A/HRC/43/61 D. Rights to liberty and a fair trial 24. Compounding concerns regarding the use of the death penalty and the high execution rate are continued reports of lack of due process and non-adherence to fair trial standards. The Special Rapporteur has received reports of violations, including lack of access to a lawyer of the accused’s choice and to information regarding charges and evidence, arrest without warrant and the use of forced confessions extracted by torture and ill-treatment as evidence. Reportedly due to concerns about the judiciary’s capacity to hold the scheduled number of in-person appeals, an amendment was proposed in May 2019 to leave the decision of whether to hold an in-person appeal to the discretion of the appeals court. Pursuant to a request from the head of the judiciary, the Supreme Leader agreed to this change in practice before its passage in parliament, raising concerns that the appeal process within the criminal justice system had been circumvented. 46 25. The case of Aras Amiri, an Iranian citizen convicted in May 2019 on national security-related charges, is of particular concern in this regard. Ms. Amiri appears to have been arrested for her work promoting Iranian culture with the British Council. She appealed her conviction in June 2019;47 in August 2019, her family was informed that her appeal had been rejected shortly before it was announced on Iranian State television. Ms. Amiri has been sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment and is being held in Evin Prison.48 26. The use of arbitrary detention remains a constant concern. The Special Rapporteur echoes the concerns expressed by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in an October 2019 opinion, in which the Working Group highlighted that the systemic problem of arbitrary detention in the country amounted to a serious violation of international law. 49 1. Dual and foreign nationals 27. The Special Rapporteur remains seriously concerned about the situation of dual and foreign nationals in detention in the Islamic Republic of Iran, including Ahmadreza Djalali, Kamran Ghaderi, Robert Levinson, Siamak Namazi and Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe. A number of new cases have been reported in 2019, including the cases of an Australian national,50 a French national and an Iranian-French national.51 He welcomes the news that two Australian nationals arrested in July 2019 were released in October 2019. 28. The Special Rapporteur also notes the release of United States citizen Xiyue Wang on 7 December 2019. However, the issue of prisoner exchanges, which is what happened in this case and has been raised by the Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs as an option for the release of dual and foreign nationals, raises concerns about the veracity of the Government’s allegations against the individuals detained. He also notes the November 2019 release on bail of Kameel Ahmady, a dual Iranian-British national who was arrested in the Islamic Republic of Iran in August 2019 and whose case is reportedly at the stage of preliminary investigation. He is also concerned about the arrest and detention of Massud Mossaheb, an Austrian-Iranian dual national who has been detained since January 2019 and who, according to the Government, has been charged with “corruption on earth through acting against national security” and “illegally acquiring US$ 429,000”, and whose case is currently under investigation. 46 47 48 49 50 51 8 https://snn.ir/003Gkr. www.britishcouncil.org/contact/press/iran-statement-chief-executive-british-council-sir-ciarandevane; www.iranhumanrights.org/2019/07/jailed-british-council-employee-says-she-rejectedexplicit-invitation-to-spy-for-iran/. https://iranhumanrights.org/2019/08/british-council-employees-10-year-prison-sentence-upheldwithout-a-hearing/. A/HRC/WGAD/2019/51, para. 80. www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/sep/14/kylie-moore-gilbert-named-as-australian-britishacademic-jailed-in-iran-since-2018. www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/country-files/iran/news/article/iran-situation-of-roland-marchal-q-a-fromthe-press-briefing-16-oct-19; www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-iran-france/france-demands-iranrelease-two-of-its-citizens-held-since-june-idUSKBN1WU2XZ.