Imprisonment of Atena Daemi

On the evening of 16 March 2021, woman human rights defender Atena Daemi was transferred from Evin Prison to Lakan Prison in Rasht, northern Iran. She had been serving her sentence in the women's ward of Evin Prison since December 2016, during which time she was not granted any leave of absence. No explanation for the transfer was given.

Following the transfer to Lakan prison, for which Atena Daemi was handcuffed, she was denied telephone calls and access to her personal belongings. The family of the woman human rights defender described her transfer to Lakan prison, a four and a half hour journey each way from her parents home, as an exile and an act intended to limit the family’s visitation rights.

On 2 July 2020, Atena Daemi was sentenced by Branch 24 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court to two additional years in prison and 74 lashes. The woman human rights defender’s lawyer attended the hearing for the charges of “propaganda against the state”, for which she was sentenced to one year, and another year and 74 lashes for “disrupting the prison order”.

On 10 June 2020, the prosecutor’s office informed the imprisoned defender that she had been charged with “disturbing order” at Evin prison for chanting anti-government slogans on the night of 11 February, the anniversary of Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. Atena Daemi denied the charge.

If the sentence is upheld, Atena Daemi must serve one year, according to Article 134 of Iran’s Islamic Penal Code, which requires defendants to serve the maximum punishment for the charge that carries the longest sentence in cases involving multiple sentences. Atena Daemi has been imprisoned since October 2016 as part of a seven year prison sentence for charges related to distributing anti-death penalty leaflets and posts on social media criticizing Iran’s execution record.

In late December 2019, following their participation in a peaceful sit-in protest in Evin prison, two women human rights defenders were subjected to ill-treatment by the prison authorities. Atena Daemi was put in solitary confinement, where she was physically abused and denied medical assistance. Narges Mohammadi was physically abused by security agents and transferred to Zanjan prison located over 300 km from Tehran.

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Atena Daemi is a human rights defender who has advocated for the rights of children in Kobane and Gaza, for women's rights and against death penalty. Narges Mohammadi is the Deputy Director of the Defenders of Human Rights Centre (DHRC). She was elected as President of the Executive Committee of the National Council of Peace in Iran, a broad coalition against war and for the promotion of human rights. She has campaigned for the abolition of death penalty in Iran, and was awarded the Per Anger Prize by the Swedish government for her human rights work in 2011

On 21 December 2019, a group of prisoners, including the two human rights defenders, started a peaceful sit-in protest in Evin Prison Political Bureau against the violent state response to the recent protests in the country. On 25 December 2019, Narges Mohammadi was called by the prison guards to meet with her lawyer, but once she left the ward, several agents from the Ministry of Intelligence violently handcuffed her, causing her wrists to bleed. She was then forcibly put in a vehicle and taken to Zanjan prison located over 300 km from Tehran. During the transfer, the human rights defender was physically abused by the intelligence officers, while she kept bleeding from her wrists.

On 28 December 2019, Atena Daemi was transferred to an unknown location. After 4 days, on 31 December 2019, she was allowed to call her family and inform them that she had been put in solitary confinement in Evin prison’s ward 2A, which is controlled by the Intelligence Organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. While in solitary confinement, Atena Daemi was physically abused by the intelligence officers, and was denied medical assistance. On 8 January 2020, she was transferred back to the ordinary prison ward.

Both women human rights defenders have faced restrictions on family and lawyer visits. Moreover, Narges Mohammadi had previously been threatened by the Evin prison director with physical abuse and solitary confinement, if she did not stop her human rights activism.

Atena Daemi was sentenced in May 2015 to 14 years’ imprisonment for “insulting the Supreme Leader” and “assembly and collusion against national security”. In September 2016, her prison term was reduced to seven years following an appeal.

Narges Mohammadi is currently serving a 16 year prison sentence for “membership in the Step by Step to Stop the Death Penalty group”, “collusion and assembly against national security” and “spreading propaganda against the system”. Her conviction is linked with her activities at the DHRC, interviews she conducted with foreign media outlets, establishing the Step by Step to Stop Death Penalty group (also known as LEGAM) and her work with Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi.

Front Line Defenders is deeply concerned about the ongoing imprisonment and ill-treatment of Atena Daemi and Narges Mohammadi, and it believes that they are being targeted solely as a result of their peaceful and legitimate human rights activities.

UPDATE: On 12 May 2018, Atena Daemi and Golrokh Iraee were returned to Evin Prison after having been illegally transferred to Gharchak prison (in the city of Varamin) for three and half months. Both human rights defenders had been on hunger strike in protest at the transfer.

