European Parlament: MEPs condemn execution of children and persecution of journalists

Joint motion for a resolution on IranDoc.: B6-0107/2004, B6-0113/2004, B6-0116/2004, B6-0118/2004, B6-0121/2004, B6-0124/2004Debate/Vote: 28.10.2004
In a resolution adopted by 105 votes in favour and none against with six abstentions, MEPs strongly condemn the execution in Iran of the 16 year old Ateqeh Rajabi and all other death sentences and executions of child offenders in that country. They call on the Iranian authorities immediately to halt all attempts at stoning and to prevent any further application of the death penalty to minors. They reiterate their general opposition to the death penalty and hopes that a judicial reform in Iran will bring this inhumane practice to an end.
Parliament also condemns the recent arbitrary arrests of journalists, and calls on the authorities to release all prisoners prosecuted or sentenced for press- and opinion-related offences. It condemns the travel ban that was imposed on journalist and human rights activist Emadeddin Baghi, as on many other Iranian citizens. It calls on the Iranian Parliament to adapt the Iranian Press Law and the Penal Code to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and notably to repeal all criminal provisions dealing with the peaceful expression of opinion, including in the press. MEPs call on the Iranian authorities to stop the practice of arresting family members of journalists and reformers.
Parliament demands that the Presidency of the Council and the Member States’ diplomatic representatives in Iran urgently undertake concerted action with regard to these concerns and calls on the Council to present a resolution on behalf of the European Union on the deteriorating human rights situation in Iran for the next session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Finally, MEPs call on the Council and the Commission to monitor developments in Iran closely and to raise their serious concerns about human rights abuses in the framework of the EU-Iran human rights dialogue.
Press enquiries: Ralph Pine (Strasbourg) tel.(33-3) 881 74751 (Brussels) tel.(32-2) 28 42941 e-mail : rpine@europarl.eu.int

Reporters sans frontires - Sixth online journalist thrown in prison as authorities reportedly prepare "adultery" charges

Reporters sans fronti�res - Iran

Fereshte Ghazi journalist and women's and human rights activist has been called to the juridical authorities to be heared about "Internet activities"

Source ISNA

Reporters sans frontires - Third Annual Worldwide Press Freedom Index

...
East Asia and Middle East have worst press freedom records
Iraq is the world's deadliest country for journalists and Iran is the region's biggest prison
Too many journalists stripped of their freedom
With 14 journalists detained, Iran (158th) is the Middle-East's biggest prison for the press. Not satisfied with putting journalists behind bars, the conservatives in 2004 began a systematic crackdown on Internet sites which sprang up after most of the country's reformist newspapers were suspended or closed down for good.
....
Third Annual Worldwide Press Freedom Index

Internet Journalist Amir Majiri arrested in Iran

According to Asre-nou Amir Majiri Internet journalist was arrested by security forces in Iran. His family are concerned about his situation.

IFM protests wave of arrests in Iran

IranMania News

gooya news :: english : Rouzbeh MirEbrahimi's Family Requests his Release, ILNA

gooya news :: english : Rouzbeh MirEbrahimi's Family Requests his Release, ILNA

gooya news :: Grave Concern about Omid Memarin's Condition and Whereabouts

gooya news :: english : Grave Concern about Omid Memarin's Condition and Whereabouts

gooya news ::Iranian Journalists May Have no Choice but to take their Protest to the International Community

gooya news :: english : Iranian Journalists May Have no Choice but to take their Protest to the International Community

gooya news :: Protest of Iranian Journalists against Recent Arrests Receives International Attention, Iran Daily

gooya news :: english : Protest of Iranian Journalists against Recent Arrests Receives International Attention, Iran Daily

gooya news :: english : Meysami has been released, Ilna

gooya news :: english : Meysami has been released, Ilna

gooya news :: english : Protest by Iranian Journalists, ILNA

gooya news :: english : Protest by Iranian Journalists, ILNA

gooya news :: english : Any Confessions from Arrested Iranian Journalists are Illegal

gooya news :: english : Any Confessions from Arrested Iranian Journalists are Illegal

Iran prohibits award winner from traveling to U.S. ceremony

Article

European online press rally to the support of five imprisoned online journalists

20 leading european online news sites have rallied to join Reporters Without Borders in support of colleagues in Iran as the fifth journalist was arrested on 18 October in a crackdown against the online media.

They are calling for the release of Shahram Rafihzadeh, Hanif Mazroi, Rozbeh Mir Ebrahimi, Omid Memarian and Javad Gholam Tamayomi.

