Cecile Kohler, a teacher, and her partner Jacques Paris have been detained since May 2022. They were traveling in Iran as tourists, according to media reports. Tehran accused them of inciting unrest.
“They have been held hostage for three years in Iran, detained in degrading conditions that are tantamount to torture, and deprived of what are known as consular visits - that is, visits by members of our embassy to check on their well-being,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told TV2 on Friday.
“That is why, today, I am filing a complaint with the International Court of Justice against Iran for violating this protection - its obligation to grant the right to consular protection,” he added.
The remarks came ahead of Tehran’s meeting with European countries, including France, on its nuclear program in Istanbul on Friday. All sides expressed commitment to diplomacy and agreed to continue discussions, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said in a post on X after the meeting.
French President Emmanuel Macron, in a post on X on May 7, expressed his concern for Kohler and Paris who he said are “hostages of Iran.”
In May 2022, Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence announced the arrest of two European nationals, accusing them of attempting to stir up dissent by exploiting the legitimate demands of the people. The authorities later released a video showing two French citizens confessing to being spies and claiming they had entered the country on a mission to incite unrest.
In September that year, the Jin Jiyan Azadi protests began after the death of a Kurdish woman, Zhina Mahsa Amini, in the custody of the morality police after she was detained for reportedly not correctly wearing a hijab, in violation of Iran’s strict dress code.
Condemning Amini’s death, women and girls led massive, nationwide protests that were the greatest existential threat to the Islamic Republic since its founding more than four decades earlier. The demonstrators were met with lethal force. At least 551 protesters were killed, including 49 women and 68 children, according to the UN report. Thousands more were arrested.
Iranian authorities routinely release video confessions. Human rights observers say these types of confessions are widely believed to be coerced, often obtained under threats, psychological pressure, and, in some cases, physical torture.
Tehran has been accused of engaging in “hostage diplomacy,” detaining foreign nationals on charges such as espionage as leverage on the international stage.
