Human Rights Crisis In Iran

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اطلاعيه ى دبيرخانه بين المللى حزب سوسياليست فرانسه درباره حقوق بشر و سنگسارهاى قضايى در ايران



تجاوزات به حقوق بشر در ايران به حد غير قابل تحملى رسيده اند. سرکوب تنها متوجه نيروهاى سياسى اپوزيسيون، روزنامه نگاران، روشنفکران، دانشجويان اصلاح طلب و متعهد نمى شود، بلکه شامل حال زنانى نيز مى گردد که براى لغو قوانين ناعادلانه ى ضد زن مبارزه مى کنند و همچنين کارگران، سنديکاليست ها و فعالينى را در بر مى گيرد که گهگاه به خاطر برگزارى روز جهانى کار (اول ماه مه) به چندين سال حبس محکوم مى شوند.
اين سياست سرکوب در ايران، اخيرا،ً با از سر گرفتن سنگسارهاى قضايى که خلاف تعهد دولت ايران در سال 2002 مبنى بر تعليق اين عمل غير قابل پذيرش در عصر ما ست، همراه شده است.

انجمن دفاع از حقوق بشردر ايران به رياست خانم شيرين عبادي، برنده ى جايزه نوبل، با انتشار ليست طولانى قربانيان سرکوب طى 4 ماه اخير، موج اخير سرکوب ها را افشا نموده است.

حزب سوسياليست فرانسه انزجار خود را نسبت به نقض مداوم حقوق بشر در ايران و بويژه ازسرگرفتن سنگسارها اعلام ميدارد. حزب سوسياليست مجدداً از اتحاديه اروپا ومقدمتاً ا از مقامات فرانسوى مى خواهد که بر مقامات ايرانى فشار آورند تا به اين اعمال غير قابل قبول پايان دهند.

پاريس
16 ژوييه 2007 - 25 تير 1386

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http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engmde130592007

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Iran: Further informatiion on fear of torture / possible prisoner of conscience: Mohammad Sadiq Kabudvand (m)
PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 13/091/2007
19 July 2007

Further information on UA 171/07 (MDE 13/081/2007, 4 July 2007) Fear of
torture/Possible prisoner of conscience

IRAN Mohammad Sadiq Kabudvand (m), human rights defender and journalist

Iranian Kurdish journalist and human rights defender Mohammad Sadiq Kabudvand
was reportedly allowed a short telephone call to his family on 17 July, in
which he confirmed that he was detained in Section 209 of Evin Prison, and said
that he was being accused of "acting against national security", "propaganda
against the system" and "cooperating with groups opposed to the system". He
reportedly said that whenever he was interrogated he was blindfolded and bound
hand and foot, and complained about the poor conditions he was held in.

He was arrested on 1 July at his place of work in Tehran by security officers
in plain clothes, the day the publication ban on his newspaper Payam-e Mardom-e
Kurdestan (Kurdistan People’s Message) reportedly expired. He is facing a
one-year prison sentence in connection with articles published in this
newspaper, but his current detention does not appear to be connected with this.
His lawyer has not been allowed to meet him and has complained about suspicious
phone calls from people claiming to be members of the Intelligence Ministry
received by Mohammad Sadiq Kabudvand’s family. Amnesty International is
concerned that he may be at risk of torture and ill-treatment and believes he
is very likely to be a prisoner of conscience, detained solely for the peaceful
exercise of his rights to freedom of expression and association.

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 Kurdistan 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
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 mainly from the Kurdistan Independent
Life Party (PJAK), which reportedly began operations in 2004, and is affiliated
to the Turkey-based Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Iran has accused foreign
governments of fomenting unrest among its ethnic minorities.

Other Kurdish human rights defenders have also been detained recently. 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 a Kurd,
Showan Qaderi, by the security forces. He had appealed against this sentence
but his appeal is reported to have been rejected, although neither Ajlal Qavami
nor his lawyer was told this before he was arrested.