"We want to demonstrate our solidarity with our Iranian colleagues, imprisoned simply for doing their jobs," the media said in a statement. "At a time when the Internet has become one of the main sources of news, protecting online journalists and publications is the key to defending press freedom."

Javad Gholam Tamayomi, journalist with the daily Mardomsalari (Democracy) was arrested on 18 October 2004, after responding to a summons from the 9th chamber of the Tehran prosecutor's office.

Omid Memarian, journalist and weblog creator, was arrested on 10 October.

Shahram Rafihzadeh, cultural editor of the newspaper Etemad (Confidence), was arrested on 7 September.

Hanif Mazroi, former journalist with several reformist publications, was arrested on 8 September.

Rozbeh Mir Ebrahimi, former political editor of Etemad, was picked up at his home on 27 September.

The five journalists are accused of contributing to reformist news websites. In the past few months, the regime has also tightened Net filtering, blocking access to several dozen online publications and political weblogs.

In a country where television, radio and newspapers are heavily censored, the Internet is, despite censorship, the only source of independent news and information.

For a full summary of freedom of expression on the Internet in Iran see the Reporters Without Borders report "Internet Under Surveillance at http://www.rsf.org/article.php3 ?id_article=10733

List of online publications taking part in the campaign :

France - Courrierinternational.com, lefigaro.fr, lemonde.fr, nouvelobs.com, lexpress.fr, et telerama.fr

Spain- elpais.es, elmundo.es, abc.es, larazon.es, lavanguardia.es, elperiodico.com, periodistas-es.org, pressnetweb.com,

Germany - dw-world.de, netzeitung.de, politik-digital.de spiegel.de, sueddeutsche.de, telepolis.de

Italy : internazionale.it

gooya news :: english : We must fight to release Jhila from prison immediately!

gooya news :: english : We must fight to release Jhila from prison immediately!

Minister Who Converted From Islam Risks Death Penalty in Iran

Minister Who Converted From Islam Risks Death Penalty in Iran

Iran revokes woman's stoning sentence, thief's amputation

Iran revokes woman's stoning sentence, thief's amputation

gooya news :: : The Federation of Iranian Journalists Releases Statement Protesting Recent Arrests

gooya news :: english : The Federation of Iranian Journalists Releases Statement Protesting Recent Arrests

gooya news :: english : Location of Imprisoned Journalist, Omid Memarian, Still Unknown, ISNA

gooya news :: english : Location of Imprisoned Journalist, Omid Memarian, Still Unknown, ISNA

gooya news :: english : Arrests over political websites continue

Javad Gholam Tamimi the editor of Mardomsalari newspaper has been arrested in connecting with political web sites.
He has been summoned on Monday to the 9th Chamber of the Airport Security where they arrested him as he presented.

Iranian journalists protest to wave of arrests

IranMania News

Reporters sans frontires - Iran: Journalist Ali-Reza Jabari released after more than 18 months in prison

Reporters sans fronti�res - Iran

"Report on the situation of death penalty in Iran" by IHRG

On the occasion of the On the occasion of the 10th of October, the World Day against Death Penalty, we are publishing this report based on the information spread in the official media in Iran. It is clear that this information is only a part of the circumstances of the death penalty in IranWe, Iranian Human Rights Activists Groups in EU and North America, an assemblage of 16 independent organizations that work together in order to build a network that increases the public awareness on the evidences of the wide, planned and systematic violation of Human Rights in Iran.
79 individuals executed
73 individuals expected to be executed soon
Read the Report

Emancipation of Women: Stop stoning of the 13 years old child in Iran

Join the campaign to save Jila 13 from prison and stoning!

Nahid Riazi?s announcement regarding campaigning to save Jila Izadi.

The Islamic regime of Iran is going to stone a 13 year old girl in Marivan to death.

Jila has been condemned to stoning to death. She got pregnant with her 15 year old brother. The Islamic regime of Iran wants to stone this girl. I ask all people in Iran and all NGO organizations which are active for children?s rights or other human rights in Iran and outside Iran to put pressure on the Iranian regime for immediate release of this child.

Jila is a child, a 13 year old child. She must not stay in prison one minute more. We are human beings, and we cannot witness the imprisonment of a child. Execution or stoning to death should be unimaginable.

