Admission of Mass and Arbitrary Arrests During the 12-Day War
23-July-2025
Category: Repression
23 July 2025
News Category: Repression
Breathing in Confinement – More than 2,000 Iranian citizens were arrested during the 12-day war between Iran and Israel.
According to Breathing in Confinement, the news outlet of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, Judiciary Chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i stated in an exclusive interview with the state broadcaster IRIB that “during the 12-day war, the number of detainees reached around 2,000, possibly more. But after investigations and gathering information, many of those individuals—who were neither spies nor enemy agents—were released.”
These comments by the head of the judiciary and enforcer of the law in Iran are deeply problematic and amount to an admission of violations of legal and human rights principles. Several key concerns in his statement include:
1. Presumption of Innocence
According to Article 37 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and Article 11 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
“Everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty by a competent court.”
Therefore, the arrest of around 2,000 people merely based on suspicion or potential involvement in criminal acts—without clear legal justification—constitutes a violation of the principle of presumption of innocence.
2. Preventive Arrests Without Legal Justification
The large-scale detention of thousands of people—many of whom, by Eje’i’s own admission, were “neither spies nor enemy agents”—indicates that there was insufficient legal basis for many of the arrests. This contradicts the principles of fair trial, including the right to be promptly informed of the reasons for arrest and immediate access to legal counsel. It also constitutes a clear violation of Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a state party.
3. Vague and Abused Definitions of “Enemy Agent”
Terms like “enemy agent” or “spy” are frequently exploited by Iranian authorities in the absence of precise legal definitions. In many cases, civil activities, peaceful protests, or even criticism of the government have been classified under such terms—directly infringing on freedom of expression.
4. Treatment of Innocent Individuals
When the judiciary chief acknowledges that many detainees were “neither spies nor enemy agents,” the key question arises:
Were these individuals treated with dignity, given access to legal representation, and held under humane conditions during their detention?
In similar past incidents, there have been numerous reports of arbitrary arrests, ill-treatment, denial of legal access, and coercion for forced confessions.
Eje’i’s remarks are alarming from a human rights perspective, as they reflect a widespread pattern of arresting individuals without proven wrongdoing—often without any legal basis. The subsequent release of many of these individuals further confirms the unjustified nature of their initial detention. This repressive approach stands in stark contradiction to the rule of law and respect for human rights.