousavi, Zahra Rahnavard and Mehdi Karroubi, who have lived under such conditions since February 2011.
In a statement the State Department says: “Three years ago today, the Iranian Government put former presidential candidates and opposition leaders Mehdi Karroubi, Mir Hossein Mousavi, and his wife, women’s rights advocate Zahra Rahnavard, under house arrest without formally charging them with any crimes. We join the international community in condemning their continued imprisonment and the harassment of their family members, and in calling for their immediate release.”
Amnesty International has expressed grave concern regarding the treatment of these figures and has called for an immediate end to their “arbitrary detention.”
The statement from the U.S. Department of State remind IRanian authorties that “Iran’s constitution, its laws, and its international obligations guarantee its citizens minimum fair trial guarantees and provide that no one shall be subject to arbitrary arrest or detention. “
The Iranian government has cut off these opposition figures from the outside world, and the judiciary has said on several occasions that it is not in the interest of the system to give them a public trial.
Radio Zamaneh