Amnesty International has urged the Iranian authorities not to execute nine people sentenced to death who were arrested in relation to the protests that followed last year's disputed presidential election.
The organization said it fears the Iranian authorities are planning to execute some or all of the nine in public before 11 February, the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, when further protests are expected.
According to Iranian media reports, Deputy Judiciary Head Ebrahim Raisi said on Monday that, after the execution of two men last week, the nine others will be executed "soon".
"Those sentenced did not have had a fair trial," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Deputy Director. "They were denied access to a lawyer in the initial stages of their detention, and some or all appear to have been coerced into giving confessions.. It is also not clear whether those condemned have been able to exercise their right to appeal."
Iran's judiciary is reported to be under political pressure to execute more opposition supporters to end the continuing protests.
Mohammad Reza Ali-Zamani and Arash Rahmanipour were hanged in public last Thursday after being convicted in unfair trials of "enmity against God" and being members of Anjoman-e Padeshahi-e Iran (API), a banned group which advocates the restoration of an Iranian monarchy.
They were the first executions known to be related to the post-election violence that erupted across Iran in June and has continued since.
"Executing people in public further adds to the already cruel, inhuman and degrading nature of the death penalty," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui. "It can only have a dehumanizing effect on the person sentenced to death and a brutalizing effect on those who witness the execution, including the relatives."
Mohammad Reza Ali-Zamani and Arash Rahmanipour were convicted by Tehran's Revolutionary Court in October. Iran executed at least 14 people in public in 2009.
At least two of the nine others on death row, Naser Abdolhasani and Reza Kazemi, were sentenced to death in similar post-election "show trials". The identity of the other seven is unknown.
According to Iranian officials, over 40 people have died in demonstrations since the election, which were violently repressed by the security forces. Amnesty International believes the number to be much higher. More than 5,000 people have been arrested, many of whom were tortured or otherwise ill-treated.
Scores have been sentenced to prison terms, and in some cases flogging, after unfair trials, and at least 12 have been sentenced to death. One man – Hamed Rouhinejad - had his death sentence commuted to a 10-year prison term on appeal in January 2010.
Further information on UA: 341/09 Index: MDE 13/ /015/2010 Iran Date: 02 February 2010
Iranian student leader Majid Tavakkoli, held since 7 December 2009
after a demonstration, has been sentenced to eight years and six
months imprisonment after an unfair trial. He is believed to be
appealing against his conviction and sentence. He is a prisoner of
conscience, held solely for the peaceful exercise of his right to
freedom of expression, association and assembly.
Majid
Tavakkoli's trial before the Branch 15 of the Revolutionary
Court in Tehran began on 6 January 2010 and his lawyer was not
permitted to attend. He met his lawyer for the first time on 11
January. Majid Tavakkoli has only been allowed to contact his
family once by phone, after his trial concluded, when he told them
he was held in Evin Prison, Tehran. He has not been permitted any
family visits. He has been convicted of several offences, including
participating in an illegal gathering, propaganda against the
system and insulting officials. As well as receiving a prison
sentence, Majid Tavakkoli was banned for five years from political
activities and from leaving the country..
Majid
Tavakkoli was beaten as he was arrested leaving Amir Kabir
University of Technology in Tehran on 7 December. He had just given
a speech at a student demonstration marking Student Day in Iran,
held on the Persian date of 16 Azar, the anniversary of the killing
of three students by security forces in 1953. Dozens of students
and others were arrested around the time of the 7 December
protests, which took place in cities across the country. Many have
been released, but some remain in detention. The day after his
arrest, pictures of Majid Tavakkoli wearing women's clothing were
circulated, apparently intended to humiliate him.
PLEASE
WRITE IMMEDIATELY in Persian, Arabic, English, French or your own
language:
Calling on the Iranian authorities to immediately and
unconditionally release Majid Tavakkoli, and any others detained
around the 7 December demonstrations who are held solely for the
peaceful exercise of their rights to freedom of expression,
association and assembly;
Expressing concern that Majid Tavakkoli's trial was unfair as he
did not have access to a lawyer and urging that his appeal be heard
swiftly, with a view to facilitating his immediate release;
In the meantime, calling on the authorities to grant him immediate
and regular access to his family, his lawyer and any medical
treatment he may require;
Asking them to investigate promptly and impartially the reports
that Majid Tavakkoli was beaten during his arrest.
PLEASE SEND
APPEALS BEFORE 16 MARCH 2010 TO:
Head of the Provincial Judiciary in
Tehran
Ali Reza Avaei
Karimkhan Zand
Avenue
Sana'i Avenue, Corner
of Alley 17, No. 152
Tehran, Islamic
Republic of Iran
Email: avaei@Dadgostary-tehran.ir
Salutation: Dear
Mr Avaei
Head of the
Judiciary
Ayatollah Sadeqh
Larijani
Howzeh Riyasat-e
Qoveh Qazaiyeh (Office of the Head of the Judiciary)
Pasteur St.,
Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhouri, Tehran, 1316814737
Islamic Republic
of Iran
Email: Via
website: http://www.dadiran.ir/tabid/75/Default.aspxFirst starred
box: your given name; second starred box: your family name; third:
your email address
Salutation: Your
Excellency
And copies to:
Director, Human Rights
Headquarters
Mohammad Javad
Larijani
Howzeh Riassat-e
Ghoveh Ghazaiyeh
Pasteur St, Vali
Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhuri
Tehran
1316814737
Islamic Republic
of Iran
Fax:
+98 21 3390 4986
Email:bia.judi@yahoo.com(In subject line: FAO Mohammad Javad
Larijani)
Salutation: Dear Mr Larijan
Also send
copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your
country. Please check with your section office if sending
appeals after the above date. This is the first update to UA
341/09 (MDE 13/131/2009). Further information:
www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/131/2009/en
URGENT ACTION
irANIAN STUDENT
LEADER sentenced
ADditional Information
Majid Tavakkoli, a
member of the Islamic Students' Association at Amir Kabir
University in Tehran, where he studied ship-building, was arrested
in May 2007 with three others, in connection with student
publications said to be insulting to Islam, which the students said
had been forged. He was tortured in detention and sentenced to
three years' imprisonment for "propaganda against the system" and
"insulting the Leader," reduced on appeal to 30 months. He was
released in August 2008 and allowed to resume his studies in
southern Iran.
He was arrested in
February 2009, with around 20 other students, after he took part in
a ceremony commemorating the life of the first prime minister to be
appointed after the February 1979 revolution, Mehdi Bazargan. Most
were soon released, but Majid Tavakkoli and three others were held
without trial until June 2009, when they were released on bail.
Majid Tavakkoli was the subjects of UA 113/07 and updates, and UA
70/09.
According to his
brother Ali in January 2010, Majid Tavakkoli has been sentenced to
five years for “participating in an illegal gathering”; one year
for “propaganda against the system”; two years for “insulting the
Supreme Leader”; six months for “insulting the President” and to
five-year ban on any involvement in political activities and on
leaving the country.
The day after his
arrest, Fars News Agency, which is close to the
Revolutionary Guards and the judiciary, published pictures of Majid
Tavakkoli wearing women's clothing, and said he had been wearing
them at the time of his arrest in order to escape detection.
Student websites and others, which have claimed that Majid
Tavakkoli was beaten at the time of his arrest, have denied that he
was wearing the clothes at the time, but suggested he was forced to
wear them afterwards to humiliate him.
After Majid Tavakkoli
was pictured wearing women's clothes, many Iranian men took
pictures of themselves with headcoverings, often holding signs
saying, “We are Majid” and posted them on the internet as part of a
solidarity campaign calling for his release. See for example
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=198929939029#/photo_search.php?oid=198929939029&view=all
On 19 January, his
mother told Voice of America Persian service, a US
government-funded radio and television station in the USA which
broadcasts worldwide, “I am worn out after five years. His place is
not in prison. His problems should be solved in the university, not
in prison. He is entitled to the freedom of speech. For three
years, they have had us on a leash. We are constantly worried for
our son. He has done nothing, but studied hard. He had only made a
critical comment. He doesn't deserve prison. They said we are
entitled to freedom of speech. I am looking forward to seeing
Majid. I want to hear my son's voice when I see him. For a mother,
it is important to see her children. It is hard to wait for
children with tearful eyes and an aching heart.”
Students have been at
the forefront of continuing protests at the disputed outcome of the
presidential election in June 2009 as well as at the widespread
human rights violations committed as the authorities banned
demonstrations and cracked down violently on protestors. Dozens of
people were killed by security forces using excessive force,
thousands were arrested, mostly arbitrarily and many were tortured
or otherwise ill-treated. Scores have faced unfair trial, including
some in mass show trials, with over 80 sentenced to prison terms,
and at least 12 sentenced to death, although at least one has been
commuted to a prison term. Two have so far been executed.
URGENT ACTION - THREE IRANIAN JOURNALISTS SENTENCED
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL - PRESS RELEASE
Date 28 December 2009
Bahman
Ahmadi Amou'i and Saeed Laylaz have been sentenced to prison terms,
Bahman Ahmadi Amou'i also to flogging. Keyvan Samimi Behbehani
remains in solitary confinement. All three men are prisoners of
conscience.
Bahman Ahmadi Amou'i,aneditor at the business daily paper
Sarmayehwhich was closed by the authorities on 2
November,was sentenced to seven years and four
months' imprisonment and 32 lashes on 4 January 2010 by a
Revolutionary Court in Tehran. The sentence includes five years for
"colluding with intent to harm national security;" one year for
"propaganda against the system;" one year and 32 lashes for
"disrupting public security" and four months for "insulting the
president." His lawyer is lodging an appeal within the required 20
days and will request his release on bail until the appeal is
heard. He is held in Section 350 of Evin Prison. .
Saeed Laylaz, also an
editor at Sarmayeh,was sentenced to nine
years' imprisonment by a Revolutionary Court in Tehran on 2
December 2009 after he was convicted of "attending illegal
gatherings" and "possessing classified documents." His lawyer has
said that that his client had access to information that had been
posted online and therefore not classified information. Saeed
Laylaz has been refused bail and remains held in Evin Prison.
The editor of the
banned magazineNameh,Keyvan Samimi Behbehani, was
granted 10 days' leave from prison on 9 December in order to attend
his daughter's wedding. He has since returned to Evin Prison where
he is held in solitary confinement in Section 209.
PLEASE WRITE
IMMEDIATELY in Persian, Arabic, English, French or your own
language:
Calling on the authorities to release Bahman Ahmadi Amou'i, Saeed
Laylaz and Keyvan Samimi Behbehani immediately and unconditionally,
as they are being detained solely for their peaceful exercise of
the right to freedom of expression;
Expressing concern that Bahman Ahmadi Amou'i has been sentenced to
flogging, a cruel punishment which amounts to torture, and noting
that Iran is a state party to the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights (ICCPR) which strictly prohibits torture;
Urging the authorities to ensure they are not tortured or otherwise
ill-treated, and that reports of torture or other ill-treatment are
thoroughly investigated and anyone found responsible is brought to
justice in fair proceedings.
PLEASE SEND
APPEALS BEFORE 19 FEBRUARY 2010 TO:
Leader of the Islamic
Republic
Ayatollah Sayed
'Ali Khamenei
The Office of
the Supreme Leader
Islamic Republic
Street – End of Shahid Keshvar Doust Street, Tehran, Islamic
Republic of Iran
Email:
via website: http://www.leader.ir/langs/en/index.php?p=letter
(English)
Bureau of
International Affairs, Office of the Head of the Judiciary, Pasteur
St., Vali Asr Ave. south of Serah-e Jomhouri, Tehran 1316814737,
Islamic Republic of Iran
Bahman Ahmadi Amou'i,
husband of journalist Zhila Bani Ya'qoub (who was released on 19
August) has been held at Evin Prison since his arrest on 20 June
2009. After 65 days of solitary confinement Bahman Ahmadi Amou'i
was moved in late August to a cell in Section 209 of the prison,
measuring 3.5 m² which he shared with two other detainees. Branch 2
of the Revolutionary Court acknowledged that they were
investigating him at the beginning of October but as the
investigation was still incomplete they would not allow his lawyer
to see the investigation file.
Saeed Laylaz had
appeared before Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran on
23 September to appeal against a two-month extension of his
detention order but his appeal was rejected, despite an earlier
order setting bail at two billion rials (approximately US$
200,000).
Following the Ashoura
commemoration on 27 December, which also coincided with the
seventh-day of mourning for Grand Ayatollah Montazeri, a senior
dissident cleric who had died the week before, well over a thousand
people are reported to have been arrested, including 500 in Tehran,
200 in Najafabad and 600 in Esfahan. They include at least fifteen
journalists: Mashallah Shamsolvaezin, Morteza Kazemian, Keyvan
Mehregan, Reza Tajik, Mostafa Izadi, Mohammad Javad Saber, Behrang
Tonkabani, Arvin Sedagatkish, Roozbeh Karimi, Mohammadreza Zohdi,
Ali Hekmat, Sam Mahmoudi and three women, Badrolsadat Mofidi, Negin
Derakhshan and Nasrin Vaziri.
Scores of people associated
with opposition parties, human rights defenders and students are
among many others detained since the demonstrations. The unrest on
'Ashoura was one of the worst since the days following the June
2009 presidential election. The authorities have stated variously
that between seven and fifteen people died, although have disputed
that security forces were responsible for all the deaths.
'Ashoura, the 10th day of the Islamic month of Moharram, is a Shi'a
Muslim religious occasion marking the killing, or martyrdom, of
Emam Hossein, the grandson of the Prophet Mohammad.
Since the
announcement that incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had won
the 12 June election, which many people disputed, the authorities
have used excessive force to quell largely peaceful protests.
Before the recent demonstrations, the authorities acknowledged 36
deaths, while the opposition claims that over 70 have died. The
authorities have acknowledged that over 4,000 were arrested,
although the true figure may well be higher. Many of those detained
were tortured or otherwise ill-treated in detention centres across
the country. Some have alleged they were raped, although the
authorities have denied this after cursory investigations and other
measures which appear designed to hide, rather than uncover, the
truth. Over 80 have been sentenced to prison terms or flogging in
connection with the unrest, including those sentenced after mass
“show trials” which began in August. At least seven have been
sentenced to death – most recently Ahmad Karimi and Ali Zahed were
sentenced to death at the end of December 2009.
For further
information about the post-election events please see Iran:
Election contested, Repression compounded (Index MDE 13/123/2009),
December 2009,
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/123/2009/en
Further information on UA: 171/09 Index: MDE 13/002/2010 Issue
Date: 08 January 2010
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL - PRESS RELEASE
Date 8 Jan 2010
Amnesty International today condemned the further and wholly avoidable loss of up to 8-15 lives in Iran during the 'Ashoura religious commemorations.
The organization called on the authorities to ensure that those attending funerals and commemorations in the coming days and weeks are guaranteed the right to assemble peacefully and to express their opposition to the current government.
"The spiral of violence is growing in Iran and the excessive force by the security forces appears to be meeting unprecedented resistance from protestors," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty International Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
Demonstrations on 27 December were policed by the Basij, a plain-clothed, volunteer paramilitary force under the control of the Revolutionary Guards, and the Special Forces units of the police. In the unrest following June's presidential elections, Basij personnel used firearms.
"The loss of life during 'Ashoura was wholly avoidable and this slide to more bloodshed must end now," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui.
Amnesty International has only been able to contact people in central Tehran who spoke of day-long clashes, from Vali Asr Square, College and Hafez Bridges - the latter of which security personnel used to hurl rocks at vehicles below - and Revolution Square (Meydan-e Enghlab) in the day to Mir-Damad street late into the evening as swathes of the city with covered in the smoke from the tear gas.
The funeral of 35 year old Seyed Ali Mousavi, the nephew of former presidential candidate and political leader, Mir Hossein Mousavi, is expected to take place along with others in the coming days.
Iran is bound by international human rights treaties such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that guarantee the right of peaceful assembly and expression.
"Despite Amnesty International's and others' advance appeals, in far too many places the authorities singularly failed to respect the rights of those Iranians taking part in 'Ashoura commemorations to peacefully assemble and to express themselves, even in opposition to the government. We deplore the increased levels of violence and renewed killing on 'Ashoura that was wholly avoidable."
"The Supreme Leader and government must instruct the police to end the use of force while leaders of the Revolutionary Guard must withdraw the Basij from demonstrations since time and time again it has been shown that their actions are fuelling conflict, leading to the loss of life."
Amnesty International again urged the authorities to invite to Iran independent human rights experts, such as those from the UN, in order to make an independent investigation into ongoing human rights violations.
"Inquiries announced by the authorities so far have been confusing and opaque and are simply not believed by most Iranians," Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui said.
Amnesty International also expressed concern at reports of arrests - possibly arbitrary - that are said to have taken place on 28 December. Reports indicate that political leader Ebrahim Yazdi had once again been detained along with three advisors to Mir Hossein Mousavi and Ayatollah Mousavi Tabrizi, a religious leader.
Human rights activist Emadeddin Baghi was detained at 06:45 in the morning, reportedly by four plain-clothed and armed men who are said to have forcibly entered Baghi's residence. A Dubai TV correspondent, a Syrian national, appeared to be unaccounted for in the course of 27 December
Background:
The unrest on 'Ashoura was the worst since the days following the June 2009 presidential election. As then, the mobile phone networks and internet services appeared largely disabled.
'Ashoura, the 10th day of the Islamic month of Moharram, is a Shi'a Muslim religious occasion marking the killing, or martyrdom, of Hossein, the grandson of the Prophet Mohammad and an important religious and community leader.
By around 21:00 GMT on 27 December the Acting Head of the Law Enforcement Forces (LEF) for Greater Tehran, Ahmad Reza Radan had admitted to four deaths in Tehran, adding that there were 300 arrests.
One person was said to have fallen off a bridge; two in car accidents and only one man – whose identity was not revealed – was said to have been shot. It is widely believed that this was a reference to Mir Hossein Mousavi's nephew.
Commander Ahmad Reza Radan of the Iranian police called the shooting suspicious since the police were not equipped with guns. During the unrest in June and July 2009, it appeared that only the Basij militia and members of the Revolutionary Guards were armed.
The authorities have claimed that some of those arrested belonged the illegal People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), banned since the early 1980s.
The Jonbesh-e Rah-e Sabz (JARAS) news outlet issued five names of individuals who were said to have been killed on 'Ashoura: Mehdi Farhadinia, Mohammad Ali Rasekhinia, Amir Arshadi, Shahram Faraji and Seyed Ali Mousavi, who is said to be the nephew of Mir Hossein Mousavi, one of the presidential candidates in June's election. Amnesty International has not been able to confirm the names issued.
Confrontation between thousands of mourners marking what is believed by Shi'a Muslims to be the martyrdom of Emam Hossein on the tenth ('ashoura) day of the month of Moharram and security officials were reported from Tabriz, Babol and Mashhad in the north of Iran; Tehran, Qom, Najaf Abad and Esfahan in the centre and Shiraz in the south.
Notes to editors
Amnesty International spokespeople are available. To request an interview or for more information please call +44 7778 472 126
Public Document
International Secretariat, Amnesty International, 1 Easton St., London WC1X 0DW, UK www.amnesty.org
Iran: Joint statement by Shirin Ebadi and Irene Khan
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
For release on Tuesday, 28 July 2009
The human rights crisis in Iran is deepening daily and next week's expected inauguration of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for a second term as president may spark further protests and a massive new clampdown, warned Irene Khan, Amnesty International's Secretary General, and Iranian Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Shirin Ebadi today.
"Three days ago, thousands of people in over 100 cities across the world joined in a Global Day of Action in protest at the numerous arrests, beatings and killings that have accompanied the Iranian authorities' attempt to force through the declared election result, which is so widely disputed," said Irene Khan. "The purpose was to express our solidarity with those whose rights are being violated in Iran, and to send a message to Iran's Supreme Leader and those about him that the violations must cease. The world is watching."
Shirin Ebadi, Iran's most distinguished lawyer and human rights defender, is in London at Amnesty International's invitation.
An organization that she founded in 2001, the Centre for Human Rights Defenders (CHRD), was summarily shut down by the Iranian authorities last December because of its efforts to promote human rights and defend people who were detained and tortured. At least three of its leading members – journalist Abdolreza Tajik as well as Abdolfattah Soltani and Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, both leading human rights lawyers – have been detained since the start of the election-related protests. Two of them are held in Tehran's notorious Evin Prison, but the whereabouts of Mohammad Ali Dadkhah is unknown, raising particular fears for his safety.
"My colleagues have been rounded up because of their work to promote justice and the rule of law, and to defend the human rights of people in Iran," said Shirin Ebadi, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003. "They are now languishing in jail like so many others in my country because they stand up for universal values – the rights to freedom of opinion and expression and to register one's protest peacefully without fear of arrest or attack by strong-arm forces like the Basij."
Irene Khan and Shirin Ebadi cautioned that international attention and efforts must not fade, however intransigent the authorities in Tehran appear.
"People in Iran need international support now more than ever as the political divisions in Tehran play themselves out," said Shirin Ebadi. "International attention and pressure must be sustained and intensified if it is to have impact on those calling the shots in Tehran."
"In particular, the UN needs to play a more determined and decisive role," said Irene Khan. "Through its human rights and other mechanisms, the UN must investigate the violations taking place in Iran and compile evidence that can be used, one day, to bring those responsible to account."
Shirin Ebadi is visiting London as part of international efforts to highlight human rights abuses in Iran and to support a worldwide action that Amnesty International is launching in defence of the CHRD and its members, and to demand that it be allowed to reopen and continue its work.
Amnesty International
is concerned about further arrests of politicians, journalists,
lawyers and others in connection with the recent disputed
presidential election in Iran. Hundreds of people are believed to
be detained - many held in undisclosed locations - across Iran.
Scores more - possibly as many as 197 - are reported to have been
arrested on 9 July 2009 at a demonstration marking the tenth
anniversary of 18 Tir, the suppression of student-led protests in
1999 in which at least one student was killed and many others were
tortured or otherwise ill-treated. The families of those detained
for commemorating the victims of the 1999 crackdown are said to
have learnt only from posters pasted up by the authorities in
public places that they can find out about the detainees' cases at
court on 19 July 2009. Those detained are believed to be held in
Evin Prison and at a detention facility in Kahrizak in Karaj, near
Tehran.
Amnesty International
is calling for anyone held solely for peacefully exercising their
rights to freedom of expression, assembly and association to be
released immediately and unconditionally, and for all others to be
promptly charged and tried in proceedings which meet international
standards for fair trial or released. In any event, the authorities
should immediately clarify the fate of all those detained in
connection with recent events.
Amnesty International
is also calling for a full and impartial investigation into the
death of Sohrab Arabi, a 19-year-old student, who died from a
bullet wound to the heart. He disappeared during a demonstration on
15 June 2009. His family was then unable to find out any
information about him until 11 July when they were summoned to
court where they recognized him from photographs of dead
individuals. His body had apparently been at the Coroner's Office
since 19 June. There is, as yet, no information as to what happened
to him between 15 and 19 June, including either the exact date, or
the circumstances, of his death.
Among those reported
to have been arrested in recent days are political activists,
journalists, academics and lawyers. Amnesty International fears for
their safety in detention, as torture or other ill-treatment of
detainees is common in Iran. They include:
Journalist Massoud
Bastani, who was arrested on 5 July when he went to the
Revolutionary Court in Tehran to enquire about his pregnant wife
Mahsa Amr-Abadi, also a journalist, who was arrested on 14
June.
Human rights lawyer
Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, who was arrested on 8 July 2009 and taken
from his office in Tehran, along with several colleagues. Some of
his colleagues were released shortly afterwards, but Mohammad Ali
Dadkhah's whereabouts remain unknown.
Bijan Khajehpour
Khoei, a business and economic consultant, who was arrested on 27
June 2009 at Tehran airport when he arrived back from a trip to
Vienna and London. During his brief trip abroad, he spoke to trade
officials in Vienna and met the Iran British Business Chamber in
London as part of his work to support Iranian business and
encourage foreign investment in Iran. His whereabouts are unknown,
and his family fear for his health as he is diabetic.
Feyzollah Arabsorkhi,
a former deputy trade minister and a senior member of the Islamic
Revolution Mujahidin Organisation, a reformist political party, was
arrested on 7 July.
Journalist Kaveh
Mozaffari, who was only released from Evin Prison on 15 June
following his arrest on 1 May 2009 while covering a peaceful
demonstration by labour activists on International Labour Day, was
arrested in the street on 9 July by security forces.
Mohammad Reza
Yazdanpanah, a member of the Islamic Participation Front, was
arrested in Tehran on 7 July.
Joint US-Iranian
national Kian Tajbaksh, a social scientist and urban planner who
has taught at universities in Iran and the USA, was arrested at
9:00pm on 9 July 2009, at his home in Tehran. Two people who
identified themselves as Iranian security officials, arrived at his
residence, questioned him and his wife and searched the residence
for three hours, before taking him away along with two computers
and other items.
Mehdi Mahdavi Azad,
the director of the Shahab News site, was arrested on or around 23
June, but news of his arrest has only just been released.
Towhid Beigi, a
photographer associated with the campaign of presidential candidate
Mehdi Karroubi, was arrested in Enqelab Square, Tehran, during the
demonstrations of 9 July.
Journalist Hengameh
Shahidi, a member of the National Trust Party's Tehran branch, is
reported to have been arrested on 30 June.
Majid Sa'idi, a
well-known photographer for domestic and international media, was
arrested on 10 July from his home.
Background
information
In the month since
the announcement on 13 June that the incumbent President
Ahmadinejad had won the previous day's presidential election, which
hundreds of thousands of Iranians dispute, the Iranian authorities
have imposed draconian restrictions on freedom of expression,
association and assembly. Security forces, including the
paramilitary Basij, have been widely deployed in the streets to
prevent and disperse peaceful and other demonstrations.
Communications have been significantly disrupted and Iranian
publications have been banned from publishing information about the
nationwide unrest since the result was declared. Foreign
journalists have been banned from the streets, their visas not
renewed and some foreign reporters have been arrested or expelled
from the country.
According to
statements by officials recorded by Amnesty International, over
2,000 people have been arrested since 12 June by the police and
Basij forces across the country during demonstrations or in their
aftermath. These include prominent political figures close to two
of the presidential candidates, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi
Karroubi, and to former President Khatami, who supported Mir
Hossein Mousavi's presidential election campaign. Some human rights
defenders, as well as journalists have also been detained.
The authorities have
acknowledged that up to 21 people were killed during
demonstrations, but in at least some cases - such as that of Neda
Agha-Soltan - whose death was filmed and circulated widely on the
internet - they have denied that state officials were responsible,
although her death does not appear to have been properly
investigated. Unofficial Iranian sources say that many more
protestors were killed, but it remains difficult to obtain accurate
information about the total number of deaths as the whereabouts of
many demonstrators remain unknown and the authorities have placed
restrictions on bereaved families from holding memorial services.
In the past, according to information received by Amnesty
International, the Iranian authorities have under-reported deaths
at the hands of security forces during demonstrations.
Women's rights activist and lawyer violently arrested
NEWS FLASH AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
17 July 2009
Amnesty International fears the wave of arrests of civil society activists in Iran is intensifying after lawyer and human rights activist, Shadi Sadr, was violently arrested in Tehran this morning on her way to Friday prayers.
Shadi Sadr was walking with a group of women's rights activists along a busy road when unidentified plain clothed men pulled her into a car. She lost her headscarf and coat in the ensuing struggle but managed briefly to escape. She was quickly recaptured and beaten with batons before being taken away in the car to an unknown location.
"This was an illegal, arbitrary and violent arrest in which no attempt was made by the authorities to show identification or provide any explanation for their action," said Malcolm Smart, Director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Programme."
"This is the latest of a continuing series of high profile arrests of Iranians - students, journalists, intellectuals, political and civil society activists - in the wake of protests over the disputed outcome of the presidential election."
Amnesty International is calling for Shadi Sadr to be immediately and unconditionally released.
Shadi Sadr is the defence lawyer of Shiva Nazar Ahari, a human rights defender and member of the Committee of Human Rights Reporters, who was arrested at her home in Tehran on 14 June 2009, shortly after the presidential election, by security officials who searched her house and took away personal items. She is now believed to be held in Section 209 of Tehran's Evin Prison where Shadi Sadr, her lawyer, had not been able to gain access to her.
Background
Shadi Sadr, lawyer and journalist, was the director of Raahi, a legal advice centrefor women until it was closed down. She founded Zanan-e Iran (Women of Iran), the first website dedicated to the work of Iranian women's rights activists (http://www.raahi.org) and has written extensively about Iranian women and their legal rights. She has represented activists and journalists, several women sentenced to execution, whose convictions were subsequently overturned. She is also involved in Women's Field (http://www.meydaan.com), a group of women's rights activists who have launched several campaigns to defend women's rights, including the "Stop Stoning Forever" Campaign.
Shadi Sadr was among 33 women arrested in March 2007. Most had gathered outside a Tehran courtroom to protest peacefully against the trial of five women - Fariba Davoudi Mohajer, Shahla
Entesari, Noushin Ahmadi Khorassani, Parvin Ardalan and Sussan Tahmasebi - who were accused of "propaganda against the system", "acting against national security" and "participating in an illegal demonstration" in connection with the 12 June 2006 demonstration. Four of those on trial were also among those arrested, along with Shadi Sadr, a lawyer. Initially held in the Vozara detention centre, some were later transferred to Evin Prison. Most were released after several days, but Shadi Sadr and Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh - who is also involved in the "Stop Stoning Forever" Campaign - were held for over two weeks before being released on bail.
At a Revolutionary Court session in August 2007, which their lawyer was not allowed to attend and during which they were also questioned about their NGOs and their activities in the "Stop Stoning Forever"campaign, they were charged with illegal assembly, collusion against national security, disruption of public order and refusal to obey the orders of the police
At least eight political leaders
remain in the custody of the Iranian Authorities, two of whom are
being supervised in hospital. Ebrahim Yazdi has been released. They
are all prisoners of conscience held solely on account of the
peaceful expression of their views, including regarding the outcome
of the election.
Seven of the eight political
leaders arrested in Tehran on 16 June 2009, in connection with
their perceived views on Iran's disputed presidential election or
their links with former president, Mohammad Khatami remain
detained. In addition to the individuals featured in the UA Mohsen
Mirdamadi, a former senior member of parliament and of the Islamic
Iran Participation Front (Jebhe-ye Mosharekat-e Iran-e Eslami) was
also arrested on 13 June. Ebrahim Yazdi was released on 19 June,
and was returned to a hospital in Tehran from where he had been
arrested whilst undergoing tests.
Former Tehran city counsellor,
advisor to former president Mohammad Khatami and investigative
journalist, Said Hajjarian was transferred from Evin Prison to
hospital under the control of the security forces, possibly on 3
July. Said Hajjarian is confined to a wheelchair following an
attempted assassination in 2000. His wife was able to visit him
once in prison. During her visit, Said Hajjarian told her that he
had been given the medication that she had delivered to the prison
two days after his arrest. On the day of the visit his blood
pressure was high, for which he received no treatment, he was also
in a poor psychological state. He requires, on a daily basis,
specialized medicines and physiotherapy, which appears to have been
denied. Mohsen Aminzadeh was also transferred to a hospital in
Tehran on 4 July, for reasons unknown to Amnesty International.
Both men remain incustody.
On 4 July, the lawyer representing Mohammad Ali Abtahi, Mohsen
Aminzadeh, Behzad Nabavi, Abdollah Ramazanzadeh, Mostafa Tajzadeh
and Mohsen Mirdamadi, said that he had not been allowed to visit
any of his clients and stated that "their general charge is acting
against national security" and that their cases would be referred
to revolutionary courts after preliminary investigation if they are
charged. None of their families have been allowed to meet them.
PLEASE WRITE
IMMEDIATELY in Persian, Arabic, English, French or your own
language:
calling on the
authorities to immediately and unconditionally release the
political leaders and activists (please name them) and all others
arrested solely on account of their peaceful views, including about
the outcome of the elections, as they are prisoners of
conscience;
urging the
authorities to ensure they are allowed immediate access to their
family members, lawyers of their choice and any medical treatment
they may require, and that they are not subjected to torture or
other ill-treatment;
urging the authorities to release them unless
they are charged with internationally recognizable criminal
offences in proceedings that meet internationally recognised fair
trial standards.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 19 August
2009:
Leader of the Islamic Republic
Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Islamic Republic Street - End of
Shahid Keshvar Doust Street, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: info_leader@leader.ir via
website: www.leader.ir/langs/en/index.php?p=letter (English)
Also send copies
to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country.
Please check with your section office if sending appeals after
the above date.
URGENT ACTION
POLITICAL PRISONERS REMAIN IN DETENTION
ADditional Information
In the days following the
announcement on 13 June that President Ahmadinejad had won the
previous day's presidential election, which hundreds of thousands
of Iranians dispute, the Iranian authorities have imposed draconian
restrictions on freedom of expression, association and assembly.
Security forces, including the paramilitary Basij have been widely
deployed in the streets; access to the internet and mobile phone
use have been intermittently blocked or significantly interrupted.
Iranian publications have been banned from publishing information
about the nationwide unrest since the result was declared. Foreign
journalists have been banned from the streets, their visas not
renewed and some foreign reporters have been arrested or expelled
from the country.
According to statements by
officials recorded by Amnesty International, at least 2277 people
have been arrested since 12 June by the police and Basij forces
across the country during demonstrations or their aftermath. These
include prominent political figures close to either Mir Hossein
Mousavi, fellow presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi or former
President Khatami, who supported Mir Hossein Mousavi's campaign.
Some human rights defenders, as well as journalists have also been
detained. On 16 June lawyer and human rights defender Abdolfattah
Soltani, was also arrested and detained (please see UA 160/09, MDE
13/059/2009, 19 June 2009: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/059/2009/en).
Journalist Issa Saharkhiz was arrested on 4 July and taken away to
an undisclosed location (please see UA 181/09, MDE 13/067/2009, 6
July 2009: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/067/2009/en)
On 24 June, 70 academics met leading opposition candidate Mir
Hossein Mousavi, and were arrested as they left his office. All but
four were later released. Those still detained include the head of
Mir Hossein Mousavi's election campaign, Dr Ghorban Behzadian and
Ardeshir Amir Arjomand who is a professor of law at Shahid Beheshti
University. Hundreds of others have been arrested during
demonstrations against the outcome of the election which have been
met with excessive use of force. Officials acknowledge at least 21
killed although the true number is likely to be higher.
In custody Mohammad Ali Abtahi, Mohsen Aminzadeh, Behzad Nabavi,
Abdollah Ramazanzadeh, Mostafa Tajzadeh and Mohsen Mirdamadi,
Mohammad Tavassoli, Said Hajjarian.
Amnesty International urged the Iranian government to halt the public executions, scheduled for Tuesday 14 July, of 14 alleged members of the PRMI (People's Resistance Movement of Iran), also known as Jondallah, a Baluchi armed opposition group.
"The 14 did not receive a fair trial and these executions must not go ahead," said Malcolm Smart, Director of Amnesty International Middle East and North Africa Programme. "The Iranian authorities must abide by their international obligations to uphold human rights and guarantee fair trials, which is all the more essential in death penalty cases."
The 14, who include Abdolhamid Rigi, a brother of Jondallah's leader, are due to be hanged in public tomorrow morning in the city of Zahedan, south-east Iran. They were sentenced for moharebeh - "enmity against God" - for allegedly participating in armed attacks on officials and civilians and other offences. Abdolhamid Rigi's "confession" was recently broadcast on television even before he was tried, after he was forcibly returned to Iran from Pakistan in mid-2008.
Jondallah has carried out a number of attacks on Iranian government forces in Sistan-Baluchistan province, killing officials who were taken prisoner. Recently, Jondallah claimed responsibility for a suicide bomb attack on a mosque in Zahedan which killed as many as 25 worshippers. Amnesty International has repeatedly condemned such abuses. Most or all of those due to be executed tomorrow are believed to have been arrested before the attack on the mosque.
Iran: Journalists detained as news restrictions tighten
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
PRESS RELEASE
26 June 2009
The Iranian authorities must immediately release dozens of journalists arrested since 12 June and who are at risk of torture in detention, Amnesty International said today as it adopted all of them as prisoners of conscience.
'It is shocking that journalists - whose job it is to provide information to others - are being detained, on top of all the other draconian measures the authorities have taken to restrict the free flow of information about what is really happening in Iran. Rather than trying to investigate alleged abuses, the only message the authorities are sending is that they are seeking to hide the truth, both from their own citizens and the rest of the world.'
Dozens of journalists - some who also campaigned for either Mir Hossein Mousavi or Mehdi Karroubi, both candidates in the presidential election, have been detained in the past fortnight with their whereabouts mostly unknown.
For example, around 20 of 25 employees of the newspaper Kalameh Sabz arrested at their office in Haft Tir Square on 22 June are still detained and their whereabouts remain unknown. Kalameh Sabz is a newspaper established by presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi in 2009, and which has not been published since 14 June.
Since the announcement on 13 June that President Ahmadinejad had won the election, the Iranian authorities have imposed severe restrictions on freedom of expression. Access to the internet has been blocked or significantly interrupted. Iranian publications have been banned from publishing information about the unrest. Foreign news journalists have been banned from the streets, and some foreign reporters have been expelled from the country.
'If nothing else, the authorities must immediately disclose the whereabouts of these journalists, ensure that they are not tortured or otherwise ill-treated and allow their families and lawyers access to them,' said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui. 'Unless the authorities lift all unlawful restrictions on freedom of expression - which includes the right of journalists to report on events - and release all the journalists arrested, we can only assume they are trying to hide evidence of abuse and further silence any critical voice'.
Background:
Hundreds of politicians, journalists, academics, students and human rights defenders, have been detained, some briefly, across Iran since the election. Most are either supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi or Mehdi Karroubi, or are close to ex-President Khatami who supported Mir Hossein Mousavi's campaign. Others have been critical of incumbent President Ahmadinejad's policies. On 24 June, 70 academics who had met Mir Hossein Mousavi that day were arrested as they left his office. All but four were released later. Those still detained include Dr Ghorban Behzadian, the head of Mir Hossein Mousavi's election campaign. According to official statements, well over a thousand others have been arrested during demonstrations against the outcome of the election which have been met with excessive use of force by security forces. Many were beaten, and according to the authorities, up to 21 people have been killed, although the true number is likely to be higher.
Among journalists detained in the past fortnight are:
Mahsa Amrabad, a journalist for the Etemad-e Melli newspaper founded by presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi, who was arrested from her home on 14 June.
Abdolreza Tajik, editor of the weekly magazine Farhikhtegan, who was arrested from the magazine's offices on 14 June.
Keyvan Samimi Behbehani, editor of the banned Nameh magazine, who was also arrested at home on 14 June. He is also a member of the Centre for Human Rights Defenders' Arbitrary Arrests Committee.
Mojtaba Pourmohsen, editor of the newspaper Gilan-e Emrooz, from the northern city of Rasht from where he hosted a programme for the Netherlands-based Radio Zamaneh, who was arrested on 15 June.
Fariborz Soroush, a freelance journalist who has given interviews to the Prague-based Radio Farda, who was reported to have been arrested on 16 June.
Saeed Laylaz, a prominent economic journalist who writes for Sarmayeh and who had been very critical of incumbent President Ahmadinejad's economic policies was arrested on 17 June.
Mohammad Ghochani, the editor of Etemad-e Melli was arrested on 18 June at his home. According to information received by Amnesty International, he is believed to be held in Section 209 of Evin Prison in Tehran, which is controlled by the Ministry of Intelligence.
Karim Arghandehpour, a freelance journalist and blogger who used to write for various now-banned reformist newspapers, who was arrested on 14 June.
Journalists reporting for foreign news outlets have also been arrested: Maziar Bahari, who has dual Canadian and Iranian nationality who reported for Newsweek from Iran, was arrested on 21 June. Iason Athanasiadis-Fowden, a Greek national who was covering the election for the Washington Times, was arrested when trying to leave Iran on or around 19 June.
Iran: Stop using Basij militia to police demonstrations
Iran: Stop using Basij militia to police demonstrations
22 June 2009
Following reports from Iran that members of the Basij militia have used excessive force against demonstrators - and in light of the history of abuses committed by this unaccountable branch of the security forces - Amnesty International calls on the government of Iran to stop using the militia to police demonstrations with immediate effect.