Alarmed by the detention of two women human rights defenders in Iran, the Chair of the Human Rights Subcommittee (DROI) of the European Parliament Pier Antonio Panzeri, made the following statement:

"I am gravely concerned by the detention and reported cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment of Atena Daemi and Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee at Shahr-e Rey prison.  They are regarded as prisoners of conscience by credible human rights organisations. They are serving lengthy and unjust prison sentences that were handed down solely for their peaceful human rights work.

Therefore I urge the Iranian authorities to release them immediately and unconditionally.

Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee and Atena Daemi should also be given urgent and adequate medical attention and care due to their fragile and deteriorating state of health as a result of their lengthy hunger strike and ill-treatment, including previous harassment and physical attacks by other inmates and guards. I call on the prison administration and the relevant authorities to guarantee regular contacts with family members, including prison visits and phone calls. I also call on the authorities to take immediate steps to improve the detention conditions and facilities at Shahr-e Rey prison."

UPDATE: Atena Daemi and Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee are still on hunger strike as of 15 February 2018. Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee fainted on 12 February, and both defenders are suffering from fragile health conditions. On 13 February 2018, the mother and sister of Atena Daemi were arrested after being beaten by prison guards with batons while standing in front of Evin prison to show their solidarity with the defender. They were released that same evening.

As of 24 July 2017, Atena Daemi continues to be denied adequate specialized medical care at Tehran’s Evin prison to treat the effects of her recent 55-day hunger strike. On 31 May 2017, Atena Daemi ended the hunger strike she began on 8 April 2017. There is increased concern for the human rights defender’s health due to prison authorities’ continued refusal to transfer her to an external hospital to treat the severe health problems stemming from her hunger strike.

Atena Daemi is a children's and human rights defender who has advocated for the rights of children in Kobane and Gaza, for women's rights and against capital punishment. The 29-year-old has been imprisoned since November 2016 after being convicted of charges that were based solely on her peaceful human rights activities, including meeting the families of political prisoners and condemning the mass executions of political prisoners in 1988.

Although the human rights defender has ended her hunger strike, there is increased concern for her health due to the prison authorities’ refusal to transfer her to an external hospital. Although Atena Daemi has been taken to hospital for eye tests, she has not been provided with the ongoing specialist medical treatment required to treat her kidney problems, and which is only available in a hospital outside the prison. There is also concern that medical treatment is being withheld from some “difficult” prisoners as a form of punishment. Prison authorities have  previously complained about media reports highlighting the lack of adequate treatment of prisoners, and have threatened to retaliate against prisoners, including Atena Daemi.

On 31 May 2017, Atena Daemi ended her hunger strike after she and her sisters were acquitted of additional charges brought by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and which resulted in additional time being added onto the human rights defender’s seven-year prison sentence. The case against Atena Daemi and her sisters was prompted by the fact that the human rights defender had submitted a mistreatment complaint against agents of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) who used excessive force while arresting her on 26 November 2016.

On 8 May 2017, one month after her hunger strike began, Atena Daemi was transferred to a hospital outside of prison for medical tests arranged by her family. However, she was returned to prison before her test results were received. At a follow-up appointment on 15 May 2017, her doctor advised that Atena Daemi, who was suffering from nausea, vomiting, blood pressure fluctuation and kidney pain, needed to be immediately admitted to hospital. Authorities at Evin prison refused her transfer to the hospital outside of prison for medical treatment, and she was returned to the prison again the same day. Later that day Atena Daemi was taken to the prison clinic after coughing up blood. In April 2017, the Quds Criminal Court added 91 days to Daemi’s seven-year prison sentence and issued suspended 91-day prison sentences to her sisters, prompting the human rights defender to begin her hunger strike.

In a recent open letter, Atena Daemi and fellow prisoner Golrokh Iraee described the conditions in Evin prison, and the level of medical care available, which contrasted sharply with the positive image of the prison given to a group of 40 foreign Ambassadors who were given a private tour of the prison on 5 July 2017.

“They have spoken, and you have spoken, of women’s health services. We’ll speak of it now: of the state of the clinic and mistakes in medication, of the lack of antiseptics and cleaning products excused by ‘budget shortfalls’. […] Have they told you that, owing to excuses based in religious law, male doctors don’t perform medical exams, injections, or electrocardiograms on women prisoners? Did they say that there’s not a single woman nurse in the whole prison to do these things for us? Do you know that hundreds, perhaps thousands of prisoners here suffer from kidney disease from drinking the prison’s unhealthy water? […]  If only you’d also been able to ride the Evin ambulance during your review, too, to see the lack of necessities inside it!”

