July 2021 marks Jamshid Sharmahd’s eleventh month in arbitrary detention in Iran, without public charges or a set trial date. Sharmahd, 66, is an Iranian-German national previously involved with the “Kingdom of Assembly of Iran,” an Iranian opposition group accused of planning a deadly 2008 explosion, according to Amnesty International.

Reuters reported in August 2020 that Iranian authorities arrested Sharmahd and detained him in Iran. According to his family, Sharmahd went missing in July 2020 while transiting to India via Dubai on a business trip. At time of writing, Sharmahd’s exact location remains unknown. Sharmand is one of the three known cases of Iranian authorities detaining foreign-based dissidents. In December 2020, authorities executed Rouholllah Zam, a prominent dissident and journalist who was likely arrested in Iraq, after convicting him in a grossly unfair trial.

In an interview with Voice of America, Sharmahd’s daughter said judicial authorities repeatedly blocked the family’s lawyer from meeting Sharmahd or even reviewing his case file, claiming the case is still under investigation. Instead, the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported a judiciary official introduced a different lawyer to the family who could represent Sharmahd for US $250,000, a cost the family cannot afford. Under article 42 of Iran’s criminal procedure law, authorities can restrict access of those who are facing national security charges to legal counsel of their choice during the initial investigation period.

Iranian state television channels previously aired a series of Sharmahd’s “confessions” wherein he allegedly admits to involvement in the attack. The family, as well as other human rights organizations, contend the confessions are coerced. Authorities have a long history of using coerced confessions. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a party, protects the right of every person “[n]ot to be compelled to testify against himself or to confess guilt.” Broadcasting such a confession prior to a suspect’s fair trial violates the principle of presumptive innocence, as outlined in article 14(2).

Sharmahd’s detention is particularly alarming given his pre-existing health conditions. Amnesty International reports Sharmahd has diabetes, heart disease, and Parkinson’s disease. Under the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, known as the Mandela Rules, prisoners who require specialist treatment should be transferred to specialized institutions or to civil hospitals.