U.N. human rights experts said on Wednesday they are gravely concerned about the condition of two British nationals incarcerated in Iran who have been convicted on charges of espionage and are now refusing food in protest.
Craig and Lindsay Foreman received 10-year prison sentences in February on espionage charges, which the couple reject. Family members have said an appeal hearing held earlier this month took place without their knowledge and that they were provided with minimal information about the proceedings.
Two independent U.N. special rapporteurs, Alice Jill Edwards and Mai Sato, reported that Lindsay Foreman has been on a hunger strike for more than 30 days while her husband Craig has not eaten for over 20 days. In a statement, the experts warned: "After 30 days without food, this is a medical emergency."
The rapporteurs added that, in their assessment, "Lindsay and Craig Foreman should not be in prison." They said the couple "appear to have been wrongfully detained, prosecuted on highly questionable grounds, and sentenced after proceedings that failed to meet basic fair trial guarantees."
Earlier in April, the same experts wrote to Iranian authorities to protest what they described as a pattern of foreign nationals being detained for political purposes. There has been no immediate reply from the Iranian mission in Geneva to requests for comment on the allegations raised by the rapporteurs.
The British government has described the Foremans' sentence as "totally unjustifiable" and has said it will continue to press for their release. The family, however, has criticised the response from London, asserting that the couple are being used as "human shields" amid regional conflict.
Context and constraints
Details available to the U.N. experts and the family, including the length of the hunger strikes, the convictions in February, the contested appeal hearing this month, and the quoted statements, form the basis of current public concern. There is no public record in the material provided here of any response from Iranian officials to the specific allegations, nor is there further information about the appeal's procedure beyond the family’s account that it occurred without their knowledge.