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amnesty
international
February 2009 AI Index: MDE 13/012/2009
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In the last
three months, Amnesty International has received reports of waves of arbitrary arrests
and harassment, directed particularly against members of
Amnesty
International has documented repeatedly how vaguely worded legislation is being
used to silence the most active sectors of the Iranian population. Charges such
as “acting against state security”, “spreading lies” “propaganda
against the system”, “creating unease in the public mind”, “insulting the holy
sanctities” and “defamation of state officials” are used to target members of
Amnesty
International is calling on the Iranian authorities to end such repressive
measures and to uphold the rights to freedom of belief, expression, assembly
and association. Vaguely-worded
provisions in the legislation of
Anyone held as
a prisoner of conscience, solely on account of their peaceful exercise of their
rights to freedom of expression, association, or on account of their religious
belief, should be released immediately and unconditionally. Others detained
should be released unless they are to be promptly charged with a recognizably
criminal offence and tried fairly. All detainees and prisoners should be protected
from torture or other ill-treatment.
Amnesty
International has not been permitted to visit
Only
three religious minorities – Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians – are allowed
under Article 13 of Iran’s Constitution to practise their religious faith. By contrast, adherents of unrecognized
religious groups such as
Baha’is, the Ahl-e Haq and Mandaeans (Sabians), are not permitted freedom to
practise their beliefs and are particularly at risk of discrimination or other
violations of their internationally recognized human rights. Converts from Islam and evangelical
Christians who proselytize are also subject to repression.
In
addition, Sunni Muslims, who are mostly members of ethnic minorities, also face
repression in connection with their religious beliefs. Shi’a Muslims who do not subscribe to the
principle of Velayat-e Faqih,[1]
the founding principle of the Islamic Republic of Iran, or who engage in religious practices frowned
upon by the authorities, are also at risk of arbitrary arrest and other
human rights violations in connection with their beliefs.
At least 19 Baha’is – members of an
unrecognized religion in
Nine people – all relatives,
including a child of four, some of whom were visiting from
Following
raids on the homes of 12 Baha’is in
On 26 January 2009, the
houses of seven Baha’is in Mashhad, north-eastern
There are also continuing reports of
destruction of Baha’i cemeteries, closure of other Baha’i businesses apparently
in connection with the faith of the businesses’ owners, and denial of education
to Baha’is either by refusing to admit Baha’i students to schools and
universities, or by expelling them after admission.
Gonabadi Dervishes of the
Nematollahi order[2]
have faced continuing repression by the Iranian authorities over the last three
years. Local Gonabadi Dervish groups meet weekly in places of worship called Hosseiniehs.
Gonabadi Dervish Hosseiniehs in several towns and cities
have been forcibly closed or destroyed in recent months. At least four teachers were dismissed from their
employment in 2008 on account of their participation in Sufi practices. In October 2008, seven were arrested in
Esfahan, and five in
Most recently, at least six Sufis
were arrested on the
On 22 January 2009, Jamshid Lak, a Nematollahi Dervish, was
flogged 74 times after being summoned to court.
He had been sentenced in 2006 to six months’ imprisonment, 74 lashes and
a monetary fine after conviction of “spreading lies”, “slander” and “defamation
of state officials” by Branch 102 of the General Court in Doroud. The charges had been brought against him
after he had written a letter to the country's senior officials in which he complained
of being physically assaulted by a Ministry of Intelligence officer. The
sentence was later reduced to 74 lashes by Branch 7 of Lorestan Appeal Court,
which acquitted him of “spreading lies” and “defamation”, but upheld the charge
of “slander”. His lawyer, Mostafa
Daneshju, who had also represented Dervishes detained following the destruction
of the Gonabadi Hosseinieh in
Jamal
Ghalishorani, 49, his wife Nadereh Jamali, both
converts to Christianity and another man, Armenian Christian Hamik Khachikian were all reportedly
arrested in
Payman
Fattahi,
the leader of a group known as the Al-e Yassin[3] was
arrested on 14 January 2009 after being summoned to an interrogation session at
the Department for Dealing with Religions of the Ministry of Intelligence. Five of his followers – Nazi Hesami (f), Morteza Rasoulian, Sa’id
Sourati, Hamid Sourati and Farhad Moradi - are said to have been arrested the following day. Three are known to have been taken to Section
209 of Evin Prison, which is under the control of the Ministry of Intelligence,
but the whereabouts of Payman Fattahi, Farhad Moradi and Morteza Rasoulian
remain unknown. Payman Fattahi had
previously spent about five months in detention after his arrest in May, during
which he was reportedly tortured and interrogated about a variety of alleged
offences, including “acting against state security”, “establishing a sect”, and
“promoting Christianity and atheism”[4]. The group has also been vilified in
state-owned press.