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گزارشگران بدون مرز : گزارشگران بدون مرز نگرانى عميق خود را از صدور حکم اعدام برای دو روزنامه نگار کرد عدنان حسن پور و عبدالواحد بوتيمار، توسط دادگاه انقلاب اسلامى مريوان اعلام مى کند.
" صدور اين احکام مرگ اقدامى شرم آور و فضاحت بار است. همزمان هم نشانگر بى توجهى جمهوری اسلامى ايران به موازين جهانى بشر دوستانه و هم استفاده از هر وسيله ای برای به سکوت وادار کردن روزنامه نگاران منتقد و مدافعان حقوق بشر است. ما جامعه ی جهانى را فرا مى خوانيم تا از ايران بخواهند در تصميم خود تجديدنظر و از اعدام اين دو روزنامه نگار که تنها جرم شان انجام وظيفه ی اطلاع رسانى ست، صرف نظر کند. ايران با ۹ روزنامه نگار زندانى در حال تبديل شدن به بزرگترين زندان روزنامه نگاران در جهان است."
عدنان حسن پور روزنامه نگار هفته نامه توقيف شده آسو توسط دادگاه انقلاب اسلامى مريوان به اعدام محکوم شده است. اين روزنامه نگار در تاريخ ٢٢ خرداد در دادگاهى غير علنى و بدون حضور وکيل خود به اتهام "اقدام عليه امنيت ملى"، " جاسوسى" و "محاربه" محاکمه و در تاريخ ٢٦ تيرماه حکم صادره به خانواده و يکى از وکلايش آقای سيروان هوشمندی ابلاع شده است. از جمله اتهامات عدنان حسن پور مصاحبه با راديو صدای امريکا بوده است.
عبدالواحد (هيوا) بوتيمار همکار نشريه آسو و عضو فعال انجمن غير دولتى سبزچيا نيز توسط دادگاه انقلاب اسلامى مريوان به مجازات اعدام محکوم شده است.
عدنان حسن پور و عبدالواحد (هيوا) بوتيمار از تاريخ ٢۹ تيرماه به زندان اطلاعات سنندج انتقال يافته اند.
گزارشگران بدون مرز دستگيری آکو کردنسب روزنامه نگار هفته نامه کرفتو را در روز ٣٠ تيرماه توسط ماموران وزارت اطلاعات در دفتر اين نشريه محکوم مى کند. اين روزنامه نگار که علت دستگيری اش هنوز اعلام نشده است، پس از تفهيم اتهام در شعبه چهار دادگاه سنندج به زندان اطلاعات اين شهر انتقال يافته است.

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Families claim Iranian student activists were tortured in prison

Fears that Iran is systematically mistreating political prisoners and dissidents have been further fuelled after the parents of three detained student activists claimed their sons had been tortured.
In a letter to the country's judiciary chief, Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, the parents alleged that the students have suffered physical and psychological abuses since being incarcerated in Tehran's Evin prison in May.

The students - Majid Tavakoli, Ahmad Ghasaban and Ehsan Mansouri - were among eight from Amir Kabir University arrested for allegedly publishing anti-Islamic articles. The arrests followed a series of crackdowns on activists at the university, where students staged angry protests last December against president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The arrested students claim the articles were forgeries aimed at discrediting pro-democracy activists. But their parents say they have been pressured to make false confessions and have called on Mr Shahroudi to secure their release.
The letter - published on some opposition websites - claims the students have been subjected to prolonged interrogations, severe beatings, sleep deprivation and threats against their families while in the prison's notorious Section 209, where political detainees are held under the supervision of the intelligence ministry. It lists 15 separate counts of physical abuse, including being forced to stand on one leg for prolonged periods, being struck on their handcuffs to cause severe swelling and being lashed with cables.

Interrogators are also said to have falsely told the students that their relatives had suffered heart attacks or lost their jobs due to their imprisonment.

"How much tolerance does a 22-year-old person have in the face of this torment?" the letter asks. "What has happened is far removed from constitutional, legal and civil rights, and from moral and religious principles. Whatever is forced out of our children under the title of 'confession' has happened under the most severe psychological and physical pressures."

The letter's claims are apparently based on the testimony of five students who were released. It says the students have been alternately held in cramped one-person cells and forced to share with dangerous criminals. Iranian officials have denied the claims and insist torture is not practised in the country's prisons.

