Amnesty International URGENT ACTION

PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 13/020/2004
26 March 2004

Further Information on UA 181/03 (MDE 13/015/2003, 20 June 2003) and
follow-up (MDE 13/021/2003, 15 July 2003) - Torture/Ill-treatment/Fear for
safety/Medical concern
IRAN Manuchehr Mohammadi (m), aged 36, student activist and political
prisoner Simin Mohammadi (f), aged 26, student (his sister)

New nam e: Akbar Mohammadi (m), aged 34, student activist (their brother)

It is now known that Simin Mohammadi was released on 22 July 2003,
following a bail payment of 10 million Tomans (approx. US $12,000 at the
official rate) in the form of property deeds. Her brother Manuchehr's
prison sentence has been extended to nine years, and he has been flogged.
Their brother Akbar is also in prison, where he has been denied urgent
medical treatment.

Simin was arrested with her father Mohammad on 8 July 2003. She reportedly
spent most of her two weeks' imprisonment in solitary confinement, and was
in a prison hospital for about four days with breathing problems. She was
allegedly beaten following her arrest. During interrogation she was
threatened with further beatings, and told that she could be killed. A date
has not been set for her trial, and the exact charges she faces are not
known, but she is believed to have been accused of committing "acts against
state security". Her father, who was released on bail after he had a heart
attack while in solitary confinement, will be in court with her, facing the
same accusations.

Simin's brother, student activist Manuchehr Mohammadi, was arrested on 13
July 1999, in connection with his participation in large student
demonstrations against press laws limiting freedom of expression. His
brother Akbar was also arrested in the course of the same events. Akbar
Mohammadi was initially sentenced to death, but this was reduced on appeal
to 15 years' imprisonment, which he is now serving in Evin prison. He is
reported to be suffering from serious health problems for which he has been
denied medical treatment.

At the end of November 2003, Akbar Mohammadi was taken to the Taleghani
hospital in Tehran suffering from internal bleeding, and was operated on.
He was kept under 24-hour guard and was not allowed any visitors. A
hospital doctor reportedly recommended he stay in hospital for a month, but
he was transferred back to Evin prison after six days. According to his
family, his health has worsened since then, as the operation on his stomach
was unsuccessful. He is now reported to be extremely ill, but has not
received any medical treatment. His family's repeated requests for him to
be granted leave to go to hospital were reportedly denied until early March
2004, when they were told that he would be released on bail of 36 million
Tomans (approx. US$42,500). The Mohammadi family cannot afford this.

Manuchehr Mohammadi's seven-year prison sentence was extended by two years
at the end of November 2003. He reportedly received one additional year for
talking to foreign media while on leave from prison, and a further year for
issuing political statements while in prison. While on leave between 11 and
17 June 2003, he had given telephone interviews to a radio station and a
television station run by Iranians based in the United States, who are
opposed to the Iranian government. On his return, he was taken to Band (or
'Section') 325, a Revolutionary Guards prison. There he was kept in
solitary confinement for 37 days, and was tortured. He was chained in a
crouching position with his mouth gagged, in a vermin-infested cell, and
was frequently beaten. At a family visit on 5 September, shortly after he
was returned to Evin prison, his mother fainted when she saw him. His face
was badly bruised, he could barely walk, and said only one sentence: that
he had been tortured at Band 325. At the end of October 2003 he received 30
lashes, and a fine of 30,000 Tomans (US$36), for insulting judicial
officials conducting an inspection of Evin prison. He is said to be facing
other, unspecified charges.


RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible,
in Persian, English, French, Arabic or your own language:

expressing concern for the health of Akbar Mohammadi, and seeking
assurances that he is being treated humanely, and will be given any medical
treatment he may require;
expressing concern that Manuchehr Mohammadi reportedly had his prison
term extended by two years for giving interviews while on leave and issuing
political statements, which do not appear to be internationally
recognizable criminal offences;
expressing concern that he reportedly received 30 lashes for insulting an
official, and stating that Amnesty International considers the punishment
of flogging to constitute cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment amounting
to torture;
welcoming the release on bail of Simin Mohammadi, and asking for details
of any charges that are to be brought against her, noting that any such
charges should reflect recognizably criminal offences;
expressing concern at reports that both Akbar and Manuchehr Mohammadi
have been tortured and ill-treated in detention, and reminding the
authorities of their obligations as a state party to the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, of which article 7 states: "No one
shall be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment";
calling for an investigation into the allegations of torture, and for all
those found responsible to be brought to justice in fair trials.

APPEALS TO:
Leader of the Islamic Republic
His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei,
The Presidency, Palestine Avenue,
Azerbaijan Intersection, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Telegram: His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei, Tehran, Islamic
Republic of Iran
Email: webmaster@wilayah.org (mark: For the attention of the office of
His Excellency Ayatollah al Udhma Khamenei, Qom)
Salutation: Your Excellency
Head of the Judiciary
His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahrudi
Ministry of Justice, Park-e Shahr, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Telegram: Head of the Judiciary, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: + 98 21 879 6671 (unreliable; please mark "c/o Director of
International Affairs, Judiciary")
Email: Irjpr@iranjudiciary.com (unreliable; please mark "for the attention
of HE Ayatollah Shahrudi")
Salutation: Your Excellency
President
His Excellency Hojjatoleslam val Moslemin Sayed Mohammad Khatami
The Presidency, Palestine Avenue
Azerbaijan Intersection, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Telegram: His Excellency Hojjatoleslam val Moslemin Sayed Mohammad Khatami,
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
E-mail: khatami@president.ir (please resend if it does not get through
first time)
Salutation: Your Excellency

Please copy your letter, or send a message of support, to Akbar and
Manuchehr Mohammadi:

Akbar and Manuchehr Mohammadi Evin Prison
Chamran Highway, Shahid Katchuyi Street
Darakeh, Tehran, Iran

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 3 May 2004.

http://www.eubusiness.com

EU warns Iran over human rights

25 March 2004

The European Union warned Tehran on Thursday that it had seen little progress in Iran's human rights dossier, which Brussels has effectively made a precondition to improved trade ties.

The EU also openly admitted at the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva that its policy of constructive engagement with Tehran on human rights was flagging.

"Unfortunately, the fourth round of our human rights dialogue with Iran has not taken place due to Iran's failure to confirm the dates agreed," Ireland's envoy Mary Whelan told the Commission on behalf of the EU presidency.

"We regret that overall we see little improvement in the human rights situation in the country," she added.

Despite some improvement in women's rights, Whelan underlined that violations of human rights "continue to be widespread" in Iran, including torture, disappearances after arrests, arbitrary detention and political and religious repression.

The EU also noted that a de facto moratorium on amputations in Iran, a criminal penalty under Islamic law, had not been respected, while public executions continued.

"The recent interference in the electoral process represents a setback for democracy and a general trend toward even more restrictions on the exercise of political rights and freedoms," Whelan charged.

The EU External Affairs Commissioner Chris Patten said in February, after elections in Iran were marred by a ban on many reformist candidates, that Brussels would be watching closely to see how the situation there evolved.

The EU promotes constructive engagement with the Islamic Republic, seeking dual-track talks on trade and political issues, in contrast notably to the United States which has labelled Tehran part of an "axis of evil."