The Basij militia is a volunteer paramilitary force of men and women under the control of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). Its members are found in schools, universities, state and private institutions, factories, and even among tribes. Basij forces are widely used to help to maintain law and order and repress dissent, and have frequently been accused of using extreme brutality.
Many of those who took part in the recent demonstrations claim non - uniformed and armed personnel, whom they believed to be members of the Basij militia, used excessive force and carried out human rights violations - including beatings and use of firearms - against demonstrators on the streets. A video of a member of the Basij shooting from an building used by the Basij during the demonstrations on Monday 15 June in which at least 8 people were killed should have triggered an immediate investigation by the authorities and clear instructions should have been issued to prevent further loss of life. Another video of a young woman identified as Neda, dying apparently from a chest wound, has been widely circulated amid claims of involvement of Basij members.
The response of the Iranian authorities has not been to open a proper investigation to clarify the circumstances of any death but rather to issue further warnings that protests will be handled in a 'revolutionary manner' by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, the Basij militia and other police and security forces.
"Iranians wishing to peacefully express their opposition to recent events surrounding the election have no space to do so, as they are met with violence that has been legitimized by the highest authority in the land," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme. "It's time for the Iranian authorities to allow peaceful protest and to remove the Basij from the streets. The policing of any demonstrations should be left to the police or other security forces which are properly trained and equipped."
Following the speech from Iran 's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Friday demanding an end to the protests, there were further demonstrations on Saturday in Tehran and other cities and towns across the country. 13 people were killed according to the authorities and many more were injured. According to the government, over 400 people were arrested. Another demonstration of about 1,000 people in Tehran on Monday has been met with tear gas and arrests.
"Recent statements from the police, who denied opening fire on protestors, and from the Tehran Prosecutor-General, who blamed the killings on 'armed terrorists', look like an attempt to disassociate state organs from responsibility for violence," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui. "This is all the more reason to stop using the Basij as there is no way for the public to even identify them, let alone bring them to account for violations. If the Iranian authorities are not able to control such a militia, they should disband it. It is irresponsible to provide weapons and then to relinquish responsibility when abuses occur".
Amnesty International calls on the Iranian authorities to investigate fully all reports of death, including possible extrajudicial executions, and to bring anyone found responsible to justice.
Fear of excessive use of force/torture - IRAN Demonstrators against announcement of re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad
PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 13/061/2009
23 June 2009
Demonstrations in Iran continued following the Iranian presidential election on 12 June. Iran's state media reported that on 20 June, at least 475 people were arrested during post-election clashes and that up to 13 people died, and many more were injured. The true number may be higher. The security forces also used tear gas and water cannons against the protesters who were also beaten with truncheons. Amnesty
International believes that those arrested are at risk of torture or other ill-treatment, and that other demonstrators are at risk of unlawful killing or even extrajudicial execution. The authorities are unlawfully restricting freedom of expression, assembly and association.
The death on 20 June of a young 26 year-old woman, Neda Agha Soltan, was captured on video and widely circulated on the Internet. Philosophy student Neda Agha Soltan was in a car with others, when they got stuck in traffic caused by protests on Kagar Avenue in Tehran. According to reports she got out of the car because of excessive heat and was then shot in the chest by an unidentified gunman, possibly a member of the Basij militia. Her family buried her the next day, but a memorial ceremony was reportedly cancelled after officials expressly
forbade it. All other mosques in the Tehran area have been warned against holding services in her memory.
On 22 June, the Revolutionary Guards posted a statement on their website stating: "In the current sensitive situation ... the Guards will firmly confront in a revolutionary way rioters and those who violate the law" after Presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi called on his supporters to stage more demonstrations. He also urged them to refrain from violence and show self-restraint. Later on the internet, Mir Hossein Mousavi's supporters then urged people to carry black candles with green ribbons to demonstrate solidarity with the victims of the unrest. They also encouraged motorists to turn on their headlights for two hours from 5 pm to "show their solidarity with families of those killed during the recent events". At least a thousand demonstrators gathered in Tehran, defying the authorities'
ban on demonstrations. Police fired tear gas and several arrests took place.
During his televised address to the nation during the 19 June Friday prayers in Tehran, the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, called for an end to street protests against the outcome of the election. Instead of instructing security forces, including the volunteer Basij militia, to act with restraint and in accordance with the law, he warned that if people continued to take to the streets, the consequences would lie with them.
On 22 June the official news agency IRNA quoted Ebrahim Raisi, a senior judiciary official, as saying on state television on 22 June that more than 450 people were detained during clashes with police in Tehran on 20 June in which at least 10 people were killed. He added that "those arrested in recent events will be dealt with in a way that will teach them a
lesson," and that a special court was studying the cases. Amnesty International urges the authorities to urgently open investigations into the killings both that are confirmed and reported.
The crackdown on media continues and the foreign media are banned from covering demonstrations.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION In the days following the Iranian presidential election on 12 June, hundreds of thousands of Iranians took part in marches and demonstrations across the country, protesting against both the process and outcome of the election. After the Supreme Leader's speech on Friday 19 June clashes between demonstrators and security forces dramatically increased. The police and security forces, including the volunteer Basij militia, have used excessive force, including beating protestors with truncheons to end demonstrations. In some cases, demonstrators have been shot with live ammunition. The death toll is rising. Since the presidential elections a total of up to 21 killings have been confirmed by state media and scores of politicians, journalists, academics,
students and human rights defenders have been detained, some briefly, across Iran.
The Basij militia is a volunteer paramilitary force of men and women under the control of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). Its members are found in schools, universities, state and private institutions, factories, and even among tribes. Basij forces are widely used to help to maintain law and order and control dissent, and have frequently been accused of using extreme brutality.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Persian, Arabic, English, French or your own language: - calling on the authorities to ensure that security forces exercise restraint in the policing of any further demonstrations in connection with the election result, and that firearms are not used except as a last resort where strictly unavoidable in order to protect life; - calling on the Iranian authorities to stop using the Basij militia to police demonstrations with immediate effect; - stressing that all those detained, including the 475 arrested on 20 June, must be protected from torture or other ill-treatment, allowed access to their families, lawyers and any
necessary medical treatment and should be brought before a judge without delay so they may challenge the basis of their detention; - urging the authorities to order an independent and impartial investigation into the policing of the demonstrations, particularly into all deaths which have been reported; - calling for anyone detained solely for their peaceful expression of their views regarding the outcome of the election to be released immediately and unconditionally; - asking the authorities to stop unlawfully restricting the freedoms of association, assembly and expression, including the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas.
APPEALS TO: Minister of the Interior Sadegh Mahsouli Ministry of the Interior Dr Fatemi Avenue Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran Fax: +98 21 8 896 203/ +98 21 8 899 547/ +98 21 6 650 203 Salutation: Your Excellency
Head of the Judiciary Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh (Office of the Head of the Judiciary) Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave.,
south of Serah-e Jomhouri, Tehran 1316814737, Islamic Republic of Iran Email: shahroudi@dadgostary-tehran.ir (In the subject line write: FAO Ayatollah Shahroudi) Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO: Leader of the Islamic Republic Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei The Office of the Supreme Leader Islamic Republic Street - End of Shahid Keshvar Doust Street, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran Email: info_leader@leader.ir
Arbitrary arrest/Fear of torture/prisoners of conscience
Mohammad Ali Abtahi (m), 51, all political leaders
Mohsen Aminzadeh (m)
Said Hajjarian (m), 55
Behzad Nabavi (m), 68
Abdollah Ramazanzadeh (m)
Mostafa Tajzadeh (m), 53
Mohammad Tavassoli (m)
Ebrahim Yazdi, 76 Public AI Index: MDE 13/058/2009
18 June 2009
Eight political leaders have been arrested in Tehran in connection with their perceived views on Iran's disputed presidential election, which was held on 12 June or their links with former president, Mohammad Khatami. On 17 June 2009, Ebrahim Yazdi was arrested and the other seven were arrested on 16 June. They are prisoners of conscience who should be released immediately and unconditionally. It is not known where they are held and Amnesty International fears for their safety.
Members of Mohammad Ali Abtahi's family told Amnesty International that he was arrested by three plain-clothed policemen who had come to his home on 16 June. Following a short conversation, he gathered a few personal possessions, told his family that he was being detained and was taken away. Mohammad Ali Abtahi, a cleric, was an advisor to former Iranian President, Mohammad Khatami, holding a Vice Presidential post in the President's second term. Mohsen Aminzadeh, who was Deputy Foreign Minister during the presidency of Mohammad Khatami, is a leading member of the Islamic Iran Participation Front (Jebhe-ye Mosharekat-e Iran-e Eslami ).
Said Hajjarian is former Tehran city counsellor and advisor to former president Mohammad Khatami and investigative journalist. He was confined to a wheelchair following an attempted assassination in 2000 in which the perpetrators argued that he was a legitimate target, or mahdour al-dam, a provision of Iranian law referring to those 'whose blood may be legitimately spilled', for having revealed the state's role in a series or murders, mainly in the 1990s. His neurologist has stated that he is in need of constant nursing care and physical therapy; detention could put his life in danger.
Behzad Nabavi, a founding member of the Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution Organization (Sazman-e Mojahedin-e Enghlab-e Eslami), a political body aligned with former President Mohammad Khatami, was a member of parliament between 2000-2004. In the 1980s he was a minister in governments headed by then Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi. Dr Abdollah Ramazanzadeh was government spokesperson while Mostafa Tajzadeh was Deputy Minister of Interior in former President Mohammad Khatami's administration, 2001 to 2004. Abdollah Ramazanzadeh is the deputy leader of the Islamic Iran Participation Front.
Mohammad Tavassoli, is a senior member of the Iran Freedom Movement (Nehzat-e Azadi). The party's Secretary General, Ebrahim Yazdi, was a member of the 1979 government and member of parliament following the revolution, was arrested at the Pars Hospital, central Tehran on 17 June, where he was under observation. The previous day his house had been searched and personal belongings such as notebooks and his computer were confiscated. His current whereabouts are unknown. He is said to have criticised the conduct of the 12 June election. He was returned to Pars Hospital on 18 June, possibly as a result of the deterioration in his health, but he appears to remain in custody.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION On 12 June, the Ministry of the Interior announced that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had won by what many consider to be an unexpectedly wide margin. The Guardian Council, a higher legislative and administrative body announced that the results were subject to their ratification and that a limited recount of ballots would be initiated. The other three candidates are said to have submitted formal complaints to the Council of Guardians, which oversees elections and a ruling on their complaints is expected within around a week days.
In the days following the election, thousands of people in favour of the incumbent took part in a rally while many thousands have taken part in marches and demonstrations across Iran that have condemned both the process and outcome of the election. Most of the demonstrations have been non-violent but in some cases violence erupted, including stone throwing and acts of arson. .The police and security forces have used excessive force, including beating and clubbing with truncheons, to control some of the demonstrations. While up to seven deaths have been confirmed by Iran's state radio, Amnesty International has recorded up to 15 killings, including of five students, whose death remains unconfirmed.
All of those arrested, who are amongst up to 2000 other people reportedly detained across the country, represent political groups that were widely seen as favouring candidates opposed to the incumbent, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Persian, Arabic, English, French or your own language:
- calling on the authorities to immediately and unconditionally release the political leaders and activists named above and all others arrested solely on account of their peaceful views, including about the outcome of the elections, as they are prisoners of conscience;
- urging that they be allowed immediate access to their family members, lawyers of their choice and to any medical treatment they may require, and that they be protected from all forms of torture or ill-treatment;
- calling on the authorities to allow peaceful demonstrations to take place of those who wish to express their opinions on the elections.
Head of the Judiciary Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh (Office of the Head of the Judiciary) Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhouri, Tehran 1316814737, Islamic Republic of Iran Email: shahroudi@dadgostary-tehran.ir (In the subject line write: FAO Ayatollah Shahroudi) Salutation: Your Excellency
Minister of the Interior Sadegh Mahsouli Ministry of the Interior Dr Fatemi Avenue Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran Fax: +98 21 8 896 203 +98 21 8 899 547 +98 21 6 650 203
and to diplomatic representatives of Iran accredited to your country.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 30 July 2009.
Iran : Violence against demonstrators marks new presidential term
Sunday 14 June 2009
The Iranian authorities must start an immediate investigation into the security forces' violent handling of thousands of demonstrators who took to the streets on Saturday to protest against the announcement of the victory of incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Friday's presidential elections.
Amnesty International has received reports from Iran that plain-clothes security forces unnecessarily used batons to beat and disperse non-violent individuals , injuring many people .
'The shocking scenes of violence meted out by the security forces need to be urgently investigated and those responsible for human rights violations must be brought to justice ,' said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme. 'While we recognise the duty of security forces to ensure that public order is upheld, the families of those detained, the Iranian public and the international community should be told what exactly are the basis of the charges and shown how exactly those arrested were connected to violence.'
At least 170 people were arrested on Saturday during clashes between security forces and hundreds of demonstrators around the Ministry of the Interior and other areas in central Tehran. Those arrested included leading political figures who were accused by the authorities to have 'orchestrated' the unrest. Some have since been released.
'We urge the Iranian authorities to ensure that all Iranians are granted the right to express themselves peacefully, to associate and to assemble. No one should be arrested for questioning the results of the elections and the Iranian authorities need to act in a transparent manner to address the concerns raised by many Iranians that results have been tampered with ,' said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui.
Although universities have been closed, one report received by Amnesty International indicated that some 100 riot police, wearing helmets and shields, had chased some 300 - 400 students on grounds belonging to the University of Tehran. Security personnel also used pepper and tear gas to quell the unrest, notably at the student dormitory in Pol-e Gisha, Tehran and another one in Shiraz.
In another incident, police on motorcycles beat supporters of presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, who had staged a sit-in in Vanak Square, Tehran to protest the results of the elections.
At the end of Saturday night, in parts of central Tehran, burning barricades were strewn across the road in places and clashes with security forces were continuing, including in the areas of Abbas Abad and, Saadat Abad, in areas around Tajrish.
Demonstrations also spread to other cities, including Rasht ; Mashahd; Shiraz and Ahwaz, where many of Iran 's Arab minority reside; Zahedan, in Iran 's southeast and centre of Iran's Baluchi minority; and Oroumiye, a city mainly populated by Kurds and Azerbaijani Turkish people.
In the course of the unrest on Saturday, access to You Tube, Facebook and other social networking internet sites was blocked, as was access to a range of online news services. SMS communications were reported to be restricted. Many of these outlets carried reports which raised concerns that the conduct of the election was flawed and results had been rigged .
'Instead of instituting an information clampdown, including by blocking video sharing social networking sites like You Tube and Facebook; along with a handful of online news sites, the authorities should openly address the concerns and criticisms clearly expressed by so many,' Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui said.
Amnesty International has called on the authorities to ensure that newspapers linked to other presidential candidates are permitted to carry the statements of those candidates.
'We deplore that the new presidential term is heralded with widespread abuses. Amnesty International considers anyone arrested simply for demanding transparency and for questioning the results of the elections to be a prisoner of conscience, who should be immediately and unconditionally released.'
Background
Iran has witnessed a growing climate of repression and intimidation in the run-up to the elections. This has been termed by many commentators as a deliberate strategy to ensure that president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wins the election.
Prior to the closure of the polls, newspapers linked to the other candidates than incumbent President Ahmadinejad were reportedly occupied and their work carried out under the supervision of security forces.
In the hours following the closure of the polls, the Ministry of the Interior is said to have confidentially informed Mir Hossein Mousavi that he had won the elections and he was in the process of preparing for a press conference, when his office was raided on a reported verbal order issued by Tehran Province prosecutor, Said Mortazavi. At least three of Mir Hossein Mousavi's advisors were detained. Mir Hossein Mousavi issued a statement stating that he would 'not surrender to this dangerous charade'.
Public Document
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For more information please call Amnesty International's press office in London , UK , on +44 20 7413 5566 or email: press@amnesty.org
International Secretariat, Amnesty International, 1 Easton St., London WC1X 0DW , UK www.amnesty.org
Iran: Election amid repression of dissent and unrest
9 June 2009
The Iranian presidential elections are to be held this month on 12 June. The candidates are: the incumbent President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; Mohsen Rezaei, a former commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps; Former Prime Minister, Mir Hossein Mousavi (backed by former president, MohammadKhatami); and Mehdi Karroubi, a former parliamentary speaker.
While Amnesty International welcomes pledges from some of the candidates to address the prevailing discrimination against women in the country -- an issue which has been forced to the forefront of the debate by the efforts of women's rights activists - and ethnic minorities and to tackle economic issues to improve the welfare of the population, there are other serious human rights concerns which also need addressing. These include severe curtailments of freedom of expression, arbitrary arrests, torture and other ill-treatment, unfair trials and a high recourse to the death penalty (including against juvenile offenders) as well as incidents of people being stoned to death.
At least 194 people have been executed so far this year in Iran, including five women and three juveniles convicted of crimes allegedly committed before they were 18, a practice strictly prohibited under international law.
At least 140 juveniles are known to be on death row in Iran.
At least one person has been stoned to death this year in Iran, despite a 2002 directive from the Head of the Judiciary ordering a moratorium on stonings. Amnesty International is aware of seven women and three men currently under sentence of death by stoning.
The election period has also seen increased repression, both of people expressing their opinions directly about the elections, or of those seen to be opposed to the system in some way, including students, women's rights activists, lawyers and unrecognized religious minorities, such as the Baha'is and the Ahl-e Haq.
Amnesty International is also concerned that all but four of the candidates have been excluded from standing, including all women, on the grounds of discriminatory criteria. The Council of Guardians is the body which screens all candidates for election to "ensure their suitability for the Presidency". Article 115 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran stipulates that candidates must be from "religious and political personalities" [Persian:rejal] and possess: "Iranian origin; Iranian nationality; administrative capacity and resourcefulness; a good past record; trustworthiness and piety; convinced belief in the fundamental principles of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the official religion of the country." In previous elections, the majority of candidates registered were disqualified under these criteria, including all women. The exclusion of women appears to have been as a result of an interpretation of the wordrejalas meaning "men".
Amnesty International is concerned about the increasing number of arrests in recent weeks leading up to the presidential elections, which indicates worsening repression of people who want to express their opinions:
In the pre-election period, Amnesty International has received reports suggesting increased waves of arbitrary arrests and harassment targeting in particular members of Iran's religious and ethnic minority communities, including Baha'is and converts from Islam, students, trade unionists and women's rights activists.
By imprisoning people for merely expressing dissenting views, the Iranian authorities are stifling the free debate which is a pre-requisite of elections. Citizens should be able to freely express their grievances and their demands so that candidates can address them.
Jelveh Javaheri, a member of the One Million Signatures Campaign (also known as the Campaign for Equality), which is collecting signatures to a petition demanding equal rights for women was released on bail on 7 June. She is one of around 150 people arrested on 1 May 2009. Most -- including Jelveh Javaheri's journalist husband Kaveh Mozaffari who is still detained along with several others - were arrested in Laleh Park in Tehran where a celebration of International Workers' Day was being held. Jelveh Javaheri, however, was arrested at home without an arrest warrant when security officials came with her husband to search their house. She has since been charged with "acting against national security through membership in the One Million Signatures Campaign and with the aim of disrupting public order and security." At least three other women associated with the Campaign for Equality are currently imprisoned, including Alieh Aghdam-Doust who is serving a three-year prison sentence.
The campaign of Mir Hossein Mousavi -- himself a member of the Azerbaijani minority - has attracted allegations of racism after a video posted on YouTube on 14 May allegedly showed former President Mohammad Khatami (who supports Mr Mousavi) making comments belittling Iranian Azerbaijanis. Mr Khatami has since stated that the video was a fake. In the days after the video surfaced, hundreds of Azerbaijani activists held rallies and organized protests, demanding an apology from Mr Khatami. Some have been arrested and are being held in incommunicado detention.
For example, on 22 May, in a government-organized rally in El Goli (also known as Shah Golu) Park in Tabriz, in north-west Iran, a group of Azerbaijanis protested against the Khatami video and demanded that education be made available in the Azerbaijani Turkic language. Ali Reza Farshi, a professor in the Islamic Azad University of Marand, north-west of Tabriz, along with 14 other protestors were reportedly arrested and are believed to be still detained. Four of the protestors are reported to have suffered injuries and were bleeding as they were taken away. There is no information on their health.
On 27 May, Emad Bahavar, head of the youth wing of the Iran Freedom Party who was campaigning for the presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi, was arrested on charges of "propaganda against the system". He has since been released on bail.
At least two university students -- Abbas Hakimzadeh and Mehdi Mashayekhi remain detained without trial by the Ministry of Intelligence in Section 209 of Evin Prison in Tehran following their arrests in February 2009. Other students arrested with them who have since been released have said that they were tortured in detention. On 28 April 2009, a Revolutionary Court judge said that eight students, including those still detained, had been accused of cooperating with the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran, an opposition group based in exile. He added that they had intended to carry out some activities in the university during the forthcoming election.
Following a fierce clash in April between members of the Kurdish armed opposition group, the Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan (PJAK) and security forces in which at least 18 policemen were killed, dozens of Kurds are reported to have been arrested. Others were said to be detained following the eight-day visit of the Supreme Leader, Ali Khamene'i, to Kordestan Province in mid-May.
In the run-up to the elections violent unrest has intensified in Sistan-Baluchistan province in south-eastern Iran. A member of the armed Baluch group, the People's Resistance Movement of Iran (PRMI), carried out a suicide bomb attack on a mosque in the provincial capital of Zahedan on 28 May. Up to 25 people were reported to have been killed and dozens more were injured. The PRMI said that the attack was a reprisal for the execution of several Sunni clerics in recent years. Amnesty International has condemned the attack on the mosque.
Less than 48 hours after the bombing, three men were hanged in public near the site of the attack amid claims that they were responsible. Later comments clarified that the three men had been in detention at the time of the bombing, but they had "confessed" to providing the explosives used in the bombing. Further unrest broke out afterwards with up to ten people killed, and dozens arrested.
Iran's Baluch minority - in common with other minorities in Iran - suffer discrimination by the state authorities leading to gross violations of their economic, social and cultural rights. They live mainly in the provinces of Sistan-Balouchistan and Kerman and are believed to constitute between one and three per cent of the country's total population of around 70 million. They are mainly Sunni Muslims, whereas the majority of Iran's population are Shi'a Muslims.
This morning, Iranian authorities executed Delara Darabi in Rasht Central Prison. She is the second person to be executed this year after being convicted of a crime she was alleged to have committed while still under 18, Amnesty International revealed today.
"Amnesty International is outraged at the execution of Delara Darabi, and particularly at the news that her lawyer was not informed about the execution, despite the legal requirement that he should receive 48 hours' notice. This appears to have been a cynical move on the part of the authorities to avoid domestic and international protests which might have saved Delara Darabi's life," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme.
Delara Darabi was executed despite her having been given a two-month stay of execution by the Head of the Judiciary on 19 April.
"This indicates that even decisions by the Head of the Judiciary carry no weight and are disregarded in the provinces," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui.
Delara Darabi was convicted of murdering a relative in 2003 when she was 17. She initially confessed to the murder, believing she could save her boyfriend from the gallows, but later retracted her confession. She was being detained at Rasht Prison in northern Iran since her arrest in 2003, during which time she developed a significant talent as a painter.
Amnesty International does not consider her trial to have been fair, as the courts later refused to consider new evidence which the lawyer said would have proved she could not have committed the murder.
Amnesty International had campaigned for her life since her case came to light in 2006, urging the Iranian authorities to commute her death sentence and calling for a her re-trial in proceedings that meet international standards.
The execution of Delara Darabi brings the number of executions in Iran this year to 140. She is the second woman known to have been executed. Iran has executed at least forty two juvenile offenders since 1990, eight of them in 2008 and one on 21 January 2009, in total disregard of international law, which unequivocally bans the execution of those convicted of crimes committed when under the age of 18.
Public Document
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For more information please call Amnesty International's press office in London , UK , on +44 20 7413 5566 or email: press@amnesty.org
International Secretariat, Amnesty International, 1 Easton St., London WC1X 0DW , UK www.amnesty.org
Urgent Actions on 2 detained Baha'is, a juvenile in danger of imminent execution, and 12 prisoners of conscience.
27 March 2009
PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 13/023/2009 27 March 2009
UA 84/09 Arbitrary arrests/ prisoners of conscience
IRAN Haleh Houshmandi-Salehi (f) ] members of the Baha'i community Farham (also known as Hadi) Masoumi (m) ]
Two members of the Baha'i community, Haleh Houshmandi-Salehi and Farham Masoumi were arrested after being summoned to appear on 18 March at the Ministry of Intelligence's offices in the city of Shiraz, in Fars Province, south western Iran. Based on the information available, Amnesty International believes they are prisoners of conscience, detained solely because of their religious beliefs or their peaceful activities on behalf of the Baha'i community.
Farham Masoumi was arrested and released a few hours later on 15 March, following a search of his house. He was detained for a second time on 18 March when he was summoned to appear at the detention facility run by the Ministry of Intelligence in Shiraz.
Haleh Houshmandi-Salehi and her husband Mr Houshmandi were away from Shiraz on 15 March when their home was raided by officers from the Ministry of Intelligence. Haleh Houshmandi-Salehi's mother was threatened and forced to hand over the house keys by officers who confiscated all the family's books, CDs, computer and other personal items, including some of their child's belongings. The officers also had an arrest warrant for Haleh Houshmandi-Salehi who was not present at the time. On 17 March, she received a telephone call in which she was summoned to appear the next day at the detention facility run by the Ministry of Intelligence in Shiraz. She was arrested when she went there on 18 March.
When Haleh Houshmandi-Salehi's husband asked officials at the detention facility about the reason for his wife's arrest, he was informed that she and Farham Masoumi were arrested because of their involvement in "illegal activities". When he contacted the local Information Office of the Ministry of Intelligence he was told: "Your wife is a Baha'i, and for now that is sufficient reason for her arrest".
Haleh Houshmandi-Salehi was amongst a group of more than 53 individuals, mostly Baha'i, involved in a programme teaching underprivileged children in the city of Shiraz. They were arrested in May 2006 even though the authorities had granted permission for their activities and later released. In August 2007, all 53 were tried by Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Court in Shiraz. They were charged with offences relating to state security. Fourteen who attended the court sessions were told orally of the verdict against the whole group. Three were each sentenced to three years' imprisonment for "organizing illegal groups" and to an additional one year's imprisonment for "propaganda on behalf of groups that are opposed to the Islamic system". The other 50, including Haleh Houshmandi-Salehi, were sentenced to suspended prison sentences of four months for "participating in an illegal group" and a further eight months for "propaganda on behalf of groups that are opposed to the Islamic system". All those involved have appealed against their convictions and sentences (see UA 25/08, MDE 13/017/2008, 25 January 2008).
BACKGROUND INFORMATION The Baha'i faith was founded about 150 years ago in Iran and has since spread around the world. Since the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979, the Baha'i community has been systematically harassed and persecuted. There are over 300,000 Baha'is currently in Iran, but their religion is not recognized under the Iranian Constitution, which only recognizes Islam, Christianity, Judaism and Zoroastrianism. Baha'is in Iran are subject to discriminatory laws and regulations which violate their right to practise their religion freely, as set out in Article 18(1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a state party. The Iranian authorities also deny Baha'is equal rights to education, to work and to a decent standard of living by restricting their access to employment and benefits such as pensions. They are not permitted to meet, to hold religious ceremonies or to practise their religion communally. Since President Ahmadinejad was elected in 2005, dozens of Baha'is have been arrested.
Members of the Baha'i community in Iran profess their allegiance to the state and deny that they are involved in any subversive acts against the government, which they state would be against their religion. The Baha'i International Community, which describes itself as an international non-governmental organization with affiliates in over 180 countries and territories, together representing over 5 million members of the Bahá'í Faith, believes that the allegations of espionage for Israel which have over the years been made against the community in Iran stem solely from the fact that the Baha'i World Centre is in Israel.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Persian, Arabic, English or your own language: - calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Haleh Houshmandi-Salehi and Farham Masoumi as they appear to be detained solely because of their beliefs or peaceful activities on behalf of the Baha'i community; - otherwise calling for their release unless they are charged with a recognizably criminal offence and brought to trial promptly and fairly; - urging the Iranian authorities to ensure that they are not subjected to torture or other ill-treatment; - urging the authorities to ensure that they are given immediate and regular access to their relatives and lawyers of their choice, and to any medical treatment they may require.
APPEALS TO: Head of the Judiciary Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh (Office of the Head of the Judiciary) Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhouri, Tehran 1316814737, Islamic Republic of Iran Email: shahroudi@dadgostary-tehran.ir (In the subject line write: FAO Ayatollah Shahroudi) Salutation: Your Excellency
Head of Judiciary, Fars Province Mr Siyavoshpour Fars Province Judiciary Karim Khan Zand Street Shohada Square, Shiraz, Islamic Republic of Iran Email: info@farsjudiciary.ir
COPIES TO: President His Excellency Mahmoud Ahmadinejad The Presidency, Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran Fax: + 98 21 6 649 5880 Email: via website: http://www.president.ir/email/
and to diplomatic representatives of Iran accredited to your country.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 8 May 2009.
PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 13/024/2009 27 March 2009
UA 86/09 Arbitrary arrest/prisoners of conscience
IRAN Delaram Ali (f) ] Leila Nazari (f) ] Khadijeh Moghaddam (f) ] Farkhondeh Ehtesabian (f) ] Mahboubeh Karami (f) ] members of the One Million Signatures Campaign Baharah Behravan (f) ] Ali Abdi (m) ] Amir Rashidi (m) ] Mohammad Shourab (m) ] Arash Nasiri Eghbali (m) ] Soraya Yousefi (f), member of Mothers for Peace Shahla Forouzanfar (f), member of Mothers for Peace
The 12 people named above were arrested in the capital, Tehran, on 26 March, and held in police stations until that evening, when they were taken to Evin prison. Amnesty International considers all 12 to be prisoners of conscience, held solely for the peaceful exercise of their internationally recognized right to freedom of assembly.
They were arrested as they prepared to make visits marking the Iranian New Year to families of detained activists, including students and trade unionists, and also the family of Dr Zahra Bani Yaghoub, who died in detention in suspicious circumstances in 2007.
According to the website of the One Million Signatures Campaign (also known as the Campaign for Equality) (http://www.campaignforequality.info/english/spip.php?article489), the 12 detainees' relatives have said they have been accused of "creating unease in the public mind" and "disrupting public order", which are offences under Articles 618 and 698 of the Penal Code, and which carry sentences of imprisonment and/or flogging.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The Campaign for Equality, launched in 2006, is a grassroots initiative composed of a network of people committed to ending discrimination against women in Iranian law. The Campaign gives basic legal training to volunteers, who travel around the country promoting the Campaign. They talk with women in their homes, as well as in public places, telling them about their rights and the need for legal reform. The volunteers are also aiming at collecting one million signatures of Iranian nationals for a petition demanding an end to legal discrimination against women in Iran.
Dozens of activists have been arrested for their activities for the Campaign for Equality, some while collecting signatures for the petition. The authorities have blocked the Campaign's website at least 19 times. The Campaign has frequently been denied official permission to hold public meetings, and Campaign activists usually hold their meetings in the homes of sympathizers, some of whom have then received threatening phone calls apparently from security forces officials, or been summoned by them for interrogation. At least one such meeting was broken up by police, who arrested those present and beat some of them. Some members have been banned from travelling abroad.
At least two other women associated with the Campaign for Equality are also in custody: Ronak Safarzadeh has been held since October 2007, and Zeynab Beyezidi is serving a four-year prison sentence. The Campaign for Equality is also calling for the release of Alieh Aghdam-Doust, who is serving a three-year sentence imposed for her participation in a peaceful demonstration against legalized discrimination against women, which was held in June 2006, before the Campaign for Equality was launched. Amnesty International considers all to be prisoners of conscience.
Mothers for Peace was launched in 2007 by a group of Iranian women to campaign against possible military intervention in Iran over its nuclear programme, and to seek "viable solutions" to the region's instability (see http://www.motherspeace.com/spip.php?article84).
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Persian, Arabic, English, French or your own language: - calling on the authorities to release the 12 (naming them), as they are prisoners of conscience, held solely for the peaceful exercise of their internationally recognized right to freedom of assembly; - in the meantime, urging the authorities to grant them immediate and unconditional access to their families, lawyers of their choice and any medical treatment they may require.
APPEALS TO:
Head of the Judiciary His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh / Office of the Head of the Judiciary Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhouri, Tehran 1316814737, Islamic Republic of Iran Email: info@dadiran.ir, shahroudi@dadgostary-tehran.ir (In the subject line write: FAO Ayatollah Shahroudi) Salutation: Your Excellency
Director, Human Rights Headquarters of Iran Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh (Office of the Head of the Judiciary) Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhouri Tehran 1316814737, Islamic Republic of Iran Fax: +98 21 3390 4986 (please keep trying) Email: info@dadiran.ir (In the subject line: FAO Director, Human Rights Headquarters) Salutation: Dear Sir
and to diplomatic representatives of Iran accredited to your country.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 8 May 2009.
Abumoslem Sohrabi is at risk of imminent execution for a murder committed when he was 17 years old. His execution order has been approved by the Supreme Court and passed to the Office for the Implementation of Sentences, the body responsible for seeing that all sentences - including executions - are carried out.
In December 2001, Abumoslem Sohrabi from the city of Firouzabad, in Fars Province, stabbed a 25-year-old man, Amin, in what he claimed was an act of self-defence. Abumoslem Sohrabi says that Amin had raped him on numerous occasions and was harassing him at the time of the incident, by asking him out and offering him motorbike rides, but he had repeteadly refused the advances. On the day of the killing, Abumoslem Sohrabi had again refused a ride with Amin, who then threatened to tell others about their previous encounters. Abumoslem Sohrabi then said he would accept the ride, but, after mounting the motorbike, hit Amin and then ran away. Amin came after him, and they fought. Abumoslem Sohrabi managed to grab a knife that Amin was carrying knife and used it against him. He then fled the scene on Amin's motorbike, apparently not knowing that he had killed him.
Abumoslem Sohrabi was tried by Branch 3 of the Revolutionary Court in Firouzabad and sentenced to qesas (retribution) for murder committed in order to steal Amin's motorbike. However, in a letter to the Supreme Court, the judge who issued the original death sentence retracted his ruling in the light of evidence that Abumoslem Sohrabi was a rape victim and acted in self-defence. In July 2008 Branch 33 of the Supreme Court in Tehran ordered a review of the case but the death sentence was upheld.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Iran has executed at least 42 juvenile offenders since 1990, eight of them in 2008 and one on 21 January 2009.
The execution of juvenile offenders is prohibited under international law, as stated in Article 6(5) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), to which Iran is a state party, and so has undertaken not to execute anyone for crimes committed when they were under 18.
In Iran a person convicted of murder has no right to seek pardon or commutation from the state, in violation of Article 6(4) of the ICCPR. The family of a murder victim have the right either to insist on execution, or to pardon the killer and receive financial compensation (diyeh).
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Persian, Arabic, English or your own language: - expressing concern that Abumoslem Sohrabi is at imminent risk of execution for a crime committed when he was under 18; - calling on the authorities to commute his death sentence; - reminding the authorities that Iran is a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which prohibit the use of the death penalty against people convicted of crimes committed when they were under 18.
APPEALS TO:
Head of the Judiciary Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh (Office of the Head of the Judiciary) Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhouri, Tehran 1316814737, Islamic Republic of Iran Email: shahroudi@dadgostary-tehran.ir (In the subject line write: FAO Ayatollah Shahroudi) Salutation: Your Excellency
Director, Human Rights Headquarters of Iran Mohammad Javad Larijani Howzeh Riassat-e Ghoveh Ghazaiyeh (Office of the Head of the Judiciary) Pasteur St, Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhuri, Tehran 1316814737, Islamic Republic of Iran Fax: +98 21 3390 4986 (please keep trying) Email: fsharafi@bia-judiciary.ir (In the subject line: FAO Mohammad Javad Larijani) int_aff@judiciary.ir (In the subject line: FAO Mohammad Javad Larijani) Salutation: Dear Mr Larijani
and to diplomatic representatives of Iran accredited to your country.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 8 May 2009.
Prisoner of conscience
IRAN Ali Nejati (m), trade unionist
PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 13/019/2009
10 March 2009
Trade unionist Ali Nejati was arrested on 8 March by Ministry of Intelligence officers, following a raid on his home on 28 February. He appears to have been taken to a Ministry of Intelligence detention centre in the province of Khuzestan. Amnesty International considers him a prisoner of conscience, detained solely for the peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of expression and association.
Ali Nejati is one of the leaders of the Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Company (HTSCC) Trade Union. On 20 December 2008 he was reportedly charged with "acting against national security" and "spreading propaganda against the regime", in connection with interviews he and other trade union leaders gave to foreign journalists about working conditions at the plant. The interviews took place during May Day protests in 2008 against the HTSCC's repeated failure to pay its workers on time - it sometimes delayed payment for up to five months - and other violations of their employment rights. On 20 May 2008 he was ordered to present himself for questioning at a court in the town of Shoush, Khuzestan. He was subsequently brought to trial in two court hearings on 17 and 23 February 2009, but it is not known whether a verdict has been issued.
Seven other HTSCC trade unionists were arrested and detained between 22 February and 3 March 2009, but all were subsequently released on bail by 7 March. Four of them were tried with Ali Nejati on 17 and 23 February, on similar charges. One of them has received a sentence, the details of which are not known to Amnesty International, while the other three, like Ali Nejati, do not know if a verdict has been issued against them. The arrests took place after HTSCC workers had refused to take part in elections on 22 February for the company's Islamic Labour Council (ILC), a government-sponsored organization that controls and represses independent labour activities in the company.
The HTSCC Trade Union was formed on 22 October 2008, when its board members were elected, and is only the second independent union to be formed in Iran since the Islamic Revolution. In the course of 2008, more than 1,900 HTSCC workers had called for the dissolution of the company's ILC and for the creation of such an independent labour body. HTSCC workers had set up a trade union in 1973, but in the early 1980s the authorities banned it when the creation of free and independent labour organizations was prohibited. The HTSCC Trade Union held elections without the permission of the Ministry of Labour, which, together with the Ministries of Industry and Intelligence, has told the HTSCC that it does not recognize the union. This lack of official status puts the union's members at risk of prosecution.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Under Iranian labour legislation, workers are allowed to form Islamic Labour Councils (ILCs) in companies with more than 50 workers. They are not, however, permitted to set up any other labour organization. The ILCs' objectives, under 2001 legislation, are mainly to "propagate and spread Islamic culture, and defend the achievements of the Islamic Revolution"; set up Friday prayers; recite and pay tribute to religious slogans; "establish meetings for sermons, religious discourse and lectures, on various occasions"; and "endeavour to enrich the times of rest for the workers and their families". Defending the terms and conditions of their members' employment does not fall within their remit. Those permitted to stand for leadership positions in the ILCs are vetted and approved by an official selection body.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as
possible, in English, Persian, or your own language:
-calling on the authorities to release Ali Nejati immediately and unconditionally, as he is a prisoner of conscience, detained solely for the peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of expression and association in connection with his trade union activities;
- urging them to ensure that Ali Nejati is not tortured or otherwise ill-treated;
- urging them to ensure that Ali Nejati is given regular access to his family and legal representation of his choice, and any medical treatment that he may require.
APPEALS TO:
Head of
the Judiciary
His
Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh / Office of the Head of the
Judiciary
Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhouri, Tehran
1316814737, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: shahroudi@dadgostary-tehran.ir (In the subject line write: FAO
Ayatollah Shahroudi)
Salutation: Your Excellency
Leader of the Islamic Republic
Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Islamic Republic Street - End of Shahid Keshvar Doust Street, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fear of torture and other ill-treatment: Sanaz Allahyari (f) All students
Nasim Roshana'i (f)
Maryam Sheikh (f)
Amir Hossein Mohammadi-Far (m)
04 March 2009
The four students named above, and possibly others, affiliated to the students' rights body, Students for Freedom and Equality (Daneshjouyan-e Azadi Khah va Beraber Talab), were arrested on 01 March and have reportedly been transferred to Evin prison. Amnesty International fears that they are at risk of torture or other ill-treatment while in detention.