Amnesty
International has received the names of 37 members of the Ahwazi Arab
minority (see Appendix 1), who were reportedly arrested during and in the
days following demonstrations held in early January 2009, protesting against
the Israeli military action in Gaza.
Their place of detention is unknown.
The contradiction of these arrests with the publicly stated position of
the Iranian authorities over the recent events in
Following a
suicide bombing claimed by the PRMI directed against a police station in
Saravan on 29 December 2008, in which at least four people, including two border
police officers, are said to have been killed[5],
at least 30 residents of Saravan are reported to have been arrested[6],
apparently in reprisal, and taken to unknown locations where they are at risk
of torture or other ill-treatment.
Five months
after the destruction of a Sunni mosque and seminary in Zabol by the Iranian
authorities, at least eight people (some of them Sunni clerics) - Mowlavi
Abdollah Brahui, Mowlavi Zabihollah Brahui, Dr Nour Mohammad Shahbaksh and his brother Abdolrahman
Shahbakhsh, Hafez Mohammadali, Mohammad Omar Baluch, Abdolqader Naroui, and
Mowlavi Ali Naroui remain detained,
apparently without charge or trial, by the Ministry of Intelligence, without
access to family visits or lawyers of their choice.
Increasing
numbers of members of the Kurdish minority are reported to have been arrested
in recent months. Many are said to have been
held in undisclosed locations for weeks or months and then sentenced on
vaguely-worded charges related to national security or for being “at enmity
with God”, which usually carries the death penalty. Most are accused of membership of Kurdish
groups opposed to the Iranian government, usually PJAK, or its parent
organization, the PKK, which wages armed opposition against the government in
Other Kurds
have reportedly been arrested recently, possibly in connection with their
online writings or human rights activities.
They include Ali Roorast, a 60-year-old man arrested on 26
January 2009 at his shop in Mahabad and taken to a Ministry of Intelligence
facility in the town. Two days later,
his son Fayeq Roorast, a 20-year-old first-year law student and blogger,
who is said to be a member of the recently-created Association of Students
defending Human Rights in Kurdistan, and Ali Roorast’s sister, Hajar Roorast,
a teacher and local civil society activist, were also arrested. They are
believed to remain in detention without access to family members or lawyers of
their choice.
A member of
the Azerbaijani minority in
Amnesty
International has also received the names of 18 Sunni Azerbaijanis (See
Appendix 3) who were among a group of more than 30 reportedly arrested on 14
January 2009 in the village of Khanegah-e Sorkh near Oroumiye, in west
On 16 January
2009, security forces arrested about 18 relatives – mostly women aged
between 60 and 85 - of members of the PMOI who are currently residing in
Women’s
rights defenders, who have been among the most active sectors in
Three women – Nafiseh Azad,
Bigard Ebrahim and another who wishes to remain unidentified – were
arrested on 30 January 2009 while collecting signatures in the mountains near
On 1 February 2009, Alieh Aghdam-Doust,
a member of the Campaign for Equality, was arrested and brought under guard to
the Office for the Implementation of Sentences to begin a three-year prison
sentence imposed after she was convicted of participation in a peaceful demonstration
on 12 June 2006 protesting at legalized discrimination against women. The demonstration was forcibly broken up by
police, who injured some of the demonstrators and arrested 70. Alieh
Aghdam-Doust had originally been sentenced to three years and four months
imprisonment and 20 lashes by branch 15 of the
The appeal of four women’s rights
activists against their prison sentence for writing for two websites related to
women’s rights began on 27 January 2009.
