URGENT ACTION
Woman arrested in Tabriz for her activities on Facebook
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News bulletin of the Iranian Progressive Youth
Postelection Prisoners On Hunger Strike Source: Persian Letters August 1, 2010
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ccording to Ghanavi, Shi’ite scholars state that the charge of Moharebeh is levied against those who rise up in an armed revolt against the government. Ghanavi explains that this is not the case with her client. It is believed that he did take part in postelection gatherings and chanted slogans but his lawyer says the charge of Moharebeh is baseless. Ghanavi explained that the appeal for Kazemi was never really considered by the court and the Moharebeh charge was never looked into. A number of political prisoners incarcerated at Tehran’s Evin prison have reportedly gone on hunger strike to protest their treatment, including their transfer to solitary confinement and cancellation of family visits. The “Kalame” website, which close to opposition leader Mir Hossein Musavi, has published the names of 16 prisoners jailed in last year’s postelection crackdown whom it says are currently on hunger strike. They include prominent human rights defender and former student leader Abdollah Momeni; journalist Bahman Amouee; the chief editor of the “Nameh” monthly, Keyvan Samimi; and well-known student activists Ali Malihi and Majid Tavakoli.
According to the website, some of them have been on hunger strike for some four days now, while others joined the protest on July 29. Amouee’s wife, journalist Zheela Baniyaghoub (who was also jailed in the postelection crackdown), confirmed in a July 28 interview with RFE/RL’s Radio Farda that her husband is on a hunger strike and that prison authorities refused to let her visit him on July 26. They did not explain why. She expressed concern over his health and the health of the other prisoners. She said some of the prisoners are refusing to eat food while others are on a “dry hunger strike,” meaning they’re refusing both food and water. More than 2,000 journalists, activists, students, and others were jailed in the crackdown that followed the June 2009 disputed reelection of Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad. Many were subsequently released, while dozens were sentenced to prison terms.
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Iran Music Video Special: The AwardWinning “Ayatollah, Leave Those Kids Alone” Source: Enduring America July 30, 2010
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n February, just before the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, we posted a music video by an Iranian group, Blurred Vision, “Ayatollah, Leave Those Kids Alone”. Well, this morning the BBC’s flagship radio programme, Today, followed up the story. The music video, a reworking of Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall”, had won a special commendation at the Soho Shorts film festival. “Sepp” and “Sohl”, two of the band members, offered insights into the music and the politics, including this revealing exchange: EVAN DAVIS: [The BBC] has not been covering the post-election furour in much detail lately. What’s actually going on at the moment? There’s obviously a lot of discontent: is it manifesting itself in any way? SEPP & SOHL: It hasn’t stopped. It’s sort of lacked a little bit of the momentum because the repression has become so much [stronger] and grows on a daily basis. There’s so much talk about nuclear advancements. Our goal is to talk about the human rights issue. Watch the video: http://www. youtube.com/watch?v=OIP38eqywc&feature=player_embedded#!
Iran must end harassment of stoning case lawyer Source: Street Journalist July 30, 2010
cuted in an attempt to stop him carrying out his professional activities as a defence lawyer and in support of human rights,” said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa director. Mostafaei was summoned for questioning by judicial officials at Tehran’s Evin prison on Saturday but released after several hours. However he later received a telephone call summoning him back to the prison. It is not known whether he complied with this summons or not.
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mnesty International has urged the Iranian authorities to stop harassing human rights lawyers amid continuing uncertainty over the whereabouts of the defense counsel in a recent controversial stoning case and the arrest of two of Mohammad Mostafaei’s wife, his relatives. Fereshteh Halimi, and her brother, Farhad Halimi, were arrested on Mohammad Mostafaei’s wherea- Saturday evening. They remain held bouts have been unknown since and have been denied access to their shortly after he was released from lawyer. questioning by judicial officials last Saturday. Following his interrogation on SatLate that evening, the Iranian au- urday, Mostafaei wrote on his blog thorities detained his wife and that he was questioned mainly about brother-in-law, prompting fears that his defence of juvenile offenders. He they are being held to put pressure also wrote on his Facebook account: on Mohammed Mostafaei to turn himself in to the authorities, if he is not already being detained. The acclaimed lawyer is defending Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, whose case became the subject of an international outcry when it was reported that she was soon to be executed by stoning.