They may have been detained in connection with a demonstration held on 23 February, at Amir Kabir University to protest against the government burying the remains of soldiers killed during the Iran-Iraq war between 1980 and 1988 on university campuses.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Since December there have been waves of arbitrary arrests and harassment of students, particularly directed against members of Iran's religious and ethnic minorities, trade unionists and women's rights activists. These measures may in part be intended to stifle debate and to silence critics of the authorities in advance of the forthcoming presidential election in June 2009.
More than 70 students were detained on 23 February during a peaceful demonstration held by students at Tehran's Amir Kabir University in protest at the government's burial on campus of soldiers' remains
Many of the student temporarily detained during the demonstration were reportedly ill-treated. Others were taken to Police Station 107 at Palestine Square where there were also reports that students were ill-treated. Female students were said to have been insulted by police officers. Most of those arrested were released by the following morning although, more arrests of students were made in the days following the demonstration, including Abbas Hakimzadeh, Mehdi Mashayekhi, Nariman Mostafavi and Ahmad Qasaban, members of the Islamic Students Association (ISA) of Amir Kabir University.
The burial of the unknown soldiers on the university campus has widely been seen as a move by the government to seek to control student groups opposed to its policies. Burial of soldiers, called martyrs on account of their sacrifice in fighting against Iraqi forces, appears to enable non-students to enter the campus without being required to show evidence that they are students, a normal requirement for access to university premises. Students groups fear that the presence of the graves would allow unrestricted access to the campuses by security forces, including the Basij mobilization forces who are under the control of the Revolutionary Guards and would lead to further restrictions on debates and discussions relating to government policy.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as
possible, in English, Persian, or your own language:
-calling on the authorities to ensure that Sanaz Allahyari, Nasim Roshana'I, Maryam Sheikh and Amir Hossein Mohammadi-Far are protected against torture or other ill-treatment and are allowed immediate access to their family, legal representation and any medical attention that they may require;
- seeking specific details of the reasons for their arrest and any charges they may be facing;
- noting that if any of the students are held solely on account of the peaceful expression of their views or the exercise of their right to freedom of assembly, then they are prisoners of conscience, and should be released immediately and unconditionally;
APPEALS TO:
Head of
the Judiciary
His
Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh / Office of the Head of the
Judiciary
Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhouri, Tehran
1316814737, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: info@dadgostary-tehran.ir (In the subject line write: FAO
Ayatollah Shahroudi)
Salutation: Your Excellency
Head of Judiciary for Tehran province
Ali Reza Avaie
Tehran Judiciary
No. 152, corner of 17th Alley, before Shahid Motahhari Avenue
The 30th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution provides a timely opportunity to take stock and review the sweep of human rights developments in Iran over the past three decades.
Looking back, Anne Burley, who led Amnesty International's work on Iran from before the Revolution until the 1980s, described how opponents of the last Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, would come to protest and seek action against human rights violations committed under his rule.
This group included some who no longer gave attention to human rights after the Shah was ousted and the new authorities began to commit grave abuses.
But some of those we have spoken to are long standing activists, people who helped Amnesty International in 1979 and who later faced flight or persecution for their human rights activities.
For example, prominent lawyers Karim Lahiji and Hedayatollah Matine Daftary were co-founders of the Association of Iranian Jurists in 1978. In the months before the Revolution, the association issued hundreds of statements criticising unfair trials in the Shah's military courts, and worked to try and ensure reforms so that the judiciary should become independent and come to merit respect. They helped Amnesty International’s work but to no avail - the Revolution, when it came, failed to bring judicial reform. Thirty years later, the courts are still insufficiently independent and fail to operate in accordance with international standards on fair trial.
Hedayatollah recalled that flagrant human rights abuses took place in the months after the February 1979 Revolution amid a climate of utter lawlessness. Once, he came upon a trial over which a member of the interim government who had no legal training was presiding, which resulted in the execution of a the former Shah's military commander.
Karim said that the Association of Iranian Jurists had been able to continue issuing statements until about May 1981, when they published an assessment of Iran's new Penal Code, decrying the use of flogging and amputation, and the concept of retribution, or qesas, which includes a form of execution. However, Ayatollah Khomeini declared that those who opposed the new criminal code, with its Islamic basis, were denouncing Islam itself - and must be considered beyond Islam. This was tantamount to declaring critics of the Penal Code to be unbelievers whose blood could be legitimately shed.
Following this, Karim went into hiding for 10 months before fleeing across the mountains to Turkey, then on to Paris. Meanwhile, his colleague Reza Damghani was detained and imprisoned for eight years; he died hortly after his release. In Paris, Karim founded the Iranian League for the Defence of Human Rights (LDDHI) and has continued to speaking out against violations in Iran ever since.
Today, 30 years after the Revolution, the human rights situation in Iran remains dire, despite the growing demands for reform by the country's human rights defenders and others. Students, members of Iran's ethnic and religious minorities, women's rights activists, manual labourers, journalists, writers and even a growing number of state officials like teachers and judges want to be able to speak out about injustices they witness, without fearing they would face arrest or torture.
Iran: Preserve the Khavaran grave site for investigation into mass killings
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL - PUBLIC STATEMENT
20 January 2009
Amnesty International calls on the Iranian authorities to immediately stop the destruction of hundreds of individual and mass, unmarked graves in Khavaran, south Tehran, to ensure that the site is preserved and to initiate a forensic investigation at the site as part of a long-overdue thorough, independent and impartial investigation into mass executions which began in 1988, often referred to in Iran as the "prison massacres". The organization fears that these actions of the Iranian authorities are aimed at destroying evidence of human rights violations and depriving the families of the victims of the 1988 killings of their right to truth, justice and reparation.
Reports indicate that between 9-16 January 2009, the numerous ad hoc grave markings made by the families of some of those executed in previous years were destroyed by bulldozer. The site was at least partially covered by soil and trees were planted.
Amnesty International additionally calls on the Iranian government to act on its standing invitation to UN mechanisms and to facilitate the visit to the country of the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions. In his visit he should be allowed to have an unhindered access to the Khavaran site with a view to indicating how best to conduct an investigation into the events of 1988, including in relation to the unmarked graves at Khavaran.
The Iranian authorities have the obligation to conduct an impartial investigation into the events and bring to justice those responsible for the "prison massacres" in fair proceedings and without recourse to the death penalty. Destruction of the site would impede any such future investigation and would violate the right of victims, including the families, to an effective remedy.
The Iranian authorities also have a responsibility to ensure that the body of anyone secretly buried who was not the victim of a crime is returned to his or her relatives. Destruction of the grave site would prevent this from happening and inflict further suffering on the families of the victims of the "prison massacres" who have been yearly commemorating the killing of their loved ones by gathering in Khavaran.
Background
Between August 1988 and February 1989, the Iranian authorities carried out a massive wave of executions of political prisoners - the largest since those carried out in the first and second year after the Iranian revolution in 1979. In all, between 4,500 and 10,000 prisoners are believed to have been killed.
Amnesty International has repeatedly called for those responsible for the "prison massacre" to be brought to justice in a fair trial without the death penalty.
For further information, see Iran: The 20th anniversary of 1988 "Prison Massacre", AI Index: MDE 13/118/2008, 19 August 2008, http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/118/2008/en , and Amnesty International's report, Iran: Violations of human rights 1987-1990 (AI Index MDE 13/21/90).
A Letter From Farzad Kamangar, a Political Prisoner In Rajaieeshahr Prison
Please find below the translation of the letter Farzad Kamangar wrote from prison, explaining the torture and abuse he has undergone in the past 19 months. You can find the origional letter in Farsi at http://www.f-kamangar.hra-iran.org/page6.html
A Letter From Farzad Kamangar, a Political Prisoner In Rajaieeshahr Prison
I Farzad Kamangar also known as "Siyamand" am a teacher in the city of Kamyaran with 12 years of experience. A year before my arrest I was teaching at " Honarestane Karoudanesh." I was also a member of the Kurdish branch of the teachers union in Kamyaran. Before the union was outlawed I was in charge of public relations. I was also a member of the writers association for the newspaper "Mahnameye Farhangi Amuzeshi Royan" which was also eventually banned from publication. I was also board member of "Zist Mehyali" Association in Kamyaran. Starting from the year 2005 I worked as a journalist as well became a member of the Human Rights Activists in Iran.
In July of 2006 I came to Tehran to follow upon my brother's medical treatments. My brother is a Kurdish political activist. Upon my arrival in Tehran I was arrested and taken to an unknown place, it was a very small, dark basement. The cells in this place were empty, there were no blankets or rugs or sheets.
They took me to a room and as they were interviewing me they asked me about my ethnicity. When I told them that I was of the Kurdish Ethnicity they lashed my entire body. They also lashed me because of the Kurdish music which I had saved on my mobile phone.
They would tie my hands, make me sit on a chair and put pressure on the sensitive areas of my body. They would also strip me naked and threaten me with rape by various objects such as wood.
My left leg was injured badly during this time. Also due to the beatings I received on my head as well as electric shock I would lose consciousness. I have lost control of my body and shake uncontrollably for no reason. They would chain my feet together and give me electric shocks on sensitive parts of my body which was extrmeley painful.
Later on I was transferred to Section 209 of the Evin Prison. From the moment I entered the Evin Prison they blindfolded me and took me to a small room where they beat me by punching and kicking me.
The next day I was taken to the city of Sanandaj. From the moment I entered the Sanandaj Prison I was insulted and beaten brutally. They tied me to a chair and left me there from 7 am until the next day, I was not even allowed to go to the washroom and I had no choice but to wet myself. After numerous beatings and torture sessions once again I was transferred to Section 209 of the Evin Prison. I was interrogated and tortured in one of the rooms on the first level of the prison.
On August 27th 2006 as a result of the effect of torture they were forced to take me to the physician in the prison, and the physician made notes of marks of torture and lashing on my back, neck, head thighs and feet.
In August and September I was in the solitary cell number 43. Due to the fact that the torture and beatings were unbearable I was forced to go on a 33 day hunger strike. Because they started harassing and summoning my family to court, as well to free myself from torture I tried to commit suicide by throwing myself off a flight of stairs.
Also for one month I was imprisoned in an extremely small and smelly cell on the first floor of the prison (cell number 113). During this time I was not allowed visitations or even phone calls to my family. Further I was not allowed to get any fresh air for those three (3) months.
After three (3) months I was taken to cell #10 where other prisoners were also present and I was there for two (2) months. At this time I was still not allowed to visit with my family or lawyer.
In the month of October I was transferred from the Evin Prison to the Intelligence Ministry Prison in Kermanshah, even though I had still not been charged or found guilty of any crime. This was a small dark prison where brutal torture and murder of political prisoners have taken place.
They took off all my clothes and after beating me gave me a set of dirty clothes to wear and took me to my cell. It was a small "secret" cell where no one would be able to hear my cries. The cell was 1.65cm/50cm. It had two light bulbs hanging from the ceiling. This cell had previously been a washroom and it was extremely smelly and cold. There was only a dirty blanket in the room. During sleep my head would bang against the wall because the cell was so small.
In order to breathe I was forced to put my head down by the crack between the door and the floor and try to breathe. Also at all odd hours they would bang against my door loudly to prevent me from sleeping. Two days after my arrival they took me to the interrogation room and without asking me any questions started beating me. Then they took me back to my cell. They would turn on the radio loudly in order to prevent me from sleeping or even thinking. In 24 hours I was allowed to use the washroom twice, and once a month I was allowed to take a short shower.
Types of Torture I was Subjected to:
1. The Football Game: This was a nick name they used for this type of torture. They would strip me naked, four (4) or five (5) interrogators would surround me and pass me to each other by punching and kicking me. They would swear at me when I fell down and continue their beatings.
2. The interrogators would force me to stand on one foot for hours while holding my arms above my head and if I got tired they would start beating me again. Because they knew that my left leg had been hurt as a result of torture they would put more pressure on my left leg. They would play Quran tapes very loudly so that nobody could hear my cries.
3. During interrogations they would beat me around the face by punching and slapping me.
4. There was a torture room in the basement of the jail, but its entrance was hidden by black garbage bags filled with dry bread crumbs. There was also another torture room where they would take me at night, they would tie my arms and legs to a bed and lash me, particularly under my feet, my lower and upper leg as well as my back. This would cause me severe pain and I would be unable to walk for days.
5. It was winter and the weather was very cold. They would put me in a particularly cold room which was supposedly an interrogation room and would leave me there all day in the cold, without being interrogated.
6. In the city of Kermanshah they would use electric shock on the sensitive parts of my body.
7. I was not allowed to use a toothbrush or a toothpaste. They would give me old and smelly left over food which was not edible.
To further increase the pressure on me they did not allow me any visitations, and they also arrested the girl that I loved. They would also create problems for my brothers and arrest them. I suffered from a dangerous skin disease as a result of being kept in a dirty cell with dirty clothes and blankets, but I was not allowed to see a doctor.
I was forced to go on a 12 day hunger strike to protest the brutal torture I was subjected to. During the last 15 days of imprisonment they changed my cell and took me to an even dirtier and smellier cell with no heat. I was insulted, sworn at, and beaten on a daily basis and even lost consciousness on one occasion as a result of the beatings.
One night they took me to the torture cell in the basement, stripped off my clothes and threatened me with rape. In order to free myself from this torture I had to bang my head against the wall a number of times. They also tried to force me to confess to crimes such as indecency and having illicit relationships with women.
I could hear the cries and the screams of others from other cells, and there were occasions where inmates would commit suicide.
On March 19th 2006 I was transferred to Section 209 of the Evin Prison in Tehran. Although I was in ward 121 of the prison which was a common ward, I was still not allowed any visitations.
I was still under great emotional and psychological pressure because of the constant arrest of my family members as well as not being allowed to contact them.
My file was finally transferred to Branch 30 the Revolutionary Court in May of 2006 Interrogators would threaten me and tell me they would do their best to have me executed or incarcerated for a long period of time. They also stated that if I was to be found not guilty, they would "deal with me outside of the courtroom."
They hated me very much because of my Kurdish Ethnicity, my Journalism and human rights work. They would also not stop torturing me.
The Revolutionary Court in Tehran stated that it did not have jurisdiction over my case and my file was transferred to the city of Sanandaj. As support for me increased by individual and Human Rights Organizations the interrogators got more vicious and the pressure on me increased. In August of 2006 I was transferred to the Sanandaj Prison, a place which has become a great nightmare for me, a place that I can never forget for as long as I live. Although no new charges had been brought against me, they started interrogating and torturing me from the moment of my arrival.
The Sanandaj Prison has one main corridor and five smaller corridors. They kept on switching my cell on a regular basis. One day the prison Warden along with a number of other guards started beating me for no reason, they took me out of my cell and started beating me along the 18 stairs which led to the basement, and to the interrogation rooms. They hit me on the head from behind very hard which caused me to fall down, then they started dragging me down the 18 stairs. I do not know how they managed to drag me down 18 stairs. When I gained consciousness and opened my eyes I could feel great pain in my head, face and sides.
When they saw that I had gained consciousness they started beating me again. After beating me for about an hour they again dragged me up the 18 stairs and threw me in a very small cell in the second corridor. Then two guards started beating me again until I lost consciousness. When I gained consciousness again I could hear the sound of the afternoon prayers. My face and clothes were covered with blood. My face was swollen, my entire body was black and blue from the beatings. I did not have the strength to move. After a few hours they threw me in a shower so that I could clean myself and my clothes.
They forced me to put on my wet clothes. That night I was in a very bad physical state, at 12:00 am one of the Intelligence Ministry Officials saw my physical state and were forced to take me to a medical facility outside of the prison. Because of the damage done to my teeth and jaw I was unable to eat for a few days. At night they would open the window of my cell so that I would suffer further from the cold. They would also not give me any blankets and I would be forced to wrap the dirty carpet around me for warmth.
I was not allowed visitations, telephone calls or fresh air time. I was also beaten on numerous occasions in the interrogation rooms in the basement. To protest my situation I was forced to go on a five (5) day hunger strike. They would bang my head against the basement walls and from the basement until I reached my cell they would continuously beat me.
No new charges were brought against me in Sanandaj or Kermanshah.
A famous torture called "the chicken kabab" was used by the prison Warden whenever he conducted the torture sessions. He would tie my arms and legs throw me on the floor and whip me.
The cries and whimpers of other prisoners could also be heard, many of whom were women. At night they would open the window, wet my clothes in the basement bathroom after the torture and interrogation and would throw me in my cell with wet clothes. I was also in solitary confinement for about two (2) months in the city of Sanandaj. The Sanandaj Court also stated that they had no jurisdiction over my file and transferred me back to Tehran.
Total of more than 8 months in solitary confinement along with physical and psychological torture, has left a very negative effect on my mental health and nerves.
After one night of solitary confinement in Section 209 of the Evin Prison, I was transferred to Section 7, where there is great use of illicit drugs by inmates.
On November 18th 2007 I was transferred to the Rajaishahr Prison which is an extremely dangerous prison where individuals found guilty of murder, kidnapping, weapons related crimes are imprisoned.
The Assembly of Delegates of International PEN, meeting at its 74th International Congress in Bogota, Colombia, 17-22 September 2008
Alarmed about the increasing and widespread violations of the right to freedom of expression in Iran, in which writers and journalists continue to be threatened, summoned to the revolutionary courts and detained. The aggressive use of Internet censorship places bloggers are at risk arrest.
Deeply concerned that the authorities have banned the publishing of hundreds of books including those that have already appeared once or several times in print, and have used this policy to pressure independent publishers; books have also been removed from libraries;
Further concerned that writers, journalists and others detained in violation of their right to freedom of expression have been tortured in pre-trial detention, held for weeks in solitary confinement and denied basic due process rights;
Noting that Iran imprisons the highest number of journalists in the Middle East, violating their rights to freedom of expression and to a fair trial, and often with long periods of incommunicado detention;
Dismayed that the judicial authorities continue to ban writers and journalists from visiting other countries;
Troubled by the state crackdown on women's activists and women writers and journalists, which has resulted in dozens being arbitrarily detained, including journalist and honorary member of Swedish PEN Parvin Ardalan who was sentenced to six months imprisonment for her participation in peaceful gatherings. She was prevented from leaving Iran to receive the 2007 Olof Palme prize in Sweden.
Worried by the rise of internet censorship, and the crackdown on Iranian "bloggers" who write and post information on the Internet,
Deeply concerned that novelist Yaghoub Yadali was sentenced for his fictional writings. His case has still not been dismissed by the Revolutionary Court in Iran.
Deeply concerned about an apparant pattern of repression against journalists and human rights activists in Iranian Kurdistan, in which several Iranian-Kurdish journalists are currently detained, including Mohammad Sadiq Kabudvand, editor of the banned weekly Payam-e mardom-e Kurdestan, who was arrested on 1 July 2007 and sentenced at a closed trial on 22 June 2008 to 11 years in prison
Calling for the immediate and unconditional release of all writers and journalists detained in Iran in violation of Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Politcal Rights, to which Iran is a signatory.
Canadian Teachers Call for Stay of Execution in Iran
September 23, 2008
President Islamic Republic of Iran
His Excellency Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection
Tehran13168-43311
Islamic Republic of Iran
E-mail: dr-ahmadinejad@president.ir
Dear President Ahmadinejad:
I am writing on behalf of the nearly 60,000 secondary school teachers and support staff in the province of Ontario, Canada, all of who are members of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation.
We are very concerned about the treatment of Farzad Kamangar as well as other teacher union activists currently in detention in your country. We urge you and your officials to commute the death sentence of Farzad Kamanger.
We ask that you have his case re-examined through a trial that meets the requirements of article 168 of the Iranian Constitution under which: "political and press offences will be tried openly and in the presence of a jury, in courts of justice", as well as international standards. According to Mr. Kamangar's lawyer, there is no evidence to justify that he has "endangered national security" or is "Mohareb" (at enmity with God).
We urge the Iranian authorities to investigate the reports that Mr. Kamangar has been tortured while in detention and denied medical attention. In an open letter on March 14, 2008, Mr. Kamangar details countless events that characterize torture on the basis of international statutes such as beatings, electric shock and lashings among many others. We urge you to allow Mr. Kamagar contact with his lawyer and family. We ask that assurances be given so that no detainee is tortured or treated in this manner.
As reported in Education International, we understand that Iranian trade union colleagues and human rights activists who show solidarity with Farzad are being subject to pervasive intimidation by the Iranian authorities. This too is deplorable and we ask that you intervene to ensure that it does not continue to occur. Article 6(2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, of which Iran is a state signatory, states, "In countries which have the death penalty, sentence of death may be imposed only for the most serious crimes..." The U.N. Human Rights Committee also demands that "most serious crimes" must be read restrictively to mean that the death penalty should meeet an extreme measure.
As an educational organization which represents almost 60,000 members, we like Mr. Kamangar, are trade union activists. We work hard to advance and protect the rights of our members and others. The harassment, unlawful detention and condemnation of trade unionists in your country because of their legitimate human rights and trade union activities are not only serious violations of trade union rights and international law, but also create an atmosphere of fear and prejudice to trade union development in Iran. We ask that you engage in an open dialogue with teachers about their professional concerns.
We look forward to hearing that you have taken action in this matter. Creating an atmosphere in which teachers can organize collectively and speak openly on behalf of themselves and others will benefit all.
Iran: The 20th anniversary of 1988 "prison massacre"
AI Index: MDE 13/118/2008 19 August 2008
Twenty years after the then Iranian authorities began a wave of largely secret, summary and mass executions in September 1988, Amnesty International renews its call for those responsible for the "prison massacre" to be held accountable. There should be no impunity for such gross human rights violations, regardless of when they were committed.
The organisation is also calling on the present Iranian government not to prevent relatives of the dead from visiting Khavaran Cemetary in south Tehran, on or about 29 August to mark the anniversary and demand justice for their loved ones. Hundreds of those summarily executed are buried in the cemetery, many of them in unmarked mass graves.
Amnesty International fears that the Iranian authorities may seek to impede or disperse any protests and reminds the Iranian government of its obligations under international law to allow for those who gather peacefully to express their views without fear of arrest.
International human rights law requires that the Iranian authorities carry out thorough and impartial investigations into violations of the right to life such as those which were committed during the "prison massacre", which began in 1988 and continued into the following year, and to identify and bring to justice those responsible. The failure to do so to date and the time that has elapsed since the killings do not in any way reduce this responsibility.
Those responsible for the killings - one of the worst abuses to be committed in Iran - should be prosecuted and tried before a regularly and legally constituted court and with all necessary procedural guarantees, in accordance with international fair trial standards. If found guilty, they should be punished with appropriate penalties which take into account the grave nature of the crimes but which do not include the death penalty or corporal punishments.
Background
Starting in August 1988 and continuing until shortly before the tenth anniversary of the Islamic revolution in February 1989, the Iranian authorities carried out massive wave of executions of political prisoners - the largest since those carried out in the first and second year after the Iranian revolution in 1979. In all between 4,500 and 5,000 prisoners are believed to have been killed, including women.
For further information, see Amnesty International's report, Iran: Violations of human rights 1987-1990 (AI Index MDE 13/21/90).
Document - Iran: Further information on fear of torture or other ill-treatment and prisoner of conscience: Zeynab Bayzeydi
Further Information on UA 214/08 (MDE 13/107/2008, 1 August 2008)
Kurdish
women's rights activist Zeynab Bayzeydi has been sentenced to four
years' imprisonment, and internal exile to the Turkish-speaking
city of Zanjan, 246 km from her home, by Mahabad Revolutionary
Court. Her family learned of this on 10 August, when they went to
the court to find out how her trial had gone. Amnesty International
considers her a prisoner of conscience, imprisoned solely for the
peaceful exercise of her right to freedom of expression and
association.
She was
convicted of a number of offences, all of which she has denied,
except the one arising from her work on the One Million Signatures
Campaign, which was working against laws that discriminate against
women.
She is also
a member of the Human Rights Organisation of Kurdistan (HROK). She
had been arrested on 9 July, after the police ordered her to
present herself for interrogation at a police station in Mahabad,
which is in West Azerbaijan province.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The HROK,
which has over 200 members, was founded in April 2005. The
authorities have never granted it official recognition as an NGO.
Its founder, Mohammad Sadiq Kabudvand, is serving an 11-year prison
sentencefor "acting against state security by establishing the
Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan" and "propaganda against the
system."
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as
possible, in English, Persian, Kurdish, or your own language:
- calling
on the authorities to quash the four-year sentence passed on Zeynab
Bayzeydi, and release her immediately and unconditionally, as she
is a prisoner of conscience.
APPEALS TO:
Head of
the Judiciary
His
Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh / Office of the Head of the
Judiciary
Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhouri, Tehran
1316814737, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: info@dadgostary-tehran.ir (In the subject line write: FAO
Ayatollah Shahroudi)
Salutation: Your Excellency
Governor
of West Azerbaijan
His
Excellency Dr. Rahim Ghorbani
PO Box:
775
Oromiyeh
57135
Islamic
Republic of Iran
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
President
His
Excellency Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
The
Presidency
Palestine
Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection
Tehran,
Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: + 98 21 6 649 5880
Email: dr-ahmadinejad@president.ir
via website:http://www.president.ir/email/
and to
diplomatic representatives of Iran accredited to your country.
PLEASE
SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International
Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 26
September 2008.
Discrimination against Kurdish Iranians unchecked and on the rise
30 July 2008
Iran’s government is failing in its duty to prevent discrimination and human rights abuses against its Kurdish citizens, according to a new Amnesty International report.
The organization fears that the repression of Kurdish Iranians, particularly human rights defenders, is intensifying, according to the report Iran: Human rights abuses against the Kurdish minority.
The report also says that women face a double challenge to their human rights, both as members of a marginalised ethnic minority and as women in a predominantly patriarchal society.
Around 12 million Kurds live in Iran making up 15 percent of the population. Expression of Kurdish culture, such as dress and music, is generally respected and the Kurdish language is used in some broadcasts and publications.
However the Kurdish minority continues to suffer deep-rooted discrimination. Kurds in Iran have their social, political and cultural rights repressed along with their economic aspirations.
Parents are banned from registering their babies with certain Kurdish names and religious minorities that are mainly or partially Kurdish are targeted by measures designed to stigmatize and isolate them.
Discriminated against in their access to employment and adequate housing, the economic neglect of Kurdish regions has resulted in an entrenched poverty which has further marginalized Kurds.
Kurdish human rights defenders, including community activists and journalists, face arbitrary arrest, ill-treatment and prosecution when they protest against the government’s failure to observe international human rights standards.
When they link their human rights work to their Kurdish identity they risk further violations of their rights. Some, including women’s rights activists, become prisoners of conscience. Others suffer torture, grossly unfair trials before Revolutionary Courts and the death penalty.
Ethnic Kurds Farzad Kamangar, Ali Heydariyan and Farhad Vakili were sentenced to death in February 2008 after conviction of “moharebeh” (enmity against God), following a grossly flawed process that fell far short of international standards for a fair trial.
This is a charge levelled against those accused of taking up arms against the state, apparently in connection with their alleged membership of the armed group, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which carries out attacks in Turkey. Ali Heydariyan and Farhad Vakili were also sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment, apparently for forging documents. Under Iranian law, they must serve their prison sentences before being executed.
In May this year Mohammad Sadiq Kabudvand was sentenced to 11 years’ imprisonment by Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran. The sentence apparently comprises 10 years’ imprisonment for “acting against state security by establishing the Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan (HROK)” and one year’s imprisonment for “propaganda against the system”.
The verdict followed a closed trial session. Amnesty International considers Mohammad Sadiq Kabudvand to be a prisoner of conscience, held solely on account of the peaceful exercise of his rights to freedom of expression and association during his work as chair of the HROK and his activities as a journalist. Such rights are expressly recognized in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Iran is a state party.
“Iran’s constitution provides for equality of all Iranians before the law. But, as our report shows, this is not the reality for Kurds in Iran,” said Malcolm Smart, director of the Middle East and North Africa programme of Amnesty International.
“The Iranian government has not taken sufficient steps to eliminate discrimination, or to end the cycle of violence against women and punish those responsible.”
Although women and girls form the backbone of economic activity in the Kurdish areas, strict social codes are used to deny their human rights.
Such codes make it difficult for government officials to investigate inequalities in girls’ education, early and forced marriages, and domestic violence against Kurdish girls and women - and the severe consequences of some of these abuses, including “honour killings” and suicide.
“Kurdish women are victims of violence on a daily basis and face discrimination from state officials, groups or individuals, including family members.” Malcolm Smart said.
Iran: Arbitrary arrests/Fear of Torture or ill-treatment/prisoners of conscience
AI Index: MDE 13/104/2008
31 July 2008 Mehdi Khoda'i (m) ] students at Azad University, Shahre-Ray
Salman Sima (m) ]
Farzad Hassanzadeh (m) ] students at Mashad University
Mohamad Zerati (m) ]
Bahareh Hedayat (f) ] students at Tehran University
Mohammad Hashemi (m) ]
Majid Asadi (m) ] student at Alahmeh University, Tehran
Arash Rayji (m) ] students at Zanjan University
Hassan Joneydi (m) ]
Payam Shakiba (m) ]
Only known as 'Anbaraki' ] students at Bushehr University
Only known as 'Khoeyni' ]
The 12 university students named above were arrested at various locations across Iran in July and remain in detention. They were arrested around the eighth anniversary of student demonstrations held in Iran on 9 July 1999 that were violently suppressed by the security forces. The 12 are facing various charges, such as "acting against national security", "propaganda against the regime", "propagating lies", "promoting anti-religious attitudes", and "disturbing public opinion". They are prisoners of conscience, held on account of their conscientiously held beliefs and should be released immediately and unconditionally.
Mohamad Zerati and Farzad Hassanzadeh, were both arrested on 3 or 4 July, have had their bail set at 30 million rial ($3,229.9742 USD). Their place of detention remains unknown.
Mohammad Hashemi and Bahareh Hedayat were arrested by the security forces at their homes on 13 July; they are accused of having links with "illegal and anti-revolutionary groups abroad". Both are members of the Office for Consolidating Unity, the central council of a pro-reform student group. They are being detained in Evin Prison in Tehran.
Payam Shakiba, Arash Rayji and Hassan Joneydi, students at Zanjan University, were arrested on 8 July; their place of detention remains unknown.
At least 12 other students who were arrested in July have now been released without charge.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
On 8 July 1999, plainclothes police forces and paramilitary units calling themselves Ansar-e Hezbollah stormed a Tehran university dormitory at night in order to suppress student unrest that had lasted for 5 days. A number of students were injured, and at least one person, a visitor at the university, was killed. This fuelled further protests and members of the general public joined the students' demonstrations, which the security forces suppressed by force.
Student groups have been at the forefront of demands for greater human rights in Iran. Since the election of President Ahmadinejad in 2005, there have been increasing restrictions on civil society. In April 2007, Minister of Intelligence Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie publicly accused student activists and campaigners for the rights of women, of being part of an "enemy conspiracy" - a claim they strongly deny.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Persian, English, Arabic or your own language:
- expressing concern about the arrest and continuing detention of the named students;
- urging the authorities to promptly charge the students with recognisably criminal offences or release them immediately and unconditionally;
- calling on the authorities to ensure that they are protected against torture or other ill-treatment and are allowed immediate access to their family, legal representation and any medical attention that they may require.
APPEALS TO:
Leader of the Islamic Republic His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei, The Office of the Supreme Leader
The Office of the Supreme Leader, Islamic Republic Street - Shahid Keshvar Doust Street
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: info@leader.ir
Fax: +98 251 7774 2228 (mark FAO Office of His Excellency Ayatollah al
Udhma Khamenei)
Salutation: Your Excellency
Head of the Judiciary His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh / Office of the Head of the Judiciary
Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhouri, Tehran 1316814737, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: +98 21 3390 4986 (please keep trying)
Email: info@dadgostary-tehran.ir (In the subject line write: FAO
Ayatollah Shahroudi)
Salutation: Your Excellency
Minister of Intelligence Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie
Ministry of Intelligence, Second Negarestan Street, Pasdaran Avenue, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Minister of Intelligence Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie
Ministry of Intelligence, Second Negarestan Street, Pasdaran Avenue, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
President His Excellency Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
The Presidency, Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
via website: www.president.ir/email
Email: dr-ahmadinejad@president.ir
Salutation: Your Excellency
Speaker of Parliament His Excellency Gholamali Haddad Adel
Majles-e Shoura-ye Eslami, Baharestan Square, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: +98 21 3355 6408
Email: hadadadel@majlis.ir (Please ask that your message be brought to the attention of the Article 90 Commission)
and to diplomatic representatives of Iran accredited to your country.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 11 September 2008. .
Iran: First public executions since January 2008 ban are a retrograde step
AI Index: MDE 13/093/2008 (Public)
11 July 2008
Amnesty International today deplored the first public executions to be reported in Iran since the Head of the Judiciary, Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi-Shahroudi banned such executions on 30 January 2008. It also expressed great concerns about the new draft Penal Code and other measures which seek to expand the number of crimes which carry the death penalty. It called on the Iranian authorities to uphold the ban on public executions and to take concrete steps to work towards the abolition of the death penalty, instead of increasing the number of crimes punishable by death.
The ban on public executions seemed to mark the recognition on the part of Ayatollah Shahroudi that carrying out executions in public adds to the already cruel, inhuman and degrading nature of the penalty and can only have a dehumanizing effect on the victim and a brutalizing effect on those who witness the execution. It is therefore extremely disappointing that permission was granted for these executions to take place in public, and for pictures to be circulated by news agencies despite the express instruction by Ayatollah Shahroudi that images depicting execution victims should not be published in the media.
Amnesty International was also extremely concerned that a new draft Penal Code currently under discussion by the Majles (Iran's parliament) does not reduce the scope of the death penalty in Iran, but expands it by introducing for example the crimes of apostasy, heresy and witchcraft into the Hodoud section of the Penal Code, and specifying the death penalty for these. Hodoud are crimes against divine will for which the penalty is prescribed by Islamic law. Another bill reportedly passed on first reading at the beginning of July aiming at increasing the protection of society's moral security also makes the creation of blogs and websites promoting corruption, prostitution and apostasy capital crimes.
The Iranian authorities should progressively and significantly reduce the number of offences which may incur the death penalty, in accordance with Article 6(2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and paragraph 1 of the United Nations Safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty, which stipulate that the death penalty, if it is to be applied at all, should be reserved for only the most serious crimes.
Iran: Arbitrary arrest/fear of torture or ill-treatment about Mahboubeh Karami (f), aged 40, journalist and women's rights defender and about 200 others
PUBLIC - AI Index: MDE 13/089/2008 27 June 2008
Mahboubeh Karami is currently held in the women's section of Evin Prison in Tehran. According to women's rights organization, the Campaign for Equality (http://www.change4equality.info/spip.php?article2276) Mahboubeh telephoned her mother, Sedigheh Mosa'ebi, on 25 June. She told her mother that she had been transferred from Section 209 of the Prison (run by the Ministry of Intelligence) to the women's section, and was held in a cell with about 25 other women arrested on the same day.
According to her mother, Mahboubeh Karami, a member of the Campaign for Equality, said that about 90 women had been arrested on 13
June, most of whom, like her, had nothing to do with the demonstration in Mellat Park which had been the trigger for the mass arrests, but they had been ill-treated by security officers and arrested. Some of the women had been freed, while bail sums had been set for others. Mahboubeh Karami told her mother that there had been no decision about her own case. She said that all the women arrested had been accused of "acting against national security".
In an interview carried by the Iranian website on women's issues, Feminist School, dated 21 June, Sedigheh Mosa'ebi said that her daughter had called her twice since her arrest. The first time, Mahboubeh Karami had enquired about an operation her mother had undergone; the second time, she had said that she was being interrogated about her activities on behalf of the Campaign for Equality. Sedigheh Mosa'ebi went to Evin Prison to try to find out
news about her daughter, and was eventually told that she was being held in Section 209.
Those demonstrating in Mellat Park were protesting about the arrest on 11 June of Abbas Palizdar, who had accused several senior Iranian officials of financial corruption in speeches he made at universities in Hamedan and Shiraz in May. He had been involved in a parliamentary Judicial Inquiry and Review Committee that had conducted an investigation into affairs of the Judiciary. At another demonstration in Mashhad, over at least 230 people were reportedly arrested. Their fate is unknown. On 27 June, a human rights group, Human Rights Activists in Iran, reported that up to 80 women aged between 16 and 60, who had been arrested in the aftermath of the demonstration in Mellat Park, were still being held.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to
arrive as quickly as possible, in Persian, Arabic, English, French or your own language: - noting that at least 25 women arrested on 13 June, including Mahboubeh Karami, are being held in Evin Prison;
- calling on the authorities to clarify the whereabouts of all those arrested on 13 June; - urging the authorities to ensure that none of those arrested are tortured or otherwise ill-treated while in detention; - calling for all those detained to be allowed immediate access to their families, lawyers of their choice and to any medical treatment they may require; - calling for the immediate release of all those detained unless they are charged with recognisably criminal offences and brought to trial promptly and fairly.
APPEALS TO: Head of the Judiciary in Tehran Mr Ali Reza Avaie Karimkhan Zand Avenue, Sana'i Avenue, Corner of Ally 17, No 152, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran Email: avaei@Dadgostary-tehran.ir Salutation: Dear Mr Avaei
President His Excellency Mahmoud Ahmadinejad The
Presidency, Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran Email: dr-ahmadinejad@president.ir via website: www.president.ir/email Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO: Head of the Judiciary Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhouri, Tehran 1316814737 Islamic Republic of Iran Email: info@dadgostary-tehran.ir (In the subject line write: FAO Ayatollah Shahroudi)
Director, Human Rights Headquarters of Iran His Excellency Mohammad Javad Larijani Howzeh Riassat-e Ghoveh Ghazaiyeh (Office of the Head of the Judiciary) Pasteur St, Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhuri, Tehran 1316814737, Iran Fax: +98 21 3390 4986 (please keep trying) Email: fsharafi@bia-judiciary.ir (In the subject line: FAO Mohammad Javad Larijani) int_aff@judiciary.ir (In the subject line: FAO Mohammad Javad Larijani)
and to diplomatic representatives of Iran accredited to your country.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with
the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after
RIGHTS-IRAN: List Sheds Light on Death Row Children
By Omid Memarian IPS
Jun 18, 2008; A12
UNITED NATIONS, Jun 18 (IPS) - A human rights group has published the first detailed list of juvenile offenders on Iran's death row, finding that at least 114 children under the age of 18 are awaiting the ultimate penalty.
The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran says that two child offenders have already been executed this year, and notes that Iran's judicial system is so opaque, it is unclear whether others on the list have already been put to death.
At least one of those awaiting execution, Ahmad Noorzehi, was just 12 years old at the time of his crime.
"Iran is the only country putting child offenders to death in great numbers," Hadi Ghaemi, a spokesperson for the campaign, told IPS. "This barbaric practice is justified in the name of Islamic law, but many religious scholars have challenged it," he added.
Launched on Wednesday, the list is the result of comprehensive research by prominent Iranian human rights defender Emad Baghi. It forms part of a book he has written called "Right to Life II", which argues that such executions are not sanctioned by Islamic law as claimed by Iranian authorities.
Baghi's book compiles numerous authoritative religious sources arguing for the abolition of executions of child offenders. Copies of it have been distributed to Iranian officials in the judiciary and parliament, as well as to human rights defenders and organisations inside Iran. However, Iranian censors have not permitted the book to be published.
The campaign obtained a copy of "Right to Life II", which documents 177 death sentences for child offenders over the past decade. At least 34 executions have been carried out, another 114 are apparently pending, and the remaining offenders were pardoned.
"While the whole world is moving towards abolishing death penalty in general, Iran's increasing number of executions of minors is shameful," said Ghaemi. "They should immediately abolish it. There is much momentum in this direction both domestically and on the international front, and this is the time for Iran to act and bring its practices in line with its international commitments."
According to a report published by Human Rights Watch this year, only Iran, Sudan, China and Pakistan are known to have executed juvenile offenders since 2004. Sudan carried out two such executions in 2005, while China executed one juvenile offender in 2004 and Pakistan executed one juvenile offender in 2006. In contrast, Iran is known to have executed at least three juvenile offenders in 2004, eight in 2005, and four in 2006.
In terms of total numbers, only China carries out more executions than Iran. On a per capita basis, Iran executes more people annually than any other country. Murder, rape, armed robbery, kidnapping and drug trafficking are all punishable by death in Iran.
Two major international human rights treaties -- the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights -- forbid imposition of the death penalty for crimes committed under the age of 18. Iran has ratified both treaties.
Most of the child offenders on the list were convicted of murder. However, as Baghi's research shows, many of the sentences appear to be based on dubious confessions extracted after torture and interrogations in which they were denied access to a lawyer. Courts routinely ignore evidence presented by defendants demonstrating that they acted in self-defence, says the campaign's report.
"In every case we've looked into, there have been serious violations of Iranian law and procedure, often at more than one stage of investigation, trial, and sentencing," said Clarisa Bencomo, a children's rights researcher at Human Rights Watch's Middle East and North Africa Division.
"I have no doubt that in many cases on this list there are children who would have been found innocent if they had adequate legal assistance and fair trials by properly trained juvenile court judges who rejected coerced confessions," she told IPS.
The execution of minors in Iran will be one of the issues raised in a forthcoming report by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the General Assembly meeting in September.
The Iranian government has not allowed the U.N. Human Rights Council's special rapporteurs to enter Iran and investigate alleged abuses. But in a joint meeting with the Council in Geneva earlier this month, four human rights organisations from inside and outside the country provided evidence on major violations in areas such as the execution of minors.
Shirin Ebadi, the 2003 Noble Peace Prize Laureate, was one of the participants; she and others urged the Iranian government to cooperate with the U.N. investigators.
Human Rights Watch has followed some of the cases on the list, as well as several of the cases of juvenile offenders executed during the last several years.
"The Iranian lawyers and activists who collected this information should be applauded, as should all the lawyers, judges and activists in Iran working to end the use of the juvenile death penalty in Iran," said Bencomo.
"But the new parliament should make it a priority to pass legislation bringing Iran into compliance with its legal obligation to end the juvenile death penalty, that legislation... should include a provision guaranteeing free legal assistance to all children charged with criminal offences," she added.
"The head of the judiciary should order a stay of execution in all capital cases involving juvenile offenders pending further review, and trial judges should exclude coerced confessions from evidence," Bencomo said. "Prosecutors should ask children charged with crimes about their treatment by police and investigate and prosecute police who commit abuses, and lawyers' associations should organise a system to provide free legal aid to all children charged with capital offences."
*Omid Memarian is World Peace Fellow at UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism and a regular contributor to IPS.
Amnesty International - Iran: Turkmen students tortured
PUBLIC - AI Index: MDE 13/072/2008 22 May 2008
Further Information on UA 24/08 (MDE 13/016/2008, 25 January 2008) Fear of torture
IRAN
Jamshid Arazpour (m), ethnic Turkmen from Gomesh Deppeh ; Haji Aman Khadivar (m), ethnic Turkmen from Chapaqli, Golestan - 82 others
Jamshid Arazpour and Haji Aman Khadivar, who were among a group of Iranians of Turkmen ethnicity detained in early January 2008, are now known to have been charged with public order offences and tried, although the outcomes of their trials are not known. Meanwhile, reports have emerged that some of those detained, including children, were tortured by security forces.
Between 200 and 300 Iranian Turkmen living in the coastal province of Golestan, near the city of Bandar-e Torkman, were arrested after the killing of an Iranian Turkmen fisherman by maritime security officers on 28 December 2007. The fisherman was one of a group fishing without a license in the Caspian Sea. The killing caused severe and widespread unrest in Turkmen areas around Bandar-e-Torkman. Government buildings and other public and private property was reportedly damaged.
Most of those detained were released without charge in January. Eighty-four people were charged with public order offences and released on bail, amounting to the equivalent of around US$3,350 for each person. Most of those arrested are thought to be fishermen, labourers and students.
The trials of the 84, including Jamshid Arazpour and Haji Aman Khadivar, were scheduled to start on 6 May. Reports from human rights defenders mention that some of the defendants did not have access to legal assistance. The outcomes of the trials are not yet known.
At least six of those detained in January, students under the age of 15, were held for between seven and 12 days by security forces. According to their testimony, they were repeatedly beaten and kicked, and they were raped with an object. Amnesty International has previously received reports of the practice of male rape by security officials using, for example, glass bottles. The students say that their feet were bound with a wire or filament and they were subjected to electric shocks. One student claimed that the torture left him deaf for several days. Other detainees were kept outside, in sub-zero temperatures, for several hours, and food was denied to some prisoners. The students claim that in order to avoid being tortured, some of the detainees accepted all that was said about their alleged activities, even if they had nothing to do with the unrest.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The Turkmen of Iran number around 2.2 million (no more than 3% of the population), and speak a Turkic language. They are Sunni Muslim and live in the north-west of the country. They are allowed no education or social services in their mother tongue, though a small number of newspapers are allowed to publish in Turkmen. Turkmen cannot obtain senior positions in even local government, under discriminatory selection policies.
According to a statement made by the Organisation for the Defence of Human Rights in Turkmen Sahra, on or around 8 February, a Turkmen fisherman was injured by gunfire. On or around 5 April, maritime security forces were reported to have seized fishing equipment and other property belonging to Turkmen fishermen in various towns and villages near the Caspian Sea for reasons that are not known.
The parliamentary representative for Bandar-e Torkman, who is himself a Turkmen, has reportedly complained to parliament on three occasions about the killing of the fisherman and the subsequent mass arrests of his constituents. In one of his statements he is reported to have said that, "One cannot tell poor villagers that they should continue to live in hunger."
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Persian, English, (or Turkmen or Turkish to the Governor of Golestan) or your own language: - expressing concern at reports that some of those detained in January 2008 following the unrest relating to the killing of a Turkmen fisherman were tortured and that this included children;
- calling for an immediate investigation into reports of torture used against Iranians of Turkmen ethnicity, with a view to bringing the perpetrators to justice;
- calling on the authorities to review the cases of the 84 reportedly charged with public order offences in connection with the unrest following the killing of the fisherman, to ensure that none of those who were charged were so as a result of the threat of torture; and to ensure that they are tried in accordance with international fair trial standards;
-calling on the authorities to allow all those detained to be granted immediate and regular access to their families and lawyer of their choice and to be granted any medical treatment they may require;
APPEALS TO:
Governor of Golestan province Governorate of Golestan (Ostandari-ye Ostan-e Golestan)
Gorgan, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: via website: http://www.golestanstate.ir/layers.aspx?quiz=contact
Put your name in the top field and your message in the last field. Click the grey box beneath to send.
Salutation: Dear Governor
Head of the Judiciary Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Justice Building, Panzdah-Khordad Square,
Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhouri, Tehran 1316814737, Islamic Republic of Iran
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: info@dadgostary-tehran.ir (In the subject line write: FAO
Ayatollah Shahroudi)
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
Leader of the Islamic Republic His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei, The Office of the Supreme Leader
The Office of the Supreme Leader, Islamic Republic Street - Shahid Keshvar Doust Street
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: info@leader.ir
Fax: +98 251 7774 2228 (mark FAO Office of His Excellency Ayatollah al
Udhma Khamenei)
Salutation: Your Excellency
Minister of Intelligence Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie
Ministry of Intelligence, Second Negarestan Street, Pasdaran Avenue, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Salutation: Your Excellency
and to diplomatic representatives of Iran accredited to your country.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after after 3 July 2008.
Amnesty International - Urgent Action appeal (MDE 13/075/2008) - Farzad Kamangar and two other Kurds at risk
PUBLIC - AI Index: MDE 13/075/2008 30 May 2008
UA 147/08 - Death penalty/ torture and ill-treatment
IRAN Farzad Kamangar (alias Siamand) (m), aged 32, teacher ]
Ali Heydariyan (m) ] from Kurdish ethnic group
Farhad Vakili (m) ]
Teacher Farzad Kamangar, a member of the Kurdish ethnic group, has been sentenced to death on charges of moharebe, or 'enmity against God', a charge levelled against those accused of taking up arms against the state. Ali Heydariyan and Farhad Vakili may also be facing execution.
Farzad Kamangar's death sentence was passed by Branch 30 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court on 25 February, following a flawed trial in which his contact with his lawyer was limited. He was accused of being a member of the armed group, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), and of possession of explosives. The Court viewed these accusations as an attempt to overthrow the state, which, under Iranian law, equates to "enmity against God".
The death sentence was confirmed by a spokesperson for Iran's judiciary on 27 May. Farzad Kamangar has lodged an appeal with the Supreme Court. If the sentence is upheld and confirmed by the Head of Judiciary, he may face the death penalty within weeks.
Farzad Kamangar was arrested by Ministry of Intelligence officials along with two other ethnic Kurds, Ali Heydariyan and Farhad Vakili, in Tehran around July 2006. The two other men are believed to have been sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment, but human rights groups fear they may have also been sentenced to death.
Farzad Kamangar has been held incommunicado at a series of locations, including in the cities of Kermanshah, Sanandaj and Tehran, and has been tortured regularly, including by being beaten, flogged and electrocuted. As a result of this torture, his arms and legs have started to tremble involuntarily.
The non-governmental organization Human Rights Activists in Iran reported that the trial of Farzad Kamangar started at Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Court in the city of Sanandaj, but was then transferred to Tehran. He is now held in Raja'i Shahr prison in Tehran province. He has been held incommunicado throughout his detention.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Kurds, who are one of Iran's many ethnic groups, live mainly in the west and north-west of the country, in the province of Kordestan and neighbouring provinces bordering Kurdish areas of Turkey and Iraq. For many years, Kurdish organizations such as the Kurdistan People's Democratic Party (KDPI) and Komala have taken up arms against the Islamic Republic of Iran. Another armed group, the Kurdistan Independent Life Party (PJAK), continues to carry out armed attacks against Iranian security and government. Iran has accused foreign governments of fomenting unrest among the country's ethnic minorities.
The scope of capital crimes in Iran remains extremely broad. Those found guilty of "enmity against God" are not eligible to be pardoned. Judges have discretionary powers to impose the death penalty for certain offences, including those relating to national security.
Article 6(2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a state party, states: "In countries which have not abolished the death penalty, sentence of death may be imposed only for the most serious crimes..." The UN Human Rights Committee, the independent body that reviews states' implementation of this treaty has stated: "The Committee is of the opinion that the expression 'most serious crimes' must be read restrictively to mean that the death penalty should be a quite exceptional measure."
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Persian, Kurdish, English and French or your own language:
- urging the authorities to commute Farzad Kamangar's death sentence immediately;
- acknowledging that governments have a responsibility to bring to justice those suspected of criminal offences in proceedings that adhere to international standards for fair trial, but stating your unconditional opposition to the death penalty, as the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment and violation of the right to life;
- asking for full details of the charges against Farzad Kamangar, and the two men arrested with him, Ali Heydariyan and Farhad Vakili;
- expressing concern that his trial may not have met international standards for fair trial, which are essential in capital cases;
- calling on the authorities to grant Farzad Kamangar immediate and regular access to his family and lawyer of his choice and to be granted any medical treatment he may require;
- expressing concern at reports that Farzad Kamangar was tortured, and urging the authorities to investigate those reports fully, with those responsible being brought to justice;
- calling on the authorities to ensure that none of the three men is tortured or ill-treated.
APPEALS TO:
Head of the Judiciary Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Justice Building, Panzdah-Khordad Square,
Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhouri, Tehran 1316814737, Islamic Republic of Iran
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: info@dadgostary-tehran.ir (In the subject line write: FAO
Ayatollah Shahroudi)
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
Leader of the Islamic Republic His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei, The Office of the Supreme Leader
The Office of the Supreme Leader, Islamic Republic Street - Shahid Keshvar Doust Street
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: info@leader.ir
Fax: +98 251 7774 2228 (mark FAO Office of His Excellency Ayatollah al
Udhma Khamenei)
Salutation: Your Excellency
Minister of Intelligence Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie
Ministry of Intelligence, Second Negarestan Street, Pasdaran Avenue, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Salutation: Your Excellency
and to diplomatic representatives of Iran accredited to your country.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after after 11 July 2008.
By Nora Boustany Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, April 29, 2008; A12
Shirin Ebadi, an Iranian human rights lawyer and Nobel Peace laureate, said yesterday that authorities in Tehran have promised to investigate death threats she received this month.
"Before, each time I was threatened and I informed them, they turned a deaf ear," she said in an interview during a visit to Washington. "This time, they came to investigate. They asked a lot of questions." She added: "No visible results yet."
Ebadi, who has gained international acclaim for her work on behalf of dissidents, women and victims of human rights abuses, is a controversial figure in Iran. She was one of the country's first female judges until fundamentalist Islamist revolutionaries took power in 1979 and limited women's roles in public life. Since then, Ebadi has worked as a lawyer and human rights advocate.
"Those who threaten me are those who oppose my opinions and hate my mentality," she said, appearing unperturbed by what she described as an intensified campaign to intimidate her in recent weeks. "I don't have a financial dispute with anyone. I always defend those whose rights have been violated pro bono."
Ebadi said she has no idea who is responsible for the death threats against her. One note left behind her office door on April 2 said "Your death is near." Another, which appeared a few days later, warned her to "watch her tongue."
Ebadi reported the incidents to police in Tehran. "It is the duty of the police to keep the security of all, and I brought this to their attention because it is up to them to provide the security of intellectuals and all Iranians." she said. Ebadi shared a letter she wrote to the police department with Iranian news outlets. Only one local newspaper carried the letter.
One case of the sort that riles her critics concerns the killing of Zahra Bani Yacoub, a 27-year-old doctor, in Hamadan, 190 miles southwest of Tehran. Six months ago, as she was speaking with her fiance in a public park, Bani Yacoub was detained by members of a volunteer militia, known as the Basij, that helps to enforce a strict interpretation of Islamic law in Iran.
She was handed over to the morals police and jailed separately from her fiance, Ebadi said. When Bani Yacoub's family went to check on her two days later, they were presented with her corpse and official explanations that she had committed suicide.
"This was just an act," Ebadi said. "At the claimed time of suicide she was talking to her brother by cellphone."
"Where in the world does someone . . . end up dead for just speaking to her fiance in a park?" she asked.
Ebadi is representing the Bani Yacoub family in a lawsuit against the director of the prison and the Basij volunteers, whose names she cannot reveal in keeping with Iranian law.
Ebadi said she did not vote in Iran's recent elections because her ballot could have served to legitimize and confirm a government overseen by clerics. But Ebadi also observed that when satellite-dish raids are carried out, residents reinstall them soon after. "No one denies that the clergy are still influential, but this also means that technology has won over censorship," she said.
Further Information on UA 331/07 (MDE 13/147/2007, 13 December 2007) and follow-up (MDE 13/008/2008, 17 January 2008) -Arbitrary Arrests/Fear of Torture or ill-treatment/Possible prisoners of conscience
PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 13/008/2008 17 January 2008
IRAN 20-30 students associated with the group Students for Freedom and Equality
(Daneshjouyan-e Azadi Khah va Beraber Talab), including:
Rosa 'Essa'ie, (f), student at Tehran's Amir Kabir University
Mehdi Geraylou (m), student at Tehran University
Anousheh Azadfar (f), student at Tehran University
Ilnaz Jamshidi (f), student at Free University of Central Tehran
Rouzbeh Safshekan (m), student at Tehran University
Nasim Soltan-Beigi (m), student at ‘Allameh Tabatabai University
Yaser Pir Hayati (m), student at Shahed University
Anahita Hosseini (f)
Bita Naghashiyan (f)
New names: Peyman Piran (m) ]
Behrouz Karimizadeh (m) ] student activists
Ali Kantouri (m) ]
Released: Milad Moini (m)
Younes Mir Hosseini (m)
New names: Anahita Hosseini (f)
Bita Naghashiyan (f)
And at least seven others
All the students named above have been released, except for Peyman Piran, Behrouz Karimizadeh and Ali Kantouri. Like the others, they were detained for their alleged role in demonstrations around the time of Iran's National University Students' Day, on 7 December 2007. They have been tortured, and Ali Kantouri is not receiving the medication he needs.
Peyman Piran and Behrouz Karimizadeh are believed to be in solitary confinement in section 209 of Evin Prison in Tehran. Peyman Piran was arrested on 4 December by plainclothes police on his way out of Tehran University. He has been flogged on the soles of his feet and ankles. Behrouz Karimizadeh was arrested on 2 December at a friend's house. During interrogation a hard object was thrust into his left ear, and he has lost the hearing in that ear. He has also been given electro-shock torture. He has been forced to "confess" on television to having links with exile groups and attempting to destabilize the country.
The two men have been accused of "acting against state security," and their bail has been set at the equivalent of US$300,000, which their families cannot pay. Behrouz Karimizadeh's family have been told that if they do not pay the bail, he will have to share a cell with common criminals, where the authorities would not be able to guarantee his safety.
Ali Kantouri was arrested on 15 January in the north-western town of Qazvin. His family were telephoned three days later and told that Ali Kantouri was in solitary confinement and under intensive interrogation in Qazvin Prison. During this interrogation his ribs were broken when he refused to be filmed "confessing" to having links with exile groups and attempting to destabilize the country.
Ali Kantouri has been moved between prisons several times: to Evin Prison on 11 March, to Rajaei Shahr Prison in Karaj, Tehran Province, on 18 March and finally to Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj, Tehran province. He suffers from asthma and a chest infection for which he was receiving medical treatment before he was arrested. In mid-March he was seen by a prison doctor but has not yet received any medication.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Student groups have been at the forefront of demands for greater human rights in Iran in recent years. Since the election of President Ahmadinejad in 2005, there have been increasing restrictions on civil society. In April 2007, Minister of Intelligence Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie publicly accused student activists and campaigners for the rights of women of being part of an "enemy conspiracy," without giving any reason.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Persian, Arabic, English, French or your own language:
- urging the authorities to release all students detained since December 2007 in connection with National University Students' Day who are held solely for the peaceful exercise of their rights;
- urging the authorities to promptly charge the students with recognisably criminal offences or release them;
- asking what charges have been brought against Peyman Piran, Behrouz Karimizadeh and Ali Kantouri;
- calling for an urgent, independent investigation into their alleged torture and for the perpetrators to be brought to justice, and urging the authorities to protect them from further torture and other ill treatment
- calling on the authorities to ensure that they are given access to their families, legal representation and any medical attention they may require;
- reminding the authorities that confessions extracted under torture are prohibited by Article 38 of the constitution of Iran.
APPEALS TO:
Leader of the Islamic Republic His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei, The Office of the Supreme Leader
The Office of the Supreme Leader, Islamic Republic Street - Shahid Keshvar Doust Street
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: info@leader.ir
Fax: +98 251 7774 2228 (mark FAO Office of His Excellency Ayatollah al
Udhma Khamenei)
Salutation: Your Excellency
Head of the Judiciary His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh / Office of the Head of the Judiciary
Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhouri, Tehran 1316814737, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: +98 21 3390 4986 (please keep trying)
Email: info@dadgostary-tehran.ir (In the subject line write: FAO
Ayatollah Shahroudi)
Salutation: Your Excellency
Minister of Intelligence Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie
Ministry of Intelligence, Second Negarestan Street, Pasdaran Avenue, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Minister of Intelligence Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie
Ministry of Intelligence, Second Negarestan Street, Pasdaran Avenue, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
President His Excellency Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
The Presidency, Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
via website: www.president.ir/email
Email: dr-ahmadinejad@president.ir
Salutation: Your Excellency
Speaker of Parliament His Excellency Gholamali Haddad Adel
Majles-e Shoura-ye Eslami, Baharestan Square, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: +98 21 3355 6408
Email: hadadadel@majlis.ir (Please ask that your message be brought to the attention of the Article 90 Commission)
and to diplomatic representatives of Iran accredited to your country.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 28 May 2008. .
Amnesty International - Iran: Support the Global Trade Union Action Day for imprisoned Iranian trade unionists
PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 13/042/2008 (Public)
5 March 2008
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC STATEMENT
AI Index: MDE 13/042/2008 (Public) Date: 5 March 2008
Iran: Support the Global Trade Union Action Day for imprisoned Iranian trade unionists
Amnesty International joins The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) in
calling for the immediate and unconditional release from prison of trade union leaders Mansour Ossanlu, President of the Tehran Bus Workers' Union, and Mahmoud Salehi, the spokesperson for the Organisational Committee to Establish Trade Unions. Both are prisoners of conscience.
Amnesty International supports the ITF's and ITUC's the Global Action Day on Thursday 6 March in solidarity with both trade union leaders.
Both men are in prison for taking part in the creation of independent trade unions and for their peaceful promotion of the right of workers to form such unions. The October 2007 confirmation of a five- year prison sentence against Mansour Ossanlu, for 'acts against national security' and 'propaganda against the system' exemplify how the Iranian judiciary uses vaguely worded, security-related laws to repress dissent and imprison human
rights defenders such as Mansour Ossanlu and Mahmoud Salehi.
Mansour Ossanlu is the elected leader of the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company, a trade union founded three years ago. which was reportedly founded in 1979 but only resumed activities in 2004 after a 25-year ban. It is still not legally recognised by the current authorities. Its members have been harassed and its activities restricted. As a result of his peaceful trade union and human rights work Mansour Ossanlu has been attacked, beaten, and repeatedly arrested. He is now serving a five-year prison sentence in Evin Prison, Tehran, following an unfair trial. Despite efforts to secure adequate medical care, he remains in danger of losing his sight in one eye due to a previous beating.
Mahmoud Salehi, a former leader of the Saqez Bakers' Union, is one of a number of Kurdish trade
unionists to have been imprisoned by the Iranian authorities for the pursuit of their legitimate trade union activities. In March 2007, his conviction and sentence to three years' imprisonment for 'acts against national security' in connection with a peaceful May Day rally in 2004 was reduced to one year. Mahmoud Salehi, who is serving his sentence in Kordestan province, has only one kidney and requires regular specialist treatment, which has not always been provided by the prison authorities.
The ITUC, ITF and AI remain concerned at continued violations against trade unionists in Iran. Colleagues of both men have faced harassment and arbitrary arrest, including in connection with the August 2007 Global Action Day in support of both men, while others, including Reza Dehghan, member of the Painters' Union (Sindika-ye Naqqash), have faced arrest. In November 2007, workers representatives of a sugar factory
in southern Iran were arrested and later released on bail, in connection with industrial action. In January 2008, Ali Reza Hashemi, the Secretary General of the Teachers' Association, had his three-year prison sentence confirmed by the Appeal Court, in connection with peaceful demonstrations organised by teachers in 2007 demanding better pay and conditions. He is not believed to be currently detained.
Trade union rights are restricted in Iran. Government 'selection', or gozinesh panels can reject those who wish to stand for trade union bodies, in effect enabling the authorities to bar those of whom they do not approve. Trade union bodies have no independent, national representation capable of raising or defending labour concerns. In its 2008 report on states' implementation of labour-related treaties, the International Labour Organization, of which Iran is a member, expressed concern over gender
discrimination in access to jobs, the Iranian authorities' long-standing failure to amend discriminatory regulations - which, among other things, allow a husband to prevent his wife from taking employment, limit women's access to employment in the judiciary.
Freedom for Mansour Ossanlu and Mahmoud Salehi will help independent trades unions move beyond discriminatory practices such as gozinesh and will contribute to Iranian human rights defenders' efforts towards having Iran uphold international human rights standards.
The parliamentary election in Iran in the coming weeks represents an opportunity for a review of the labour laws and to bring Iran's law and practice into conformity with the core labour standards of the International Labour Organisation.
PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 13/040/2008 6 March 2008
UA 58/08 Fear of Torture
Azerbaijani rights activist Reza Daghestani was arrested on 21 February 2008 at his family's house in the city of Oroumiye. His house was searched and his computer, CDs, papers and books were confiscated, along with printouts of his newsletters. He is in danger of torture.
He called his family the following day to tell them he was being held in a detention centre belonging to the Ministry of Intelligence in Oroumiye. He may have been tortured to force him to provide information, as security forces searched his
house a second time on 26 February and appeared to know where to find other papers and books. Reza Daghestani has had no access to a lawyer. His family, who are very religious, have been told he is accused of defamation of the Prophet. It is not clear what this accusation relates to, and there are fears that his family may have been told this so that they would withdraw their support for him. Amnesty International believes he is a prisoner of conscience held solely on account of his peaceful activities on behalf of Iranian Azerbaijanis.
His family tried to visit him on 25 February, but were not allowed. They have been told that Reza Daghestani will not be allowed to receive visits until at least 10 March.
Reza Daghestani is the editor of a student newsletter, Chamlibel, published in both Azerbaijani Turkic and Persian and he has written for several other publications. His other activities have included starting a series of Azerbaijani
Turkic classes in the town of Naghadeh and establishing groups to organize peaceful demonstrations in the province of West Azerbaijan in connection with International Mother Tongue Day, 21 February.
He was a member of the committee of a campaign group called Urmu Azerbaijan Sesi, which actively supported several would-be candidates from Oroumiye who all were disqualified from standing for the Majles (parliament) elections to be held on 14 March. Urmu Azerbaijan Sesi issued a public statement objecting to the "unfair and undemocratic disqualification of its candidates". Amnesty International believes his arrest is connected to some or all of these peaceful activities.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION Iranian Azerbaijanis speak a Turkic language and are mainly Shi'a Muslims. The largest minority in Iran, they live mainly in the north and north-west of the country, and in the capital, Tehran. Many Iranian Azerbaijanis demand greater cultural and
linguistic rights, including implementation of their constitutional right to education in Azerbaijani Turkic. Article 15 of Iran's Constitution states that Persian is the official language of Iran and that "official documents, correspondence and texts, as well as textbooks, must be in this language and script." It adds that "the use of regional and tribal languages in the press and mass media, as well as for teaching of their literature in schools, is allowed in addition to Persian."
A small minority want Iranian Azerbaijani provinces to break away from Iran and join with the Republic of Azerbaijan. In recent years the authorities have grown increasingly suspicious of Iran's minority communities, many of which are situated in border areas, and have accused foreign powers such as the US and UK of stirring unrest among them. Those who seek to promote Azerbaijani cultural identity and linguistic rights are often charged with vaguely worded offences
such as "acting against state security by promoting pan-Turkism".
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in English, French, Arabic, Persian or your own language: - calling on the authorities to release Reza Daghestani immediately and unconditionally, as Amnesty International believes he is a prisoner of conscience, held solely on account of his peaceful activities on behalf of the Iranian Azerbaijani community - seeking assurances that Reza Daghestani is not being tortured; - urging the authorities to allow Reza Daghestani immediate and regular access to his family and a lawyer of his choice, and to any medical treatment he may require; - reminding the authorities that the use of confessions extracted under duress is prohibited by Article 38 of the constitution of Iran.
APPEALS TO: Leader of the Islamic Republic His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei, The Office of the Supreme
Leader Islamic Republic Street - Shahid Keshvar Doust Street Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran Email: info@leader.ir Salutation: Your Excellency
Minister of Intelligence Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie Ministry of Intelligence, Second Negarestan Street, Pasdaran Avenue, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran Salutation: Your Excellency
Head of the Judiciary Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Justice Building, Panzdah-Khordad Square, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran Fax: +98 21 3390 4986 (please keep trying) Email: info@dadgostary-tehran.ir (In the subject line write: FAO Ayatollah Shahroudi) Salutation:
Your Excellency
COPIES TO: President His Excellency Mahmoud Ahmadinejad The Presidency, Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran Email: dr-ahmadinejad@president.ir via website: www.president.ir/email Salutation: Your Excellency
Speaker of Parliament His Excellency Gholamali Haddad Adel Majles-e Shoura-ye Eslami, Baharestan Square, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran Fax: +98 21 3355 6408 Email: hadadadel@majlis.ir Salutation: Your Excellency
and to diplomatic representatives of Iran accredited to your country.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the
International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 17 April 2008
Amnesty International - Further Information on UA 331/07 (MDE 13/147/2007, 13 December 2007) Arbitrary arrests/fear of torture or ill-treatment/possible prisoners of conscience
PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 13/008/2008 17 January 2008
Between 20 and 30 students (male and female) associated with the student group Students for Freedom and Equality (Daneshjouyan-e Azadi Khah va Beraber Talab), including:
Rosa 'Essa'ie, (f), student at Tehran's Amir Kabir University
Mehdi Geraylou (m), student at Tehran University
Anousheh Azadfar (f), student at Tehran University
Ilnaz Jamshidi (f), student at Free University of Central Tehran
Rouzbeh Safshekan (m), student at Tehran University
Nasim Soltan-Beigi (m), student at ‘Allameh Tabatabai University
Yaser Pir Hayati (m), student at Shahed University
Released: Milad Moini (m)
Younes Mir Hosseini (m)
New names: Anahita Hosseini (f)
Bita Naghashiyan (f)
And at least seven others
All except two of the 20-30 students arrested for participating in the demonstrations for the National University Students' Day on 7 December 2007 are still detained without charge. At least nine other students, including Anahita Hosseini and Bita Naghashiyan, have been arrested in recent days. They may be prisoners of conscience, detained solely for exercising their right to freedom of expression and association. It is feared that they could be tortured or otherwise ill-treated in detention.
According to information available to Amnesty International, students Milad Moini and Younes Mir Hosseini have been released. However, the organization has a list of 52 names of all those who have been detained because of their alleged links with the student demonstrations, though there is no further information on the circumstances of their arrest or on their current whereabouts.
Activists from two students' groups, the Office for Strengthening Unity (Daftar-e Tahkim-e Vahdat) and Students for Freedom and Equality (Daneshjouyan-e Azadi Khah va Beraber Talab) are among those who took part in these demonstrations. Before they were arrested many of the students received mobile phone text messages that threatened them with arrest if they participated in the events.
One detained student, whose identity is not known, is believed to have attempted suicide. Unconfirmed reports state that pressure exerted by officials and harsh detention conditions may have been factors in this suicide attempt. The Iranian Ministry of Intelligence has suggested that students were in possession of "catapults, sound grenades [sic], alcoholic drinks and misleading books." Students groups have dismissed these claims as fabrications.
The Islamic Republic News Agency reported on 15 January that the judiciary spokesman, Ali Reza Jamshidi, stated that 11 university students "arrested during the past month’s student unrest" would soon be released on bail, without specifying the identity of those to be released. However, other reports received on 15 January indicate that an additional nine students have been detained in Tehran, apparently for their involvement in the demonstrations for the University Students’ Day.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Persian, Arabic, English, French or your own language:
- renewing appeals for the authorities to release all students detained in December 2007 in connection with National University Students Day who are held solely on account of the peaceful exercise of their rights;
- calling for any other students in detention to be tried promptly and fairly, in accordance with international fair trial standards, on recognisably criminal charges or else released;
- seeking details of any charges brought against those in detention;
- seeking assurances that none of those arrested is subject to torture or other ill treatment;
- calling on the authorities to ensure that these detainees have access to relatives, legal representation, and any medical attention they may require;
- reminding the authorities that confessions extracted under torture are prohibited by Article 38 of the constitution of Iran, which says that "All forms of torture for the purpose of extracting confession or acquiring information are forbidden," and that Iran is a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), of which Article 7 states that "No one shall be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment".
APPEALS TO: Salutation: Your Excellency
Leader of the Islamic Republic His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei, The Office of the Supreme Leader
Shoahada Street, Qom, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: info@leader.ir -- istiftaa@wilayah.org
Fax: +98 251 7774 2228 (mark FAO Office of His Excellency Ayatollah al
Udhma Khamenei)
Salutation: Your Excellency
Head of the Judiciary His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Justice Building, Panzdah-Khordad Square,
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: +98 21 3390 4986 (please keep trying)
Email: info@dadgostary-tehran.ir (In the subject line write: FAO
Ayatollah Shahroudi)
Salutation: Your Excellency
Minister of Intelligence Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie
Ministry of Intelligence, Second Negarestan Street, Pasdaran Avenue, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Minister of Intelligence Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie
Ministry of Intelligence, Second Negarestan Street, Pasdaran Avenue, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
President His Excellency Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
The Presidency, Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
via website: www.president.ir/email
Email: dr-ahmadinejad@president.ir
Salutation: Your Excellency
Speaker of Parliament His Excellency Gholamali Haddad Adel
Majles-e Shoura-ye Eslami, Baharestan Square, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: +98 21 3355 6408
Email: hadadadel@majlis.ir (Please ask that your message be brought to the attention of the Article 90 Commission)
and to diplomatic representatives of Iran accredited to your country.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 28 February 2008. .
DEATH PENALTY-IRAN: Top Campaigner Harassed, Hangings Increase
By Kimia Sanati
TEHRAN, Jan 14 (IPS) - Emaddedin Baghi, Iran's leading anti-death penalty campaigner, is back behind bars in the country's notorious Evin prison after intense harassment leading to his hospitalisation and concern that he may have suffered a heart attack.
Three days after Christmas, Baghi, 48, was taken ill in his cell. Alarm was raised by a fellow-prisoner with whom he shared a cell in the high-security section of the prison.
Baghi was immediately taken to the prison hospital. Later in the day he suffered a second serious reversal and concerned medical staff ordered his transfer to an outside civilian hospital for further tests and treatment.
In this hospital Baghi was allowed visits by his family before being returned to jail.
Baghi's illness came after weeks of interrogation by Iran's intelligence services following his arrest on Oct. 14, according to his family in a Nov. 6 statement made to the Iranian Students News Agency after being allowed their first visit. His arrest was to serve out a one-year sentenced imposed five years ago for allegedly revealing state secrets and disseminating anti-state propaganda during his human rights work.
In letters written from his prison cell to the judicial authorities and minister of intelligence, Baghi had threatened to go on hunger strike unless the authorities halted their "unlawful, psychological torture,'' according to sources.
Prison interrogation focused on Baghi's public activities as head of the Society to Defend Prisoners' Rights. On the night before being taken ill in his cell, there was a commotion in Baghi's prison section. He later learned that it was in a nearby cell where a student had committed suicide, according to sources.
In recent weeks, scores of students have been arrested and jailed for holding meetings and campaigning against a clamp-down on human rights.
Baghi had also publicly condemned the rights violations and escalation in executions. Shortly before his arrest, he issued an open letter criticising the reformist parties for not speaking up against the wave of hangings justified by hardliners for tightening security.
During 2007, Iran became the world's second most active state executioner after China. Based on reports in the local press and confirmed by Amnesty International, the number of executions for the year exceeded 300. This is a 70 percent increase on the number of known executions in 2006.
At least six of those executed in 2007 were child offenders, according to Amnesty International. More than 70 of the 250 on death row are believed to be child offenders.
The passing of the United Nations General Assembly's moratorium on executions on Dec. 18 was ignored by Iran. On the following day, four criminals were executed in the Evin prison, according to press reports.
Since Jan. 1, the gallows of Evin prison have been the busiest in the country. On Jan. 2, there were eight hangings. They included one young woman, Raheleh Zamani, who reportedly killed her husband after learning of his affair.
So far this year, there have been at least 23 executions in different places in the country. There have also been amputations of the hands and feet of five robbers.
Since his return to prison, Baghi has been held in the prison's general ward, an apparent relaxation in his prison regime in face of concern over his health and protest over his treatment from such bodies as the European Union, Reporters Without Borders and Human Rights Watch.
The authorities have moved fast to head off any public show of solidarity. On Jan. 5, they blocked all domestic access to an internet site set up by Baghi's friends and supporters, www.freedomforbaghi.blogspot.com.
The present harassment of the human rights activist comes after years of repression.
In 1995, Baghi was suspended from his university teaching post. Blacklisted for any academic or journalistic posts, he was forced to work as a manual labourer to support his family.
In the late 90s, Baghi helped expose the role of the intelligence services in the murder of dissident political activists and five journalists. Two of those murdered were Darioush Forouhar, president of the Iranian National Party (INP) and his wife Parvaneh. The INP was the first party in Iran to call for the abolition of the death penalty.
Fifteen agents were eventually tried and found guilty of the murders. But higher responsible officials have never been brought to justice.
In 2000, Baghi was sentenced to two years in prison for his human rights activities, including the publishing of an article on the death penalty arguing that abolition would not be contrary to Islamic law. This greatly angered the Iranian religious establishment.
In 2005, Baghi founded Iran's first anti-capital punishment organisation, the Association for the Right to Life. In the same year, he was honoured with one of France's top human rights awards, the Civil Courage Prize. But a long-enforced travel ban prevented him from receiving it personally.
In an interview with IPS last May, Baghi said the authorities had prevented him from publishing a total of seven books. But he hoped to get around this ban, on his book on the death penalty, by arranging for it to be printed in Afghanistan.
"For many activists, it is only the political prisoners who really matter. Baghi is practically the first person here who defends the rights of ordinary citizens," an activists and journalist told IPS after hearing of Baghi's collapse in prison.
"When the police cracked down on the so-called "hooligans" some months ago, throwing them into dungeons and executing them, it was Baghi who courageously defended their rights, even though the massive state propaganda machine did succeed in almost erasing all public sympathy for these people.
"Baghi is now paying for standing up for the rights of people almost nobody else wanted to defend."
Amnesty International - Iran: Execution of child offender Makwan Moloudazdeh is a mockery of justice
PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 13/141/2007 6 December 2007
Amnesty International condemns the execution, on 4 December 2007, of Makwan Moloudzadeh,
an Iranian Kurdish child offender, following a grossly flawed trial for an offence he allegedly committed at the age of 13. Execution for a crime
committed at the age of 13 is a gross abuse of international human rights standards, which prohibit the execution of those convicted of crimes
committed under the age of 18.
In 2007 alone, the Iranian authorities have executed at least five
other child offenders and at least 75 others remain on death row.
Makwan Moloudzadeh, 21, was convicted of
lavat-e iqabi (anal sex) for the alleged rape of three
individuals, eight years ago, when he was 13.
Under Article 49 of the Penal Code, minors - those who have
not yet reached maturity (puberty) as defined by Islamic Law - are exempted from criminal responsibility. Under Article 1210 of the Civil Code, boys
are deemed to reach puberty at the age of 15 lunar years (approximately 14 years and seven months), but this appears to leave open the possibility
that judges may rule on a different age of maturity in individual cases. Article 113 of the Penal Code provides for up to 74 lashes in the case of a
minor convicted of anal sex.
Makwan Moloudzadeh's trial was grossly flawed. The alleged victims
withdrew their accusations in the course of the trial, held in a criminal court in Kermanshah and with sessions held in Paveh, western Iran,
in July 2007, and reportedly stated that they had either lied
previously or had been forced to "confess." In sentencing Makwan Moloudzadeh to death, the judge relied on his 'knowledge' that Makwan Moloudzadeh could be
tried as an adult and that the alleged offence had been committed, as is allowed by Iranian law.
According to Article 120 of the Penal Code, in cases of anal sex between men, the judge "can make his judgement according to his knowledge which is obtained
through conventional methods."
The trial judge sentenced Makwan Moloudzadeh to death in July 2007 when
Makwan Moloudzadeh was aged 21, even though Makwan Moloudzadeh was under 15 lunar years at the time of the alleged crime, and in the absence of medical
evidence testifying to his state of maturity at the time of the crime.
Iran is a state party to both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, both of which require that the authorities do not execute child offenders - those under 18 at the time of their
alleged offence. The Committee on the Rights of the Child, the independent body that examines states' implementation of the Convention on the Rights of
the Child, has expressed concern about the process of determination by judges of the criminal responsibility of child offenders due to the weight the
judges attach to subjective and arbitrary criteria, such as the attainment of puberty, the age of discernment or the personality of the child.
Amnesty International is calling on the Head of Judiciary in Iran, Ayatollah Shahroudi, urgently to review the
methods used by judicial officials in this case, which resulted in the death sentence and execution of Makwan Moloudzadeh. The Iranian authorities must
uphold Iran's commitment to the international
community not to execute child offenders.
Background
Makwan Moloudzadeh was arrested on 1 October 2006 in Paveh, western Iran. In July 2007 he was tried and sentenced to death by a criminal court in Kermanshah.
During his trial, Makwan Moloudzadeh is said to have maintained his innocence. Previously, he alleged that while detained by security officials he was
ill-treated during interrogation and "confessed" that he had had a sexual relationship with a boy in 1999. No investigation of his allegations of
ill-treatment, or of those made by the witnesses against him who alleged that they had been required to provide false testimony, is known to have been investigated by the trial court or other Iranian authorities. The Supreme Court rejected Makwan Moloudzadeh's appeal on or around 1 August. The Head of the Judiciary apparently approved the sentence, and
between August and October the case was submitted to the Office for the Implementation of Sentences.
In November Makwan Moloudzadeh's lawyer sought a judicial enquiry to allow a review of the verdict and sentence. On 14 November a temporary stay of
execution was ordered to allow for reinvestigation of the case. However, this review appears to have found no fault with the verdict and sentence and
Makwan Moloudzadeh was executed on 4 December.
At least 75 child offenders are on death row in
Iran; Amnesty International fears that an additional15 child offenders, all Afghan nationals convicted of drug smuggling offences committed when they were
under 18 may also be facing possible death sentences or have been already sentenced to death.
For more
information about Amnesty International's concerns regarding executions of child
offenders in Iran, please see: Iran: The last executioner of children (MDE 13/059/2007, June 2007)
http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engmde130592007
Flogging is cruel, inhuman and degrading
punishment which amounts to torture.
Reports suggest that the military presence in the town of
Paveh has been increased in anticipation of protests by local inhabitants.
Amnesty International - Jelveh Javaheri (f), journalist and women's rights defender
PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 13/140/2007 3 December 2007
Jelveh Javaheri, journalist and women's rights defender, was arrested on 1 December 2007 at a branch of the Revolutionary Court in the capital, Tehran. She had been summoned to report to the Court for questioning. According to other women's rights defenders, she is accused of "disturbing public opinion", "propaganda against the system" and "publication of lies" in connection with articles posted on the Internet. She is believed to be held in Ward 3 of Evin Prison in Tehran.
Amnesty International believes she is a prisoner of conscience, held solely on account of her peaceful activities in support of equal rights for women in Iran, and is calling for her immediate and unconditional release.
Jelveh Javaheri is an active member of the Campaign for Equality, which aims to collect one million signatures of Iranians for a petition demanding an end to legal discrimination against women in Iran. As well as serving on the Campaign's education committee, Jelveh Javaheri has written several articles for its website (http://www.we4change.info/). She has also written extensively on women's issues for other websites.
She was among 33 women arrested on 4 March 2007 while protesting at the trial of five women's rights activists. She was released four days later (see UA 52/07, MDE 13/021/2007, 5 March 2007, and follow-ups), and summoned to attend court on 18 December 2007 in connection with her attendance at the protest.
She was also among 25 people arrested in Khorramabad, Lorestan province, in September 2007 during an educational workshop held by the Campaign for Equality. On that occasion, she was released the same day after being questioned about the Campaign's activities. Three other activists, Reza Dolatshah, Bahman Azadi, and Khosrow Nasimpour, were released the following day, having been beaten in custody.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION Repression of activists associated with the Campaign for Equality, and of other members of Iranian civil society, has intensified in recent weeks. Two women, Ronak Safarzadeh and Hana Abdi, are detained in the city of Sanandaj, Kordestan province, and have not been permitted access to families or lawyers (see UA 297/07, MDE 13/130/2007, 7 November 2007). Another Campaign for Equality activist who also edits the website, Maryam Hosseinkhah, has been detained in Evin Prison since 18 November (see UA 312/07, MDE 13/137/2007, 19 November 2007). Dr Sohrab Razzaghi, the Director of the Iranian Civil Society Organizations Training and Research Center (ICTRC), was detained between 24 October and 23 November 2007, apparently for interrogation about the activities of his organization, including the financial assistance it receives from international donors, like the Dutch non-governmental organization Hivos.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Persian, Arabic, English, French or your own language:
- expressing concern at the arrest of Jelveh Javaheri in connection with her peaceful activities in support of equal rights for women in Iran;
- urging the authorities to release her immediately and unconditionally since she is a prisoner of conscience;
- asking the authorities to ensure that while in detention she is granted immediate and regular access to her family and lawyer of her choice and that she is protected from any form of torture or ill-treatment.
APPEALS TO:
Head of the Judiciary His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Justice Building, Panzdah-Khordad Square,
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: +98 21 3390 4986 (please keep trying)
Email: info@dadgostary-tehran.ir (In the subject line write: FAO
Ayatollah Shahroudi)
Salutation: Your Excellency
Minister of Intelligence Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie
Ministry of Intelligence, Second Negarestan Street, Pasdaran Avenue, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Salutation: Your Excellency
Leader of the Islamic Republic His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei, The Office of the Supreme Leader
Shoahada Street, Qom, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: info@leader.ir -- istiftaa@wilayah.org
Fax: +98 251 7774 2228 (mark FAO Office of His Excellency Ayatollah al
Udhma Khamenei)
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
President His Excellency Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
The Presidency, Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
via website: www.president.ir/email
Email: dr-ahmadinejad@president.ir
Salutation: Your Excellency
Director, Human Rights Headquarters of Iran His Excellency Mohammad Javad Larijani
C/o Office of the Deputy for International Affairs
Ministry of Justice,
Ministry of Justice Building, Panzdah-Khordad (Ark) Square,
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: + 98 21 5 537 8827 (please keep trying)
and to diplomatic representatives of Iran accredited to your country.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 14 January 2008 .
Amnesty International - Amnesty International - update of Urgent Action: Adnan Hassanpour and 'Hiwa' Boutimar
PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 13/133/2007 13 November 2007
Further Information on UA 39/07 (MDE 13/017/2007, 16 February 2007) and follow-up (MDE 13/039/2007, 30 March 2007 and MDE 13/090/2007, 24 July 2007) - Fear of torture/ Arbitrary arrest/Death penalty
Adnan Hassanpour (m) aged 27, Kurdish journalist and cultural rights activist
Mansour Tayfouri (m), Kurdish journalist and translator
Abdolwahed Butimar known as Hiwa (m) aged 29, Kurdish activist and environmentalist
The death sentence against Iranian Kurdish journalist and cultural rights activist Adnan Hassanpour has been upheld by Branch 32 of the Supreme Court. The sentence needs to be approved by the Head of the Judiciary before it can be carried out.
The Court also overturned the death sentence against Abdolwahed (Hiwa) Butimar because of irregularities in legal procedure. His case was sent back for review to the Revolutionary Court in the city of Marivan, Kordestan province, which had initially sentenced him.
The rulings on both cases were issued on 23 October, but were not immediately made public. Saleh Nikhbakht, one of the lawyers representing Adnan Hassanpour and Hiwa Butimar, was informed of the Supreme Court’s verdict on 5 November but on 11 November told the Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA) that the verdict has not formally been issued by the Supreme Court, and therefore not subject to implementation.
Adnan Hassanpour was detained on 25 January 2007and Hiwa Butimar on or around 23 December 2006, both in Marivan. On 17 July Adnan Hassanpour was told that he had been sentenced to death on charges including espionage and in connection with allegedly revealing the location of military sites and establishing contacts with the US foreign affairs ministry and assisting in the flight from Iran of a person wanted for questioning by the judiciary. Taken together these were considered as amounting to to the capital offence of moharebeh (being at enmity with God). The Supreme Court upheld this conclusion and therefore upheld the death sentence.
The two men began a hunger strike on 14 July and remained on it for up to 50 days, demanding improved conditions of detention, an end to their solitary confinement and their transfer from a detention centre under the control of the Ministry of Intelligence to an official prison in Marivan, to which their families would have access. They also demanded the right to have access to their lawyers whenever they wanted. Following their hunger strike, Adnan Hassanpour and Hiwa Butimar were reportedly given better access to their families and lawyers.
In April, the Mehr News Agency, which is said to have close links with Iran’s judiciary, apparently alleged that Adnan Hassanpour had been in contact with Kurdish opposition groups and had helped two people from Khuzestan province who were wanted by the authorities to flee from Iran.
Adnan Hassanpour is a former member of the editorial board of the Kurdish-Persian weekly journal Aso (Horizon), which the authorities closed down in August 2005 following widespread unrest in Iran's Kurdish areas. Adnan Hassanpour had reportedly been tried for offences supposedly arising from articles published in the journal. Hiwa Butimar heads an environmental organization called The Green Mountain Society, and has also reportedly written articles for Aso. The Iranian judiciary reportedly said that the two men were not prosecuted for their work, but for taking up arms against Iran.
Amnesty International has no information about Mansour Tayfouri.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION The scope of capital crimes in Iran remains extraordinarily large and includes vaguely worded charges, such as "enmity against God" (moharebeh ba Khoda) and "being corrupt on earth" (mofsed fil arz), which refer, inter alia, to those accused of using firearms against the state or carrying out acts of robbery and to those who are considered to be carrying out espionage against the government. These crimes are regarded as crimes against God and as such are not subject to pardon. Offences for which judges have discretionary powers to impose the death penalty include those relating to national security offences.
Article 6(2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a state party states: "In countries which have not abolished the death penalty, sentence of death may be imposed only for the most serious crimes..." The UN Human Rights Committee, the independent body that reviews states' implementation of this treaty has stated: "The Committee is of the opinion that the expression 'most serious crimes' must be read restrictively to mean that the death penalty should be a quite exceptional measure."
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Persian, Kurdish, English, French or your own language:
- urging the authorities to commute Adnan Hassanpour’s death sentence immediately;
- welcoming the review of Abdolwahed (Hiwa) Butimar’s case;
- acknowledging that governments have a responsibility to bring to justice those suspected of criminal offences, but stating your unconditional opposition to the death penalty, as the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment and violation of the right to life;
- asking for full details of the charges and evidence against Adnan Hassanpour and expressing concern that his trial may not have met international standards for fair trial, which are especially important in capital cases;
- asking the authorities for information on the detention of Kurdish journalist Mansour Tayfouri, including any charges and evidence brought against him and of any trial proceedings, and calling for him to be released unless he is to be charged with a recognizably criminal offence and given a prompt and fair trial;
- calling on the authorities to ensure that none of the three men is tortured or ill-treated.
APPEALS TO:
Head of the Judiciary His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Justice Building, Panzdah-Khordad Square,
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: +98 21 3390 4986 (please keep trying)
Email: info@dadgostary-tehran.ir (In the subject line write: FAO
Ayatollah Shahroudi)
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
President His Excellency Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
The Presidency, Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
via website: www.president.ir/email
Email: dr-ahmadinejad@president.ir
Salutation: Your Excellency
Governor of Kordestan Governor Esmail Najjar
Salutation: Your Excellency
Email: In Persian and Kurdish, send via feedback form on the website:
http://www.ostan-kd.ir/Default.aspx?tabId=150&cv=4@0_1
In English, French or your own language, use the feedback form on the website: http://en.ostan-kd.ir/Default.aspx?TabID=59
and to diplomatic representatives of Iran accredited to your country.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 25 December 2007 .
Amnesty International urges immediate and unconditional release of Sohrab Razzaghi
AI Index: MDE 13/135/2007 (Public)
News Service No: 223
16 November 2007
Amnesty International today said that it had written to the Head of the Judiciary in Iran, Ayatollah Hashemi Shahroudi, urging the immediate and unconditional release of Dr Sohrab Razzaghi, the Director of Iranian Civil Society Organizations Training and Research Center (ICTRC) (Koneshgaran Davtalab) (also known as Volunteer Actors Institute), whom the organization considers to be a prisoner of conscience. Dr Razzaghi was arrested on 24 October 2007 and is held in Section 209 of Evin Prison in Tehran, a section under the control of the Ministry of Intelligence.
ICTRC is a non-governmental organization (NGO) founded in 2002, which provides capacity-building support for Iranian civil society organizations, promotes greater access to information, promotes enhancement of the situation of women and children in connection with the Millennium Development Goals, and seeks to raise public awareness of human rights within Iran.
In March 2007, Iranian security forces closed the offices of the ICTRC, froze its bank accounts and confiscated computer equipment and documents. They also accompanied Sohrab Razzaghi to his home, where other documents were confiscated. Since then, occasional government statements in Iran have accused NGOs and wider civil society in Iran of promoting political change through a "soft revolution" in Iran. For example, Minister of Intelligence Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie, on 10 April 2007, publicly accused the womens' movement and student campaigners of being part of an enemy conspiracy for a "soft subversion" of the government in Iran. Some newspaper articles have made similar arguments and have specifically referred to the role of Hivos as an international donor in this regard. Sohrab Razzaghi has publicly criticised the increasing restrictions placed by the government of President Ahmadinejad on civil society in Iran and has stated that he regards financial aid from legal and legitimate sources abroad as a positive measure for Iranian civil society, providing it is made on the basis of equal partnership and that the aid is given in a transparent manner.
Academics and journalists, including some with dual nationality, have been detained in 2007 and interrogated about their writings and activities, which the authorities have claimed have been intended as part of this "soft subversion". Ali Farahbakhsh, a journalist specialising in economic issues, was released in October 2007 after 11 months in detention. He had been arrested in November 2006 when he returned from a conference in Thailand, on government and the media, organised by Thai NGOs. Sentenced to three years' imprisonment after conviction of "espionage" and "receiving money from foreigners", this was reduced to 16 months on appeal and he was then granted an early conditional release. Haleh Esfandiari and Kian Tajbaksh, Iranian academics who hold US citizenship, were both detained in May and spent several months in detention. They were accused of "acting against national security by [spreading] propaganda against the system."
Since his arrest, Sohrab Razzaghi has not been allowed to meet family members or his lawyer, although he is believed to have been permitted to telephone his family on several occasions. In a meeting with family members on 12 November 2007, the judge in charge of his case suggested that a release order allowing Sohrab Razzaghi's release on bail was likely to be issued within a week. Since his arrest, other board and staff members of the ICTRC have been summoned for questioning about the ICTRC and their roles within it, although none has yet been arrested.
Amnesty International - Urgent Appeal: Hana Abdi and Rounak Safarzadeh - Campaign for Equality detainees in Sanandaj
IRAN PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 13/130/2007
UA 297/07 Prisoners of conscience/fear of torture or other ill-treatment
Women's rights activists Ronak Safarzadeh and Hana Abdi have been detained in the city of Sanandaj, in the north-western province of Kordestan, and are believed to be held in a Ministry of Intelligence detention facility. Neither is known to have been charged. They are at risk of torture or other ill-treatment. Amnesty International considers them prisoners of conscience, detained solely for the peaceful exercise of their rights to freedom of expression and association.
Both women are active members of the Campaign for Equality, which is seeking an end to legalised discrimination against women, and of the NGO Azar Mehr Women's Organization of Sanandaj, which is affiliated to the Campaign for Equality.
Ronak Safazadeh had attended a meeting on the International Day of the Child in Sanandaj on 8 October, during which she had collected signatures in support of the Campaign for Equality. The following day, men understood to be agents of the Ministry of Intelligence reportedly came to her house at 8.20am, confiscated her computer, copies of the campaign’s petition and a booklet it had produced, and detained her. After six days, her mother was permitted a brief telephone conversation with her.
In an interview with the Campaign for Equality (http://www.we4change.info/english/spip.php?article152), Ronak Safarzadeh’s sister said, "On Thursday [25 October] court proceedings were held in the case of Ronak and the authorities informed us that during these court proceedings the arrest order of Ronak was renewed for the period of one month." She also said that family members had not been allowed to attend her court hearing and that they had been told that Ronak Safarzadeh is being held in the detention facility of the Sanandaj Office of the Ministry of Intelligence, although they were not sure whether this was true. According to the Campaign for Equality, Ronak Safarzadeh’s mother was beaten by officials in the local office of the judiciary on 30 October when she went to try to find out about her daughter.
Hana Abdi is studying psychology at Payam-e Noor University in Bijar. She was arrested on 4 November by seven Ministry of Intelligence agents at her grandfather’s home in Sanandaj. The agents then searched her father’s home where they confiscated Hana Abdi’s computer and pamphlets explaining the aims of the Campaign for Equality.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The Campaign for Equality, launched in August 2006, aims to collect one million signatures from Iranians in support of an end to legalised discrimination against women. So far, 13 of its members have been arrested while collecting signatures, though this is not forbidden under Iranian law.
On 5 November, a 28 month jail sentence passed on Campaign for Equality activist Delaram Ali, 24, was upheld by an appeal court. She was reportedly one of around 70 people arrested in June 2006, following a peaceful demonstration against laws discriminating against women. Five other women activists who organised the protest were earlier this year given shorter jail terms of up to a year and suspended sentences of up to three years. She is expected to start serving the sentence immediately. In an interview, Nobel laureate and Iranian lawyer, Shirin Ebadi said: "Why should a woman who wants equal human rights be charged with acting against national security?"
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Persian, Arabic, English, French or your own language:
- expressing concern that Ronak Safarzadeh and Hana Abdi have been detained for their peaceful activities in support of the Campaign for Equality, such as collecting signatures;
- urging the authorities to release them immediately and unconditionally, as they are a prisoners of conscience, detained solely for exercising their right to freedom of expression and association;
- asking the authorities to ensure that, while they remain in custody, they are protected from torture and ill-treatment.
APPEALS TO:
Head of the Judiciary His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Justice Building, Panzdah-Khordad Square,
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: +98 21 3390 4986 (please keep trying)
Email: info@dadgostary-tehran.ir (In the subject line write: FAO
Ayatollah Shahroudi)
Salutation: Your Excellency
Minister of Intelligence Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie
Ministry of Intelligence, Second Negarestan Street, Pasdaran Avenue, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Salutation: Your Excellency
Leader of the Islamic Republic His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei, The Office of the Supreme Leader
Shoahada Street, Qom, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: info@leader.ir -- istiftaa@wilayah.org
Fax: +98 251 7774 2228 (mark FAO Office of His Excellency Ayatollah al
Udhma Khamenei)
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
President His Excellency Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
The Presidency, Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
via website: www.president.ir/email
Email: dr-ahmadinejad@president.ir
Salutation: Your Excellency
and to diplomatic representatives of Iran accredited to your country.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 18 December 2007 .
Iran:
End Harassment of Women's Rights Defenders—Human Rights Groups Protest
Imminent Imprisonment of Delaram Ali
Amnesty International (AI)
Equality Now (EN)
Federation Internationale des Droits de l'Homme (FIDH)
Front Line (FL)
Human Rights First (HRF)
Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML)
World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
Seven leading international human rights organizations
today demanded that the Iranian authorities immediately set aside the
prison sentence against a women’s rights defender, and drop charges
against others facing trial because of their peaceful activities demanding
equal rights for women in Iran.
Amnesty International (AI), Equality Now (EN),
the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Front Line (FL),
Human Rights First (HRF), Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML) and
World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) were reacting to news that
24 year old social worker and women’s
rights defender Delaram Ali faces imminent imprisonment.
In July 2007, she was sentenced to 34 months in prison and to a 10 lash
flogging on charges of "participation in an illegal gathering," "propaganda
against the system" and "disrupting public order and peace." These
charges were brought against her after she participated in a peaceful
demonstration in Tehran’s Haft Tir Square on 12 June 2006 calling
for an end to discriminatory legislation against women. She was beaten
by police during her arrest and had her left hand broken. At her trial,
her defence lawyer was not allowed to speak and address the court in
her defence.
Delaram Ali received a phone call from the authorities
on 4 November 2007 in which she was told that her appeal against conviction
and sentence had been completed and that she should report to the court
by 10 November for the sentence to be carried out. She was warned that,
if she failed to do so, she would face arrest. She was told that her
prison sentence had been reduced to 30 months’ imprisonment and the flogging sentence
had been commuted, but as yet, neither she nor her lawyers have received
any other notification – under the law, she should be issued with
the court’s written verdict.
Several other women’s rights defenders
have been sentenced to prison terms in connection with the June 2006
demonstration but all are currently free awaiting the outcome of appeals.
If Delaram Ali is imprisoned, she will be the first to have her sentence
implemented.
The authorities have also been harassing members of the Campaign for
Equality, launched shortly after the 12 June 2006 demonstration, which
aims to collect a million signatures of Iranians to a petition demanding
an end to legislation, which discriminates against women. More than a
dozen people have been arrested while collecting signatures. Most recently, Ronak
Safarzadeh and Hana Abdi, active members of
the Campaign in Kordestan province, were detained on 9 October and 4
November and are currently held without charge or trial in Sanandaj,
apparently by local officials from the Ministry of Intelligence.
Amnesty International, Equality Now, FIDH, Front
Line, Human Rights First, Women Living Under Muslim Laws and OMCT would
regard the imprisonment of Delaram Ali, solely for her peaceful actions
as a defender of women’s
rights, as a gross violation of her rights to freedom of expression and
association. Her summons appears to be part of a deliberate campaign
by the Iranian authorities to intimidate human rights activists and wider
civil society in Iran, where an unprecedented crack down on peaceful
dissent is underway.
In addition, the above-mentioned organisations
expressed concern at the degree to which Iranian security forces who
ill-treat detainees during arrest are able to act with impunity.Delaram
Ali lodged a complaint against her ill-treatment during arrest, along
with the others who were beaten, but in October 2007, despite the existence
of photographs of the demonstration showing ill-treatment, and the
medical evidence presented, the case against the police officers who
had been present at the demonstration was dismissed.
For more information, please contact:
Amnesty International (AI):
Nicole Choueiry
Middle East and North Africa Press Officer
+44 7831 640 170 (mobile)
+44 207 413 5511 (direct line)
email:nchoueir@amnesty.org
Equality Now (EN):
Lakshmi Anantnarayan
Communications Director in New York
tel: +1 212 586 0906
email: lanant@equalitynow.org
Fédération Internationale
des Ligues des Droits de l'Homme - International Federation for Human
Rights (FIDH)
Emmanouil Athanasiou
Programme Officer
Asian Desk
tel: +33 1 43 55 25 18
direct line: +33 1 43 55 14 07
fax: +33 1 43 55 18 80
email: eathanasiou@fidh.org
Front Line (FL)
Mary Lawlor
Director
+ 353 1 212 3750
Human Rights First (HRF)
Neil Hicks
Director, Human Rights Defender Program
tel +1 212 845 5248
email: hicksn@humanrightsfirst.org
Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML)
Aisha Lee Shaheed
Communications and Networking Office
tel +44207 281 9203
e-mail: gaisha@wluml.org
World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
Delphine Reculeau
Programme Manager, Human Rights Defenders Programme / Observatory for
the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
tel: + 41 22 809 49 39
fax: + 41 22 809 49 29
email: dr@omct.org
Amnesty International - Urgent Action - relatives of prisoners killed in 1988 prison massacre arrested at commemoration in Khavaran, risk torture
IRAN UA 286/07 Fear of ill-treatment/possible prisoner of conscience
IRAN Ali Sarami (m)
Mohammad Ali Mansouri (m), aged 47
Iran, or Masoumeh, Mansouri (f), aged 22, his daughter
Nasser Sodargari (m), aged 46
Tahereh Pour-Rostam (f), aged 44, his wife
Farshid Sodargari, relative of Nasser Sodagari
Misaq Yazdanejad (m), aged 21
PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 13/128/2007
2 November 2007
The seven people named above were detained by Ministry of Intelligence officials in late August and early September because they had taken part in a ceremony marking the 19th anniversary of the 1988 "prison massacres" in which thousands of political prisoners were executed. On 29 August relatives of those killed gathered at Khavaran in south Tehran, near a mass grave where some of the prisoners were buried.
They were taken to Section 209 of Tehran’s Evin Prison, which is under the control of the Ministry of Intelligence and off-limits to Evin Prison officials. All are reportedly being interrogated by a man from the office of public prosecutions in Tehran.
Ali Sarami was detained by four plainclothes officials while shopping near his home in south Tehran. They took him to his home, searched his possessions and confiscated many items, including photograph albums and his laptop computer. His family made inquiries, but were told to stop or face unspecified consequences.
Mohammad Ali Mansouri was reportedly arrested on 2 September at his house, which had just been searched. His family asked about him at a branch of the Revolutionary Court and were threatened with imprisonment. On 27 October, his daughter Iran, or Masoumeh, Mansouri was called and told to collect her father’s belongings. Her brother and an uncle went but were sent back with a demand that she come in person. She went, and has been detained incommunicado since then. She had not taken part in the commemoration ceremony in Khavaran, and appears to have been detained for asking about her father, and possibly for discussing his detention in a 10 October interview with the Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet. The interrogator has reportedly told the family not to speak about the case to any journalists. They have appointed human rights defender Abdolfattah Soltani to represent Mohammad Ali Mansouri, but have been told to get a different lawyer.
Nasser Sodargari and his wife Tahereh Pour-Rostam both took part in the commemorations in Khavaran. Nasser Sodargari was detained at his place of work and taken to his home, which was subjected to a thorough search: possessions including photo albums and a laptop computer were taken. The couple has two teenage boys who now do not appear to have a guardian as one of them is 18, and considered to be an adult. A relative of Nasser Sodagari, Farshid Sodargari, was detained at his place of work on 9 or 10 September. He too was taken to his home which was thoroughly searched, and a variety of his possessions were removed.
Misaq Yazdanejad was arrested at home on 10 September. He reportedly needs medicine, which his mother took to Evin Prison for him, but the guards refused to accept it. Officials have sent a text message from his mobile phone to all the contacts in the phone's memory.
Footage from this year’s commemorations at Khavaran can be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfinvzW4mxw and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uf8FD0ZymwE
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Between 27 July 1988 and the end of that year, thousands of political prisoners, including prisoners of conscience, were executed in prisons nationwide. The vast majority were sentenced to death after summary trials or brief interviews. The executions were authorized at the highest level of the Iranian leadership and were supposed to tackle the perceived threat from armed opposition groups, in particular the People's Mojahedin of Iran and the Fedayan-e Khalq. Amnesty International believes these executions amount to a crime against humanity. Under international law, valid in 1988, crimes against humanity consist of widespread or systematic attacks against civilians on discriminatory, including political, grounds. Amnesty International believes that there should be no impunity for human rights violations, no matter where or when they took place. The 1988 executions should be subject to an independent impartial investigation, and all those responsible should be brought to justice, and receive appropriate penalties. Amnesty International's report, Iran: Violations of human rights 1987-1990 (December 1990) detailed the magnitude of the 1988 prison massacres and was the basis for Amnesty International's subsequent campaigning on this issue.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Persian, Arabic, English, French or your own language:
- urging the authorities to ensure that those detained in connection with the 29 August Khavaran commemoration of the 1988 "prison massacres" are treated humanely, and not tortured;
- asking why they were detained, and calling on the authorities to give them immediate and regular access to their families, lawyers and any medical treatment they may require;
- expressing concern at reports that some were beaten during arrest, and urging the authorities to investigate those reports fully, and bring those responsible to justice;
- expressing concern that in almost 20 years no one has been brought to justice for the 1998 prison massacres, and urging the authorities to take action to address this.
APPEALS TO: Leader of the Islamic Republic His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei, The Office of the Supreme Leader
Shoahada Street, Qom, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: info@leader.ir -- istiftaa@wilayah.org
Fax: +98 251 7774 2228 (mark FAO Office of His Excellency Ayatollah al
Udhma Khamenei)
Salutation: Your Excellency
President His Excellency Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
The Presidency, Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
via website: www.president.ir/email
Email: dr-ahmadinejad@president.ir
Salutation: Your Excellency
Head of the Judiciary His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Justice Building, Panzdah-Khordad Square,
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: +98 21 3390 4986 (please keep trying)
Email: info@dadgostary-tehran.ir (In the subject line write: FAO
Ayatollah Shahroudi)
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
Speaker of Parliament His Excellency Gholamali Haddad Adel
Majles-e Shoura-ye Eslami, Baharestan Square, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: + 98 21 3355 6408
Email: hadadadel@majlis.ir
and to diplomatic representatives of Iran accredited to your country.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 14 December 2007 .
Amnesty International - Urgent Action - Soghra Najafpour (f) at risk of imminent execution if she comes out of hiding
IRAN UA 271/07 Death penalty/ Fear of imminent execution Soghra Najafpour (f), aged 30
- PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 13/124/2007
23 October 2007
Soghra Najafpour is currently believed to be in hiding. If she is taken into custody, it is believed she could face imminent execution. She was sentenced to qesas (retribution) 18 years ago for a murder committed when she may have been only 13 years old. Soghra Najafpour was released on bail on 1 October, however, when the family of the victim found out about her release, they reportedly asked for her to be re-arrested and for the execution to take place.
At the age of nine, Soghra Najafpour was sent by her family to work as a servant in a doctor's home in the northern city of Rasht. Four years later she was accused of the murder of the eight-year-old son of the family. Soghra Najafpour reportedly confessed to the murder during interrogation; soon afterwards, however, she denied that she was involved. Nevertheless she was sentenced to death, as the judge did not believe her to be innocent. At the age of 17, Soghra Najafpour was taken to be executed, but the family of the victim changed their mind at the last minute.
With the help of her new lawyer and human rights defender, Nasrin Sotoudeh, Soghra Najafpour's case went before the courts again and a new judge authorized her release on bail. However, her bail stipulated that she would have to return to prison on order of the Judiciary. Soghra Najafpour was reportedly summoned to return to prison on 22 October 2007, following the complaint made by the family of the victim, but it appears that she has gone into hiding. According to reports, the father of the victim had recently agreed to pardon Soghra, however, his wife insisted that she be executed. Failing to reach an agreement between all the blood relatives of the victim, in this case the parents, Soghra Najafpour is at risk of imminent execution should she be detained by the authorities.
On 23 October, Nasrin Sotoudeh submitted an appeal to the Supreme Court calling for a review of the case of Soghra Najafpour, but it is not known whether it will be considered acceptable for submission.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
International law strictly prohibits the use of the death penalty against people convicted of crimes committed when they were under 18. As a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the CRC, Iran has undertaken not to execute child offenders. However, since 1990, Iran has executed at least 24 child offenders. There are fears that at least two other executions may have taken place on 17 October 200. At least 77 child offenders are currently on death row in Iran. This number may be even higher as according to yet unconfirmed reports at least a further 15 Afghan child offenders may be under death sentence.
For more information about Amnesty International's concerns regarding executions of child offenders in Iran, please see: Iran: The last executioner of children (MDE 13/059/2007, June 2007)
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Persian, Arabic, English, French or your own language:
- calling on the Head of the Judiciary to urge the Supreme Court to review the procedures in the case of Soghra Najafpour, including the manner of the interrogation, which led to her initial conviction;
- expressing concern that, if she were to be taken into custody, Soghra Najafpour would be at risk of execution for a crime committed when she was under 18;
- calling on the Iranian authorities to immediately halt any efforts to proceed with the execution of Soghra Najafpour;
- calling for the death sentence against Soghra Najafpour to be commuted;
- reminding the authorities that Iran is a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which prohibit the use of the death penalty against people convicted of crimes committed when they were under 18, and that the execution of Soghra Najafpour would therefore be a violation of international law;
- urging the authorities to pass legislation to abolish the death penalty for offences committed by anyone under the age of 18, so as to bring Iran's domestic law into line with its obligations under international law;
- stating that Amnesty International acknowledges the right and responsibility of governments to bring to justice those suspected of criminal offences, but unconditionally opposes the death penalty.
APPEALS TO: Leader of the Islamic Republic His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei, The Office of the Supreme Leader
Shoahada Street, Qom, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: info@leader.ir -- istiftaa@wilayah.org
Fax: +98 251 7774 2228 (mark FAO Office of His Excellency Ayatollah al
Udhma Khamenei)
Salutation: Your Excellency
Head of the Judiciary His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Justice Building, Panzdah-Khordad Square,
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: +98 21 3390 4986 (please keep trying)
Email: info@dadgostary-tehran.ir (In the subject line write: FAO
Ayatollah Shahroudi)
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
Speaker of Parliament His Excellency Gholamali Haddad Adel
Majles-e Shoura-ye Eslami, Baharestan Square, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: + 98 21 3355 6408
Email: hadadadel@majlis.ir
and to diplomatic representatives of Iran accredited to your country.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 4 December 2007 .
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL - Statement about Imprisonment of Emaddedin Baghi
- PUBLIC MDE 13/117/2007 (Public)
23 August 2007
Amnesty International today again expressed its deep concern at continuing repression of human rights defenders and civil society activists in Iran which has deepened in recent months.
Imprisonment of Emaddedin Baghi
One of Iran's best known human rights defenders, Emaddedin Baghi, the head of the Association for the Defence of Prisoners Rights and leading anti-death penalty campaigner, was detained on 14 October when he attended a session before Branch 14 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran. His lawyers were not allowed to attend the session with him. Although bail of 50 million Iranian Touman (USD 53,619) was reportedly set for his release, when his family attempted to meet the bail, the judge apparently refused to accept it.
He was detained on the basis of a suspended sentence of one year's imprisonment handed down in 2002. It is not clear where Emaddedin Baghi is currently being held.
Emaddedin Baghi also faces other politically motivated criminal charges: in July 2007 he was sentenced to three years' imprisonment, two of which related to the charge of meeting and colluding to commit offences against national security, and one year to the charge of propaganda against the system for the benefit of foreign and opposition groups. His lawyer said that the evidence against him included media interviews and letters to the authorities regarding Ahwazi Arabs sentenced to death in connection with lethal bomb explosions in Khuzestan province. Four other people, including Emaddedin Baghi's wife and daughter were sentenced to three years' imprisonment, suspended for five years, in the same case. Their charges were said to relate to their participation in a human rights conference held in the United Arab Emirates. All remained free pending appeal.
Amnesty International considers the charges against Emaddedin Baghi to be politically motivated and aimed at silencing the human rights defender's criticism of the human rights situation in Iran. The organisation considers him a prisoner of conscience and is calling for his immediate and unconditional release.
Women's rights activists
Activists in the Campaign for Equality who are demanding an end to legalised discrimination against women in Iran are also continuing to face harassment and arrest. Most recently, 21 year-old Ronak Safazadeh was arrested in Sanandaj, the capital of Kordestan province, on 9 October 2007. Ronak Safazadeh is a member of the Campaign for Equality, as well as a member of Azar Mehr, an NGO in Sanandaj. On 8 October, she had attended a meeting on the International Day of the Child in Sanandaj, during which she had collected signatures in support of the Campaign for Equality. The following day, security officials reportedly came to her house at 08.20, confiscated her computer, copies of the Campaign's petition and a booklet produced by the Campaign, and then detained Ronak Safazadeh. After six days, her mother was permitted a brief telephone conversation with her daughter. It is not clear where she is being held.
In September, at least 25 people (including five members of the Campaign's Education committee who had travelled from Tehran) were arrested during an educational workshop held by the Campaign in a private house in Khorramabad, Lorestan province. Of these 22 were released later that night, after being questioned about the Campaign's activities; the other three, Reza Dolatshah, Bahman Azadi, and Khosrow Nasimpour, who are social activists in the city of Khorramabad were released the following day, although they were beaten while in custody.
Women's rights activists are also continuing to face trial proceedings in connection with their activities. Shadi Sadr and Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh were both recently summoned to court. Both were among 33 women arrested in March 2007during a peaceful gathering outside a court where five other women were on trial. They were released on bail after two weeks in detention. Farideh Ghayrat, a lawyer, told the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA) on 14 October that their case was under consideration by the Special section for security of the Tehran General and Revolutionary Prosecutor's Office, and that the charge against her clients was acting against national security, although it had not been confirmed that it was connected to the March gathering outside the courtroom, although she expected this to be the case.
In September, journalist Bahman Ahmadi Amou'i was sentenced to six months' imprisonment, suspended for two years, after being convicted of acting against state security. He had been detained for a week following a peaceful demonstration in June 2006 which called for equal rights for women. The evidence against him reportedly included a number of open letters to Iran's parliament, or Majles, that he had signed, including one supporting the June 2006 demonstration.
Trade Unionists
According to the Iranian Teachers' Association, dozens of the hundreds of teachers arrested during peaceful demonstrations earlier in 2007 have been sentenced to dismissal or exile. At least two have received suspended prison sentences: Mohammad Reza Rezai-Gorkani and Rasul Badaqi received two-year and three-year suspended sentences respectively. Their lawyer, Hushang Purbabai, told ISNA on 9 October that both were convicted of acting against national security.
A strike by workers at the Haft Tapeh Sugar Plant in Khuzestan Province, who had reportedly received no wages or benefits for over three months, was forcibly broken up by security forces on 3 October. The workers had staged a series of around 15 strikes over more than a year. In August, they had written an open letter to the International Labour Organization, announcing their determination to continue strike action if their demands, which include the right to participate in the election of their own representatives, were not met. There are unconfirmed reports that at least two workers, Ramazan Alipour and Fereydoun Nikofar, were arrested after being summoned to an Intelligence Ministry facility.
According to the Kurdistan Human Rights Organization, five Kurdish workers' activists have reportedly been sentenced to three months imprisonment and 40 lashes for "disturbing public security". The sentences were suspended for 3 years, during which time they have reportedly been banned from meeting "prominent" political and social figures. They had reportedly been detained for several days earlier in the year during a demonstration protesting at the arrest of another workers' rights activist, Mahmoud Salehi in April 2007.
Kurds
Kurdish human rights defenders have reported a new wave of arrests and sentences of civil society and student activists. For example, Yasser Gholi, the former head of the Kurdish Democratic student's union who had been banned from studying, was reportedly arrested on 10 October in Sanandaj by security forces that also searched his home and confiscated his computer and other personal items. Ako Kordnasab, a journalist with the newspaper Gerefto, has reportedly been sentenced to three years' imprisonment for espionage.
Amnesty International continues to call on he Iranian authorities to uphold the rights to freedom of association and expression and to end its repression of human rights defenders. The organization urges the authorities to implement the measures provided for in the United Nations General Assembly's Declaration on human rights defenders, adopted in 1998.*
Amnesty International continues to campaign for the release of all prisoners of conscience, for those accused of offences to be tried in full accordance with international fair trial standards and without recourse to the death penalty, and for all reports of torture or other ill-treatment of prisoners to be rapidly, thoroughly and independently investigated and for any officials responsible for torturing or abusing prisoners to be brought to justice.
*The full name of General Assembly Resolution A/RES/53/144 is the 'Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms' and can be viewed at: http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N99/770/89/PDF/N9977089.pdf?OpenElement
Iran-Human Rights Abuses against the Baluchi Minority
17 September 2007
1. Introduction
State repression of Iran’s ethnic minorities, which have been demanding greater recognition of their cultural and political rights, has intensified in recent years. With potentially hostile foreign military forces stationed in countries to the east and west of Iran, the authorities have become increasingly wary of minority communities, many of whom, such as the Iranian Azerbaijanis, Kurds, Arabs and Baluchis, are concentrated in border areas. In certain of these areas, armed groups are active, some of which commit human rights abuses.
In particular, a Baluchi armed group called Jondallah, also known as the Iranian Peoples’ Resistance Movement, has mounted several attacks since 2005, including armed assaults (some lethal) on officials and members of the security forces, hostage-taking and the killing of hostages. Other attacks targeting civilians have been attributed to Jondallah by the authorities, although Jondallah has denied responsibility. In response, Iranian security forces have carried out arrests of suspected militants and obtained “"confessions”" from them using torture, some of which have been shown on television, and committed unlawful killings. New judicial procedures have been introduced which further undermine the right to a fair trial, and there has been an increase in the use of the death penalty, marked by a huge rise in the numbers of executions of ethnic Baluchis.
Amnesty International condemns in all circumstances attacks by armed groups that deliberately target civilians, as well as hostage-taking, indiscriminate attacks and other abuses. It calls for those who commit such abuses to be brought to justice through fair trials and without recourse to the death penalty.
Amnesty International also urges governments not to respond to human rights abuses with further abuses. Governments have a duty to take measures to safeguard the public and protect people from violent attacks, but when doing so they must adhere to their obligations under international law and not use methods that flout human rights.
At a time when world attention on Iran is focused on the country’s nuclear programme, with sanctions in place and the possibility of military intervention, there is a danger that serious human rights issues may disappear from the international agenda. As an independent human rights organization, Amnesty International generally takes no position on the imposition of sanctions or on military action, but is concerned that at times of heightened international tension, as now exists in relation to Iran, there is a danger both that human rights violations increase and that when Amnesty International and other organizations draw attention to them this can be exploited to further agendas unrelated to the protection and promotion of human rights. Amnesty International’s role, however, is to be an impartial defender of human rights across the globe, and it documents and reports on human rights violations as part of its campaigning and other efforts to end such violations and obtain redress for the victims.