Parvin Ardalan, Jelveh Javaheri, Maryam Hosseinkhah and Nahid
Keshavarz were sentenced in September 2008 to six months in jail for their
writings for the sites “Change for Equality” and “Zanestan” – which is now
banned. The “Change for Equality” website was blocked by the authorities for
the nineteenth time earlier this month.
At least five women’s movement
activists have been banned from leaving
National Student Day was
commemorated on 6 December 2008 with two separate meetings at
On 7 December 10 students were
summoned by the head of the Herasat (an agency which oversees security)
and threatened them with severe repercussions should the public forum go
ahead. Despite the attempts to stop the
event from taking place, several hundred students at
According to the website of the
Graduates’ Association (Advar-e Tahkim) at
least 37 students were later summoned by the Disciplinary Office of the
university. At least 18 of them received
orders banning them from continuing their education for various temporary periods.
In addition, possibly as many as 23 students were summoned by the Intelligence
Office in
Said
Razavi Faghih, a former spokesman of the student body, the Office for the
Consolidation of Unity (Daftar-e Tahkim-e Vahdat), was arrested on 2 February
2009 shortly after returning from France where he had been studying. His passport had been seized at the airport
when he returned on 27 January and he was informed that he had been banned from
travel. He was told to appear before a
branch of the
The
formation of independent trade union bodies, which was banned after the Islamic
Revolution, remains prohibited in Iran and those who attempt to form such
bodies risk detention and prosecution.
Ebrahim Madadi, the
vice-president of the board of directors of the Syndicate of Tehran and Suburbs
Bus Company (Sherkat-e Vahed) was arrested on December 27, 2008. According to
his lawyer, he was detained in Evin Prison to begin serving a three and a half
year prison sentence imposed by Branch 14 of the
Bijan Amiri, a car
industry worker and a member of the Workers' Mountain-climbing Board, was
arrested in the Iran Khodrow Company factory on 22 December 2008 by the
company’s security personnel, following a disagreement. He was then handed over
to Ministry of Intelligence officials and was taken to Section 209 of Evin
Prison. Mohsen Hakimi, a member
of the Coordinating Committee to Form Workers' Organizations and a member of
the Iranian Writers' Association, was detained later that same night at Bijan
Amiri’s house after he had paid a visit following Bijan Amiri’s arrest. Security forces reportedly came to search
Bijan Amiri’s house, interrogated everyone who was there, and then arrested
Mohsen Hakimi when they saw his identity card, despite his protests. Mohsen Hakimi has previously been detained
for his trade union activities. Bijan Amiri was released on a personal
guarantee on 28 January 2009, and is likely to face future legal proceedings,
but Mohsen Hakimi remains held in Section 209 of Evin Prison, apparently
without access to family members or a lawyer.
At least five Board members of the
newly-formed, but unrecognized Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Company’s (HTSCC) Workers
Syndicate - Ali Nejati, Feraydoun Nikofard, Jalil Ahmadi, Ghorban Alipour
and Mohammad Haydarimehr - were tried on 20 December 2008 by the
·
Release all prisoners of conscience and drop charges
against any who are facing trial and who would be a prisoner of conscience if
imprisoned;
·
Release any one else who is detained unless they are
to be charged with a recognizably criminal offence and brought to trial
promptly and fairly in accordance with international fair trial standards and
without resort to the death penalty;
·
Lift all travel bans imposed on persons for the
peaceful exercise of their rights to freedom of expression, association and
assembly;
·
Commute all death sentences and impose an immediate and
comprehensive moratorium on executions, as a first step towards ending the use
of this punishment;
·
Review legislation with a view to repealing or
amending all vaguely-worded articles which can be used to restrict freedom of belief,
expression, association and assembly, or which discriminate against women or
members of ethnic, religious or other minorities;
·
Permit all individuals and groups to peacefully
exercise their rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly,
including in ways which dissent from state policies and practices, in the
run-up to the presidential election.
1. Reza Ahmadi
2.
