Amnesty International appeals for release of Maryam Akbari Monfared, relative of victims 1988 massacre

Amnesty International in an Urgent Action appeal on 27 August 2021 called for the immediate release of Maryam Akbari Monfared, an Iranian prisoner of conscience, held in custody for more than 12 years for her open letters condemning the Iranian authorities’ human rights violations and seeking truth and justice for her siblings who were forcibly disappeared and extrajudicially executed during the 1988 massacre of political prisoners.

On 10 March 2021, Maryam Akbari Monfared was suddenly transferred from Evin prison in Tehran to a distant prison in Semnan province some 200km away from her family, in breach of both international and Iranian law requiring prisoners to be held, to the extent possible, in prisons close to their homes.

Amnesty International urged Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, Head of Iran’s judiciary to immediately end her punitive and unsafe placement in Semnan prison and ensure that she is granted regular access to her family. Amnesty International further called on Ejei to urgently address the concerns pertaining to hygiene and medical care in Semnan prison, ensuring that all prisoners are treated humanely, in accordance with international law and standards, including the Nelson Mandela Rules, and allow international monitors, including the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, to conduct independent, unannounced inspections of Semnan prison in line with international standards.

Find the full text of Amnesty International’s Urgent Action here: