‘It’s not enough to call’ families urge UK to act after lone encounter with prison in Iran

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After a fatiguing 12 minutes long phone call, the relationship between a hungry couple and their family becomes one of relief   the family demands the peace talks must now take the form of intervention.

After three agonizing months of complete silence, families of Lindsay and Craig Foreman were finally granted an "enormous relief" following a 12-minute phone call with their imprisoned British spouses who were being held in Tehran's infamous Evin prison on dubious espionage charges. For the Foremans, the communication concession between their loved ones, who are on extended hunger strikes, indicate a point at which their physical health is seriously at risk but, according to their family, a phone line is nothing like freedom.

Speaking for the family, Joe Bennett, son of Lindsay, said that knowing his mother’s voice had been an important milestone, but their physical condition is still deeply concerning. They have lost a great deal of weight after months of no food. Although they are still mentally tough, they are still subjected to harsh conditions with no guarantee of an evaluation of medical conditions or a third party medical professional.

The contact has stirred up fierce torrent of criticism against the UK Foreign Office. Now that the British Embassy in Tehran has been officially reopened, ambassadors have not yet done a personal, on the spot visit to see the couple’s condition. The Embassy is back in Iran. So where is the action? Bennett has said, insisting that the presence of diplomats was worthless if that did not accompany direct, on-the-spot access to England’s jails.

The family is requesting an urgent meeting in person with Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband to persuade the government to use every legal and diplomatic avenue. UN special rapporteurs have repeatedly denounced the lack of a fair judicial process for the couple and the gross violations of basic fair trial guarantees. Acceleration of public pressure has constructively put the UK government to a tough test in transforming the passive diplomacy to real intervention.

✍️Ujjawal

Scholar from University of Delhi, INDIA