Secretary-General of the Human Rights Headquarters Nasser Seraj, in a letter to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, condemned the arrest of Iranian citizen Mahdieh Esfandiari in France and called for the immediate release of this Iranian citizen and compensation for the moral and material damages suffered by her.
The full text of letter by Seraj to the U.N. high commissioner is as follows:
In the Name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful
H.E. Mr. Volker Türk
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Excellency,
In my capacity as Secretary-General of the High Council for Human Rights of the Islamic Republic of Iran—an entity mandated, inter alia, with the pursuit of human rights violations and the restitution of infringed rights of Iranian nationals abroad—I hereby bring to Your Excellency’s attention, through this communication, the numerous and egregious violations of human rights perpetrated against Ms. Mahdieh Esfandiari, a citizen of the Islamic Republic of Iran, by the Government of France. I further wish to express profound concern regarding the continuation of these violations.
The abovenamed, a 39-year-old Iranian national (a translator and graduate of the University of Lyon), resides in France. She disappeared under suspicious circumstances on 28 February 2025. After an unexplained and prolonged absence (approximately 12–13 days), her family notified Iranian authorities. Following nearly a month of silence, French judicial authorities confirmed in early April 2025 that she had been detained and was being held at Fresnes Prison in the suburbs of Paris. The Paris Prosecutor’s Office claims that her detention was predicated on charges of “glorifying terrorism,” specifically due to her purported publication of content on a Telegram channel in support of Operation Al-Aqsa Storm.
Such an act undertaken by the French Government, along with the spurious accusations underpinning the arbitrary detention of Ms. Esfandiari, warrants serious consideration from two fundamental perspectives:
First, this act constitutes a flagrant violation of Ms. Esfandiari’s human rights and demonstrates France’s failure to adhere to its international and human rights obligations. Second, such conduct constitutes an integral component of the politicized and discretionary approach of Western governments in general, and the French government in particular, in their treatment of the issue of human rights—an approach wherein one witnesses the deliberate disregard for the crimes against humanity perpetrated by the Zionist regime against the oppressed people of Gaza; the willful indifference to the deeply wounded sentiments of nations vis-à-vis such atrocities; the distortion of global public opinion; as well as complicity in, and support for, the genocidal eradication of the Palestinian people. This behavioral duplicity bears no congruence whatsoever with the deafening proclamations of the French government in favor of human rights, and serves rather to affirm the spurious and hollow nature of such claims.
As Your Excellency is aware, the French Government is a State Party to the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, a number of universal human rights instruments and their respective protocols, as well as the European Convention on Human Rights. Prima facie, such legal status ought to denote an appropriate framework for the protection and respect of human rights within said State. Nevertheless, the actual circumstances surrounding the arbitrary detention and unlawful prosecution of Ms. Esfandiari stand in stark contradiction to such an expectation.
Pursuant to Article 36 of the 1963 Vienna Convention, in the event that a national of the sending State is arrested, imprisoned, awaiting trial, held in custody, or otherwise detained, the authorities of the receiving State shall—without delay and upon request by the individual concerned—inform the consular post of the sending State accordingly. However, the verifiable facts of the case incontrovertibly demonstrate a breach of this obligation by the French judicial authorities. Regrettably, the French government failed to discharge its responsibility under the aforementioned Convention to promptly notify the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran of said arrest, nor did it take the requisite measures to inform her family thereof.
It is worthy of note that the right to liberty and security is among the fundamental human rights recognized under Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 9(1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The French authorities, who are under a binding obligation to respect this right, have, without lawful justification or legal foundation, arbitrarily apprehended and unlawfully detained Ms. Esfandiari, thereby egregiously violating her right to liberty and security. Furthermore, the French Government is a State Party to the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1984), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the European Convention on Human Rights. Pursuant respectively to Articles 2, 7, and 3 of these international and regional legal instruments, the French government is under an unequivocal obligation to refrain from subjecting any individual to torture, or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment. The prolonged detention of Ms. Esfandiari in solitary confinement for a period of seventy days, the infliction of severe psychological pressure, the inhumane conduct to which she was subjected, and the degrading and fundamentally rights-infringing acts perpetrated against her—such as compelling her to remove her headscarf—constitute a flagrant violation of the rights enshrined in the aforementioned international instruments.
Without a doubt, the continued arbitrary detention of Ms. Esfandiari, coupled with the proceedings initiated by the French judiciary on the basis of unfounded and unsubstantiated allegations, can in no manner be deemed to satisfy the requirements of a fair trial. Indeed, a fair and impartial trial, by its very definition, must be conducted in accordance with the law; the detention of the accused must not be arbitrary; the tribunal must possess jurisdiction and must be both independent and impartial; and the presumption of innocence must be regarded by the court as a foundational principle. Can the arbitrary detention of Ms. Esfandiari—on the spurious grounds of publishing a few posts on social media—be deemed consistent with the principles of independence, impartiality, and the presumption of innocence?
Excellency,
It is no longer a secret to any impartial observer that the Zionist regime has, in a systematic and egregious manner, violated the fundamental norms of international law, the Charter of the United Nations, international human rights law, and international humanitarian law, and has perpetrated crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing, racial discrimination, and acts of genocide against the Palestinian people. These brutal actions, directed against the defenseless population of Palestine—particularly women and children—have outraged the conscience of the global community and provoked a wave of international outcry.
It is a matter of profound regret that Western governments, rather than aligning themselves with the legitimate demands of the international community and standing against the Zionist regime’s crimes against humanity, have instead engaged in comprehensive and unqualified support for this criminal regime.
Such a duplicitous approach and instrumentalization of human rights not only emboldens the perpetrators within the Zionist regime by fostering a sense of impunity, thereby encouraging the continued perpetration of savage massacres against the Palestinian people—including innocent women and children—but also lays bare the utter lack of sincerity and moral credibility underlying the human rights claims advanced by Western pretenders.
In this context, the High Council for Human Rights of the Islamic Republic of Iran, while strongly condemning these inhumane positions and the politicized and duplicitous approaches to human rights, and expressing its deep concern over the continued arbitrary detention of Ms. Esfandiari, hereby expects Your Excellency, as the highest-ranking human rights authority within the United Nations, to take all necessary measures—within the framework of your mandate to safeguard human rights and to pursue the implementation of States’ international and human rights obligations—with a view to ensuring the accountability of the French government in this regard, preventing the continuation of the violations in question, securing the immediate release of Ms. Esfandiari, and facilitating full reparation for the moral and material harm inflicted upon her, and to duly inform the High Council of the measures undertaken in that regard.
Nasser Seraj
Secretary-General of the High Council for Human Rights of the Islamic Republic of Iran