But the talks have been on hold since June 2003 because of EU concerns about Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Rassemblement
du 2004-03-25 à
Genève, Place des Nations de l’ONU

à l’appel des
Associations Militantes pour la Défense des Droits de l’Homme en Iran


R E S O L U T I O N
Nous les participants rassemblés sur la Place des Nations de l’ONU à Genève, le 25 mars 2004, à l’appel des associations iranienne de défense des droits de l’homme :

Constatant :

1° que la situation des droits de l’homme en République islamique d’Iran s’est particulièrement aggravée l’année dernière,
2° que la répression en Iran est accrue de la façon la plus inquiétante,
3° que des dizaines d’intellectuels et de personnalités politiques sont jugés par des tribunaux d’exception à huit clos et dans le mépris total des droits les plus élémentaires et universellement reconnus à toute personne accusée d’un acte délictueux,
4° que des centaines d’adolescents, de jeunes et d’étudiants ont été arrêtés récemment,
5° que la liberté de conscience, d’expression et de presse en Iran est à chaque instant bafouée et que la fermeture expéditive des journaux et l’arrestation des journalistes continuent sans relâche,
6° que les menaces et les exactions à l’encontre des familles des prisonniers politiques, des écrivains, des intellectuels et des personnalités du monde de la culture continuent,
7° que des citoyens iraniens, hommes et femmes, sont poursuivis, arrêtés et emprisonnés en raison de leurs seules opinions.
…
Réitérons notre demande:

De condamner la poursuite de la violation des droits de l’homme en Iran ;
D’envoyer en Iran un envoyé spécial d’observation judiciaire.

Pour assurer:

1° la libération immédiate et sans condition de tous les prisonniers politiques et d’opinion en Iran,
2° la dissolution des tribunaux dits «tribunaux révolutionnaires islamiques» et de tous les organes de répression et d’exaction,
3° le respect total de la Déclaration universelle des droits de l’Homme et des deux pactes internationaux relatifs aux droits civils, politiques, économiques, sociaux et culturels dont l’Iran les a ratifiés en 1975.

Genève, Place des Nations de l’ONU
Jeudi 25. 03. 2004

URGENT ACTION APPEAL UPDATE By Amnesty Internarional

----------------------------------
22 March 2004

Further Information on UA 87/04 issued 27 February 2004
Fear for safety/ Fear of torture or ill-treatment and new concern: Medical concern

IRAN: Arzhang Davoodi (m), aged 46
Arzhang Davoodi remains in prison, although his family have paid bail, and is reportedly suffering from severe health problems as a result of torture and ill-treatment, for which he is being denied necessary medical treatment.

Arzhang Davoodi's family recently paid bail of 50 million Tomans (US$59,380, at the official rate) in the form of property deeds (the normal practice in Iran), as requested by the Iranian authorities, to secure his release. However, the authorities have reportedly refused to release him on the grounds that his file is ''not complete''.

According to an 18 March report on the Iranian internet news site Peyk-e Iran, Arzhang Davoodi was severely tortured and kept in solitary confinement for 100 days while he was held in Band 325, a detention facility run by the Revolutionary Guard. During the winter, for several days he was kept in a room with the air conditioning turned on all night, making the room even colder.

The torture and ill-treatment has left him with a broken shoulder blade, bleeding in his left eye, deafness, a broken jaw and broken teeth. A doctor reportedly assessed that Arzhang Davoodi required treatment of his eyes, ears and teeth, and physiotherapy for his shoulder. The authorities have allegedly provided him with no treatment whatsoever.

On 17 March Arzhang Davoodi was transferred from Salon 1 of Evin prison, where he had been detained since his transfer from Band 325 in early March, to Salon 8 of Evin prison. Salon 8 is a section of the prison used for people detained for financial offences, and has no medical facilities. It is allegedly extremely dusty, which has caused Arzhang to suffer from asthma symptoms.

According to his family, prison officials will not grant him leave to obtain the medical treatment he requires. Amnesty International fears that he has been transferred to Salon 8 to put him under increased pressure, by preventing him from getting access to medical treatment.

Arzhang Davoodi has been allowed to make phone calls to his lawyer, and has been able to meet with him on one occasion. However, his lawyer has not been able to have a copy of the file on his client. Under Iranian law, a lawyer is not entitled to access to his client's file until formal charges have been brought. Amnesty International is not aware of whether Arzhang Davoodi has been formally charged.

