We Must Do More To Bring Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe Home
It is now more than five years since Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arbitrarily detained as a prisoner of the Iranian State. The former journalist was initially convicted in 2016 after being found guilty of “working against the Iranian state,” although her employer, Thomson Reuters Foundation, confirmed that she was there to visit her parents with 22-month-old daughter, Gabriella.
Iran’s treatment ‘amounts to torture’
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab recently stated that Iran’s treatment of Nazanin “amounts to torture” – the strongest language the UK government has used against the Iranian regime to date. Speaking on the Andrew Marr Show, Mr Raab said: “Nazanin is held unlawfully, in my view, as a matter of international law. I think she is being treated in the most abusive, torturous way. There is an obligation on Iran to release her immediately and without condition.”
Richard Ratcliffe welcomed the Foreign Secretary’s remarks about torture, suggesting he set down a “rhetorical and legal red line.” But whilst the UK government has made the usual noises condemning Iran, and claiming to be “working very hard” to secure her release, little real action is seen. Boris Johnson’s catastrophic blunder while Foreign Secretary in 2017, when he said that Nazanin “was simply teaching people journalism,” risked adding jail time to her sentence. Now, he must do more than issue press statements to secure her release.
Jailed for another year
In March, Nazanin was sentenced to a further year in prison and a one-year travel ban after being found guilty of propaganda against the Iranian regime. Her lawyer said she was accused of taking part in a protest in London 12 years ago and speaking to the BBC Persian service.
The new sentence is a terrible blow to Nazanin and her family, who have campaigned to get her home for the last five years. As her daughter approaches her seventh birthday, early memories of her mother will be beginning to fade, and Richard Ratcliffe says the threat that she won’t be able to come home any time soon is bigger than he feared.
A medical assessment carried out for the human rights charity Redress found Nazanin has post-traumatic stress disorder from her treatment in prison and uncertainty about her fate. It is vital that the government acts quickly to protect Nazanin from further harm. As Amnesty International UK’s Individuals at Risk Campaign Manager Kathy Voss has said: “The UK Government must make urgent representations on Nazanin’s case at the highest level. Unless it can be shown that she’s been charged with an internationally recognisable criminal offence and allowed to defend herself in proceedings that meet international fair trial standards, this conviction and sentence should be quashed and she should be freed.”
A window of opportunity
Sherry Izadi, the wife of Anoosheh Ashoori, another British-Iranian serving a 10-year sentence in Iran, fears that her husband has been forgotten. Ashoori has twice tried to commit suicide in prison, and is now at risk of contracting Covid-19 in crowded and unsanitary jail conditions.
“We sincerely hope any deal includes all dual nationals, who deserve the same treatment,” Izadi said. “This is a window of opportunity for the government to make a deal and, if they miss this opportunity, I’m worried he’s going to rot in jail.” Richard Ratcliffe echoed Izadi’s belief in the importance of this diplomatic moment by saying, “you can’t un-torture Nazanin, but the government can make sure this is not happening to others.”
Ratcliffe also believes that his wife is being used as a bargaining chip in the dispute over unpaid debt, which dates back to the 1970s when the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi paid the UK for 1,500 Chieftain tanks, and as leverage in talks over the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.
Indeed, the UK and Iran are in discussions over the £400 million debt, but the talks are not being linked to the detention of dual nationals in Tehran. The government maintains that the two are “separate issues,” despite both Nazanin and Anoosheh having been told directly that their cases are connected to the military debt.
Given the secretive and unjust manner in which the Iranian judiciary conducts its affairs, any real hope for Nazanin lies in swift government intervention. By remaining dormant in the face of her abuse, the UK fails to act in the interest of liberty and justice.
Written by Caitlin - Conscience Collective