The accusations come amid rising concerns over human rights in the face of government claims that opposition elements are trying to topple the Islamic system in a US-backed "soft revolution".

Last week state television aired a programme in which two American-Iranian academics, Haleh Esfandiari and Kian Tajbakhsh, appeared to acknowledge taking part in activities aimed at undermining the system. The pair, specialists with two US-based thinktanks, have been in prison for two months. Iran's intelligence minister, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ezhei, announced that further arrests had been carried out in connection with the case.

However, campaigners say the supposed threat is a fig leaf to justify a general clampdown, which this week took the form of stepped-up police patrols to catch women whose dress and head-covering is deemed insufficiently Islamic. Authorities also announced that 12 kidnappers, rapists and drug traffickers had been hanged.

"We have no crime called a soft or velvet revolution in our legal code," Shirin Ebadi, the Nobel peace prize-winning human rights lawyer, said. "The freedom to gather in public is much less than before, there are tougher restrictions on NGOs and there are students who have been in solitary confinement for 60 days. These are all human rights violations and things are getting worse."

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Iran: Prisoner of conscience/Fear of torture: Amir Yaghoub-Ali (m)
PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 13/096/2007
30 July 2007

UA 195/07 Prisoner of conscience/Fear of torture

IRAN Amir Yaghoub-Ali (m), aged 20, student and advocate of equal rights
for women

Amir Yaghoub-Ali, an active member of the men's committee of the Campaign for
Equality, was arrested on 11 July in Tehran. He had been collecting signatures
in support of the Campaign, which aims to collect one million signatures from
Iranians in support of an end to legalised discrimination against women.
Amnesty International considers him a prisoner of conscience, detained solely
for the peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of expression. Since his
arrest he has been permitted to telephone his relatives once.

Amir Yaghoub-Ali is a student at Tehran's Allameh Tabataba’i University, but
was suspended from his studies at the time of his arrest, because of his
student activism.

On 12 July, his 20th birthday, a Revolutionary Court judge issued a 48-hour
detention order. He should have been released on 14 July, but remained in
custody; on 15 July he was transferred to Section 209 of Evin Prison in Tehran,
which is run by the Ministry of Intelligence.

The Campaign website (http://www.wechange.info/english/spip.php?article110 )
quoted Ali’s mother as saying, "Mr Sobhani, the judge, informed us that there
are 11 charges against Ali, and that he would have to remain in Evin prison
until these charges are investigated. I asked the judge what exactly these
charges were. My daughter asked what illegal activity has he engaged in? Is
collection of signatures illegal?"

The judge reportedly replied, "We are not concerned with its legal or illegal
nature. We have to see what the 'leaning' and intent of his activities were.
Amir is a man, why has he concerned himself with the activities of women? He
should go and focus on his studies."

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The Campaign for Equality was launched in August 2006. So far, 13 of its
members have been arrested while collecting signatures, an activity which is
not forbidden under Iranian law.

Several students who have recently been released from Section 209 of Evin
Prison have alleged that they were tortured or ill-treated there. This included
severe beatings, solitary confinement in confined spaces, food and sleep
deprivation, and being forced to stand or do strenuous exercise for long
periods.

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TEHRAN, Iran - Iran publicly hanged seven men Wednesday in the second round of collective executions in 10 days, state media reported.



"These people were hanged on charges of rape, kidnapping and robbery," the Web site of the state's broadcasting company reported, quoting an unnamed prosecutor.

Five of the men were hanged in one execution in the center of Mashad, a town 620 miles northwest of Tehran, the capital, state media said.

The report said the two other convicts, both 24, were hanged in a different neighborhood of Mashad, close to where they were accused of having raped a woman in 2005.

Earlier in July authorities hanged 12 criminals convicted on similar charges in Tehran.

Rape, armed robbery and drug trafficking are among capital offenses in Iran.