Arzhang Davoodi was arrested between August and October 2003. He had assisted in the making of a television documentary about Iran, filmed secretly and illegally, which was widely broadcast in northern Europe in December 2003, and in North America in January 2004. He was interviewed in the documentary, and spoke about political prisoners, and the death in custody of Canadian-Iranian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi.

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:

a.. respectfully asking why Arzhang Davoodi is still in prison despite the payment of bail;

b.. expressing concern for his safety and well being, as he has reportedly been tortured and ill-treated;

c.. seeking assurances that he will be humanely treated while he is in detention, and given immediate and unconditional access to any medical treatment he may require;

d.. reminding the authorities that confessions extracted under duress are prohibited by Iranian law, and are a violation of Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Iran is a state party, which states that ''No one shall be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment'';

e.. calling for all those found responsible for torture of prisoners to be brought to justice in fair trials;

f.. asking for details of the charges against Arzhang Davoodi;

g.. reminding the authorities of their responsibility under Article 9(2) of the ICCPR to inform anyone arrested of the reasons for doing so at the time of their arrest, and to promptly inform them of any charges against them.

APPEALS TO:
Leader of the Islamic Republic:
His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei
The Presidency
Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Telegrams: Leader of Islamic Republic, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Faxes: 011 98 21 649 5880 / 21 774 2228 (ask fax to be forwarded to Ayatollah Khamenei)
Email: webmaster@wilayah.org; (on the subject line write: For the attention of the office of His
Excellency, Ayatollah al Udhma Khamenei, Qom)
Salutation: Your Excellency

President:
His Excellency, Hojjatoleslam val Moslemin Sayed Mohammad
Khatami
The Presidency
Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Telegram: President Khatami, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: 011 98 21 649 5880
Email: khatami@president.ir
Salutation: Your Excellency

Head of the Judiciary:
His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahrudi
Ministry of Justice
Park-e Shahr
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: 011 98 21 879 6671 (please keep trying; please mark
''care of Director of International Affairs, Judiciary'')
Salutation: Your Excellency

COPIES TO:
Islamic Human Rights Commission:
Mr Mohammad Hassan Zia'i-Far
Secretary, Islamic Human Rights Commission
PO Box 13165-137
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: 011 98 21 204 0541

Iran does not presently have an embassy in the United States. Instead, please send copies to:

Iranian Interests Section
Embassy of Pakistan
2209 Wisconsin Ave NW
Washington DC 20007

Please send appeals immediately. Check with the Colorado office between 9:00 am and 6:00 pm, Mountain Time, weekdays only, if sending appeals after April 31, 2004.

Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement that promotes and defends human
rights.

This Urgent Action may be reposted if kept intact, including contact information and stop action date (if applicable). Thank you for your help with this appeal.

Urgent Action Network
Amnesty International USA
PO Box 1270
Nederland CO 80466-1270
Email: uan@aiusa.org
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/
Phone: 303 258 1170
Fax: 303 258 7881

www.middle-east-online.com
UN report slams Iran's systematic repression


UN rapporteur on free speech warns systematic repression, fear stifle freedom in Islamic republic.


GENEVA - A UN expert has warned that systematic repression is creating a climate of fear in Iran, where hardliners have gained a stranglehold over government and the judiciary in the country.

Ambeyi Ligabo, UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, said in a report obtained Wednesday that unelected institutions run by hardliners had effectively locked out reformers even though they participated in the highest spheres of Iranian government.

The UN expert underlined that there was a "climate of fear induced by the systematic repression of people expressing critical views against the authorised political and religious doctrine and the functioning of institutions".

Coupled with the "severity and disproportion" of sentences imposed on alleged offenders, that pervasive fear led to self-censorship on the part of journalists, intellectuals, politicians, students and "the population at large", he added in the report.

