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Human Rights Commissioner condemns house arrest of Iranian opposition leaders Karroubi and Moussavi
On 13 February Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Aid at the Federal Foreign Office Christoph Strässer issued the following statement on the occasion of the fourth anniversary of the imposition of house arrest on Iranian opposition leaders Karroubi and Moussavi:
Iranian opposition leaders Mehdi Karroubi, Mir Hossein Moussavi and Moussavi’s wife Zahra Rahnavard have been under house arrest since 14 February 2011. To date no trial has been held. The house arrest is therefore devoid of any legal basis.
I call upon the Iranian leadership to finally end the house arrest, which has now been in place for four years.
Iran has ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and has thus pledged to observe and protect the rights of all its citizens. Continued random detentions are a clear breach of this pledge.
Background information:
The two Iranian opposition leaders Mir Hossein Moussavi and Mehdi Karroubi stood in the 2009 election campaign against President Ahmadinejad, the incumbent at that time. They were gradually adopted as the representatives of the protest movement that emerged following the announcement of the election results (“Green Movement”). After enduring considerable restrictions on their freedom of movement, they were placed under house arrest on 14 February 2011 along with Moussavi’s wife, Zahra Rahnavard. To date the Iranian judicial authorities have made no formal charges against them, nonetheless they remain under house arrest.