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بيانيه نزدیک به 800 تن از مدافعان حقوق برابر، درباره وضعيت بهاره هدايت و امير يعقوبعلي
چهار شنبه10 مرداد 1386



در زماني که، دفاع از حقوق زنان و تلاش براي تغيير مناسبات تبعيض آميز جنسيتي، به يکي از ريشه اي ترين حرکت هاي مسالمت آميز کنشگران جنبش هاي اجتماعي ايران بدل شده است؛ و در شرايطي که متاثر از اين تلاش ها، خوشبختانه بخش هايي از جناح هاي مختلف حاکميت، هم راي شده اند تا قوانين ناعادلانه اي چون ديه، ارث و شهادت را اصلاح کنند؛ متاسفانه هنوز، جرياناتي خشونت گرا وجود دارند که تحمل مواجه شدن با واقعيت هاي اجتماعي را ندارند. جرياناتي که اوليه ترين حقوق انساني را ناديده گرفته و پايمال مي کنند. فشارها و برخوردهاي غيرقانوني و خشونت آميز يک ماهه اخير، از قبيلِ دستگيري و بازداشتِ غيرقانوني فعالان جنبش هاي زنان، دانشجويي، سنديکايي و معلمان، و صدور احکام سنگين حبس و شلاق براي فعالان جامعه مدني (همچون عاليه اقدام دوست، دلارام علي، مريم ضيا و... براي شرکت در تجمع مسالمت آميز 22 خرداد ميدان هفت تير و...)، صدور احکام اعدام براي فعالان مدني (همچون عدنان حسن پور و هيوا بوتيمار که در کردستان به فعاليت هاي مدني و مسالمت آميز مشغول بودند)، گسترش فضاي امنيتي بر شهر به بهانه پوشش زنان، پخش برنامه هاي اعتراف تلويزيوني، توقيف مطبوعات، و محدود ساختن گردش آزاد اطلاعات ، موجِ جديدي از ناامني را هشدار مي دهند.

به نظر مي رسد اين بار، هدف و کانونِِ فشارها، نقاط وصل جنبش هاي اجتماعي هستند. کنشگراني که با ايجاد وحدت ميان جنبش ها به فعاليت اجتماعي مي پردازند، مورد کينه قرار گرفته اند. امير يعقوبعلي و بهاره هدايت هر دو از فعالان جنبش زنان و جنبش دانشجويي هستند که بيش از سه هفته است در بازداشت به سر مي برند و از وضعيت آنها خبري نيست. بهاره هدايت، عضو شوراي مرکزي تحکيم وحدت، و از فعالان جنبش زنان، در روز 18 تيرماه در تحصن شش نفره اي که به منظور درخواست آزادي براي دانشجويان بازداشت شده اميرکبير انجام گرفته بود، دستگير شد و اکنون در سلول انفرادي بند 209 زندان اوين بسر مي برد. و امير يعقوبعلي، از اعضاي جوان کمپين يک ميليون امضاء و عضو انجمن منتخب دانشگاه علامه طباطبايي، از آنجايي که به عنوان يک مرد توانسته است گفتمان برابري جنسيتي را فراتر از جداسازي هاي نظام مردسالار با مردم در ميان گذارد، در روز 20 تيرماه هنگام جمع آوري امضاء در پارک انديشه بازداشت شد و در حال حاضر در زندان اوين بسر مي برد. علاوه بر دستگيري و بازداشت ناموجه اين دو تن؛ عدم امکان ارتباط و ملاقات آنها با خانواده و وکلايشان، و همچنين احتمال وجود فشارهاي ديگري در داخل زندان، نگراني درباره وضعيت آنها را دوچندان مي کند.

ما امضاء کنندگان اين بيانيه، ضمن اعتراض نسبت به بازداشت اين دو فعال جنبش زنان و رفتارهاي غيرقانوني و خشونت آميز با آنان؛ خواستار آزادي هرچه سريعتر امير يعقوبعلي و بهاره هدايت و ديگر دانشجويان بازداشت شده، و نيز لغو احکام سنگين، از جمله لغو احکام اعدام هاي اخير براي فعالان مدني کشور هستيم.

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Iran: Further information on prisoner of conscience / fear of torture: Amir Yaghoub-Ali (m)
PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 13/102/2007
09 August 2007

Further Information on UA 195/07 (MDE 13/096/2007, 30 July 2007) – Prisoner of
Conscience/Fear of torture

IRAN Amir Yaghoub-Ali (m) aged 20, student and advocate of equal rights
for women

Amir Yaghoub-Ali was released on 8 August on bail of 20 million toumans (around
US$21,500). He had spent four weeks in custody.