This report focuses on human rights violations committed against Baluchis, one of Iran’s ethnic minority communities, and follows a report about the situation of Iran’s Ahwazi Arab community issued in May 2006.(1) Many of the concerns and individual cases detailed in this report were included in a detailed letter which Amnesty International addressed to Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar, Iran’s Minister of Defence, in December 2006. Subsequently, Amnesty International raised further cases with the Iranian authorities in July and August 2007. No response to any of these communications had been received at time of writing. Unfortunately, the Iranian authorities rarely respond to Amnesty International’s interventions. The authorities have not permitted the organization to visit Iran in order to assess human rights situation at first hand for more than 28 years, since shortly after the Islamic Revolution in February 1979.
Amnesty International is greatly concerned about the rise in human rights violations against members of the Baluchi minority and is calling on the Iranian authorities to take urgent steps to end abuses and respect human rights. In particular, they should end arbitrary arrests and torture and ill-treatment of prisoners, and bring to justice those members of the security forces and officials responsible for torture; ensure that all those accused of crimes receive fair trials and end the use of the death penalty. They should also review the security provisions in place in Iran’s Baluchi minority areas to ensure they do not facilitate the commission of human rights violations, and end discrimination against Baluchis in law and practice. They should also give particular attention to violations against women and girls by taking steps to end trafficking of girls and women and to improve access to education by girls and women.
Amnesty International is also calling on Jondallah to desist immediately from carrying out human rights abuses, including indiscriminate attacks, hostage-taking and the killing of hostages.
2. The Baluchi community in Iran
Iran’s Baluchi minority is believed to constitute one to three per cent of the country’s total population of around 70 million.(2) Most ethnic Baluchis live in Sistan-Baluchistan province, with smaller numbers in Kerman province. However, Baluchis have migrated elsewhere in Iran, particularly Tehran, to find work. Many have strong tribal and family ties to Baluchi populations in neighbouring Pakistan and Afghanistan and several hundred thousand are believed to have migrated to find work in other Gulf countries. Baluchis in Iran mostly speak Baluchi as a first language, with a minority speaking Brahoui. Most are Sunni Muslims, although the majority (around 90 per cent) of Iranians are Shi’a. An estimated 20,000 of the 1.7 million inhabitants of Sistan-Baluchistan province are said to be nomads.(3)
2.1 Economic and cultural discrimination
Sistan-Baluchistan is one of the poorest and most deprived provinces in Iran. In recent years it has suffered severe drought and extreme weather conditions, which have placed further strain on the province’s resources. It has Iran’s worst indicators for life expectancy, adult literacy, primary school enrolment, access to improved water and sanitation, and infant and
child mortality.(4)
Women and girls
Baluchi women and girls face particular problems accessing education and health care. Early marriage of girls, often when they are as young as 12, is common. In 2002, the minimum age for voluntary marriage of girls was raised from 9 to 13, but parents can still apply to the courts for approval for marriages of girls who are below the age of 13. In considering the Second Periodic report submitted by Iran in 2005, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child noted “"the increase in the age of marriage for girls from 9 to 13 years (while that of boys remains at 15) and is seriously concerned at the very low minimum ages and the related practice of forced, early and temporary marriages.”"(5) The Committee went on to recommend that Iran, “"take the necessary steps to prevent and combat forced, early and temporary marriages.”"(6)
Although primary schooling from 6 to 11 is free and compulsory, school enrolment rates in the province are 71.5 per cent for girls and 81.8 per cent for boys, well below the national average(7). The primary reasons for families deciding to keep girls at home include the long distances between schools and the isolated Baluchi communities, a lack of female teachers, the relatively high level of poverty which leads to children being kept out of school to work, and cultural attitudes which place less value on education for a girl than for a boy. For example, UNICEF has found that:
“"few teachers are willing to serve in sparsely populated rural and nomadic areas. This means that many of the teachers are men on military service – and are thus considered unsuitable by families living there. In addition, owing to the lack of not only school buildings but also teachers, some classes are multi grade, co-educational and take place outside.
Negative attitudes towards female education continue to exist in these areas too. Some families still view girls as better engaged in housekeeping and child care activities. Whilst they may allow their daughters to go to primary school nearby, they are reluctant to let them travel long distances to reach secondary school”".(8)
Under its development plans, the Iranian authorities have been working with organizations like UNICEF to try to improve the access of girls to school in deprived areas such as Sistan-Baluchistan with some very positive results. According to UNICEF:
“"dozens of female assistant teachers were recruited from the community and trained to teach subjects such as hygiene, basic mathematics and science, literacy, life-skills education, school preparatory activities and storytelling. Training was also given to teachers on how to facilitate peer education, multi-grade classes and activity-based teaching. In order to enhance community participation, weekly after-school classes were held in villages with groups of young girls already enrolled in the school system supervising the activities. The results have been astounding: girls’ enrolment in primary school increased nearly threefold in one year.
“"Now that there are more female teachers, the situation for girls has improved a lot,”" says Mehri Maleki Meshkini, a young teacher, who dresses in the traditional black chador. ‘In our classes we try to discuss serious issues like early marriage, so that the girls become more aware of the situation. But it is difficult because the men in the family decide everything.(9)
The UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, who visited Iran in January-February 2005, stated in her January 2006 report that women from minorities experienced multiple forms of discrimination, but noted that the government did not accept this. She also highlighted the issue of trafficking in girls and women, stating that “"[m]ost of the trafficking is said to occur in the eastern provinces and mainly in border towns with Pakistan and Afghanistan [which are mainly Baluchi areas] where women are kidnapped, bought or entered into temporary marriage in order to be sold into sexual slavery in other countries”".
The Iranian authorities have taken some steps to address the problem of trafficking of girls and women. In August 2004, the Law on Combating Human Trafficking was passed which specifically criminalizes trafficking in persons in Iran. In some cases, people involved in trafficking, including some operating through Sistan-Baluchistan province, have been tried and convicted.(10)
In her recommendations the Special Rapporteur urged the government to “"provide special programmes for women from minority groups who suffer multiple forms of discrimination”" and to “"ratify the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and protect women victims of trafficking, ensure accountability of the traffickers and provide compensation to the victims”".(11)
Women and girls
Baluchi women and girls face particular problems accessing education and health care. Early marriage of girls, often when they are as young as 12, is common. In 2002, the minimum age for voluntary marriage of girls was raised from 9 to 13, but parents can still apply to the courts for approval for marriages of girls who are below the age of 13. In considering the Second Periodic report submitted by Iran in 2005, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child noted “"the increase in the age of marriage for girls from 9 to 13 years (while that of boys remains at 15) and is seriously concerned at the very low minimum ages and the related practice of forced, early and temporary marriages.”"(5) The Committee went on to recommend that Iran, “"take the necessary steps to prevent and combat forced, early and temporary marriages.”"(6)
Although primary schooling from 6 to 11 is free and compulsory, school enrolment rates in the province are 71.5 per cent for girls and 81.8 per cent for boys, well below the national average(7). The primary reasons for families deciding to keep girls at home include the long distances between schools and the isolated Baluchi communities, a lack of female teachers, the relatively high level of poverty which leads to children being kept out of school to work, and cultural attitudes which place less value on education for a girl than for a boy. For example, UNICEF has found that:
“"few teachers are willing to serve in sparsely populated rural and nomadic areas. This means that many of the teachers are men on military service – and are thus considered unsuitable by families living there. In addition, owing to the lack of not only school buildings but also teachers, some classes are multi grade, co-educational and take place outside.
Negative attitudes towards female education continue to exist in these areas too. Some families still view girls as better engaged in housekeeping and child care activities. Whilst they may allow their daughters to go to primary school nearby, they are reluctant to let them travel long distances to reach secondary school”".(8)
Under its development plans, the Iranian authorities have been working with organizations like UNICEF to try to improve the access of girls to school in deprived areas such as Sistan-Baluchistan with some very positive results. According to UNICEF:
“"dozens of female assistant teachers were recruited from the community and trained to teach subjects such as hygiene, basic mathematics and science, literacy, life-skills education, school preparatory activities and storytelling. Training was also given to teachers on how to facilitate peer education, multi-grade classes and activity-based teaching. In order to enhance community participation, weekly after-school classes were held in villages with groups of young girls already enrolled in the school system supervising the activities. The results have been astounding: girls’ enrolment in primary school increased nearly threefold in one year.
“"Now that there are more female teachers, the situation for girls has improved a lot,”" says Mehri Maleki Meshkini, a young teacher, who dresses in the traditional black chador. ‘In our classes we try to discuss serious issues like early marriage, so that the girls become more aware of the situation. But it is difficult because the men in the family decide everything.(9)
The UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, who visited Iran in January-February 2005, stated in her January 2006 report that women from minorities experienced multiple forms of discrimination, but noted that the government did not accept this. She also highlighted the issue of trafficking in girls and women, stating that “"[m]ost of the trafficking is said to occur in the eastern provinces and mainly in border towns with Pakistan and Afghanistan [which are mainly Baluchi areas] where women are kidnapped, bought or entered into temporary marriage in order to be sold into sexual slavery in other countries”".
The Iranian authorities have taken some steps to address the problem of trafficking of girls and women. In August 2004, the Law on Combating Human Trafficking was passed which specifically criminalizes trafficking in persons in Iran. In some cases, people involved in trafficking, including some operating through Sistan-Baluchistan province, have been tried and convicted.(10)
In her recommendations the Special Rapporteur urged the government to “"provide special programmes for women from minority groups who suffer multiple forms of discrimination”" and to “"ratify the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and protect women victims of trafficking, ensure accountability of the traffickers and provide compensation to the victims”".(11)
Violent storms in the province in June 2007 led to widespread flooding and destruction of homes and property, reportedly killing at least 23 people(12) and leaving thousands of others at risk of disease because of lack of clean drinking water and adequate housing. Some Baluchis complained that the authorities did not provide disaster relief and that the Revolutionary Guards Corps failed to offer adequate help until a local Sunni religious leader had criticized them during Friday prayer sermons.(13) Another Sunni leader, Mowlavi Isa Amiri, the Friday prayer leader of the city of Chabahar, was reported as saying
“"The honourable governor-general is saying that nothing has happened, whereas a natural disaster and a crisis has occurred and the humanitarian problem has taken on an ethnic character. Is the death of 25 (sic) people, 80 per cent fatalities among livestock and 95 per cent damage to farmland nothing? How is it that neither national TV nor even the provincial TV are providing any kind of adequate news coverage of this tragedy? If your helicopter was unable to fly, why didn't you give petrol to private boats so that the people themselves could rush to the aid of the flood victims?'”"(14)
Iran’s Constitution as well as several international human rights treaties to which Iran is party -- including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESR), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), and the International Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) -- all clearly prohibit discrimination on grounds of ethnicity. Despite this, Baluchis say they have suffered systematic discrimination by the Iranian authorities both under the Pahlavi monarchy which ended with the fall of the Shah and throughout the period since the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979. (15)
A practice that has led to discrimination against Baluchis and other minority groups is gozinesh -- an ideological selection procedure that requires state officials and employees to demonstrate, among other things, allegiance to Islam and the Islamic Republic of Iran, including the concept of velayat-e faqih (Rule of the Jurisconsult),which is the political basis of the Islamic Republic of Iran. In law and practice, this process impairs – on grounds of political opinion, previous political affiliation or support or religious affiliation – equality of opportunity or treatment in employment or occupation for all those who seek employment in the public and parastatal sector (such as the Bonyads or Foundations) and, reportedly, in some instances in parts of the private sector. Access to further education may also be subject to gozinesh scrutiny.(16) Under gozinesh rules, non-Shi’a Iranians are excluded from certain state positions such as that of President. Molavi Ali Akbar Mollazadeh, a Baluchi cleric, described in 1997 the impact of gozinesh on Baluchis in Baluchi-majority areas such as Sistan-Baluchistan province:
“"If a Baluchi wants to open a shop, he must first go to the government and get his political beliefs thoroughly examined by the Pasdaran [Revolutionary Guards] and the intelligence services. They ask: have you done anything for the Islamic Republic? Did you fight in the Iraq-Iran war? Do you believe in the Velayat-e faghih? Sunnis don't believe in the Velayat-e faghih -- it is against our beliefs, and because we don't believe in taqiyah,(17) which we consider to be lying, we must answer the truth. The result is that Sunnis don't get the permit to open the shop, they don't get jobs, they don't get places in the university - unless they agree to become informers for the intelligence services. Out of 5,000 students at Baluchistan University in Zahedan, there are only 10 or 15 Baluchis. Even the education law of the Islamic Republic says that 75 per cent should be Baluchis -- and now, 99 per cent are non-Baluchi. They treat us like the Untouchables in India.”"(18)
He also complained about an official policy to resettle members of other ethnic groups in the area, which he said was aimed at reducing the proportion of Baluchis locally:
“"We are Iranians by passport and by nation, and so we want our rights as Iranians. We want our rights in Baluchistan… We want to be allowed to work, to have our own people in the police. We don't want them to bring people from Tehran who are enemies of our people as police and to run the entire administration. They give all the jobs to their own people. By the Constitution, if you are not a Shia you cannot be a Minister. If they make a factory, they give the job to their relatives and to their own people. They bring in hundreds of thousands of people, to make them a majority in Baluchistan and in Kurdistan. They are not actually sending Baluchis out, but they are pushing them out by these discriminatory policies. There are now 200,000 Baluchis working in Gulf countries, because they can't get jobs in Baluchistan.(19)
After the election of President Khatami in1997, Baluchi participation in higher education appeared to increase and some Baluchis gained employment in state-run institutions. However, after the election of President Ahmadinejad in 2005, many Baluchis were reported to have been forced from their jobs in a widespread purge of government employees. When questioned about this in March 2007, the Majles (parliament) member for Zahedan, Hossein Ali Shahryari, denied it and said that under former President Khatami, there had been only one Sunni [city] governor as well as a Sunni deputy governor-general and several directors-general, whereas there were now 14 Sunni managers in the province.(20)
Some Baluchis have claimed that there is an official policy to dilute Iran’s ethnic minorities by dispossessing them of their ancestral lands, providing incentives for them to move away, and encouraging other groups to take their place. Baluchi sources claimed in the 1990s that this policy had escalated following serious riots in February 1994 in Zahedan after the destruction of a Sunni mosque in Mashhad, allegedly for city planning purposes(21), which were reportedly quelled by Revolutionary Guards firing live ammunition into the crowd. For example, in May 1995,Revolutionary Guards are alleged to have attacked villagers in Sorvdar and Zardkoh in the Iranshahr district, forcibly displacing them to a desert area.(22) Similar claims have been made by other ethnic minorities in Iran, notably the Ahwazi Arabs.(23) The UN Human Rights Committee has clarified that forced internal displacement is a violation of the right to freedom of movement and to choose a place of residence.(24)
More recently, minority groups have suggested that certain statements by government officials are evidence of a secret policy of “"Persianization”". For example, they point to remarks reportedly made by Majles Speaker Gholam Ali Haddad Adel on 22 November 2006 when commenting on President Mahmoud Ahmdadinejad’s call for an increase in Iran’s population to 120 million:
“"The President believes that family planning should not be the same all around the country. The President’s concerns in this regard should be taken into consideration … We should see the underlying thought within the President’s discourse. We should come to the conclusion that geographical equilibria should be taken into consideration in family planning.”"(25)
In May 2007, the Minister of the Interior stated when discussing security related issues that “"Pirsuran region, which was the special zone for smugglers and terrorists, is now cleansed and 700 hectares of Tasuki region has now turned into farmland.”"(26)
In other cases, Baluchi houses have reportedly been demolished, particularly in the port city of Chabahar. On 30 June 2005, an unspecified number of Baluchis are reported to have been forcibly evicted and made homeless in Chabahar when their huts were demolished by security forces. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development had apparently allocated the land for housing for the security forces(27). During clashes with the forces carrying out the forced eviction and home demolition, several people protesting against the destruction of their homes were reportedly injured. Those who were forcibly evicted do not appear to have been offered alternative housing. Their subsequent fate is unknown. One evicted resident, Mahgani Bahok declared that she and her children had lost everything and had been left with nowhere to seek shelter.(28)
Since Amnesty International is not permitted access to Iran, the organization is not able to verify reports of discrimination and other human rights violations at first hand; however, it notes that information from sources such as UN human rights mechanisms is generally consistent with the information obtained and received by Amnesty International.
For example, in his March 2006 report, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing, who visited Iran in July-August 2005, expressed concern regarding “" the continued discrimination faced by ethnic and religious minorities and nomadic groups, as reflected in the disproportionately poor housing and living conditions of these groups; the considerable number of alleged cases of land confiscation and forced evictions; discrimination against women with respect to housing rights, land, inheritance and property; and the poor and limited quantity and quality of basic services provided to informal settlements and poor neighbourhoods”" (29) (which are often filled with rural migrants, many of whom come from ethnic minorities).
The Special Rapporteur pointed to the apparent discriminatory nature or impact of forced evictions from informal neighbourhoods and expropriation of rural land for large-scale agricultural plantations or petrochemical plants, stating that:
“"[i]n some regions, these expropriations seem to have targeted disproportionately property and land of religious and ethnic minorities, …[including]…houses. No participatory process or consultation has taken place before the decision by relevant authorities to evacuate the area. The expropriations are considered a form of land confiscation by the affected population, particularly since prices paid in return for land are considerably lower than market values.”"(30)
He also noted that while the provision of basic services, including to rural areas, appeared reasonable in most cases, he was “"disturbed by the fact that … exceptions seemed to disproportionately affect predominantly minority neighbourhoods and provinces, clearly constituting discrimination”"(31). In his concluding remarks and recommendations, he made several recommendations specifically relating to minorities. He indicated that the Iranian authorities should end forced evictions, and should allocate budget resources to historically marginalized provinces, including Sistan-Baluchistan, in order to assist the realization of human rights in these areas, including the provision of civic services, such as adequate housing, access to utilities and basic infrastructure, to people and communities in those regions(32).
Although a number of Baluchi cultural organizations and centres do exist, most established during the presidency of Hojjatoleslam Mohammad Khatami, they have reportedly not found it easy to exercise their cultural rights. For example, Amnesty International is aware of organizations such as the Voice of Justice Young People’s Society(33) in Zahedan, the Baluchi Song Institute in Iranshahr, the Kavir Future Makers Young People’s Society in Gosht-Saravan, the Mokranzamin School of the Learned in Saravan, and the Green Palm Young People’s Society in Nikshahr, among others. However, Amnesty International has also received reports that such organizations have experienced difficulties in obtaining permits to hold Baluchi cultural events. For example, in June 2005 the Voice of Justice Young People’s Society was only granted permission after some difficulty to stage the first Baluchi music concert in the province. Another group tried to organize a similar concert in 2006, but permission was refused by the authorities. The first university-based Baluchi music concert in Zahedan University took place only in May 2006 after the Baluchi students who organized it finally persuaded university officials to let it go ahead.
Members of the Baluchi minority have also faced difficulties in exercising their rights to use their own language, despite the requirement in international law that persons belonging to minorities be allowed to use their own language, in private and in public, freely and without interference or any form of discrimination. States are prohibited from denying an individual the right to use his or her own language.(34)
Article 15 of the Iranian Constitution states:
“"The official language and script of Iran, the lingua franca of its people, is Persian. Official documents, correspondence, and texts, as well as text-books, must be in this language and script. However, the use of regional and tribal languages in the press and mass media, as well as for teaching of their literature in schools, is allowed in addition to Persian.”"
All state schooling in Baluchi areas, which is free and compulsory at the primary and middle (“"guidance”") stages (between 6 and 13), is conducted exclusively in Persian. Although private schools have been permitted to operate since 1988, none are known to teach in Baluchi. The Ministry of Education is responsible for the supervision of the curriculum and the production of text books. At the compulsory levels, these are believed to be available solely in Persian, in accordance with the Constitution.
The first time that Baluchi publications were allowed was after the Islamic Revolution in 1979. The following year, however, the government closed down three Baluchi-language publications that had emerged: Mahtak, Graand and Roshanal.(35) Baluchi publications resumed in the 1990s and there are at least two bilingual Persian-Baluchi publications, one in Zahedan and another in Iranshahr.(36) In addition, the bilingual MarzePorgohar is reportedly published in Tehran, although since its inception the paper has reportedly periodically been suspended. In 2004, Baluchi students at Zahedan University were granted a licence to publish a bilingual newsletter Istun; the first issue of which appeared in October 2004(37). Chabahar is said to have a Baluchi bookshop, selling material in Baluchi mainly imported from Pakistan. There is also reported to be limited programming in Baluchi on state radio, but no programming in Baluchi on state-run provincial television, which apparently counts only one Baluchi staff member among its broadcasters.
Some members of the Baluchi minority are involved in criminal activity, notably drug-smuggling from Afghanistan and Pakistan, both as a route towards the West and to supply Iran’s rapidly growing population of drug-users.(38) Most of the drug-smuggling is done by well-organized gangs, although there is a reported increase in the number of individuals who are carrying small amounts across the borders.(39) Baluchi activists claim that economic deprivation leaves their community with few alternatives to involvement in smuggling.(40) The Iranian authorities are co-operating with the international community in attempts to curb the activities of drug-smugglers. Among other projects, a 10 feet high and three feet thick wall is being built along 700 km of Iran’s eastern border with Afghanistan and Pakistan, between Taftan and Mand. Baluchis, including in Pakistan, have criticised the project, claiming it will make it more difficult for Baluchis to maintain their family ties and conduct legitimate economic activities across the border. The authorities have pointed to gaps in the wall where “"easement rights”" can be maintained. There are also believed to be landmines along the eastern border and in February 2006 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, “"Due to our expansive [sic] borders and problems resulting from narcotics and terrorist trafficking, our defense institutions are considering the use of landmines as a defensive mechanism.”"(41)
Many Baluchis arrested by the authorities are accused of drug-smuggling or armed banditry, both of which can carry the death penalty. It is difficult to know the truth in any individual case, but Baluchi activists say that, in at least some cases, innocent Baluchis are accused of such crimes as a reprisal against the general population for attacks that have occurred against government targets. Out of over 50 executions in 2006 that may have involved Baluchis, at least 19 were reported to have been of drug-offenders or drug-smugglers. The others were mainly convicted of crimes such as armed robbery or banditry, murder or kidnapping.
Economic, social and cultural rights
Iran is a state party to the ICESCR as well as the CRC and the ICERD. These require the immediate prohibition, and steps towards the elimination, of discrimination against minorities in the realization of economic, social and cultural rights -- including the rights to work which is freely chosen, to adequate housing, food and water, to education, to the highest attainable standard of health and to equal participation in cultural life. Reports of huge disparities between minority communities and majority groups in Iran in literacy, access to education, access to clean water and sanitation, as well as reports of “"land grabbing”" and forced evictions -- a gross violation of human rights, including of the right to adequate housing -- which appear to target minority communities, all suggest that the Iranian authorities are failing to comply with these international obligations.
Iran is also a party to the ICCPR, which in Article 26 upholds equal protection of the law and non-discrimination in the exercise of human rights. The Human Rights Committee, which monitors compliance with the ICCPR, has clarified that this extends to all human rights, including economic, social and cultural rights. The ICCPR, in Article 27, also provides that “"In those States in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities exist, persons belonging to such minorities shall not be denied the right, in community with the other members of their group, to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practise their own religion, or to use their own language.”"
In 2003, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination stated in paragraph 14 of its concluding observations on Iran’s 16th and 17th periodic reports:
“"The Committee takes note with concern of the reported discrimination faced by certain minorities …who are deprived of certain rights, and that certain provisions of the State party's legislation appear to be discriminatory on both ethnic and religious grounds.”"(42)
In its General Comment on forced eviction, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights notes that the obligations of States parties to the Covenant in relation to forced evictions are based on article 11.1, which recognizes the right of “"everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions”", read in conjunction with other relevant provisions. The Committee draws attention, in particular, to article 2.1 of the ICESCR, which obliges States to use "all appropriate means" to promote the right to adequate housing.
The Committee further notes that ethnic minorities are among those groups which suffer disproportionately from the practice of forced eviction. It reminded governments that the “"non-discrimination provisions of articles 2.2 and 3 of … [the ICESCR] impose an additional obligation upon Governments to ensure that, where evictions do occur, appropriate measures are taken to ensure that no form of discrimination is involved.”"(43) The Committee stressed that:
"States parties shall ensure, prior to carrying out any evictions, and particularly those involving large groups, that all feasible alternatives are explored in consultation with the affected persons, with a view to avoiding, or at least minimizing, the need to use force. Legal remedies or procedures should be provided to those who are affected by eviction orders. States parties shall also see to it that all the individuals concerned have a right to adequate compensation for any property, both personal and real, which is affected. In this respect, it is pertinent to recall article 2.3 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which requires States parties to ensure "an effective remedy" for persons whose rights have been violated and the obligation upon the "competent authorities (to) enforce such remedies when granted"."44)
The Committee further considered that:
"…the procedural protections which should be applied in relation to forced evictions include: (a) an opportunity for genuine consultation with those affected; (b) adequate and reasonable notice for all affected persons prior to the scheduled date of eviction; (c) information on the proposed evictions, and, where applicable, on the alternative purpose for which the land or housing is to be used, to be made available in reasonable time to all those affected; (d) especially where groups of people are involved, government officials or their representatives to be present during an eviction; (e) all persons carrying out the eviction to be properly identified; (f) evictions not to take place in particularly bad weather or at night unless the affected persons consent otherwise; (g) provision of legal remedies; and (h) provision, where possible, of legal aid to persons who are in need of it to seek redress from the courts.(45)
Persons belonging to minorities cannot be discriminated against in the enjoyment of the right to education. This means not only that they must be granted access to education on a footing of perfect equality with other nationals of the state, but also that they must be granted suitable means to preserve their identity, including their language. While the state provides education in the state’s official language(s) for the majority population, members of minorities have a right to establish and maintain schools where education is provided in their own language.(46) International law recognizes the right of individuals (including members of minorities) to establish and direct educational institutions, provided that they conform to the minimum educational standards laid down by the state.(47) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that is provided to their children;(48) this includes the right to choose for their children institutions other than those established and maintained by the public authorities.(49)
State authorities should take positive measures: (a) so that, wherever possible, persons belonging to minorities may have adequate opportunities to learn their mother tongue or to have instruction in their mother tongue; and (b) in order to encourage knowledge of the language of the minorities existing within their territory.(50)
3. Armed opposition: Jondallah
Jondallah, also known as the Iranian Peoples’ Resistance Movement (Jonbesh-e Moqavemat-e Mardom-e Iran), came to attention in 2005 when it took eight Iranian soldiers hostage. Led by Abdolmalek Rigi, aged about 24, and reportedly comprising around 1,000 trained fighters, it appears to operate in Baluchi areas in Iran and to have bases across the border in Pakistan. In the past, Iranian officials have linked Jondallah to al-Qa’ida, but have also claimed that it has links to foreign states, particularly the USA(51) and the UK(52). The Iranian authorities have frequently described Jondallah attacks as being carried out by “"armed bandits”".
The aims of Jondallah are not entirely clear, but statements by the group’s leaders have referred to discrimination against Iran’s Baluchi population as a driving force for their actions. For example, Abdolhamid Rigi (Abdul Hameed Reeki) stated in January 2006 that the group would fight for a more democratic government and full rights for Sunnis in Iran. He said that many members had joined after experiencing injustice at first hand; Abdolmalek Rigi’s brother and uncle are said to have been killed in separate encounters with Iranian police.(53) On 14 May 2006, Abdolmalek Rigi reportedly said that four years previously he had turned to armed opposition against the state as a last resort in order to “"protect the national and religious rights of the Baluchis and Sunnis in Baluchistan Province”" who had suffered persecution since the 1979 Islamic Revolution(54).
In a public statement issued on 20 February 2007, the "People's Resistance Movement of Iran (former Jondallah of Iran), said that it was:
" a defensive organization that has been formed to campaign for freedom and democracy in Iran and to protect the Baloch people and other religious and ethnic minorities. Our mission is to change the present regime and establish a new system in Iran in which every Iranian enjoys equal opportunity and equal rights. We have undertaken to accept the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and all other United Nations conventions or resolutions. We only act in self-defence and whenever the Iranian regime kills an innocent Iranian, we act in accordance to all United Nations conventions that allow people and nations to defend themselves against aggression and genocide…We strive to force the Iranian regime to abandon its brutal policies against the Baloch people and other Iranian citizens. We campaign to stop discrimination, brutality, injustice, corruption and ethnic cleansing in Iran”"(55)
The statement denied that the group had any links to foreign governments or Islamic groups such as al-Qa’ida or the Taleban; and it denied that it receives funding, arms or training from foreign sources.
Amnesty International notes, however, that despite Jondallah’s statements regarding its motivation and its claims to comply with international law, it has, by its own admission (see section 3.1 below), carried out gross abuses such as hostage taking, the killing of hostages and attacks against non-military targets such as the Governor's Office in Zahedan. Amnesty International condemns unreservedly hostage-taking, the killing of hostages and torture and ill-treatment, as well as direct attacks on civilians and indiscriminate attacks, whatever the cause of the perpetrators, and whatever justification they give for their actions. Under international law, and in Amnesty International’s view, nothing can ever justify these actions. They are always unlawful and wrong, and should be ended.
3.1 Attacks by Jondallah
Around 20 Iranian officials have been taken hostage by Jondallah since June 2005, apparently in support of demands that the Iranian authorities should release a number of Jondallah members or other members of Iran’s Baluchi minority from detention or imprisonment. Some were later killed, others were released. Other captured officials have reportedly been summarily killed, giving the lie to Jondallah’s claims to respect human rights.
In 2005 UAE-based Al-Arabiyyah Television reported that Jondallah claimed to have captured an Iranian intelligence official, Shehab Mansouri, on 20 June 2005. On 12 July, the group was said to have distributed a video showing his killing.(56) In December 2005, shortly after an attack on a motorcade carrying officials(57) in which two people died, at least eight Iranian policemen were captured by Jondallah.(58) At least one -- Captain Abbas Namju, believed to be a border guard -- was reportedly killed by the group in January 2006 while the others were later released. Three Turkish nationals were also kidnapped in December 2005 amid reports that Jondallah may have been responsible. The three were later released.(59)
Jondallah also claimed responsibility for what became known in Iran as the “"Tasuki incident”". On 16 March 2006, Jondallah members attacked a convoy of vehicles near the town of Tasuki in the Sistan area, capturing a number of Iranian officials. Some 23 of the officials who were separated out as non-Baluchis were killed by the roadside. Seven others were taken hostage, two of whom -- Ahmad Zahed Shaykhi, a Revolutionary Guards Corps officer and Colonel Hamid Reza Kaveh Birjandi, head of a Special Unit of the Revolutionary Guards Corps (Intelligence),(60) -- were killed in April and May 2006. Video footage alleged to be of the hostages and their identification cards was sent to al-Jazeera televison on 21 March 2006, and further footage apparently depicting the killings of Ahmad Zayed Shaykhi and Colonel Kaveh Birjandi was circulated later. However, Interior Minister Mostafa Purmohammadi denied that the pictures were of the colonel but rather of an “"old hostage”" who had been killed previously(61). Ali Purshamsiyan, Deputy Head of the Iranian Red Crescent Security Department, who was among those taken hostage in the “"Tasuki incident,”" said in August 2006, after his release, that Ahmad Zahed Shaykhi and Colonel Kaveh Birjandi were alive and still being held as hostages. He said that four other “"Tasuki”" hostages has also been released.(62) However, in April 2007, the official Iran newspaper reported that four of the “"Tasuki”" hostages had been killed, and three released.(63)
Jondallah was also accused of responsibility for another incident on 13 May 2006 when 12 people, all reportedly civilians, were killed in Kerman Province in an attack on the Kerman to Bam road. The attackers, who were wearing police uniforms and Baluchi dress, shot dead 11 people after forcing them to get out of their vehicles, and also killed another person in a passing car that did not stop. They also tied a boy aged 11 or 12 to an electricity pole and forced him to watch the killings. Iranian officials, including Amir Reza Savari, head of the secretariat of the Supreme National Security Council, and General Eskandar Momeni, Deputy Commander of the Law Enforcement Force, subsequently accused Jondallah of carrying out this attack(64) but Jondallah denied it. Amnesty International sought clarification from the Iranian authorities in December 2006 regarding any official investigation into this incident, but had received no response by August 2007.
On 14 December 2006, the day before nationwide elections for the Assembly of Experts and local council elections, a bomb in a car exploded in Zahedan outside the office of the Governor-General of Sistan-Baluchistan province, killing the owner of the car, who had reportedly been kidnapped, and slightly damaging the office building. The attack was claimed by Jondallah. Shortly afterwards, another bomb reportedly placed in a rubbish bin exploded outside Zahedan University, injuring a student. Government officials blamed Jondallah but Jondallah denied responsibility.
On 14 February 2007, a car packed with explosives blew up a bus carrying Revolutionary Guardsmen and others, killing at least 14 people and injuring around 30. The attack, which was condemned by UN Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon (65), was later claimed by Jondallah. The group apparently stated that the attack was in reprisal for the execution of several members of Iran’s Ahwazi Arab minority(66) convicted after unfair trials of bomb attacks committed in Khuzestan Province in 2005.(67) Two days later, another bomb exploded in Zahedan without causing injury.
On 27 February 2007, Jondallah took four Iranian policemen hostage following an armed clash between members of the group and security forces in Sistan-Baluchistan province. Three were reportedly freed by Pakistani security forces which raided a building in Buleda, Pakistan, on 23 March 2007. They said the fourth had been killed by Jondallah several days before.(68)
Amnesty International condemns utterly hostage taking, and the killing of hostages, whether carried out by state forces or armed groups. These are serious violations of international law. The organization also opposes in all cases deliberate attacks on civilians, indiscriminate attacks and disproportionate attacks
Armed groups and international law
Amnesty International’s opposition to abuses by armed groups is rooted in principles and values of respect for human rights and dignity for all and the principles of international humanitarian law (IHL). Human rights law generally is not directly applicable to armed groups (who are not parties to human rights treaties). IHL, which can apply directly to armed groups, sets out standards of humane conduct applicable to all parties in armed conflicts. In the words of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the foremost authority on international humanitarian law, “"whenever armed force is used the choice of means and methods is not unlimited.”" This basic rule is explicitly reflected in a number of international humanitarian law treaties. Article 3 common to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocol 2 are the instruments most directly relevant to non-international armed conflict, which is the context in which armed groups usually operate. These treaties increasingly are supplemented by customary international law. The authoritative ICRC study of customary IHL has determined that many of the rules of IHL that were codified for international conflict now apply to non-international conflicts as well. These include the prohibitions on direct attacks on civilians, indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks.
In situations that fall short of armed conflict, AI calls on armed groups to uphold fundamental principles of humanity derived from IHL. On this basis, AI condemns serious abuses by armed groups including attacks that target civilians, indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks, torture and other ill-treatment, hostage taking, and the killing of captives.
4. Human rights violations against Baluchis
Although information about the Baluchi areas in Iran has always been difficult to obtain and verify, Amnesty International has documented human rights violations against Baluchis over the years when they have come to the organization’s attention. In the late 1980s and the 1990s, for instance, Amnesty International documented executions of Baluchis after unfair trials. Those executed were usually accused of banditry, drug-smuggling or armed opposition against the Islamic Republic.
A number of Baluchis, including Sunni clerics, have been killed in suspicious circumstances both in Iran and abroad. Similar suspicious deaths of members of other religious minorities or of those opposed to the Iranian authorities point to a pattern of extrajudicial executions by the Iranian authorities(69). Two members of the Naroui tribe, Haibat and Dilavar, were shot dead outside their home in Karachi, Pakistan, in March 1993(70). Molavi Abdolmalek Mollazadeh, (the brother of Molavi Ali Akbar Mollazadeh quoted above and the son of a prominent Baluchi Sunni cleric) was killed in suspicious circumstances in Pakistan in 1996 along with an associate, Abdolnasser Jamshid Zahi(71). They were reportedly shot dead in the street in the Liari district of Karachi by unknown individuals who were passing in a taxi. Molavi Ahmad Sayyad, a Sunni leader of Baluchi origin, died in unclear circumstances after being arrested by Iranian security forces at Bandar Abbas airport in January 1997 on his return from the United Arab Emirates. His body was found outside the city five days later. He had previously been arrested in 1990 and apparently detained without trial for five years on account of his religious beliefs and perceived close relationship with Saudi Arabia. After his release from detention he had opened a school for Sunni Muslims in Sistan-Baluchistan(72). In a letter to the former UN Special Representative on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Iranian authorities said that Molavi Ahmad Sayyad had “"died in a bus station”" and that the “"Forensic Department [had] confirmed that he had died of heart failure”"(73). Aman Naroui, a Sunni cleric from Zabol, was killed in July 1998 by unidentified gunmen, following his criticism of government policies in the region. His death is not known to have been investigated by the Iranian authorities(74).
In recent years, notwithstanding the cautious cultural openings permitted to Baluchis, widespread allegations of human rights violations against Baluchis have been reported in the context of the official response to a deteriorating security situation in Baluchi areas.
4.1 Military response
For many years, the east of the country has had a heavy military presence. This increased further after the “"Tasuki incident”" (see above). A small force known as Mersad (Ambush), which has reportedly been based in Kerman province since 1995 to counter drug-smuggling,(75) was expanded into a joint operational unit of various security forces with a base near Zahedan. Baluchi sources allege that this unit has a remit to maintain security by instilling fear in the local community and is thus empowered to commit serious human rights violations, such as unlawful killings and torture, with impunity. In 1998 the commander of the Mersad garrison reportedly said, “"We have not been given orders to arrest and hand over those who carry weapons. On the basis of a directive we have received, we will execute any bandits, wherever we capture them.”"(76)
In April 2006, the Rasoul-e Akram military base was set up in Zahedan, intended to co-ordinate the efforts of police, military and other security agencies in the area, following the “"Tasuki incident”". This apparently followed the establishment of a “"security council”"(77) in the province. The Rasoul-e Akram military base is believed to be the main base for an expanded Mersad unit in Sistan-Baluchistan, currently estimated to number between 20,000 and 25,000 troops.(78)
In June 2006, Brigadier-General Qasem Reza’i, then acting commander of Iran’s Law Enforcement Force at the Rasoul-e Akram base, told IRNA:
“"This military base transcends military and national boundaries in that the forces that are based in it are from the Army, the [Islamic Revolution] Guards Corps, the army aviation unit [havaniruz], the Bassij [a volunteer paramilitary force under the control of the Revolutionary Guard Corps] and the Law Enforcement Force…[The] Military Base began its activities two months ago, in the space of which, it set up and activated five bases under its command in the province. It is currently engaged in preparing armed brigades to become operational.”"(79)
In August 2006, the same commander said that one of the main functions of the base was to stop drug-smuggling in eastern parts of Hormozgan province, and in Kerman, South Khorasan and Sistan-Baluchistan provinces. He said that “"forward operating bases have been established in the region, paramilitary [Bassij] camps are being set up, and friendly tribes will be used”", and stressed that the authorities had “"strengthened the intelligence system of the region.”" (80) He also announced plans to block a 70-km stretch of the border with Pakistan with a trench that is 5m wide and 4m deep, with electronic monitoring, and with armed patrols.
In November 2006, Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), while visiting the Rasoul-e Akram base announced that UNODC would make a US$22 million contribution to Iran. He said the funds were intended to strengthen the eastern border against drug traffickers and for intelligence activities by police in that part of the country.(81)
4.2 Judicial response
In May 2006, Hojjatoleslam val Moslemin Mohammad Ebrahim Nekunam, a judge who was the Prosecutor for the Special Court for the Clergy before being appointed Deputy Prosecutor-General, was appointed adviser to the Chairman of the Judiciary and the Managing Director of the Administration of Justice of Sistan-Baluchistan province.(82) The same month Brigadier-General Qasem Reza’i announced that a special court was being established in the east of the country. He said:
"Establishing this court at the same time as the eastern base is starting its work will step up the process of confronting the bandits, and imposing penalties that suit the committed crimes will certainly have an important role in controlling crime."(83)
Seyyed Mohsen Sadeqi, the Deputy Governor in charge of political and security affairs in Sistan-Baluchistan province, referred to this court in June 2006 when he said:
"[t]he establishment of the Rasoul-e Akram Military Base, the operation of the bases and brigades under its command in their decisive fight against lawless elements and those who undermine security, the activities of a special court dealing with security offences, the judicial system's firm stand against crime and the intensification of security measures, have all contributed to make people feel more secure and tranquil."(84)
The same month Hojjatoleslam Nekunam was reported as saying that a “"special judicial complex for security affairs”" had begun work to deal with “"mischief, insecurity, hostage taking, kidnapping, banditry, road blocking, armed robbery, major and networked drug, weapons and ammunition smuggling and any turbulence and insecurity”". He said that a recommendation had been made to the Judiciary to establish a branch of the Supreme Court in the complex in order to expedite the implementation of sentences and to reduce the time between the commission of crimes and the implementation of sentences. He added:
“"The judicial organization is restricted and assigned to enforce the divine and Islamic limits. Ethnicism, religion and views do not bring any difference to investigation.”"
