GENEVA – UN experts* today expressed grave concern for British nationals Lindsay and Craig Foreman, who have reportedly reached 30+ and 20+ days on hunger strike respectively, while wrongfully detained in Iran.
The couple, who were travelling through Iran by motorcycle with valid visas and a licensed guide, were apprehended by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, prosecuted for espionage they vehemently deny, and ultimately sentenced to 10 years imprisonment earlier this year. Their appeal has reportedly been rejected and they have been denied contact with their families since early May and continue to be refused consular visits.
“Lindsay and Craig Foreman should not be in prison,” the experts said. “They appear to have been wrongfully detained, prosecuted on highly questionable grounds, and sentenced after proceedings that failed to meet basic fair trial guarantees.”
The experts said the couple’s hunger strike has created an acute risk to their health and life.
“After 30 days without food, this is a medical emergency,” they said. “Iranian authorities must ensure immediate access to independent medical care, protect their dignity and well-being, and urgently restore their rights, including contact with their families and consular representatives.”
In a communication to the Islamic Republic of Iran made public this week, the experts raised serious concerns that the Foremans’ detention forms part of a broader pattern of foreign nationals being arbitrarily detained in Iran on fabricated or unsupported charges for political leverage.
“People must never be used as pawns in inter-State relations,” the experts said. “The arbitrary detention of foreign nationals for political or diplomatic leverage is a distortion of international relations and may amount to hostage-taking under international law.”
The experts recalled that hostage-taking is prohibited under the International Convention Against the Taking of Hostages, to which Iran is a party. They also warned that hostage-taking may amount to psychological torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, including for families left in prolonged anguish and uncertainty.
The experts said the proceedings against Lindsay and Craig Foreman were marked by grave irregularities, including an alleged absence of evidence, failure to ensure legal representation of their choice, language barriers, lack of due process and fair trial safeguards, and allegations that interrogations were marred by torture or other ill-treatment.
“These are not minor procedural defects,” the experts said. “They go to the legality of the arrest, the credibility of the prosecution and the safety of the convictions. The cases should be reopened, the convictions quashed and the Foremans released.”
The experts were also alarmed by reports of harsh detention conditions, prolonged separation, denial of family contact, denial of consular access, and the cumulative impact of detention on the couple’s physical and mental health.
“The immediate priority is to keep Lindsay and Craig Foreman alive and well,” the experts said. “But wider injustice must not be lost: two people who entered Iran lawfully as travellers now face 10 years in prison in circumstances raising grave concerns of wrongful detention and State hostage-taking.”
They called on the Iranian authorities to fulfil their obligations under international law and release Lindsay and Craig Foreman without delay, and urged the British government to exhaust every diplomatic means available to secure their freedom.