Front Line Defenders is concerned by the Iranian authorities’ failure to provide the necessary medical treatment for Atena Daemi, and calls on the government to ensure that the human rights defender receives the specialist medical treatment required to treat the effects of her hunger strike. Front Line Defenders reiterates its call for the immediate and unconditional release of Atena Daemi who is imprisoned in reprisal for her peaceful and legitimate human rights activities.

On 8 April 2017, human rights defender, Atena Daemi, began a hunger strike in protest at the three-month and one day prison sentence that was handed down to her and her sisters by Branch 1163 of the Qods Criminal Court on 3 April 2017 for “insulting officers on duty”. The defender is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence at Evin prison in Tehran.

Atena Daemi  has advocated for children’s rights and women's rights in Kobane and Gaza and against capital punishment in Iran. She has also supported children suffering as a result of fighting in Syria’s Kurdish regions. Initially sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment in May 2015 for ‘insulting the Supreme Leader' and ‘assembly and collusion against national security’, her term was reduced to seven years on appeal in September 2016. In February 2016 she was released on bail but was re-arrested on 26 November that year.

On 3 April 2017, an additional three months and one day were added to Atena Daemi’s seven-year prison sentence. Both of Atena Daemi’s sisters were also sentenced to three months and one day in prison with a one-year suspended sentence. The ruling came after the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) complained that the three sisters had “insulted officers on duty”. Contesting the sentence, Atena Daemi carried out a sit-in protest on the day of the sentencing outside a guard station in Evin prison. When the authorities failed to respond to her protest, the human rights defender began a hunger strike on 9 April 2017.

The court’s ruling against Atena Daemi and her sisters came after the defender submitted a mistreatment complaint against agents of the IRGC who used excessive force while arresting her on 26 November 2016. The Iranian courts have thus far failed to look into this complaint, which she made in late 2016. When the human rights defender’s lawyer asked the court about her client’s complaint against the IRGC, the court said that it had no knowledge of its existence.

Front Line Defenders condemns the additional sentence issued against Atena Daemi, the sentences against her sisters, as well as the current ongoing seven-year sentence against Atena Daemi, as it believes that they were issued solely in reaction to legitimate and peaceful human rights activities. Front Line Defenders further calls on the Iranian government to release Atena Daemi immediately and drop all charges against her and her sisters.

On 26 November 2016, Atena Daemi was taken into custody from her home where she had been since being released on bail in February. Her relatives report that she was taken to Evin Prison.  In September, her prison sentence had been reduced from 14 to 7 years, but there had been no indication that she would be taken back to prison when security forces raided her family's home.

On 15 February 2016, children's rights defender Ms Atena Daemi was released on bail of five billion Iranian rials (approximately €149,213).

She will remain at liberty until the examination of her case by an Appeals Court at an as yet unknown date. Prior to her release on bail, the human rights defender had spent 482 days in detention in Evin prison.

On 14 May 2015 Atena Daemi was sentenced to fourteen years'imprisonment by the Revolutionary Court of Tehran on charges reported to include propaganda against the Iranian regime, collusion against the regime on the basis of holding demonstrations in support of the children of Kobane in Syria, opposition to the execution of Reyhaneh Jabbari, insulting the Supreme Leader of Iran, and blasphemy connected to listening to protest songs. She was arrested by the Intelligence Organisation of Iran's Revolutionary Guard on 21 October 2014. The case against her has also been partly founded on posts the human rights defender had made on Facebook.

Prior to her release on bail, the human rights defender's health had been deteriorating significantly as a result of inhumane treatment and torture in detention. Whilst detained, Atena Daemi has been subjected to long-term solitary confinement and suffered from poor air quality, lack of sunlight and poor nutrition, which have resulted in her developing a skin disease and the weakening of her eyesight. The human rights defender has also suffered from stomach bleeding. On 4 July 2015, she was taken to Sadeghiyeh Clinic in Tehran due to her increasingly poor state of health.

On 14 May 2015, human rights defender Ms Atena Daemi was sentenced to fourteen years' imprisonment by the Revolutionary Court of Tehran.

The human rights defender was arrested by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards on 21 October 2014. The charges on which she has been sentenced reportedly include propaganda against the Iranian regime, collusion against the regime on the basis of holding demonstrations in support of the children of Kobane in Syria, and in opposition to the execution of Reyhaneh Jabbari, insulting the Supreme Leader of Iran, and blasphemy in connection to listening to an Iranian rappers protest songs. The case against her has also been founded partly upon posts the human rights defender had made on Facebook.

Atena Daemi was arrested by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards on 21 October 2014. She was initially held in solitary confinement at Evin Prison's 2-Alef Sepah ward, where she underwent interrogation. She was later transferred to the prison's women's ward, where she continues to be detained. She was subjected to torture during her time in detention and has been left with a skin disease and weakened eyesight.