3. Hamid Bawi
4. Ahmad Bani-Toruf
5. Naseem Bani-Toruf
6. Muhammad Janadeleh
7. Amin Cheldawi
8. Zalan Cheldawi
9. Yousef Cheldwai
10. Gahier Hamudi
11. Rashid Haidari
12. Fouad Haidari
13. Faisal Haidari
14. Mahmoud Haidari
15. Hamzah Khasraji
16. Mansour Daghagheleh
17. Jaber Sa'duni
18. Ya'ghub Sa'idawi
19. Mansour Sawari
20. Nasrallah Sawari
21. Yasser Sawari
22. Mahdi Taruf
23. Rahim E'badi
24. Dawud Abiat
25. Ali-Pour Abiat
26. Muhamamdali Abiat
27. Abulamir Fazeli
28. Bashir Kuroshat
29. Amar Kuroshat
30. Hammed Kan'ani
31. Aziz Kan'ani
32. Rasoul Muhammadi
33. Baber Mansouri
34. Ali Musawi
35. Nasser Mahawi
36. Ghazi Naisi
37. Mustafa Naisi
1)
Farzad Kamangar, a 32 year old teacher, was arrested by officers from the Ministry of
Intelligence in
2)
Farhad Vakili, arrested with Farzad Kamangar, and also sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment
for forging documents which must be served before the execution can be carried
out.
3)
Ali Haydarian, arrested with Farzad Kamangar, and also sentenced to 10 years'
imprisonment for forging documents which must be served before the execution
can be carried out.
4)
Abdolvahed
(Hiwa) Boutimar, an environmental activist was arrested in
December 2006. His initial death
sentence was overturned, but was reimposed after a retrial. Journalist Adnan Hassanpour, sentenced to death
in the same case, had his death sentence after conviction of enmity against God
overturned in September 2008 and is awaiting retrial for espionage and working
for banned opposition groups.
5)
Anvar
Hossein Panahi, a teacher from Dehgalan, was arrested in late
2007 or early 2008, along with Arslan Oliya’i.
He was transferred to a Ministry of Intelligence detention facility in
Ghorveh, where he is said to have been tortured, which left him in need of
hospital treatment. He was sentenced to
death for “enmity against God” on 12 July 2008 by the
6)
Arslan
Oliya’i, arrested alongside Anvar Hossein Panahi, was also sentenced to death for
“enmity against God” on 12 July 2008, possibly in connection with membership of
or support for Komala. He appealed against his sentence, but he was informed on
5 August 2008 that it had been confirmed by the Supreme Court.
7)
Sherko
Moarefi, originally from Baneh and previously a refugee in
8)
Farhad
Chalesh, believed to be a Turkish citizen, is believed to have
been arrested in June 2008 during an armed clash with Iranian forces between
the villages of Fakhur and Mirzakhalil.
According to Fars News agency, two PJAK members, one with Turkish and
one with Syrian nationality, were arrested at the time. He was injured in the clash and was taken to
9)
Ramazan
Ahmad, believed to be a Syrian citizen, captured alongside
Farhad Chalesh and also injured in the clash with Iranian forces, was sentenced
along with Farhad Chalesh for “enmity against God” inJanuary 2009 for
membership of PJAK.
10)
Rostam
Arkia, from Maku, was sentenced to death by the
11)
Habibollah
Latifi, a 27-year-old law student at the Azad University of
Ilam who is from Sanandaj, has been in detention since October 2007. His family
were unaware of his location for the first nine days after his arrest, when
they found him in hospital in Sanandaj, suffering internal bleeding, believed
to be the result of torture. He was returned to a Ministry of Intelligence
detention facility after he had received medical treatment, where he was
reportedly further tortured, including by being beaten and suspended upside
down for a long period. This is said to
have resulted in injuries to his head and further internal bleeding. He was sentenced to death by
12)
Fasih (Fateh) Yasmini was
arrested during clashes between PJAK and Iranian security forces in the
13)
Zeynab
Jalalian (f), aged 27 from Maku, is said to have been
sentenced to death in or around January 2009 by
14)
Esma’il
Fattahian, from
1) Barzad Nezami Afshar
2) Mighdad Nizami Afshar
3) Sa’id Ja’farpur
4) Mohammad Samadzadeh
5) Bahram Qolozadeh
6) Nadali Qolozadeh
7) Nadali Alipour
8) Meraj Alipour
9) Heydar Alipour
10) Suleiman Ebrahimzadeh
11) Nasir Qolozadeh
12) Akbar Rostami
13) Eskandar Aslani
14) Allahverdi Aslani
15) Faramaz Ja’fari
16) Mohammed Ja’fari
17) Naqi A.
