Iran: Whether written declarations from Iranian citizens who have been arrested, and then released under the provisions of the declaration, are available to the persons who provided them, either directly from the issuing authorities, or through legal representatives
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 31 August 1999 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | IRN32474.E |
| Reference | 5 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Iran: Whether written declarations from Iranian citizens who have been arrested, and then released under the provisions of the declaration, are available to the persons who provided them, either directly from the issuing authorities, or through legal representatives , 31 August 1999, IRN32474.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ad6150.html [accessed 17 September 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
A lawyer with the New York branch of the Law Offices of Alexander Aghayan stated in a 26 August 1999 telephone interview that it is not uncommon for persons arrested for minor offences to be asked to provide the arresting authorities with some form of written statement. As an example he described the process in which a woman is detained for wearing improper clothing. Once identified by police as being improperly dressed, the woman would then be taken to the local police station. The lawyer said that she would not normally be kept in jail. Instead, she would often, but not always, be asked to sign a declaration that admitted her guilt for the offence, stated her remorse for her actions, and promised that she would not dress in such a way again. If the incident involved a minor, the lawyer said that her parents would then likely be called in to sign a similar statement on the minor's behalf. The lawyer said that this practice of releasing a person on the basis of signed declarations is fairly common in Iran and involves a wide range of minor offences, which he likened to North American parking infractions. He emphasized though that this practice is not used for more serious offences in which the accused comes before a judge. Those cases, the lawyer said, are more formal and involve the accused being freed through the provision of bail guarantees.
The lawyer stated that he was unaware of where written declarations involving minor offences are retained. He stated his belief that they are not held in a central location, since they are often just slips of paper, but rather are kept at the office in which they were issued. He said they "might be" kept on file there but could not be sure. If a person were interested in obtaining a copy of such a declaration, the lawyer suggested they would likely have to inquire at the physical location at which the declaration was given. In his opinion, it is not possible that the person could have a copy obtained through an intermediary, legal or otherwise, who was working from outside Iran. Whether an intermediary could obtain a copy from within Iran depended on a number of factors, including whether the declarations are/were retained by the authority at which they were given, the quality of that office's filing system, as well as how long ago the incident occurred.
The Research Directorate was unable to corroborate this information within the time constraints of this Response.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
Law Offices of Alexander Aghayan, New York. 26 August 1999. Telephone interview with lawyer.
Additional Sources Consulted
Middle East International [London]. January 1998 - July 1999.
Research Directorate. Indexed Media Review (IMR) [Ottawa]. Weekly. January 1998-August 1999.
Resource Centre. Iran country file. January 1998 - August 1999.
Electronic sources: IRB Databases, LEXIS/NEXIS, Internet, REFWORLD (January 1999), World News Connection (WNC).