lawyer rather than face arrest himself for trying to defend victims of human rights abuses. Fereshteh Halimi and Mohammad Mostafaei have a young daughter who is said to be in the care of her maternal grandmother. There is a longstanding pattern of harassment and imprisonment of human rights lawyers in Iran. In 2002, Nasser Zarafshan was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment, partly on trumped-up charges of possessing a firearm and alcohol offences. Abdolfattah Soltani was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment in 2005 for disclosing public documents and “propaganda against the system”. The sentence was overturned on appeal on 2007 but he was arrested again in 2009 and held for two months before being released on bail. Other lawyers currently held for their human rights work include Mohammad Olyaeifard, who is serving a one-year prison sentence imposed for comments he made criticizing the judiciary after the execution of one of his clients, juvenile offender Behnoud Shojaee.
“If Fereshteh and Farhad Halimi are held solely because they are related to Mohammad Mostafaei, or in order to place pressure on him, they are prisoners of conscience and must be immediately released.”
He has also defended many juvenile offenders, political prisoners and others sentenced to stoning. Mostafaei has been a vocal critic of the administration of justice in Iran.
“It is possible they will arrest me”. “The Iranian authorities appear intent on silencing anyone who speaks out against stoning or other issues where Iran’s international human rights obligations are clearly being “Mohammad Mostafaei is a thorn violated,” said Malcolm Smart. in the side of the Iranian authorities “Mohammad Mostafaei should be and we fear that he is being perse- allowed to get on with his job as a
Other Iranian human rights lawyers such as Nobel Prize winner Shirin Ebadi and Shadi Sadr, recipient of various international human rights awards, now work outside of Iran, fearing to return.Mohammad Mostafaei was briefly detained following the disputed 2009 presidential election before being released on bail.
URGENT ACTION | Appeals Court Finalizes Sentence: Execution Order for Jafar Kazemi Imminent Source: HRANA July 29 2010
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he execution verdict for Jafar Kazemi was upheld by branch 36 of the Appeals Court by judge Hojatoleslam Zargari. His file has now been processed to carry out the death sentence. There is no legal recourse to save Jafar Kazemi’s life. Kazemi’s lawyer Ms. Ghanavi told a human rights website that her client has spent long periods of time in solitary confinement. Kazemi was originally sentenced by branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court. Roudabeh Akbari, Kazemi’s wife, wrote a letter to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urging him to take steps to stop her husband’s execution. Kazemi was working as a lithograph for textbooks and pamphlets for Amirkabir University when he was arrested on September 18, 2009 at Haft-e Tir Square. He was taken to solitary confinement in ward 209 of Evin prison and spent 74 days there before he was transferred to ward 350. Kazemi was also imprisoned from 1981 until the end of 1989. Ghanavi has stated that her client
was issued the charge of Moharebeh (waging war against God) for his alleged affiliation with the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization. Kazemi has not accepted the charge during his interrogations. AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL | TAKE URGENT ACTION FOR JAFAR KAZEMI! According to Ghanavi, Shi’ite scholars state that the charge of Moharebeh is levied against those
who rise up in an armed revolt against the government. Ghanavi explains that this is not the case with her client. It is believed that he did take part in post-election gatherings and chanted slogans but his lawyer says the charge of Moharebeh is baseless. Ghanavi explained that the appeal for Kazemi was never really considered by the court and the Moharebeh charge was never looked into.
Political Prisoner Sentenced to Life Describes Hellish Conditions in Rajai Shahr Prison Source: Persian2English July 29 2010
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r. Saeed Masouri, a prisoner in ward 10, cell 4 of Rajai Shahr “Gohardasht” prison located in Karaj, was arrested December 2000 in Dezful (southwestern Iran). He was sentenced to death by the Preliminary and Appeals courts for association with the PMOI. His sentence was eventually changed to life in prison. He was transferred to Rajai Shahr several years ago. In ten years of detention to date, Masouri spent a total of three years in solitary confinement in Dezful and Tehran. He is detained under hard conditions and has experienced horrible psychological and physical tortures. There is a reason why it is like an inferno for prisoners inside Iran’s Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghuraib. Prisoners hope for death by execution because it is an easier and more attainable way to rid the pain. For more information regarding this news please go to: http://persian2english.com/?p=13193
Woman arrested in Tabriz for her activities on Facebook Source: Street Journalist July 28, 2010
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n Sunday, July 25 2010 at 6AM, The Security Forces detained Hanieh Farshi by entering her house.
Rahana reports, Security Forces, after detaining her, searched her home and confiscated computer, telephone and her personal belongings. She was first taken to Intelligence Detention Center in Tabriz and then transferred to Evin Prison. This Tabriz citizen has been charged with “insulting the sacred, linked to foreigners” which is being said it is due to her activities on Facebook. There is no information available about her and her family is not being allowed to contact her either. Mrs. Farshi is 28 years old and has only an old mother and never had any history of political activities.
25 Female Political Prisoners Receive a Total of Over 110 Years in Prison Source: RAHANA July 23, 2010
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wenty-five female political prisoners detained in Evin public ward have been sentenced to over 110 years in prison in total. This article contains the names and sentences of 25 female political prisoners confined in Evin prison in Tehran. Out of the 25 female political prisoners detained in Evin prison, Mahboubeh Karami, Shiva Nazar Ahari, Kobra Zaghedoost, Farah Vazeham and Fatemeh Khorramjoo are in prison limbo, while the rest have received heavy sentences. According to RAHANA’s reporter, there are also more female political detainees confined in harsh conditions inside solitary cells and other wards of Evin prison. Zahra Jabbari, an Iranian-Dutch citizen is one of those prisoners who has been detained in ward 209 of Evin prison since Ashura street protests of 27 December 2009. The list of female political prisoners and their sentences is as follows: Nazila Dashti, 3 years Rashin (Ozra) Ghazi Mirsaeed, 2 years Mahboubeh Karami, Undecided Bahareh Hedayat, 9.5 years Motahhareh Bahrami Haghighi, 10 years Reyhaneh Haj-Ebrahim Dabbagh, 15 Years Maryam Akbari Monfared, 15 Years Fatemeh Ziaei Azad, 2 years Hengameh Shahidi, 6 years Mahdieh Golrou, 3 years and 4 months Alieh Eghdamdoost, 3 years Kobra Zaghedoost, 1 year in prison limbo Zahra Jabbari, 4 years Kefayat Malek Mohammadi, 5 years Fatemeh Rahnama, 10 years Farah Vazeham, Undecided Masoumeh Yavari, 7 years Shabnam Madadzadeh, 5 years Shiva Nazar Ahari, Undecided Fatemeh Khorramjoo, Undecided Parvin Javadzadeh, 8.5 years Soosan Tabyanian, 1.5 years Manijeh Nasrollahi, 3 years and 4 months Sahba Rezvani, 3 years Atepheh Nabavi, 4 years
Iranian Queer Organization Request Annulling of Execution Order for Ebrahim Hamidi Source: RAHANA July 15, 2010
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nother Execution Ordered in Iran based on false accusation of samesex sexual harassment IRanian Queer Organization – IRQO Monday, July 12 2010 Following a dispute between two families on 2008 Ebrahim Hamidi’s execution orders was issued for the third time last week in the city of Tabriz, Azarbijan, Mohamad Mustafaei, lawyer of juveniles sentenced to execution reported in his letter to the public. Mr. Mustafaei published a report at the time about the procedures of the arrest and initial interrogations which resulted in the first execution order. For more information on the following topics please go to: http://www.rhairan.us/en/?p=5507
Based on false allegations a young man will be executed Criminalization of homosexuals is a crime Our fear for the family and friends of the homosexual living in Iran Islamic Penal Code: Homosexuality Chapter Male homosexuality Female homosexuality
Iran’s leadership guilty of crimes against humanity Source: The Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation June 8, 2010
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ays report by UN jurist
ers were guilty of implementing a fatwa issued by Ayatollah Khomeini in July 1988, which sentenced thousands of political prisoners to death without a trial. At Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison and twenty other prisons throughout Iran, dissidents who had previously been sentenced to various prison terms and had refused to recant their religious beliefs were blindfolded and paraded before judges who directed thousands to the gallows. “They were hung from cranes, four at a time, or in groups of six from ropes hanging from the stage of the prison assembly hall. Their bodies were doused with disinfectant, packed in refrigerated trucks, and buried by night in mass graves, the locations of which are still withheld from their families.”
Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, recent presidential candidate Mir Hossein Moussavi, and a number of sitting and retired judges and officials, including former head of the Supreme Court, Abdolkarim Mousavi Ardebili, are all liable to arrest under international law for complicity in the murder of thousands of political prisoners at the end of the Iran/Iraq War. This is the conclusion of a 145page report by Geoffrey Robertson QC, who urges the Security Council to set up a special court, along the lines of the International Tribunals for Yugoslavia and Rwanda, to try these men “for one of the worst single human rights atrocities since the Mr Robertson concludes that the leaders of Iran planned for this “final Second World War”. The report concludes that the lead- solution” when it became clear that
they would have to accept a truce with Iraq. Death committees (a religious judge, a prosecutor and an intelligence official) were sent to prisons to arrange the extermination of steadfast sympathizers of Mojahedin Khalq Organization. Then came the turn of the Marxists and atheists who were born in Muslim families and were declared apostates. The men were hanged and the women were tortured until they repented. The evidence set out in the report shows that the victims were killed because of their beliefs about religion – because they were atheists or because they were Muslims who opposed the Ayatollah’s version of Islam (the “Guardianship of the Jurist”) that had been adopted by the theocratic state. Mr Robertson points out that the crime of genocide includes the destruction of groups because of their religious beliefs or
non-beliefs and that those who implemented the fatwa, which directed the extermination of prisoners because of their different religious beliefs, were committing genocide. The significance of this finding is that it would give the international community a legal basis for arresting many of the present leadership of Iran.
Mr. Robertson names other currently powerful judges as being complicit in the killings. He says that the scale and cold-bloodedness of these killings, and the fact that they were carefully planned, makes them of greater infamy that the slaughter at Srebrenica and the allied prisoner death marches by Japan at the end of World War II.
The report uncovers official statements justifying the slaughter and identifies those present leaders who are suspected of participating in its implementation and cover-up. The best known are the current Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and Hojatoleslam Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Commander of the Armed Forces at the time, who would have dispatched the killing squads. The report uncovers hitherto unknown statements by Mir Hossein Moussavi justifying the action, the then Prime Minister and now one of the leaders of the reform movement. Mr Robertson says “he has not given any account of his role at the time, or his reaction to it today, although he is frequently asked. His statements at the time were part of the cover-up”.
The report accuses Tehran of continuing to deny relatives of the victims their right to know where their loved ones are buried. Some months after they were killed, the families were given plastic bags containing their belongings, but were refused all information about their burial places. The location of mass graves has been established in Tehran’s cemetery area, but attempts by families to gather there to mourn on anniversaries of the massacre have been dispersed by the authorities. The situation in Iran today, the report argues, illustrates the consequences of impunity for crimes against humanity that have never been properly investigated or acknowledged. Some of the leaders who engaged in such a level of lawlessness and barbarity against their own people
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and their acolytes remain in powerful positions in the judiciary and the state, whose Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has in the past year called upon the Revolutionary Guards to use violence against peaceful protests. “Those staged television show trials of the 1980s, with televised ‘confessions’ by leftist prisoners wracked by torture and fear for their families, writes Geoffrey Robertson, re-emerged in 2009, this time featuring ‘Green Movement’ reformists confessing to participation in an international conspiracy. Once again, dissidents are being prosecuted for being moharebs (“warriors against God”) and some are being sentenced to death”. Mr Robertson argues that the Security Council has the power and the duty to set up a special court to prosecute those responsible for the massacre “because there is no statute of limitations on crimes against humanity”. The inquiry was conducted for the Washington-based Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation, an NGO concerned with human rights and democracy in Iran.