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.”