Ligabo said the Expediency Council, the Council of Guardians, the Supreme Council for Culture and the head of the judiciary exercised "institutional locks on governmental, parliamentary, and judicial processes".

Many of the people whom Ligabo met in Iran told him that "there is freedom of expression but there is no freedom after expression," the report said.

The Kenyan lawyer's report, which is due to be presented to the annual meeting of the UN Human Rights Commission beginning next week, was based on an unprecedented mission to the country last November.

The Iranian student news agency (ISNA) reported the day after Ligabo left on November 11 that a prominent Iranian student activist, who had met the envoy during prison leave, had gone missing.

Highlighting several cases, the report repeated a call for an amnesty for all prisoners prosecuted or sentenced for press and opinion-related offences in Iran.

Ligabo, who met senior government and legal officials, noted "with regret and concern" that he had received no "substantive" response to requests for more information about the death of Iranian-Canadian journalist Zahra Kazemi.

Kazemi was arrested last June for taking photographs outside Tehran's notorious Evin prison.

She later died in hospital from a brain hemorrhage caused by a blow to the head and an intelligence ministry agent has been charged with "participation in a quasi-intentional murder".

"In the present circumstances there will be no adequate and satisfactory response from the authorities to this odious crime... thus allowing the persons responsible for Mrs Kazemi's death to go unpunished," the report said.

Ligabo found that the limit beyond which a statement was regarded as breaching Islamic principles was blurred and the red line "varies extensively, even among clerics".

"There is an urgent need to define more clearly the contents of Islamic principles in the law, in order to avoid arbitrariness in their interpretation," the report said.

Opinion-related offences should also be excluded from the competence of Revolutionary Courts, it added.

The report underlined that lawyers were not even granted immunity for statements they made in court to defend their clients, while parliamentarians who were meant to be granted immunity, had been prosecuted.

Ligabo was the first UN rapporteur on free speech ever to visit the country and one of several human rights experts from the world body who were allowed into Iran in 2003 after being barred by the Islamic regime since the early 1990s.

Advocacy groups on Wednesday urged the 53 member UN Human Rights Commission to take action on Iran in the next few weeks following the turmoil in the country's elections and growing reports of human rights violations.

"We hope that the Canadians... will present a resolution with the help of the European Union," said Human Rights Watch representative Loubna Freih.

WWW.RSF.ORG
Unfair trial and illegal imprisonment

Reporters Without Borders has condemned a one-year jail sentence against journalist Mohsen Sazgara as unfair and contrary to international legal norms. It also spoke out against the arbitrary imprisonment of three journalists since nine months.

Sazgara learned from his lawyer on 8 March that his appeal trial had been heard while he was abroad seeking urgent medical attention, the international press freedom organisation said.

"Yet again this is a completely illegal procedure," Sazgara told Reporters Without Borders. "The Iranian authorities gave me permission to leave the country and waited until I was no longer in Iran to announce this so-called verdict in a trial held in the absence of both the lawyer and the person being sentenced." "I intend to return to Iran as soon as possible to respond to this farce," he added.

Sazgara was imprisoned on 15 June and then released on bail of six billion rials (about 580,000 euros) on 6 October 2003. A week before his release he had been charged with "undermining national security", "insulting the Guide of the Islamic Revolution" and "making propaganda against the state" and sentenced to one year in prison. During his 110 days of imprisonment he twice went on hunger strike for 56 and then 23 days to protest against government repression.

He was one of the founders of the reformist press in Iran and was publisher of the dailies Jameh, Neshat and Tous, now banned and the creator of the site : www.alliran.net (shut down after his arrest). A courageous political analyst, he wrote, "the past five years have shown that the country's religious rulers are neither reformable nor effective". He also called the Guide of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Khamenei "dictatorial", which earned him several stays in Iranian prisons.