He was arrested on 11 July while collecting signatures in support of the
Campaign for Equality (www.wechange.info), which aims to collect one million
signatures from Iranians in support of an end to legalised discrimination
against women. Amnesty International considered him a prisoner of conscience,
detained solely for the peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of
expression. He is likely to face prosecution in the future.

No further action is requested from the UA network at present. Amnesty
International will continue to monitor Amir Yaghoub-Ali's situation, and take
further campaigning action as necessary.

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Change for Equality: The first court case related to collection of signatures in support of the One Million Signatures Campaign was held and a sentence issued. Nasim Sarabandi and Fatemeh Dehdashti appeared in court and were sentenced on August 12, 2007. Both Nasim and Fatemeh were charged with actions against the state through spread of propaganda and received a suspended sentence of six months for the period of 2 years.

These two activists involved in the One Million Signatures Campaign were arrested on the Metro in January while collecting signatures in support of the Campaign’s petition which asks the legislature to reverse discriminatory laws against women. Nasim and Fatemeh spent 24 hours in detention. At first it appeared that their case was closed and no charges would be brought. But the two were later called into court where they were charged with actions against the state through spreading of propaganda—charges which the two denied. This sentence was issued despite the fact that the collection of signatures is not identified as a crime in Iranian law, and is one of the most civil and peaceful approaches for expression of demands.

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Iran detains two reformist journalists

TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran on Wednesday confirmed it was holding two reformist journalists behind bars for spreading propaganda against its Islamic system and disclosing information to foreign news websites.

Judiciary spokesman Alireza Jamshidi told reporters that journalist Soheil Asefi is "in detention and is being investigated."

Fellow journalist Farshad Ghorbanpour is also being detained and bail of 1.5 billion rials (around 160,000 dollars) has been set for his release, said Jamshidi.

"There has been a plea for a lower bail sum and we are working on this so he can be released on a lighter bail," he added.

Both are accused of "spreading lies and material against the system and giving news to foreign websites," he said.

According to press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Asefi was arrested on August 4 while Ghorbanpour was detained on July 31. Both are being held in Tehran's Evin prison.

Jamshidi's comments were the first time their arrest has been officially confirmed by the authorities.

Judiciary officials said there was no information suggesting that another journalist, Masood Bastani, was also being detained.

There has been growing pressure from conservatives on the reformist press in Iran and moderate dailies Shargh (East) and Ham Mihan (Compatriot) have both been banned by the authorities over the past month.

Culture Minister Mohammad Hossein Saffar Harandi has denounced a "creeping coup in the press" while the authorities last month also banned the moderate labour news agency ILNA.

Iran's moderate press enjoyed a brief flowering during the rule of reformist president Mohammad Khatami but this was later constrained by a spate of closures and arrests, a trend continued under his successor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Shargh's closure leaves the dailies Etemad Melli (National Confidence), Etemad (Confidence) and the economic daily Sarmayeh (Capital) as the chief remaining voices of moderates in the press.

Jamshidi also said that the sentencing to death last month of two Kurdish journalists for being "enemies of God" had nothing to do with their work as writers.

The death sentence sparked condemnation in Europe, prompting Iran's foreign ministry to say that the matter was an internal issue.

Adnan Hassanpour and Abdolvahed "Hiva" Botimar were sentenced to death on July 16 by a revolutionary court in Marivan, in Iran's northeastern Kordestan province.

According to Reporters Without Borders, the two journalists wrote for the magazine Aso (Horizons), before it was banned in August 2005.

"Definitely the accusation is nothing to do with reporting. The main accusation is they have been an enemy of God by fighting against the system," said Jamshidi.

"In a search in one of their houses we found 57 rockets used for rocket propelled grenades and other munitions. They also have as an accusation an illegal exit from Iran and cooperation with a enemy group."

However Jamshidi emphasised the death sentence was not final.

"They have been sentenced to hanging but they had 20 days to appeal since the verdict was announced to them so this verdict is not the final verdict," he said.