No One May Be Arrested, Detained or Exiled Arbitrarily

By Nemat Ahmadi

* Article 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.”

Article 9 forbids governments from arbitrarily arresting, imprisoning or exiling citizens.

Of course, in Iran, neither the Constitution nor existing laws, statutes or legislation permit arbitrary arrest, detention or exile. The problem is the officials in charge.

For example, the law allows temporary detention of suspects for investigation and interrogation purposes. However, the law is also clear that the temporary detention period must be short and limited in duration. But in Iran, as well as in other countries like ours, temporary detentions are anything but.

I stress again that we don’t have a shortage of laws in Iran. To the contrary, there is an abundance of laws. In fact, it can be said that there are too many laws.

The Majlis (Parliament) ratifies two to three thousand pages of new legislation every year. As I said before, the trouble is in the execution.

The laws are applied in such a random, general and non-specific manner in Iran that even the best of laws become unjust when put into action by the authorities.

Another important issue is interpretation. Often times the law is either interpreted incorrectly or in a manner to support the prosecution. It should be the other way around. The law should be interpreted in favor of the accused. In other words, in addition to the presumption of innocence, the prosecution should not be seeking the maximum punishment for the accused from the outset.

For instance, in dealing with first-time offenders, the minimum penalty, or even probation, or a suspended sentence should be entertained and imposed.

In Iran, we have the “Rights of Citizens,” which is even more progressive than the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Moreover, the Iranian Constitution forbids discrimination and persecution based on views, opinions or beliefs. But the point is that none of these laws are enforced.

According to the “Rights of Citizens” and the Constitution, no one is supposed to have the right to ask me what my religion is, what I believe, or even, as Mr. Obama puts it, question whether I am a “nonbeliever.”

Last but not least, the most significant and dire problem we have is the fact that preliminary judicial investigations in Iran are carried out in secret and without any transparency.

Speaking broadly, there are two legal systems in the world. One is the French system founded on religion and originated in Rome and later developed in Germany. The other is the “Common Law” system practiced in Britain and the United States.

Under “Common Law,” the accused has the right not to incriminate himself or herself unless an attorney is present. The right to stay silent is provided for under “Common Law” as well.

There should be some sort of a balance between the accused and the prosecutor. Having a lawyer present on behalf of the detainee does create a balance.

However, under our current prevailing system, when a person is arrested, he or she is presumed guilty and treated as such. Moreover, there are no constraints in place limiting the methods and the time limit the prosecution has to conduct its investigation and interrogation. What’s worse is that the system does not allow the suspect to have a defense lawyer present during the preliminary investigation or the interrogation phase.

France used to have a similarly unjust system, but it was reformed after Napoleon, and that was nearly two hundred years ago. Unfortunately however, it is still practiced in Iran.