The same article said that the complex had begun work with one examining magistrate and two assistant prosecutors.(85)
Later in June 2006, when announcing the execution of six people for violating religious laws,(86) Hojjatoleslam Nekunam noted local problems and said there were efforts under way to overcome them:
"The administration and judicial systems of the province are inefficient. There are many system blockages. But despite all these problems, we will use all our power in order to solve them. There is no doubt that, with the attention of the [head] of the Judiciary and the eminent leader [Ayatollah Ali Khamenei] to this province, the religious orders will be executed as fast as possible."(87)
Amnesty International has no other information about this court or the procedures under which it operates. It is unclear whether the court operates as a branch of the Revolutionary Court and is thus governed by the General and Revolutionary Court procedures, or whether it is a special court operating outside that framework, such as a military or other extraordinary court. The organization wrote to the Head of the Judiciary in July 2007 seeking further information, including clarifications regarding the court’s mandate, procedures and composition, including any process of appeal and sought statistics about the operation of this court since its establishment, such as the number of cases which have been brought before it, types of cases and the charges, the number of people convicted by it, the number of people sentenced to death by it, and the number executed following convictions in this court. Amnesty International had received no response by August 2007. The establishment of this court also coincides with a marked rise in the number of Baluchis reported executed in Iran (see Section 4.4 below).
Amnesty International is concerned that procedures before this court, like those before other courts in Iran such as the Special Court for the Clergy, fall far short of international standards relating to fair trial, such as those laid down in the ICCPR, to which Iran is a state party. The scanty information available about the trials of some Baluchis who have been arrested, tried and executed in a matter of days, and the large numbers of Baluchis who have been executed since the establishment of the court in May 2006, along with Hojjatoleslam Nekunam’s statements regarding the necessity for speedy implementation of sentences, seemingly without regard to the right of appeal, and the need to solve “"system blockages”" give rise to serious concerns that fair trial procedures are being flouted in the special court for security offences. Amnesty International is particularly concerned about the unfairness of procedures before that court, given that the death penalty is a possible sentence and carries with it particular international obligations regarding fair trial rights of accused persons. Any death sentence carried out after an unfair trial amounts to arbitrary deprivation of the right to life.
The Iranian authorities have an obligation under international law to ensure fair trials to all persons brought before the justice system (see box in Section 4.5 below on minimum standards for fair trial). The Human Rights Committee, responsible for overseeing the implementation of the ICCPR, has stated that “"article 14 applies not only to procedures for the determination of criminal charges against individuals but also to procedures to determine their rights and obligations in a suit at law.”" The Committee has further warned against “"the existence … of military or special courts which try civilians. This could present serious problems as far as the equitable, impartial and independent administration of justice is concerned. Quite often the reason for the establishment of such courts is to enable exceptional procedures to be applied which do not comply with normal standards of justice.”"(88)
The Human Rights Committee has also stated that fundamental principles of fair trial, including the presumption of innocence, are peremptory norms of international law. These are norms that apply to all states at all times, and from which states cannot at any time derogate. The Committee added that the principles of legality and the rule of law require that fundamental requirements of fair trial must be respected during a state of emergency. Although Iran does not have a state of emergency, this comment reflects the importance of respect to rule of law, legality and fair trials at all times.(89)
4.3 Killings and arrests by security forces
Following the December 2005 motorcade attack in which eight security officials were taken hostage, the “"Tasuki incident”" in March 2006, and the attack in Kerman in May 2006, Amnesty International received the following information about human rights violations or possible violations against Baluchis:
Three youths -- Abdollah Nouti Zahi, aged 15; Ruhollah Nouti Zahi, aged 16; and Masoud Shebaksh, aged 18 -- were shot dead by Iranian security officials shortly after 9:00pm on 22 January 2006 in Zahedan. They were returning from visiting their uncle in hospital when Iranian security officials in a car fired on them as they were travelling by motorbike along Khorramshahr Avenue. They fell into the road injured and were then shot again by the security officials. Abdollah Nouti Zahi and Masoud Shebaksh died at the scene; Ruhollah Nouti Zahi was taken to hospital but died later.
Mowlavi Abdolrahman Rajabi, Sunni muezzin of the Makki mosque in Zahedan, was reportedly shot at by a guard of the Bassij on 14 May 2006, the day after the event in Kerman province in which 12 civilians were killed, for which the government said that Jondallah was responsible. The shot was fired while he was passing the Bassij building in Khayam Street at about 03:10am while on his way to make the call to prayer. He was not injured although the guard fired from only a few metres away. Subsequently, he complained to the local commanders of the Bassij and to the Bassij Headquarters and asked that the incident be investigated, but is not known to have received a response(90).
At least ten people were reportedly killed by Iranian security forces in May 2006. Following the killing of the 12 civilians in Kerman province on 13 May, Iranian security forces reportedly launched a counter-insurgency operation in Baluchi areas near Bam and Nosratabad involving aerial attacks with helicopter gunships. On 17 May, Kerman’s Deputy Governor-General announced that “"four operational battalions from the Law Enforcement Police and some army and security units”" had “"surrounded the terrorists”" in a region bordering Kerman and Sistan-Baluchistan provinces.(91) The Governor of Bam had announced the previous day that at least 10 people not involved in the 13 May attack had been killed during the aerial operation,(92) while Baluchi sources reported that at least 18 people, mostly farmers or shepherds, had been killed by fire from helicopter gunships(93).
Following the so-called Tasuki incident, Baluchi opposition groups alleged that over 200 Baluchis were detained by Iranian security forces and taken to unknown locations, raising concerns about their safety. Official statements indicated that more than 100 people were arrested in Sistan-Baluchistan province in the weeks following the start of the Iranian New Year, 21 March 2006. For example, on 9 May, Mohsen Sadeqi, Deputy Governor-General of Sistan-Baluchistan province, told ISNA that 124 people had been arrested in the province since the start of the year for “"offences of armed blockade of roads, abduction, theft and armed robbery”"(94). The same article reported that Brigadier General Javad Hamed, Commander of the province’s Law Enforcement Force, had announced the arrest of two people -- identified as Reza A, aged 20, and Amanollah Z, aged 35 – for suspected “"co-operation with the terrorist mini-group”" responsible for the Tasuki attack. In April 2007, the Minister of the Interior said that 40 members of “"the terrorist grouplet behind the Zabol-Zahedan [Tasuki] incident”" had been identified, 17 of whom had been executed, or killed during clashes and operations. He also said, “"The Interior Ministry admits that there was a failure to act promptly in [the] Tasuki incident and therefore the officials of the nearby checkpoint have been handed to the court. Some of those officials have been convicted and a number of others are being tried.”"(95)
Amnesty International enquired about all these cases in correspondence with the Iranian authorities in December 2006 and sought information about any investigations that may have been carried out into the first four incidents. The organization also sought details of anyone detained in connection with security incidents in Sistan-Baluchistan province and called for all detainees to be granted access to their families, a lawyer of their choice and to any necessary medical treatment, and for them to be tried promptly and fairly on recognizably criminal offences, or released.
Following the December 2006 bombings in Zahedan and the February 2007 bus bombing, the authorities announced scores of arrests. For example, on 12 April 2007, Keyhan reported that the Minister of Intelligence had announced the arrest of 90 alleged members of Jondallah near the border with Pakistan, of whom four had been preparing for armed action. On 24 April, the Interior Minister stated that 174 “"armed villains, murderers and fugitive thieves”" had been arrested in the south and southeast of Kerman province. He said that six others had been killed during the operation. At least two people have been executed after conviction of involvement in the bombing (see below). Baluchi sources say that some of those detained were subjected to enforced disappearance. There have also been reports of unlawful killings by the security forces.
Vahid Mir Baluchzahi, aged 23, was reportedly found dead in Zahedan on 13 June 2007(96). He went missing on 14 February 2007, the day of the bus bombing, after he had left his home by car upon hearing the explosions. His family apparently made strenuous efforts to locate him, to no avail. His body reportedly bore injuries suggesting that he had been tortured before death, but no investigation is known to have been initiated. Amnesty International wrote to the Iranian authorities in August 2007 urging that Vahid Mir Baluch’s death be investigated.
According to eyewitnesses, Roya Sarani, aged 11, was shot dead in a street in Zahedan at about 5:30pm on 16 May 2007 after leaving a school examination. Her father, Haji Ghader Sarani, was driving her and her brother Elyas home from school, when members of Section 19 (said to be the intelligence section) of the Law Enforcement Force (LEF), stopped their Peugeot 405 car at the end of Bargh Boulevard in Zahedan. Haji Ghader Sarani tried to explain to the LEF officers that he was merely driving his children home from school, but the officers paid no heed to him and opened fire on him and the car. Elyas Sarani was reportedly wounded, and required hospitalization, whereas Roya Sarani was killed on the spot. Her family was reportedly put under pressure by the authorities to hold a quiet funeral and not to allow others to attend. Her family may have received condolences from local Iranian officials, but that no formal investigation is known to have been launched into her death and the wounding of her brother. Amnesty International wrote to the Iranian authorities in July 2007, without response.
Six members of the Voice of Justice Young People’s Society, a recognized non-governmental organization with accreditation from the National Youth Organization, were reportedly arrested in early May 2007. The Head of the Association, Ya’qub Mehrnehad, was reportedly arrested after attending a meeting in the Provincial Office of Culture and Islamic Guidance, which the Governor of Zahedan reportedly attended(97). It is not known if the other five also attended that meeting. Three (identified only as Sangak Zahi, Khane Gir and Reza Qazzaq) were reportedly released several days later(98), while Ebrahim Mehrnehad and Nasir Brahoui were released around 7 July 2007(99) but Ya’qub Mehrnehad is believed to remain in detention, apparently without access to family members or a lawyer of his choice. It is not known if he and those released have been charged, although some newspaper reports in July said that a man identified as Ya’qub M. was being detained on suspicion of “"aiding Abdolmalek Rigi”", the head of Jondallah(100).
International standards relating to the use of force and arrest and detention
Some of these cases suggest that the Iranian authorities may have been responsible for violating key international human rights standards, notably the prohibition against the arbitrary deprivation of life. This right is embodied in many international standards including article 6 (1) of the ICCPR. Commenting on this, the Human Rights Committee has emphasised that the right to life is a “"supreme right from which no derogation is permitted even in time of public emergency which threatens the life of the nation.”"(101) The Committee has stressed that States must “"take measures not only to prevent and punish deprivation of life by criminal acts, but also to prevent arbitrary killing by their own security forces. The deprivation of life by the authorities of the State is a matter of the utmost gravity. Therefore, the law must strictly control and limit the circumstances in which a person may be deprived of his life by such authorities.”"(102)
The Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials(103) stresses that such officials are under the obligation to respect and protect human dignity and maintain and uphold the human rights of all persons in the performance of their duties (Article 2). They may use force only when strictly necessary and to the extent required for the performance of their duty (Article 3). The Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials require that law enforcement officials, in carrying out their duty, “"shall, as far as possible, apply non-violent means before resorting to the use of force and firearms. They may use force and firearms only if other means remain ineffective or without any promise of achieving the intended result.”" (Principle 4).(104) The Basic Principles require that use of force or fire arms must not only be lawful, but also unavoidable. In such a case, law enforcement officials shall, among other things, “"(a) Exercise restraint in such use and act in proportion to the seriousness of the offence and the legitimate objective to be achieved; and (b) Minimize damage and injury, and respect and preserve human life”". (Principle 5).
The authorities in Iran are also obliged to uphold Article 9 of the ICCPR, which states:
1. Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention. No one shall be deprived of his liberty except on such grounds and in accordance with such procedure as are established by law. 2. Anyone who is arrested shall be informed, at the time of arrest, of the reasons for his arrest and shall be promptly informed of any charges against him. 3. Anyone arrested or detained on a criminal charge shall be brought promptly before a judge or other officer authorized by law to exercise judicial power and shall be entitled to trial within a reasonable time or to release
4.4 The death penalty
Death sentences have been reported for many years in Baluchi areas, imposed mainly for drug-smuggling and armed robbery, banditry and kidnapping. However, in 2006, the numbers of Baluchis executed, mainly on these charges, rose dramatically.
In 2005, Amnesty International recorded six executions of people considered likely to have been Baluchis, out of a total of 94 executions recorded across Iran. In January and February 2006, before the “"Tasuki incident”", Amnesty International recorded four executions of men who were or may have been Baluchis. Executions of Baluchis began to rise in May, after the appointment of Hojjatoleslam Ebrahim Nekunam to the provincial judiciary and after the establishment of the “"Special Court for security offences”" (see section 4.2 above). By the end of 2006, at least 32 and possibly more than 50 Baluchis had reportedly been executed. Those whose ethnicity was not identified, but who may have been Baluchis, were executed in areas with a significant Baluchi population, mostly on charges of drug-smuggling, armed banditry and kidnapping. In any event, the true numbers of those executed is likely to have been much higher.
The authorities also carried out public executions of Baluchis in the days following bombings. For example, three men were executed in public in Kargar Square in Zahedan on 24 December 2006. Mohammad Shahbakhsh had been charged with “"sabotage and criminal activity through participating in armed robbery, causing fear and panic, obstructing the peace, armed banditry, and possession of 220kg of opium and sale of seven kilograms of opium”". Changiz Naroui had been charged with “"sabotage and criminal activity through blocking highways for the purpose of armed robbery, causing fear and panic, stealing people’s property, using illegal weapons and ammunition, and committing two acts of manslaughter”". The third man, Ali Baqeri, was charged with possession of more than 16kg of heroin. All had been convicted by Branch One of the Revolutionary Court in Zahedan, and their death sentences were approved by the Supreme Court. (105)
Two other men were executed in Zahedan the following day: Pordel B., convicted of murder during an armed clash as well as involvement in the armed trafficking of 15kg of opium, and Yusof H., convicted of 11 counts of armed kidnapping and also of banditry.(106) Amnesty International has no information that these men were connected in any way to the bombings. In the past, public executions have been carried out shortly after popular unrest in other minority areas and opposition activists have said that this is intended to stem further unrest in the area.(107)
By August 2007, Amnesty International had received reports of the execution of up to 50 Baluchis, out of a total of 166 executions across the country since the beginning of the year, all but one of which took place after the February bus bombing. Baluchi sources say that the Iranian authorities have begun taking Baluchis to other provinces to execute them after Amnesty International and others drew attention to the rise in executions of Baluchis after the Zahedan bus bombing and following publication of an interview with the Majles member Hossein Ali Shahryari in ‘Ayyaran newspaper(108) on 17 March 2007. In this he stated that there were 700 people then awaiting execution in Sistan-Baluchistan province, whose sentences had been confirmed by the Supreme Court. Among others, the Baluchi sources referred to the announcement in mid-May 2007 that 15 unnamed men had been executed in the past 10 days in Mashhad(109) and to the reported execution of four unnamed men in Birjand, South Khorasan province, on or around 27 May 2007. In the absence of access to Iran, it is impossible for Amnesty International to verify whether those executed in Mashhad and Birjand were indeed Baluchis transferred from Sistan-Baluchistan.
In the same interview, referring to a question about 40 executions that had taken place in the province in the previous nine months, Hossein Ali Shahryari said:
"All the people who were executed were either people who had committed murder, for which the penalty in Islam is execution, or armed hostage takers, for which the penalty in all branches of Islamic Jurisprudence (fiqh) is execution."
The death penalty in Iran
Under Iranian law, people may be sentenced to death for certain hodoud crimes (crimes against God defined by Islamic law) and certain Ta’zir crimes (discretionary crimes that are not defined by Islamic law).
Under the category of hodoud crimes,capital offences include adultery by married people; incest; rape; fornication for the fourth time by an unmarried person, having been punished for each previous offence; drinking alcohol for the third time, having been punished for each previous offence; “"sodomy”"; same-sex sexual conduct between men without penetration (tafhiz) for the fourth time, having been punished for each previous offence; lesbianism for the fourth time, having been punished for each previous offence; fornication by a non-Muslim man with a Muslim woman; and false accusation of adultery or “"sodomy”" for a fourth time, having been punished for each previous offence. (110)
The law of hodoud also provides for the death penalty as one of four possible punishments for those convicted of the vaguely worded offences of “"enmity with God”"(“"moharebeh”") and “"corruption on earth”" (“"ifsad fil arz”").These terms are defined in the Penal Code as “"Any person resorting to arms to cause terror, fear or to breach public security and freedom will be considered as a mohareb and to be mofsed fil-arz (corrupt on earth)”".(111) Further articles clarify that those convicted of armed robbery, highway robbery, membership of or support for an organization that seeks to overthrow the Islamic Republic; and plotting to overthrow the Islamic Republic by procuring arms for this purpose will be regarded as mohareb. References in other articles relating to ta’zir crimes, and other laws, specify other circumstances in which an individual may be considered a mohareb, including espionage and forming a group to harm state security. Corruption on earth is not further defined in the hodoud section of the Penal Code, but a number of other laws provide for the possibility that certain crimes may in some circumstances fall into this category. These include crimes such as economic corruption, embezzlement, repeated drug-smuggling, forgery of banknotes, hoarding and profiteering.
Judges apparently have a wide degree of discretion in deciding whether a particular crime is so serious that it amounts to one of these categories and therefore can be punished by death rather than a term of imprisonment or other penalties.
As hodoud crimes are regarded as a crime against God, they are not open to pardon by the Supreme Leader on the recommendation of the Head of the Judiciary in the same way as ta’zir or discretionary punishments are. However, in the case of adultery, “"sodomy”", same-sex sexual conduct without penetration, and lesbianism, if the person has confessed to the crime and repented (publicly sought forgiveness from God), then the judge in the case has the power to seek a pardon from the Supreme Leader or to insist on the implementation of the verdict.(112)
4.5 Torture and unfair trials, including in death penalty cases
Amnesty International, while recognizing the rights and responsibilities of governments to bring to justice those suspected of criminal offences, opposes the use of the death penalty in all cases as a violation of the right to life and the ultimate cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment. In addition, any death sentence carried out after an unfair trial amounts to arbitrary deprivation of the right to life."
Under international human rights law, those suspected of, or charged with, crimes punishable by death are entitled to the strictest observance of all fair trial guarantees at all stages of the legal proceedings, including during the investigation stage, as well as to certain additional safeguards. The UN Human Rights Committee has stated that “"the death penalty should be quite an exceptional measure”" and should only be handed down after a trial that observes all the procedural guarantees for a fair hearing.(113)
Unfair trials in Iran
In Iran, serious failings in the justice system commonly result in unfair trials, including in cases where defendants face the death penalty. These failings include: lack of access to legal counsel and to a lawyer of one’s choice; torture or ill-treatment in pre-trial detention; allowing confessions extracted under duress to be used as evidence in trial proceedings; pre-trial detention of suspects in detention centres outside the official prison system which facilitates the use of torture or ill-treatment to extract confessions; denial of the right to call defence witnesses; failing to give adequate time to the defence to present its case; and imprisoning defence lawyers if they protest against unfair proceedings.(114)
A defendant’s right to legal counsel is one of the key safeguards for a fair trial, enshrined in international law,(115) and applies to all stages of the judicial process, yet it is frequently breached in Iran. The Human Rights Committee and other human rights bodies have recognized that the right to a fair trial requires that any person accused should have access to a lawyer during detention, interrogation and preliminary investigations.
In Iran, however, defendants only have the right to a lawyer after investigations have been completed and they have been formally charged. This results in prolonged periods of incommunicado detention as well as interrogation without the presence of lawyers, both of which facilitate the use of torture or ill-treatment to obtain confessions. The Islamic Penal Code specifies that confessions to hodoud and qesas offences may be used as a sole means of proving an offence,(116) heightening the risk that defendants will be unfairly convicted on the basis of confessions that were not freely given. Lawyers may be present during committal proceedings, but are not allowed to speak until the end of proceedings. In “"sensitive”" cases, the judge has the discretionary power to exclude lawyers from the hearing that decides sentencing.(117) If a defendant cannot afford a lawyer of their own choice, one is appointed for them by the court.
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, reporting on its visit to Iran in February 2003, noted: “"[T]he absence of a culture of counsel, which seriously undermines due process… The Group noted that many ordinary law prisoners have no understanding of the role of counsel and do not request the assistance of State appointed counsel. The latter are in any event few in number, and largely unmotivated owing to the low pay. As for the choice of counsel by political prisoners, this is increasingly difficult owing to the serious risk of harassment.”"(118)
International fair trial standards (see box below) also include the right to a public hearing, the right to trial by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal, the right not to be compelled to confess guilt, and the right to equality before the law and courts.
In Iran, the judge may refuse a public trial if it is deemed incompatible with accepted principles of “"morality or public order”".(119) Access to clients by lawyers is at the discretion of the judge in cases that relate to national security or “"corruption”".(120) Trials before Revolutionary Courts are frequently held in closed session, and proceedings are often summary.
The rules of evidence in Iran are based on the constitutional principle of the presumption of innocence. However, this is limited in practice by the importance attached to confessions in Iranian courts.(121)
The right to trial by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal is undermined in Iran because the judiciary lacks the structural independence guaranteed by the Constitution. There is also a lack of separation of powers between the investigator, prosecutor and judge in some parts of the country. In changes made in 1994 to the Revolutionary and General Courts, these functions were vested in the presiding judge of the case under investigation. In 2002, the prosecution function was reinstated in General and Revolutionary Courts.(122) However, at the time of writing, it appears that this has not been rolled out throughout Iran. In at least some areas outside the major towns, the functions of investigator, prosecutor and judge remain merged: judges both investigate and prosecute allegations, and then pass sentence, making an impartial hearing impossible.
Amnesty International continues to receive reports of summary trials, particularly before Revolutionary Courts in the provinces, including Sistan-Baluchistan, where defendants are brought before a single judge who questions them briefly, without the presence of a lawyer, and then hands down a sentence.
Five days after the February 2007 bus bombing in Zahedan, the authorities announced the execution of Nasrollah Shanbezehi. Arrested in the hours after the bombing, he was hanged in public at the site of the bombing. He was said to have been tried and sentenced by a branch of the Revolutionary Court after his televised “"confession”" had been broadcast the day after the bombing. He was convicted of “"assassinating personnel of the Law Enforcement Force”", “"bombing a bus carrying Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps personnel”", “"participating in the murder of two citizens”", and “"robbing Bank Refah-e Kargaran [Workers' Welfare Bank]”".(123) Pictures of his execution can be seen on the Internet(124). In one, where the noose is being placed around his neck, a bruise is clearly visible above his right eye. In his “"confession”", he reportedly said that he had joined Jondallah three months previously, solely for financial reward. Baluchi sources have said that he was arrested because he was taking a picture of the bus with his mobile phone.
No other details are available about his trial, but Baluchi sources say that he, in common with many other detained Baluchis, had no access to a lawyer. It is not clear whether he was tried by the Special Court for security offences, but this seems likely. Under Iranian law, all death sentences can be appealed, and must be confirmed by the Supreme Court prior to their implementation. The speed with which Nasrollah Shanbezehi was executed, the photographs that suggest that he sustained injuries prior to his execution and his televised “"confession”" casts severe doubt on the judicial procedures followed. Even if he had a lawyer, which is doubtful, it is unlikely that any lawyer would have had adequate time to mount a defence. It appears that he may have been tortured to obtain a “"confession”". After his conviction, Nasrollah Shanbezehi would not have had adequate time to meaningfully exercise his right to appeal against his sentence – under Iranian law defendants usually have 20 days from the issuing of a sentence to lodge an appeal - and the Supreme Court would appear not have had an adequate opportunity to thoroughly review the facts and procedure in the case, if indeed his case was reviewed by the Supreme Court, as is required under Iranian law.
Sa’id Qanbar Zahi, a Baluchi, was hanged in Zahedan prison on 27 May 2007. He had been sentenced to death at the age of 17 along with six other Baluchi men -- Javad Naroui, Ma’soud Nosrat Zahi, Houshang Shahnavazi, Yahya Sohrab Zahi, Ali Reza Brahoui and Abdalbek Kahra Zahi (also known as Abdalmalek) -- in March 2007, despite the absolute international prohibition on the execution of child offenders.(125) Information provided to Amnesty International suggests that the seven may have been arrested because of their family ties to those suspected of involvement in the February bus bombing.
According to media reports, Sa’id Qanbar Zahi and the six others all “"confessed”" on Iranianstate television to a number of crimes that allegedly took place in Sistan-Baluchistan province,including carjackings and attacks such as the explosion outside the Governor-General’s office.The “"confessions”" linkedJondallahto these crimes, and to the attack on the bus.(126) Some reports suggest that those who “"confessed”" were tortured, including by havingbones in theirhands and feet broken, by being “"branded”" with a red-hot iron, and by having an electric drill applied to their limbs, shredding their muscles.
According to Iranian state television, Sa’id Qanbar Zahi was tried on 11 March 2007. The report said that he was tried in open court attended by the families of his alleged victims. He was accused of murder, participation in the bombing in December 2006 outside the office of the Governor-General and of guarding hostages in Pakistan in 2006.(127) He is not known to have had access to a lawyer.
At the time of writing (August 2007) the other six men were believed to remain on death row without access to their families or lawyers.
Minimum standards for fair trial
The UN Safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty state that capital punishment "may only be carried out pursuant to a final judgement rendered by a competent court after legal process which gives all possible safeguards to ensure a fair trial, at least equal to those contained in article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights." These include:
The right to a public trial before an independent and impartial court.
Article 14(1) of the ICCPR states that everyone is entitled to a public hearing by a competent, independent, and impartial tribunal established by law.
Principle 5 of the UN Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary requires that the judiciary should decide matters without influence from the other branches of government. The Basic Principles also state that everyone has the right "to be tried by ordinary courts or tribunals using established legal procedures. Tribunals that do not use the duly established procedures of the legal process shall not be created to displace the jurisdiction belonging to the ordinary courts or judicial tribunals."
International standards, including Article 14(1) of the ICCPR, also require that the right to public hearing should be guaranteed generally, and restricted only in exceptional circumstances. The principle of equality before the courts and tribunals is a fundamental principle in international law to guarantee fair trial.
The right to prompt access to a lawyer and the right to prepare an adequate defence.
Article 14(3) of the ICCPR states: "In the determination of any criminal charge against him, everyone shall be entitled to the following minimum guarantees, in full equality… (b) To have adequate time and facilities for the preparation of his defence and to communicate with counsel of his own choosing." The right of detainees to be assisted by a lawyer when charged is also enshrined in the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers. Principle 6 notes specifically that individuals charged with serious crimes should have access to a lawyer “"of experience and competence commensurate with the nature of the offence,”" who should be provided free of charge if the defendant does not have the means to pay for such services.
The right to appeal.
Article 14(5) of the ICCPR states: "Everyone convicted of a crime shall have the right to his conviction and sentence being reviewed by a higher tribunal according to law."
The right not to be compelled to testify against oneself or to confess guilt
Article 14(3)(g) of the ICCPR states that everyone has the right "not to be compelled to testify against himself or to confess guilt".Further, the UN Safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty(128) provide that: 4. Capital punishment may be imposed only when the guilt of the person charged is based upon clear and convincing evidence leaving no room for an alternative explanation of the facts. Article 7 of the ICCPR also states that "No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment". Also relevant to this is the prohibition on the use of prolonged incommunicado detention, without access to family members or lawyers. The UN Commission on Human Rights has stated that: "prolonged incommunicado detention may facilitate the perpetration of torture and can in itself constitute a form of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or even torture."
Article 6(2) of the ICCPR also stipulates that "sentence of death may be imposed only for the most serious crimes", clarified in several UN resolutions as not exceeding "intentional crimes with lethal or extremely grave consequences".
5. Recommendations
TO THE IRANIAN AUTHORITIES
On the death penalty
Commute all death sentences.
Order a moratorium on executions.
Review all legislation in Iran under which a convicted person may be killed by the state, with the immediate aim of progressively restricting the scope of the death penalty, and with a view to the eventual abolition of the death penalty.
Revise Iranian legislation to ensure that anyone facing judicial execution by the state can seek pardon or commutation of their sentence, in line with Iran’s obligations under Article 6(4) of the ICCPR, and be permitted adequate time and opportunity to do so.
Review law and practice to ensure that no one aged under 18 at the time of their alleged crime, may be sentenced to death and executed.
On torture or ill-treatment
Take urgent steps to ensure that no one is tortured or ill-treated in Iran, including by ending the practice of prolonged incommunicado detention which facilitates the use of torture and other ill-treatment.
Order a thorough and impartial investigation into all allegations of torture and other ill-treatment, bring to justice those responsible for any abuses, and give full reparation to the victims.
End the showing of televised forced “"confessions”" which breach the right to the presumption of innocence and the right not to be compelled to testify against oneself or to confess guilt.
On security provisions
Review the security provisions currently in place in Baluchi areas to ensure that they do not lead to human rights violations, including arbitrary arrest and detention, torture and other ill-treatment, enforced disappearances, extrajudicial executions or other unlawful killings.
Ensure that all allegations of human rights violations by security forces are properly investigated and anyone found responsible is brought to justice promptly and fairly.
Remove anti-personnel landmines, including along the eastern border, and desist from using them in the future.
On trials in Iran
Clarify publicly the status of the “"Special Court for security affairs”" in Sistan-Baluchistan province, including its jurisdiction and procedures.
Review the use of all special courts in Iran, including Revolutionary Courts and the Special Court for the Clergy.
Ensure that all trials, including in capital cases, respect as a minimum the relevant provisions of the ICCPR.
Release all prisoners of conscience.
Order fair retrial in ordinary courts or release for all political prisoners including Baluchis.
On discrimination
Issue directives and take effective measures to ensure that all Iran’s minority communities can enjoy their full range of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights.
Review all legislation with a view to removing all provisions that discriminate against, or have a discriminatory impact upon, ethnic, religious and other minority communities, such as the discriminatory gozinesh criteria governing employment and public office.
End forced evictions and any policy of land expropriation or population transfer which is discriminatory or otherwise contrary to international human rights law and standards.
Ensure that any evictions are carried out only as a last resort and in accordance with due process of law, following consultation with those affected, assurance of adequate alternative accommodation and in compliance with international human rights law.
Cease forced internal displacement linked to forced evictions and “"land grabbing”".
On girls and women
Take targeted, effective measures to the maximum of available resources to ensure, as a matter of priority, gender equality in education, including through removing all direct and indirect charges payable to obtain primary education, prioritising the training and recruitment of female teachers, and ensuring respect for minority rights in education. Identify areas where gender disparities in education are most severe, including Sistan-Baluchistan and ensure that adequate resources are promptly directed to redressing all gender disparities in education.
Take immediate steps to prevent the trafficking of girls and women, which occurs mainly in eastern Iran, including implementing the recommendation of the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women toratify the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, and to implement it in practice; protecting women victims of trafficking; ensuring that traffickers are held criminally liable, and providing compensation to the victims.
Take all necessary steps to prevent and combat forced, early and temporary marriages, as recommended by the Committee on the Rights of the Child.
On independent scrutiny
Facilitate as a matter of priority the outstanding requests to visit Iran made by the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, the Working Group on enforced or involuntary disappearances, the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, the Special Rapporteur on torture, and the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, and give consideration to inviting the UN Independent Expert on Minorities to visit Iran including Baluchi and other minority areas.
Invite other independent bodies, such as Amnesty International, to visit Iran, including Baluchi and other minority areas and to engage in discussion of human rights concerns.
Submit all overdue reports to UN Treaty bodies, including Iran’s periodic reports on its application of the ICCPR, CERD and the ICESCR.
TO JONDALLAH
Immediately cease all abductions and hostage-taking, which violate international law.
Immediately cease all executions, torture and ill-treatment of people under their control, which violate international law.
End indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks and refrain from attacks against civilians.
Remove any members suspected of abuses from positions and situations where they might continue to perpetrate abuses.
Publicly condemn attacks against civilians, indiscriminate attacks, hostage-taking, executions, torture and ill-treatment, and issue instructions to members strictly prohibiting such acts in all circumstances.
Undertake to abide by customary principles of international humanitarian and human rights law.
TO THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
Press the Iranian government to uphold its international obligations with respect to its minority communities.
Ensure that any assistance and cooperation being provided to the Iranian authorities to combat narcotics trafficking is not being used to commit human rights violations.
Condemn unequivocally human rights abuses by Jondallah and any other armed group in Iran.
Exert all possible influence on Jondallah or any other armed group which may exist or emerge in Iran to refrain from the unlawful acts of hostage-taking, torture or killings of prisoners, or attacks on civilians, or indiscriminate or disproportionate attacks and refrain from granting any assistance to such groups which may be used to facilitate the commission of such abuses.
********
(1) Iran: Defending Minority Rights – The Ahwazi Arabs (AI Index: MDE 13/056/2006).
(2) Iran does not provide official statistics on the demographic makeup of its population. The Head of the Iranian Statistics Centre said in November 2006 that initial estimates from the sixth national census suggested a total population of 70,049,262. Iran website, 26 November 2006. Of these around half are believed to belong to the Persian majority.
(15) Article 3 of the Constitution stipulates that all Iranians are equal under the law and Article 19 of the Iranian Constitution specifies that: "All people of Iran, whatever the ethnic group or tribe to which they belong, enjoy equal rights; and colour, race, language, and the like, do not bestow any privilege".
(16) For further information about discriminatory gozinesh procedures, please see Amnesty International’s concerns relevant to the 91st International Labour Conference (AI Index: IOR 42/003/2003).
(17) Taqiyah (dissimulation) is the concealment or disguise of one’s beliefs or convictions at a time of imminent danger, to save oneself from injury or death. Mostly regarded as a Shi’a Muslims practice, based on verses from the Qur’an, some Sunni Muslims do not agree with the concept.
(18) The Iran Brief, No.35, 2 June 1997.
(19) Ibid.
(20) Interview with Ayyaran, 17 March 2007
(21) Iran’s Peeling Veneer by Chris Kustschera, The Middle East, September 1994
(22) Human Rights Watch, Iran: Religious and ethnic minorities – discrimination in law and practice.http://www.hrw.org/reports/1997/iran/Iran-06.htm#P397_84566
(23) See Iran: Appeal Case -- The Ahwazi Arabs: Land Confiscation and Population Transfer (AI Index: MDE 13/060/2006).
(24) (Article 12, ICCPR), CCPR General Comment 27, para 7.
(25) Reportedly made to IRNA on 22 November 2006
(26) Iranian Provincial TV 19 May 2007
(27) An open appeal to the United Nations General Secretary, President Bush, President of European Union Commission, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International by the Balochistan National Movement-Iran (Balochistan Raji Zrombesh) dated July 3rd 2005, which can be read at http://www.zrombesh.org/, quoting a report carried by IRNA. The IRNA article, which reportedly was carried at http://www.irna.ir/fa/news/view/menu-149/8404090210105404.htm appears to have been removed from the agency's internet archive.
(28) ibid
(29) Report of the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living: Mission to the Islamic Republic of Iran, E/CN.4/2006/41/Add.2, 21 March 2006, Summary.
(34) Article 27, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; Article 30, Convention on the Rights of the Child.; Article 2.1, Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, adopted by UN General Assembly resolution 47/135 of 18 December 1992.
(35) Human Rights Watch op.cit www.hrw.org/reports/1997/iran/Iran-06.htm#P501_108586.
(38) Iran is believed to have at least two million regular drug users,and possibly as many as 3.5 million. According to a Deputy Health Minister, addiction is growing by around eight percent a year. AFP 27 June 2006
(40) According to a study carried out in Shirabad, a small town near the Sistan-Baluchistan provincial capital, Zahedan, 40-60 per cent of Shirabad residents earns their living either by smuggling goods between Iran and Pakistan or by providing logistical support to local drug-trafficking criminal organizations. www.unodc.org/pdf/iran/drug_crime_situation/dsr/Supply_Reduction_trends_and_trafficking.pdf.
(43) Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, General Comment 7: Rights to Adequate Housing: Forced Eviction, 20 May 1997, para. 10.
(44) Ibid, para. 13.
(45) Ibid. para. 15.
(46) Permanent Court of International Justice, Minority Schools in Albania, Advisory opinion of 6 April 1935, Series A/B, no. 64.
(47) Convention on the Rights of the Child, article 29.2. See also Convention against Discrimination in Education article 5.c.
(48) Universal Declaration of Human Rights article 26.3; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, article 18.
(49) International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights, article 13.3; UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education, article 5.b.
(50) Article 4.3 and 4.4, Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, adopted by General Assembly resolution 47/135 of 18 December 1992.
(51) On 3 April 2007 ABC news reported that US sources had told it that money for Jondallah was channelled through Iranian exiles in Europe and the Gulf, to avoid any direct funding which would require an official Presidential "finding" and Congressional oversight. This claim was denied by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA.) http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/04/abc_news_exclus.html
(52) Commander of the Law-Enforcement Force General Esma'il Ahmadi-Moqaddam in an interview with IRNA, 17 Mar 2006
(53) "We will cut them until Iran asks for mercy" by Massoud Ansari, www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/01/15/wiran15.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/01/15/ixnewstop.html.
(56) On 16 July, in an interview with the officially-licensed Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA), Iran’s Minister of Intelligence, Ali Yunesi, confirmed the killing, but denied that Shehab Mansouri was an intelligence official.
(57) President Ahmadinejad had been due to travel in this motorcade, but had later altered his travel plans.
(58) In November 2006, Mohammad Askani was hanged in Iranshahr after being convicted of involvement in an attack on a motorcade (see section 3.1 below).
(59) Iran: Group Releases Turks, Still Holding Soldiers Hostage
(66) See, for example, Iran: Four Iranian Arabs executed after unfair trials (AI Index: MDE 13/005/2007) and Iran: Amnesty International condemns executions after unfair trials (AI Index: MDE 13/016/2007).
(67) AFP, 14 February 2007.
(68) AFP, 26 March 2007.
(69) See for example Iran: Amnesty International concerned about possible government involvement in deaths of Iranian nationals AI index: MDE 13/07/96; and Iran: "Mykonos" trial provides further evidence of Iranian policy of unlawful state killings AI index: MDE 13/15/97
(70) Amnesty International Report 1994
(71) Iran: "Mykonos" trial…op.cit
(72) Iran: Amnesty International concerned about possible government involvement in deaths of Iranian nationals op.cit.
(73) Interim Report On The Situation Of Human Rights In The Islamic Republic Of Iran, Prepared By The Special Representative Of The Commission On Human Rights In Accordance With Commission Resolution 1996/84 And Economic And Social Council Decision 1996/287 11 October 1996 http://www.unhchr.ch/Huridocda/Huridoca.nsf/0/61f4b0d4b32382958025670c00538894?Opendocument
(74) Amnesty International Report 1999.
(75) In March 2005, Brigadier General Hamid Gorizan, then the commander of the Mersad base in south-eastern Kerman Province, commented on improvements to his base, established in 1995 "in order to counteract armed bands of [drug]traffickers, stop banditry, and in general terms, to restore a sense of security in the eastern part of the country" and that smaller bases in the provinces of Sistan-Baluchistan, South Khorasan and Kerman had been established. RFERL: Iran: Country's Drug Problems Appear To Be Worsening , quoting the official newspaper Jomhuriye Eslami of 6 March 2005.
(77) Shura-ye ta’min. This may be the same as the Council for the Extension of Security in the East of the Country [Shura-ye Tosi’eh-yeh Amniat Sharq-e Keshvar], referred to by General Esma’il Ahmadi-Moghaddam, the Commander of the LEF during the inauguration of the base. Aftab-e Yazd website, 15 April 2006 (quoting ISNA).
