Statement on the Trump Administration’s Efforts to Secure Release of Hostages in Iran
Zakka Family Appreciates Efforts By President Trump & U.S. Congress
The following statement was made by Nizar Zakka’s attorney in the United States, Mr. Jason Poblete following the announcement of President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the JCPOA:
“After a briefing yesterday with a senior Trump administration official on the JCPOA decision, statements made thereafter, and other briefings we’ve had with U.S. government officials, I’m confident that much is being done by the Trump administration to help to secure the unconditional release of Americans, US LPRs, and others unlawfully detained in Iran. Mr. Zakka and his family deeply appreciate all the U.S. efforts to successfully resolve this humanitarian matter. It’s time for Iran and other stakeholders to do the right thing and release Nizar who should be home with his family, not in Evin.”
Earlier today, the House Foreign Affairs Committee convened to markup H.R. 4744 – Iran Human Rights and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act, which was passed by the Committee and now goes to the House Floor for a vote.The measure, if passed by the House, would impose additional sanctions with respect to serious human rights abuses of the Government of Iran, and on Iranian officials involved in hostage-taking of U.S. citizens and U.S. Legal Permanent Residents.
On behalf of Mr. Nizar Zakka and his family, Mr. Zakka’s lawyer in the United States, Mr. Jason Poblete, issued the following statement:
“Nizar and his family thank members of the Congress, especially Congressmen McCaul, Deutch, Royce, and Engel, the original cosponsors of the bill, for sending a clear message to the Iranian regime that hostage-taking of U.S. citizens and U.S. Legal Permanent Residents will not go unanswered. Mr. Zakka hopes this action, and the many other efforts by President Trump and his national security team will lead to Nizar’s unconditional release as well as the unconditional release of all unlawfully detained persons in Iran.”
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Mr. Zakka traveled to Iran in September 2015, at the invitation of Iran’s Vice President for Women and Family Affairs Shahindokht Molaverdi, to speak at a conference on the use of technology and the Internet to promote social, economic, and educational development in the region. After the meeting, en route to the airport, Mr. Zakka was taken by persons believed to be associated with the IRGC’s Basij or the intelligence services. Nizar was unlawfully detained on September 18, 2015, the day before the U.S. Congress voted on the JCPOA political agreement between the United States and Iran.
Nizar has been falsely accused of espionage. In a March 2018 statement to the United Nations, Iranian officials, again, falsely accused Nizar of being involved in a “plot for overthrowing the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran.” Despite the pressures, including psychological and physical torture, as well as several hunger strikes, Nizar has maintained his innocence and has refused to sign forced confessions.
The Iranian government has sent mixed signals about Nizar’s case including a statement by Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif on November 7, 2016 that “[w]hat happened with Mr. Zakka is not a problem between Iran and Lebanon, seeing as the problem was the violation of the applicable laws in Iran by a foreigner, and the problem is actually between the United States and Iran.”
Last year the US Congress approved two Congressional Resolutions urging, among other things, that President Donald Trump make the “release of United States citizens and legal permanent resident aliens held hostage by the Government of Iran the highest of priorities … and that the United States and its allies whose nationals have been detained consider establishing a multinational task force to secure the release of the detainees.”
The newly selected Chargé d’Affaires for the US Embassy in Cuba, Mr. Philip Goldberg, officially began work at his diplomatic post in Havana on Saturday. The change in representation at the US Embassy in Havana comes during a major transition in Cuban history as their government is set to take on new leadership in the coming months. Not only will the governmental authority change, but the United States has recently announced the development of an Internet Task Force, which the Cuban Government has strongly protested.
According to the State Department, the Cuba Internet Task Force will “examine technological challenges and opportunities for expanding Internet access in Cuba with the goal of helping the Cuban people enjoy the free and unregulated flow of information.”
In an article by Carmen Sesin at NBC News, PobleteTamargo’s Jason Poblete explains that this new Task Force is just a “continuation of a long existing policy of improving telecommunications, a process that started in 1992.”
He goes on to state that, “We don’t want Great Firewall of China tactics to block access in Cuba,” referring to China’s measures to regulate internet and block access to selected foreign websites.
The article by NBC News that looks at the challenges facing Mr. Goldberg can be read in full here.
The following statement was issued on behalf of Mr. Nizar Zakka’s family by Mr. Zakka’s lawyer in the United States, Mr. Jason Poblete:
“Mr. Javad Zarif you have said that what happened with Nizar is “not a problem between Iran and Lebanon…and the problem is actually between the United States and Iran.” What does this mean Mr. Zarif? While your government and the Americans discuss the “problem,” Nizar remains seriously ill in Evin Prison.
“For more than 800 days Nizar has been subjected to physical and mental torture at Evin Prison. For weeks, Nizar and his family have asked for a doctor to diagnose and treat various health ailments, including cancer. Among other symptoms, Nizar is unable to keep down solid food. Now he cannot move one of his legs. For some inexplicable reason, his captors refuse to provide necessary medical care.
“The Zakka family pleads with anyone in a position to provide assistance, to ask the Iranian government to do the right thing. Get Nizar medical help, but please allow Nizar to be reunited with his family.”
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Iran is a party to the International Convention Against the Taking of Hostages; In a letter dated October 25, 2017, to U.N. Secretary General Guterres, we outlined the obligations of the United Nations and urged Secretary General Guterres to personally intercede to help Nizar and others unjustly detained in Iran.
Mr. Zakka traveled to Iran in September 2015, at the invitation of Iran’s Vice President for Women and Family Affairs Shahindokht Molaverdi, to speak at a conference on the use of technology and the Internet to promote social, economic, and educational development in the region. After the conference, en route to the airport, Mr. Zakka was taken by persons believed to be associated with the IRGC’s Basij or the intelligence services.
Mr. Zakka has been denied the right to review the charges or evidence against him and his lawyers have not been allowed to mount a proper defense. Despite the ordeal, including psychological and physical torture, Nizar has maintained his innocence.
The family of U.S. Legal Permanent Resident and Internet Freedom Advocate Nizar Zakka, who is currently imprisoned in Tehran, have taken Mr. Zakka’s case to the United Nations Human Rights Commission.
The Daily Star, a publication which reports on Lebanese and regional news, published the following article on November 29, discussing these developments.
Zakka Takes Case to UN Human Rights Commission
The Daily Star
November 29, 2017
BEIRUT: Nizar Zakka, a Lebanese national imprisoned in Tehran, has taken his case to the United Nations Human Rights Commission.
According to a statement released by Zakka’s family Wednesday, they filed an objection regarding Iran’s human rights violations to the UNHCHR, which works to promote and protect human rights that are guaranteed under international law.
Zakka was arrested after traveling to Iran to attend a state-sponsored conference in Tehran in 2015. At the time of his arrest, he was the secretary-general of IJMA3, the Arab Information and Communications Technology Organization.
“It baffles us how something like this is permitted to happen, when a country can pick and choose its hostages from anywhere in the world without any consequences,” the family wrote.
The family also blasted the Lebanese government in the statement for “completely ignoring” Zakka’s case “for two years now.”
Despite repeated calls by the United States and Zakka’s family members for Zakka’s release, the Lebanese government has yet to issue an official statement on the matter.
In remarks by Zakka – a permanent resident of the United States – conveyed in the statement, the detainee “asked if the Lebanese state was not ashamed after the U.S. Congress and the U.S. Senate moved in favor of his case while his own country is still refusing to do anything to free him.”