On the eve of Sazgara's arrest, on 14 June 2003, three other journalists - Taghi Rahmani, of the weekly Omid-e-Zangan, Reza Alijani, editor in chief of the monthly Iran-e-Farda and winner of the Reporters Without Borders - Fondation de France 2001 press freedom award, and Hoda Saber, a manager of Iran-e-Farda were jailed for "holding secret meetings with students". Held for months in solitary confinement, deprived of visits from their lawyers and families, they passed the legal deadline for temporary detention on 6 December 2003.

Narges Mohammadi, the wife of Taghi Rahmani, has spoken about her distress at the situation that violates the most basic principles of law. "They are in prison illegally, without charge, without sentence and without trial," she told Reporters Without Borders. "When we try to get information about their cases, we get no reply and their lawyers do not even have access to their files."

The organisation also condemns ongoing harassment of the press, with the banning of the weekly Qalam-e Moalem accused of carrying news about a major teachers' strike, and of the weekly Vaght for "offending against good morals". The managing editor Shahram Mohammad Nia, was given a six-month suspended sentence.

With 11 journalists behind bars, Iran is the Middle East's biggest prison for journalists

AI INDEX: ACT 77/034/2004 5 March 2004

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

Media Briefing

AI Index: ACT 77/034/2004 (Public)
News Service No: 050

Embargo Date: 5 March 2004 11:00 GMT


Making Violence against Women Count
Facts and Figures - a Summary
.......
VIOLENCE WITH IMPUNITY
..........
In Iran 45 women under the age of 20 have been murdered in so-called "honour" killings by close relatives in Iran's majority ethnic Arab province of Khuzestan in a two-month period in 2003 (Middle East Times, 31 October 2003).
........
So called "honour" defences (partial or complete) are found in the penal codes of Peru, Bangladesh, Argentina, Ecuador, Egypt, Guatemala, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, the West Bank and Venezuela (UN 2002)........
Whole article

WWW.RSF.ORG
Journalist Emadoldin Baghi under threat of new prison sentence

Reporters Without Borders has expressed its serious concern in response to a court summons against independent journalist Emadoldin Baghi, known for his staunch defence of free expression.

Baghi has been ordered to appear on 3 March before the 3rd division of Teheran's revolutionary tribunal. He is accused of writing an article in the (suspended) reformist daily Yas-e no, in which he called the 20 February legislative elections illegal.

The journalist was given a one-year prison sentence, suspended for five years, by the sixth branch of the same revolutionary tribunal on 4 December 2003 on an unspecified charge. He is therefore at risk of going to prison as a result of the new hearing.

The journalist has been targeted by the regime's hard-liners for several years now. He was jailed for three years on 23 October 2000, for "damaging national security and spreading "false news".

Since his release, on 6 February 2003, Baghi has actively campaigned for human rights, chiefly through by-lined articles in the reformist press exposing violations of free expression and founding an organisation for the defence of prisoners of opinion.

Reporters Without Borders also condemns :
The detention, from 21-23 February, of Farshad Gorganpour, financial editor of the daily Gilan-e emrouz, accused of signing a letter protesting at the holding of legislative elections.
The suspension, from 19-21 February, of the daily Nassim-e Sabbah, for carrying an article on the temporary closure of two major reformist dailies Sharq and Yas-e no.
The 6 April 2004 summons against journalist Mohammad Javad Roh, working for the reformist daily Sharq, accused by the Teheran tribunal in connection with his articles on the political culture of the Islamic Republic of Iran and in particular its censorship.
Harassment of cinema critic Payam Fazlinejad, journalist on the weekly Sinema, by Adareh Amaken (a police department that usually deals with "moral" offences) and by the Teheran prosecutor, Said Mortazavi. Failure to respect legal procedure in the trial of Iradj Jamshidi, editor in chief of the (suspended) financial daily Asia, that opened on 24 February in the 26th division of the Teheran revolutionary tribunal. Even though his lawyer is allowed to attend the trial, he has had no access to the file of his client, who was arrested on 6 July 2003.