(78) Mardom-Salari website, Tehran, in Persian 25 April 2006.
(79) IRNA news agency, Tehran, in Persian, 11:02 GMT, 15 June 2006.
(80) Kerman-based Iranian provincial publication Rudbar Zamin, 9 August 2006
(81) IRNA 8 November 2006
(82) Website of the Iranian newspaper Farhang-e Ashti, 9 May 2006
(83) Website of the Iranian newspaper Kayhan, 23 May 2006, p15.
(84) IRNA 15 June 2006.
(85) Kayhan, 17 June 2006.
(86) These six are believed to have been sentenced to death for being moharebs (at enmity with God) or mofsed fil-arz (corrupt on earth), Aftab-e Yazd, 22 June 2006.
(88) Human Rights Committee: General Comment No. 13: Equality before the courts and the right to a fair and public hearing by an independent court established by law, 13 April 1984.
(89) Human Rights Committee: General Comment 29: States of Emergency, CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.11, 31 August 2001, paras. 11 and 16.
(101) Human Rights Committee, General Comment No. 6: The right to life, 30 April 1982, para. 1.
(102) Ibid, para. 3.
(103) Adopted by General Assembly resolution 34/169 of 17 December 1979.
(104) Adopted by the Eighth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, Havana, Cuba, 27 August to 7 September 1990.
(105) Iranian Labour News Agency (ILNA) 24 December 2006.
(106) Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA) 25 December 2006.
(107) On 21 April 1996, Dr Chehregani, an Iranian Azerbaijani candidate for the 1996 parliamentary elections, was arrested along with around 40 of his supporters. He was released after three days, but protests continued, until 15 May, when five young men in their early twenties were hung in public from cranes in the street. The authorities claimed they had been convicted drug trafficking, but Dr Chehregani believed that the motive for the public hanging, whatever the validity of the charges, was to quell the protests. See Human Rights Watch, Iran: Religious and Ethnic Minorities: Discrimination in Law and Practice http://www.hrw.org/reports/1997/iran/Iran-06.htm#P397_84566
(108) ‘Ayyaran newspaper has since been closed down on the order of Hojjatoleslam Nekunam.
(109) Quds newspaper 14 May 2007
(110) Amnesty International considers the criminalisation of consensual sexual relations in private to be a grave violation of human rights, including the rights to privacy, to freedom from discrimination, and to freedom of expression and association, which are protected in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
(111) Article 183 of the Islamic Penal Code.
(112) Articles 81, 126 and 133 of the Islamic Penal Code.
(113) Human Rights Committee, General Comment No. 6 on the right to life, para. 7.
(114) Report of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, 27 June 2003, E/CN.4/2004/3/Add.2.
(115) For example, Article 14 of the ICCPR.
(116) Other means of proving such crimes include testimony of witnesses or the knowledge of the judge "obtained through conventional methods".
(117) Article 15 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
(118) Report of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, 27 June 2003, E/CN.4/2004/3/Add.2,p.15.
(119) Article 165 of the Constitution.
(120) Article 128 of the Code of Criminal Procedure
(121) Report of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, 27 June 2003, E/CN.4/2004/3/Add.2
(122) For a discussion on the lack of independence of the judiciary and the role of judges, see Amnesty International’s report, Iran: A legal system that fails to protect freedom of expression and association, AI Index MDE: 13/045/2001.
(125) For a fuller discussion of Iran’s continuing violations in this regard see Iran: The last executioner of children (AI Index: MDE 13/059/2007), June 2007.
(126) Sistan-Baluchistan Provincial Television, 15-17 March 2007.
(127) Sistan-Baluchistan Provincial Television, 12 March 2007.
(128) Approved by Economic and Social Council resolution 1984/50 of 25 May 1984
Amnesty International appalled at the spiralling numbers of executions
-AI Index: MDE 13/110/2007 (Public)
5 September 2007
Amnesty International is appalled at the reports of the execution of 21 people in Iran this morning, bringing the total number of executions recorded by the organization since the start of 2007 to 210.
This figure exceeds the 177 executions recorded in 2006, although the true figure for both years is likely to be higher. At least two child offenders were among those executed to date in 2007.
Amnesty International has catalogued scores of unfair trials in recent years and the organisation is concerned that many of those executed today faced unfair trials, and a failure to ensure that fair trial safeguards in death penalty cases are implemented in all cases without exemption or discrimination.
Under Iranian law, the accused has no right to legal representation prior to being formally charged. The UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions has stated that all defendants facing the imposition of capital punishment must benefit from the services of a competent defence counsel at every stage of the proceedings
The scope of capital crimes in Iran remains extraordinarily large and includes vaguely worded charges, such as "enmity against God" (moharebeh ba Khoda) "being corrupt on earth" (mofsed fil arz), which refer, inter alia, to those accused of using firearms against the state; carrying out acts of robbery and to those who are considered to be carrying out espionage against the government. These crimes, including those of are adultery by married people, and same-sex sexual conduct, regarded as a crime against God and as such are not subject to pardon. Discretionary laws over which judges have the power to impose the death penalty include those relating to national security offences.
Article 6(2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a state party states: "In countries which have not abolished the death penalty, sentence of death may be imposed only for the most serious crimes..." The UN Human Rights Committee, the independent body that reviews states' implementation of this treaty has stated: "The Committee is of the opinion that the expression 'most serious crimes' must be read restrictively to mean that the death penalty should be a quite exceptional measure." Furthermore, Safeguard 1 of the Safeguards Guaranteeing Protection of the Rights of Those Facing the Death Penalty, adopted by the UN Economic and Social Council in 1984, states: "In countries which have not abolished the death penalty, capital punishment may be imposed only for the most serious crimes, it being understood that their scope should not go beyond intentional crimes, with lethal or other extremely grave consequences."
At least four of the executions today, in Shiraz, were carried out in public, although the UN Human Rights Committee has stated: "Public executions are... incompatible with human dignity." At least two of those executed in Shiraz appeared to have belonged to Iran's Baluchi minority. Amnesty International is concerned that members of Iran's Baluchi minority have formed a significant proportion of those executed in Iran.
Amnesty International continues to urge the Iranian authorities to stop executing child offenders; to implement all required safeguards in capital cases and to limit the scope of crimes punishable by death, as a first step towards its total abolition. The organisation is calling for an immediate moratorium on executions in Iran. The UN General Assembly's (UNGA) 62nd session in October 2007 will vote on a resolution calling for a global moratorium on executions, to be introduced as a step towards the abolition of the death penalty. Amnesty International calls on Iran to halt the continuing use of this most extreme penalty, which is a gross violation of human rights and to back this resolution.
The organisation also calls on the people of Iran to support the campaign entitled "Stop the Death Penalty: The World Decides," initiated by World Coalition against the Death Penalty (WCADP) and other non-governmental organizations by signing an online petition found at: http://www.worldcoalition.org/modules/news/article.php?storyid=10&sel_lang=english
UA 220/07 Prisoner of Conscience/Fear of torture or ill-treatment/Medical concern
IRAN Saleh Kamrani (m), aged about 35, lawyer and human rights defender
- PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 13/105/2007
23 August 2007
Human rights defender Saleh Kamrani was arrested on 18 August, and is held in Section 209 of Evin Prison in Tehran, run by the Ministry of Intelligence. He is at risk of torture or ill-treatment. He needs regular medication for a heart condition.
Amnesty International believes that he is a prisoner of conscience, detained solely in connection with his legitimate activities as a lawyer and for the peaceful exercise of his internationally recognized rights to freedom of expression and association in support of greater rights for the Iranian Azerbaijani community.
He was arrested at a family wedding in the city of Karaj, near Tehran. Four men in plain clothes took him away from the wedding to the house where he was staying, where they confiscated his computer, documents, family photographs and his wife's camera, as well as documents and photographs belonging to the owner of the house.
His family did not know what had happened until 21 August, when he was allowed a brief phone call in which he told his wife that he was in Section 209. He was apparently not allowed to speak in his native language, Azerbaijani Turkic, so could not speak to his mother, who does not understand Persian. He apparently said he did not know why he had been arrested, but believed it might have been connected to his arrest in 2006, when he was detained for three months because of his work representing Iranian Azerbaijanis and others, and for the peaceful exercise of his internationally recognized rights to freedom of expression and association in support of greater rights for the Iranian Azerbaijani community.
He had been arrested on 14 June 2006 on the way home from work. His family only found out on 18 June that he was being held in Section 209 of Evin Prison. He spent 97 days in solitary confinement and was subjected to psychological torture, including threats that his wife would be arrested. He was questioned about all aspects of his life and was threatened. The evidence against him reportedly included speeches, interviews and correspondence from the previous 15 years, recorded telephone conversations, SMS messages, statements from his brothers which had been extracted under torture and even included a picture of Saleh Kamrani wearing a tie, regarded by the authorities as a sign of western influence. He was accused of contacting human rights organisations such as Amnesty International, and having contact with foreigners, including Israelis. He was not allowed to take the medication he needs to control his heart rate because of a defective heart valve, and his condition reportedly worsened as a result. (See UA 171/06, MDE 13/067/2006 and follow-ups.) On 18 September 2006 he was sentenced to one year's imprisonment, suspended for five years, for "spreading propaganda against the system". He was released, but the authorities retained his lawyer's card, without which he could not return to work as a lawyer.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Iranian Azerbaijanis, who are mainly Shi'a Muslims, are the largest minority in Iran, constituting at least 25-30 per cent of the population. They live mainly in the north and north-west of Iran. There is a growing demand for greater cultural and linguistic rights among Iranian Azerbaijanis, including the right to education in their mother tongue of Azerbaijani Turkic. A small minority advocate secession of Iranian Azerbaijan from the Islamic Republic of Iran and union with the Republic of Azerbaijan. Those who seek to promote Iranian Azerbaijani cultural identity are viewed with suspicion by the Iranian authorities, who often accuse them of vague charges such as "promoting pan-Turkism".
In May 2006, massive demonstrations took place in towns and cities in north-western Iran, where the majority of the population is Iranian Azerbaijani, in protest at a cartoon published on 12 May by the state-owned daily newspaper Iran, which many Iranian Azerbaijanis found offensive. Hundreds were arrested during and after the demonstrations. Other waves of arrests have occurred around dates significant to the Azerbaijani community, such as a boycott of the start of the academic year in September 2006, after demonstrations in February 2007 on the occasion of International Mother Tongue day, and on the anniversary of the May 2006 demonstrations.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Persian, Arabic, English, French or your own language:
- expressing concern that Saleh Kamrani was detained on 18 August, and calling on the authorities to release him immediately and unconditionally, as he is a prisoner of conscience, held solely for his peaceful activities on behalf of the Iranian Azerbaijani community;
- asking why he was arrested, including any charges brought against him;
- urging the authorities to protect him from torture or ill-treatment;
- urging them to give him immediate and regular access to his family and a lawyer of his choice, and to all necessary medical treatment.
APPEALS TO: Leader of the Islamic Republic His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei, The Office of the Supreme Leader
Shoahada Street, Qom, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: info@leader.ir -- istiftaa@wilayah.org
Fax: +98 251 7774 2228 (mark FAO Office of His Excellency Ayatollah al
Udhma Khamenei)
Salutation: Your Excellency Minister of Intelligence Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie
Ministry of Intelligence, Second Negarestan Street, Pasdaran Avenue, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: iranprobe@iranprobe.com
Salutation: Your Excellency
Head of the Judiciary His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Justice Building, Panzdah-Khordad Square,
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: +98 21 3390 4986 (please keep trying)
Email: info@dadgostary-tehran.ir (In the subject line write: FAO
Ayatollah Shahroudi)
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
President His Excellency Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
The Presidency, Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email:dr-ahmadinejad@president.ir via website: www.president.ir/email Salutation: Your Excellency
Speaker of Parliament His Excellency Gholamali Haddad Adel
Majles-e Shoura-ye Eslami, Baharestan Square, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: + 98 21 3355 6408
Email: hadadadel@majlis.ir
and to diplomatic representatives of Iran accredited to your country.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 4 October 2007.
Iran: Release Mansour Ossanlu and Mahmoud Salehi and help end legalised discrimination against independent trades unions
AI Index: MDE 13/100/2007 (Public)
7 Aug 2007
In support of the International Day of Action for Mansour Ossanlu and Mahmoud Salehi, Amnesty International joins voices with the ITUC and ITF in calling for the two men to be released immediately and for any charges that have been levelled against them in connection with their peaceful and legitimate trades union work to be dropped.
Mansour Ossanlu, head of the Union of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company, and Mahmoud Salehi, Spokesperson for the Organisational Committee to Establish Trade Unions and former head of the Saqez Bakers' Union, are trades union leaders who have been detained on vaguely worded charge in order to halt their efforts to build strong trades unions capable of defending the human rights of workers against the discriminatory laws and practices that curtail workers' rights in Iran.
Securing freedom for Mansour Ossanlu and Mahmoud Salehi will help independent trades unions move beyond the discriminatory 'gozinesh', or selection, regulations that enable the Iranian authorities to decide who is able to form trades unions and seek employment in a range of sectors.
In 2003, the ILO's Committee on the Application of Standards reviewed the application of Convention No. 111 on Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) (1958) in Iran. The Workers' Representative called on the Committee of Experts to review the practice known as 'gozinesh', or selection. Gozinesh regulations empower the state authorities to select, on the basis of perceived ideological suitability, those individuals who may be employed in the public sector, hold a wide range of posts, such as lawyers or teachers, and create or join the boards of NGOs and Islamic Labour Councils, (Islamic Councils) which are the only labour organizations permitted in the workplace.
Islamic Councils are a form of collective organization provided for under the 2001 Procedure Code [on the] Manner of Establishment, Limits of Duties, Powers and Manner of Operation of Islamic Workers' Councils (the Procedure Code).
The Procedure Code sets out how workers in productive, industrial, agricultural, service and guild units that employ more than 50 individuals may establish unions, or Islamic Councils.
The functions, duties and powers of the Islamic Councils are set out in the Procedure Code. According to Article 1 of the Procedure Code, they are formed to 'propagate and spread Islamic culture and [to] defend the achievements of the Islamic Revolution'. They are more concerned with the furtherance of a religious and ideological programme, therefore, than with the promotion and protection of workers' rights.
Article 10 of the Procedure Code contains gozinesh criteria which impose discriminatory restrictions on who is eligible to be a member of the central committee of a given Islamic Council. Article 10c requires that applicants be of "good reputation and the disposition required for growth" relating to the council, and Article 10d, that they have completed a year's experience in the work of the council. However, Article 10a requires candidates to have practical engagement towards Islam and the principle of Velayat-e Faqih [or Leadership by a religious jurisprudent] and the Constitution (Article 10a), and Article 10b requires that they have a record of being present and active in various fields of the Islamic Revolution.
The activities of Mansour Ossanlu and Mahmoud Salehi are testimony to the engagement of trades unionists in reaching beyond discriminatory practices, for the benefit of workers and for all of Iran, and above all, for the advancement of human rights in Iran.
UA 194/07 Arbitrary arrest/fear of torture/prisoners of conscience
IRAN Behareh Hedayat (f) ]
Mohammad Hashemi (m) ]
Ali Nikou Nesbati (m) ] student activists
Mehdi Arabshahi (m) ]
Hanif Yazdani (m) ]
Ali Vafaqi (m) ]
Abdollah Momeni, Spokesperson of the Alumni Association of Iran
Mojtaba Bayat (m), Alumni Association member
Seven others (names known to Amnesty International)
- PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 13/095/2007
27 July 2007
The 15 people listed above were arrested on 9 July, the eighth anniversary of student demonstrations in 1999 which were violently suppressed by the security forces. The eight who are named are believed to be held in solitary confinement in Section 209 of Evin Prison in Tehran, which is run by the Ministry of Intelligence; the other seven are also held in Evin Prison and may also be in solitary confinement. Amnesty International believes they are prisoners of conscience.
Behareh Hedayat is the head of the Women's Commission of the student body Office for the Consolidation of Unity (OCU). She was detained at a demonstration opposite Amir Kabir University of Technology, protesting at the continued detention of eight students arrested in May and June 2007 over articles regarded as insulting to Islam (see UA 113/07, MDE 13/054/2007, 15 May 2007 and follow up). OCU Central Council members Mohammad Hashemi, Ali Nikou Nesbati, Mehdi Arabshahi, Hanif Yazdani and Ali Vafaqi were detained with her.
Ten other people were arrested later that day at the offices of the Alumni Association of Iran, including Association spokesperson Abdollah Momeni, and they are said to have been beaten during their arrest. The arresting officials reportedly fired their guns in the air, and confiscated computers and documents before sealing the office. One Association staff member was reportedly released after five days.
Several detainees have been able to telephone their families, but not to meet their families or lawyers. Some have had their houses searched and personal property confiscated. The people who searched his house took Abdollah Momeni with them, apparently in handcuffs and with visible injuries from his beating. He is said to have complained about the treatment he was receiving.
A Judiciary spokesperson confirmed the arrests on 16 July: "They are in prison and the investigation is ongoing regarding their participation in illegal gatherings and acting against national security."
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The Alumni Association of Iran is legally registered as a political organisation. Its membership is open to graduates of Iranian universities and it is active in promoting democracy and human rights. Association head Ali-Akbar Mousavi-Kho'ini was arrested during a peaceful demonstration in Tehran on 12 June 2006, which called for legal reforms to end discrimination against women. He was allegedly tortured during the more than four months he spent in Evin Prison. (See UA 181/06, MDE 13/075/2006, 30 June 2006 and follow-ups).
Women's rights activist Behareh Hedayat was also arrested during the 12 June 2006 demonstration, for which she was sentenced in May 2007 to two years' imprisonment, suspended for five years, on charges of "acting against state security". She had been tried in April, without her lawyer being present. She may now be at risk of having to serve this suspended sentence. On 10 April, the Minister of Intelligence publicly accused the women's movement and student campaigners of being part of an enemy conspiracy aiming at a "soft subversion" of the government. Since then, there has been a marked deterioration in the human rights situation in Iran (see News Release Iran: Violations of human rights continue unabated, 13 July 2007, MDE 13/085/2007).
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Persian, Arabic, English, French or your own language:
- calling on the authorities to release Behareh Hedayat and others detained on 9 July immediately and unconditionally, as they are prisoners of conscience, held solely for the peaceful exercise of their right to freedom of expression and association;
- expressing concern at reports that at least some were beaten during their arrest and urging the authorities to investigate those reports fully, with those responsible brought to justice;
- urging the authorities to ensure that none of those in custody suffers any further torture or ill-treatment;
- calling for all those detained to be granted immediate and regular access to their families, lawyers and any medical treatment they may require.
APPEALS TO: Leader of the Islamic Republic His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei, The Office of the Supreme Leader
Shoahada Street, Qom, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: info@leader.ir -- istiftaa@wilayah.org
Fax: +98 251 7774 2228 (mark FAO Office of His Excellency Ayatollah al
Udhma Khamenei)
Salutation: Your Excellency Minister of Intelligence Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie
Ministry of Intelligence, Second Negarestan Street, Pasdaran Avenue, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: iranprobe@iranprobe.com
Salutation: Your Excellency
Head of the Judiciary His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Justice Building, Panzdah-Khordad Square,
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: +98 21 3390 4986 (please keep trying)
Email: info@dadgostary-tehran.ir (In the subject line write: FAO
Ayatollah Shahroudi)
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
President His Excellency Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
The Presidency, Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email:dr-ahmadinejad@president.ir via website: www.president.ir/email Salutation: Your Excellency
Speaker of Parliament His Excellency Gholamali Haddad Adel
Majles-e Shoura-ye Eslami, Baharestan Square, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: + 98 21 3355 6408
Email: hadadadel@majlis.ir
and to diplomatic representatives of Iran accredited to your country.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 7 September 2007
IRAN Loghman Mehri (m), member of Kurdistan Human Rights Organization (RMMK) His wife
- PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 13/093/2007
20 July 2007
Iranian Kurdish human rights activist Loghman Mehri and his wife were reportedly taken away in a car on 18 July by three men in plain clothes who stopped them at the East Bus Terminal in Tehran. Eyewitnesses apparently saw Loghman Mehri being beaten and pushed into the back of a car along with his wife. Their whereabouts are now unknown, and they are at risk of torture.
Loghman Mehri is a member of the Kurdistan Human Rights Organization (RMMK). He has been arrested several times before. He was arrested in May 2004 during a peaceful May Day celebration in Saqqez, and during a demonstration against discrimination against women in June 2005, for which he was reportedly sentenced to six months' imprisonment and 25 lashes. He was last arrested in August 2005 in Saqqez following widespread unrest in Kurdish areas. He was released on bail, but was later sentenced to five years' imprisonment in connection with these demonstrations, apparently on charges of "acting against internal security", "membership of an illegal opposition group" and "incitement to riot". This sentence was reportedly confirmed on appeal and was further confirmed by the Supreme Court on or around 11 July 2007.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Iran's Kurds live mainly in the west and north-west of the country, in the province of Kurdistan and neighbouring provinces bordering Kurdish areas of Turkey and Iraq. For many years, Kurdish organisations such as the Kurdistan People's Democratic Party (KDPI) and Komala carried out armed opposition to the Islamic Republic of Iran, although more recently they have abandoned armed opposition in favour of a federal solution. Iran continues to face armed opposition from some Kurdish groups, and has accused foreign governments of fomenting unrest among its ethnic minorities.
Violent unrest broke out in Kurdish areas in July 2005 and continued for several weeks, after the security forces shot dead a Kurdish opposition activist, and reportedly dragged his body through the streets behind a jeep. Thousands of Kurds took to the streets to protest, and in some places attacked government buildings. The security forces responded with substantial force and up to 20 people were reportedly killed and hundreds injured. The authorities acknowledged that five people were killed, and said their deaths were under investigation. At least 190 were arrested, according to official reports, although the true figure may well be higher.
Other Kurdish human rights defenders have been detained recently. RMMK head Mohammad Sadiq Kabudvand was detained on 1 July and is held in Section 209 of Evin Prison in Tehran (See UA 171/07, MDE 13/081/2007, 4 July 2007). RMMK board member Ajlal Qavami was arrested on or around 9 July after being summoned to the Revolutionary Court in Sanandaj. He had previously been sentenced to three years' imprisonment for organizing a demonstration in July 2005. He had appealed against this sentence but his appeal is reported to have been rejected, although neither he nor his lawyer was told this before he was arrested.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Persian, Arabic, English, French or your own language:
- expressing concern at reports that Loghman Mehri, an Iranian Kurdish human rights activist, and his wife were seized and detained by the security forces on 18 July;
- asking the authorities to say whether they are in custody, and if so, where they are held and why they were arrested, including any charges against them;
- calling on the authorities to ensure that they are not tortured or ill-treated, and to allow them immediate access to their families and lawyers of their own choosing, and to any medical treatment they may require;
- if they are in custody, calling on the authorities to release them immediately and unconditionally unless they are to be charged with a recognisably criminal offence.
APPEALS TO: Leader of the Islamic Republic His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei, The Office of the Supreme Leader
Shoahada Street, Qom, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: info@leader.ir -- istiftaa@wilayah.org
Fax: +98 251 7774 2228 (mark FAO Office of His Excellency Ayatollah al
Udhma Khamenei)
Salutation: Your Excellency Minister of Intelligence Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie
Ministry of Intelligence, Second Negarestan Street, Pasdaran Avenue, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: iranprobe@iranprobe.com
Salutation: Your Excellency
Head of the Judiciary His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Justice Building, Panzdah-Khordad Square,
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: +98 21 3390 4986 (please keep trying)
Email: info@dadgostary-tehran.ir (In the subject line write: FAO
Ayatollah Shahroudi)
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
Head of the Parliamentary Article 90 Commission Mohammad Reza Faker
Majles-e Shoura-ye Eslami
Baharestan Square, Tehran, Iran
Fax: + 98 21 3355 6408
Kurdistan Human Rights Organization PO Box 188-13465
Tehran
Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: prmmkkurd@gmail.com
and to diplomatic representatives of Iran accredited to your country.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 31 August 2007.
Further Information on UA 08/06 (MDE 13/002/2006, 9 January 2006) and follow-ups (MDE 13/094/2006, 17 August 2006; MDE 13/129/2006, 29 November 2006 and MDE 13/011/2007, 31 January 2007) - Arbitrary arrest/Possible prisoner of conscience/Medical concern
IRAN Mansour Ossanlu (m), Head of Union of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company
- PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 13/086/2007
13 July 2007
Trade unionist Mansour Ossanlu, who had been released in December, was detained on 10 July. He was reportedly pushed into a car at around 7pm by men in plain clothes who beat him. On 12 July it was reported that he was being held in Section 209 of Evin Prison in Tehran.
He had spent eight months in detention between December 2005 and August 2006, and a further month between November and December 2006 in connection with his activities as head of the Union of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (Sherkat-e Vahed), and was facing trial. He had recently travelled to Europe to build international support for an independent trades union movement in Iran.
Amnesty International believes he is a prisoner of conscience, held solely on account of his peaceful trades union activities, who should be released immediately and unconditionally.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The Union of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company is said to have been founded in 1979 and resumed activities in 2004 after a 25-year ban. It is still not legally recognised.
Iran is a State Party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, of which Article 22 (1) states: "Everyone shall have the right to freedom of association with others, including the right to form and join trade unions for the protection of his interests." Article 26 of Iran?s Constitution states: "The formation of parties, societies, political or professional associations ? is permitted provided they do not violate the principles of independence, freedom, national unity, the criteria of Islam, or the basis of the Islamic republic. No one may be prevented from participating in the aforementioned groups, or be compelled to participate in them."
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Persian, Arabic, English, French or your own language:
- asking why Mansour Ossanlu was rearrested on 10 July, and asking for details of any charges he is facing;
- expressing concern that he appears to be held solely on account of his peaceful trade union activities, and calling on the authorities to release him immediately and unconditionally;
- in the meantime, calling on the authorities to ensure that he is given immediate and regular access to his lawyers, and his family;
- expressing concern at reports that Mansour Ossanlu was beaten during his arrest and urging that these reports be fully investigated, with anyone found responsible for abuses brought to justice and given a fair trial;
- calling for him to be given immediate access to any medical treatment he may require;
- reminding the authorities of their obligations under the ICCPR, Article 22 (1) of which provides for the right to form and join trade unions.
APPEALS TO: Minister of Intelligence Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie
Ministry of Intelligence, Second Negarestan Street, Pasdaran Avenue, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: iranprobe@iranprobe.com
Salutation: Your Excellency
Head of the Judiciary His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Justice Building, Panzdah-Khordad Square,
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: +98 21 3390 4986 (please keep trying)
Email: info@dadgostary-tehran.ir (In the subject line write: FAO
Ayatollah Shahroudi)
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
President His Excellency Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
The Presidency, Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email:dr-ahmadinejad@president.ir via website: www.president.ir/email Salutation: Your Excellency
Head of the Parliamentary Article 90 Commission Mohammad Reza Faker
Majles-e Shoura-ye Eslami
Baharestan Square, Tehran, Iran
Fax: + 98 21 3355 6408
and to diplomatic representatives of Iran accredited to your country.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 24 August 2007.
Amnesty International is greatly concerned by continuing human rights violations in Iran, including new arrests of human rights defenders and the high rate of executions, including the first execution by stoning confirmed by the authorities since a moratorium on stonings was announced in 2002
The organization is again calling on the Iranian authorities to uphold their obligations under international law and ensure that no one is detained for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression or association, and to impose an immediate moratorium on all executions and take steps to remove the death penalty from Iranian law.
Human rights defenders arrested
Two Iranian Kurdish journalists and human rights defenders were arrested earlier this month. Mohammad Sadiq Kabudvand, Chair of the Kurdistan Human Rights Organization (RMMK), was taken from his workplace in Tehran by plain-clothed security officers on 1 July. He was facing a one-year prison sentence because of articles he had published in the now banned Payam-e Mardom-e Kurdestan (Message of the People of Kurdistan), but it is not clear if this is the reason for his current detention.
Ajlal Qavami, a member of the RMMK board and former journalist of Payam-e Mardom-e Kurdestan and member of the editorial board of the bilingual weekly Didgah (Viewpoint), was arrested on or around 9 July after being summoned to the Revolutionary Court in Sanandaj. He had previously been sentenced to three years' imprisonment by Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Court in Sanadaj for organizing a demonstration in July 2005 in protest at the killing of, Showan Qaderi, a member of the Kurdish minority, by security forces. He had appealed against this sentence but his appeal is reported to have been rejected, although this outcome had not been communicated to either Ajlal Qavami or his lawyer before Ajlal Qavami's arrest.
Sa'id Sa'edi, another Kurdish journalist who was sentenced to two and a half years' imprisonment in the same case, may also now be at risk of arrest.
Students and others arrested on anniversary of '18 Tir' student demonstrations
Sixteen people were arrested on 9 July -- 18 Tir in the Iranian calendar -- the eighth anniversary of student demonstrations in 1999 which were violently suppressed by security forces.
Behareh Hedayat, the head of the Women's Commission of the Office for the Consolidation of Unity (Daftar-e Tahkim-e Vahdat -- a student body), and five other members of the OCU's Central Council -- Mohammad Hashemi, Ali Nikou Nesbati, Mehdi Arabshahi, Hanif Yazdani and Ali Vafaqi -- were detained opposite Amir Kabir University of Technology. At the time, they were holding a demonstration to protest against the continued detention of eight other students arrested in May and June 2007 in connection with the publication of articles regarded as insulting to Islam. The eight deny any connection to the articles.
Ten other people were arrested on 9 July at the offices of the Alumni Association of Iran (Sazman-e Danesh Amukhtegan-e Iran-e Eslami [Advar-e Tahkim-e Vahdat]). Those held reportedly include members of the association and the mother of Mohammad Hashemi, who had gone there to enquire about her son. The arresting officials reportedly fired guns in the air, and confiscated computers and documents before sealing the office.
The 16 arrests were confirmed by Alireza Jamshidi, a spokesperson for Iran's Judiciary: "They are in prison and the investigation is ongoing regarding their participation in illegal gatherings and acting against security,"
Trades unionists targeted
Trade unionists are also being targeted. Mansour Ossanlu, head of the unrecognized Union of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (Sherkat-e Vahed), was reportedly pushed into a car at around 7pm on 10 July by men in plain clothes who beat him. On 12 July it was reported that he was being held in Section 209 of Evin Prison in Tehran. Mansour Ossanlu spent eight months in detention between December 2005 and August 2006, and a further month between November and December 2006 in connection with his trade union activities. He had recently travelled to Europe in order to build international support for an independent trades union movement in Iran.
Women human rights defenders
Women's rights activists also continue to face reprisals for their activities demanding an end to laws which discriminate against women. At least three more women have recently been sentenced for participating in a June 2006 demonstration calling for reform of Iran's discriminatory legislation.
Delaram Ali was sentenced to 34 months of imprisonment and 10 lashes after being convicted on charges of "participating in an illegal gathering", "propaganda against the system", and "disrupting public order and peace". Aliyeh Aghdam Doust was reportedly sentenced to three years and four months of imprisonment and 20 lashes. Both are currently believed to be at liberty pending the outcome of appeals.
A third woman activist, Nasim Soltan Beigi, was sentenced on or around 7 July to two years' imprisonment, suspended for five years, for "participating in an illegal demonstration".
If imprisoned, Amnesty International would consider all three women to be prisoners of conscience and call for their immediate, unconditional release. Amnesty International is also calling for their flogging sentences to be commuted immediately. Amnesty International believes that the use of corporal punishment such as flogging constitutes cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment amounting to torture.
Executions
Iran continues to have one of the highest rates of executions in the world. Amnesty International has recorded at least 120 executions since the beginning of 2007, suggesting that by the end of this year the total number of executions could exceed the total of 177 executions that Amnesty International recorded in 2006.
Two recent victims of the Iranian authorities' use of the death penalty were child offenders, whose alleged crimes were committed before the age of 18, and a third was a man who was stoned to death. The two child offenders -- Mohammad Mousavi and Sa'id Qanbar Zahi -- were executed in April and May respectively, in direct contravention of international law, which requires that no-one should be executed for crimes committed while under the age of 18.
The stoning execution of Ja'far Kiani was carried out on 5 July in the village of Aghche-Kand, near Takestan in Qazvin province, despite a 2002 moratorium on the use of stoning issued by the Head of the Judiciary, and a stay of execution which had been ordered in his case. The stoning was confirmed by Judiciary Spokesperson Alireza Jamshidi on 10 July, who said it had been carried out because it was a final sentence, and judges in Iran are independent. It was the first confirmed stoning since the moratorium, although a woman and a man were reportedly stoned to death in Mashhad in May 2006. There are grave concerns that Mokarrameh Ebrahimi, a woman sentenced in the same case, will suffer the same fate unless Iran's Head of the Judiciary intervenes immediately. On 11 July the Islamic Students News Agency reported that a judiciary official had said that the actions of the judge in the case were to be investigated by the Judges' Disciplinary Court.
The Judiciary Spokesperson said that a further 20 executions would be carried out in the coming days of people convicted of crimes such as "repeated rape, 'sodomy' and violent assault and battery".
While Amnesty International recognizes the right of governments to bring to justice those suspected of serious crimes, it opposes the death penalty in all cases as a violation of the right to life and the ultimate form of cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.
The organization does not have any details of those whose executions the Judiciary Spokesperson said were imminent, but is appealing to the Iranian authorities to stay the executions and commute all the death sentences of all of them.
Amnesty International opposes the criminalization of consensual adult sexual relations conducted in private and urges the Iranian authorities to review legislation with a view to decriminalising such acts, although there is no evidence available to Amnesty International that any of these 20 individuals at risk of execution have been sentenced solely for such consensual sexual relations.
Amnesty International outraged at reported stoning to death and fears for victim's co-accused
PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 13/083/2007
09 July 2007
Amnesty International today expressed outrage at the reported execution by stoning of Ja'far Kiani on 5 July 2007 in the village of Aghche-kand, near Takestan in Iran's Qazvin province. The organization urged the Head of the Judiciary, Ayatollah Hashemi Shahroudi, to immediately intervene to prevent the execution by stoning of Mokarrameh Ebrahimi, a woman convicted in the same case.
Ja'far Kiani and Mokarrameh Ebrahimi were sentenced to death by stoning after conviction of adultery. Under article 83 of Iran's Penal Code, execution by stoning is prescribed for adultery committed by a married man or a married woman. Under Iranian law, adultery can only be proved by the testimony of eyewitnesses (the number required varying for different types of adultery), a confession by the defendant (repeated four times), or the judge's "knowledge" that the adultery has taken place. In this case, the basis for the conviction of adultery was the judge's "knowledge" that adultery had taken place. The couple had been imprisoned for the past 11 years in Choubin prison. Their two children are believed to live in prison with their mother. The executions by stoning were initially scheduled for 17 June 2007 after an appeal to the Judicial Commission for Amnesty and Clemency was rejected, but later changed to 21 June. The stonings were to be carried out publicly in the Behesht-e Zahra cemetery, in the presence of the judge from Branch 1 of the Criminal Court who sentenced them to death.
However, the planned executions were again delayed after activists involved in the "Stop Stoning Forever" campaign in Iran broke news of the couple's plight and the Iranian government was exposed to widespread domestic and international demands, including by Amnesty International, to prevent the stonings. Following this, it was reported on the afternoon of 20 June that the Head of the Judiciary, Ayatollah Shahroudi, had issued a written order requiring the judiciary in Takestan to stay the execution temporarily. The couple remained under sentence of death by stoning, but they were thought not to be at imminent risk of execution.
It caused shock, therefore, when the "Stop Stoning Forever" campaign reported on 7 July that Ja'far Kiani had been stoned to death in Aghche-kand two days earlier. According to reports, the stoning was conducted mostly by local governmental and judiciary officials, and only a few members of the public participated.
On 8 July, the newspaper E?temad-e Melli reported that local people and a source connected to one of the local parliamentary representatives had confirmed the execution, although as yet there has been no statement from the judiciary.
Amnesty International is calling on the Head of the Judiciary immediately to clarify whether Ja?far Kiani was stoned to death on 5 July and, if so, whether this was in breach of the stay of execution that he had imposed.
The organization is calling on the Head of the Judiciary and other Iranian authorities to take immediate steps to prevent the execution of Ja?far Kiani?s co-accused, Mokarrameh Ebrahimi, and to commute her sentence without delay
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases as the ultimate cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment. Execution by stoning is particularly cruel, being specifically designed to increase the victim's suffering since the stones are deliberately chosen to be large enough to cause pain, but not so large as to kill the victim immediately.
Amnesty International is also calling on the Iranian government to abolish altogether executions by stoning and to impose a moratorium pending the repeal or amendment of article 83 of the Penal Code. Amnesty International is aware of other individuals under sentence of execution by stoning in Iran: Ashraf Kalhori (f), Iran (f), Khayrieh (f), Shamameh Ghorbani (also known as Malek) (f), Kobra N. (f), Soghra Mola'i (f), Fatemeh (f), and Abdollah F. (m). Amnesty International calls for these, and any other existing sentences of stoning to death in Iran, to be commuted.
Amnesty International also opposes the criminalization of consensual adult sexual relations conducted in private, and further urges the Iranian authorities to review all relevant legislation with the aim of decriminalizing such acts.
Background
In December 2002 Ayatollah Shahroudi, the Head of the Judiciary, reportedly sent a ruling to judges ordering a moratorium on execution by stoning, pending a decision on a permanent change in the law, which was apparently being considered by the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
However, in September 2003, a law concerning the implementation of certain kinds of penalties, including stoning, was passed, which appeared to undermine this moratorium. Also despite the supposed moratorium, Amnesty International continued to record sentences of stoning being passed, though none of these were known to have been implemented until May 2006, when a woman and a man were reportedly stoned to death. The two victims- Abbas (m) and Mahboubeh (f) were reportedly stoned to death in a cemetery in Mashhad, after being convicted of murdering Mahboubeh?s husband, and of adultery - a charge which carries the penalty of stoning. Part of the cemetery was cordoned off from the public, and more than 100 members of the Revolutionary Guard, and Bassij Forces, who had been invited to attend, reportedly participated in stoning the couple to death.
On 21 November 2006, the late Minister of Justice, Jamal Karimi-Rad, denied that stonings were being carried out in Iran, a claim repeated on 8 December 2006 by the Head of the Prisons Organization in Tehran. The campaigners against stoning have since stated in response that there is irrefutable evidence that the Mashhad stoning did indeed occur.
In mid-2006, a group of Iranian human rights defenders began a campaign to abolish stoning, having initially identified 11 individuals at risk of stoning. Since the campaign began, three individuals have been saved from stoning: Hajieh Esmailvand (f), Parisa (f) and Najaf (m). Others have been granted stays of execution, and some of the cases are being reviewed or re-tried.
APPEALS TO: Leader of the Islamic Republic His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei, The Office of the Supreme Leader
Shoahada Street, Qom, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: info@leader.ir -- istiftaa@wilayah.org
Fax: +98 251 7774 2228 (mark FAO Office of His Excellency Ayatollah al
Udhma Khamenei)
Salutation: Your Excellency
Head of the Judiciary His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Justice Building, Panzdah-Khordad Square,
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: +98 21 3390 4986 (please keep trying)
Email: info@dadgostary-tehran.ir (In the subject line write: FAO
Ayatollah Shahroudi)
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
Governor of Kordestan Esmail Najjar
Email: In Persian and Kurdish via the feedback form on the Persian part of the website: http://www.ostan-kd.ir/Default.aspx?tabId=150&cv=4@0_1
In other languages, use the feedback form on the English part of the website: http://en.ostan-kd.ir/Default.aspx?TabID=59
Salutation: Dear Governor
and to diplomatic representatives of Iran accredited to your country.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 17 August 2007.
Trade union activist Mahmoud Salehi, who has been imprisoned since 9 April, is seriously ill and is allegedly not receiving the specialist medical treatment that he requires. Amnesty International believes that he is a prisoner of conscience, detained solely for the peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of expression and association in connection with the 2004 May Day demonstration, and with his peaceful trade union activities.
Mahmoud Salehi is the Spokesperson for the Organisational Committee to Establish Trade Unions, former President of the Saqez Bakery Workers' Association, and co-founder of the Coordinating Committee to Form Workers' Organisations. He was arrested after a peaceful demonstration to celebrate May D
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