18) Davoud Sh.
1)
Sakineh Salimian
Zahed,
2)
Zohra Javadi
3)
Ferdows Mahboubi
4)
Ezzat Nouri
5)
Fatemeh Sadeghi
6)
Kobra Amirkhizi
7)
Mrs Poureghbal
8)
Mr Poureghbal
9)
Parisa
Poureghbal
10) Azizah Shafi'i-nia
11) Jamileh Mohammadzadeh
12) Kobra Baderi-roudi
13) Mr Bahrami
14) Atefeh Bahrami
and
several members of the Reza'i family
1)
Aboljalil Reza’i, arrested 3 January
2009
2)
Kazem Reza’i, arrested 3 January 2009
3)
Mohsen Zarinkamar, arrested 3 January
2009
4)
Loghman Ghadir Goltapeh, arrested 3
January 2009
5) Ahmad Kohansal, arrested 10 January 2009
6)
Enayat Taghva arrested 10 January 2009
7)
Abbas Rahmati, arrested 10 January 2009
8)
Sa’id Khal’atbari, arrested 10 January
2009
9)
Arash Roosta’i, arrested 12 January
2009
10)
Hadi Alamli, arrested 12 January 2009
11)
Hamdollah Namju, arrested 13 January 2009
12)
Alma Ranjbar (f), arrested 14 January 2009
INTERNATIONAL
SECRETARIAT,
[1] The political concept of the absolute authority of Velayat-e Faqih (leadership of the learned man) was developed by Ayatollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran. It was enshrined as part of the Iranian Constitution adopted in 1979, which stated that overall political authority lies with the Leader, who must not only possess the requisite political capability to lead, but must also be a holy and pious man, as well as an expert in Islamic Law and a marja-ye taqlid - a religious source of emulation for his followers. A 1989 amendment to the Constitution dropped the requirement for the leader to be a marja, but greatly enhanced the political powers of the Leader.
[2] Gonabadi Dervishes in
[3] Al-e Yassin members describe the group as “an academic organization, formed from many different groups such as The Society of Professional Thinkers and Probers, the Al-e-Yassin Association of Interpreters, Writers and Instructors and the (Iranian) Nature Front Association”. They claim to publish various publications including: The Divine Cognition, The Motivators, The Arts of living, The Science of Success, The Journal of Esoteric Science, and The Art of Divine Living, among others. They claim some of these publications have been forcibly closed, that books by the group’s leader have been banned and that websites are filtered and the members of society are called to the Ministry of Security and Intelligence of Iran, on a regular basis. From communication to Amnesty International by email. Similar information can be seen at http://aleyassin.blogspot.com/
[4] The group has claimed that the accusations levelled against Payman Fattahi during his arrest included religious heresy, Christian orientation, Spiritual Pluralism, Striving to unify Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, Propaganda, Conspiracy against the Islamic System, Religious Degeneration, and spreading spiritual liberalism and American Islamism.
[5] The Iranian authorities stated that four people had been killed (Press TV, 29 December 2008). Pakistani sources, when commenting on the subsequent closure of the international border between Saravan and Panjgur, stated that around 45 people had been killed, http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008\12\30\story_30-12-2008_pg7_12 including 15 to 20 foreign nationals, including Afghans and Uzbeks, who were detained nearby after having entered the country illegally http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008%5C12%5C31%5Cstory_31-12-2008_pg7_37. The PRMI claimed that 150 people had perished in the attack (PRMI statement published on various websites).
[6] http://www.autnews.us/archives/1387,10,00015696
[7] The PMOI is an Iranian opposition group which participated in the
Revolution of 1979 but was subsequently attacked by the Iranian authorities. Thousands of PMOI members were arrested,
tortured and executed in the following years. In 1986, during the Iran-Iraq
war, the PMOI based itself in
[8] Please see Urgent Actions AI Index: MDE 13/023/2003, 10 July 2003; AI Index: MDE 13/024/2003, 31 July 2003; and AI Index: MDE 13/030/2003, 15 August 2003