I implore everybody, and all political or social organizations, to stand up to save Jila?s life. Sign the letter condemning her arrest and sentence. We will guarantee that people in West hear your opinions and condemnation of this barbaric act. With millions of letters in favour of saving Jila and against the Islamic regime, sent to the United Nations and European Union, we can save her life. I ask all internet websites, web loggers, radios and TV stations which are humane, to broadcast this campaign to save Jila?s life. You can sign the condemnation letter below, or write another letter of your own. You can translate this letter into other languages and ask people to sign it.

Please send a copy of your letter to us to make sure we work collectively.

With thanks,
Nahid Riazi

Nahid Riazi from the Central Committee for the Emancipation of Women, and the coordinator of the campaign againstthe imprisonment and stoning of Jila in Marivan.
Tel: 0045 40543992
E-mail: nahid@mail.danbbs.dk
Petition to UN Commission for Human Rights , EU Commission for External Relations ,Human Rights Watch

IFEX monitoring freedom of expression in Iran

International Freedom of Expression eXchange

Latest update:

Another journalist arrested for contributing to reformist websites

Middle East ; Iran child killer to be executed

Kerala news

Human Rights Watch; Journalist Detained in Internet Crackdown

Iran: Journalist Detained in Internet Crackdown (Human Rights Watch, October 14, 2004)

The Epoch Times | Rights Group: Human Rights Violations on the Rise in Iran

The Epoch Times | Rights Group: Human Rights Violations on the Rise in Iran

New arrest of a journalist contributing to reformist websites

Reporters Without Borders condemned a renewed crackdown on the online press after the 10 October arrest of Omid Memarian on the orders of the 9th chamber of the Tehran prosecutor's office, for posting articles on several reformist sites. Three more journalists are already in custody for the same reasons.

"In a country where the independent press has to fight for its survival on a daily basis, online publications and weblogs are the last media to fall into the authorities' clutches. With eight months to go before the presidential elections, the Iranian authorities are now trying to spread terror among online journalists," the organisation said.

Omid Memarian, Shahram Rafihzadeh, Hanif Mazroi and Rozbeh Mir Ebrahimi are accused of "propaganda against the regime, threatening national security and incitement to rebellion and insulting leading figures in the regime."

Spokesman for the Iranian Justice Ministry, Jamal Karamirad, has said the journalists will shortly go on trial in Tehran. Their families have not been allowed to see them since their arrests and they have been denied legal representation.

All four were referred to in an article in the conservative daily Kayhan, attacking support from certain foreign governments for a "network of webloggers seeking to overthrow the regime".

Former reformist deputy, Mohssen Armin, said that around 20 people, not just journalists, had been arrested in a "crackdown against Internet use".

Shahram Rafihzadeh, head of the cultural section of the reformist daily newspaper Etemad (Confidence), was arrested on 7 September 2004, apparently by the morals police, a Tehran police department that is linked to the intelligence services.

Hanif Mazroi, former journalist on several reformist publications, was arrested after responding to a summons from the 9th chamber of the Tehran prosecutor's office on 8 September.

Rozbeh Mir Ebrahimi, former political editor of Etemad was arrested at his home in Tehran on 27 September 2004.

Babak Ghafori Azar, arrested on 7 September 2004 suspected of contributing to reformist news sites, was released on 21 September.

Crackdown on Internet journalists

Crackdown on Internet journalists

Dar Al Hayat:Iran's 2003 Nobel Laureate Says Prize Helped Her Everywhere But Home

Dar Al Hayat

Arrests over political websites continue (Stop Censoring Us)

Arrests over political websites continue (Stop Censoring Us)

Iran: Sentenced to death for killing abusive husband - news.amnesty - Amnesty International

Feature, 2004-10-08

Fatemeh Haghighat-Pajouh has reportedly been sentenced to death for the murder of her husband, who allegedly tried to rape her then 15 year old daughter from a previous marriage. She is reportedly at risk of imminent execution.

According to a 6 October report in the Iranian newspaper E’temad, Fatemeh Haghighat-Pajouh murdered her husband in 1997. At her trial she alleged that her husband, identified as a 30 year old man named Bahman, was a drug addict, who had been overtly interested in her 15-year-old daughter. She also told the trial judge that Bahman had said he had lost the girl in a gambling match. When she later discovered that he had tried to rape the girl, she killed him.

It is not known when Fatemeh Haghighat-Pajouh was arrested. According to the report in E’temad, the sentence has been upheld by the Supreme Court, although it is not known when. In Iran, all death sentences have to be approved by the Supreme Court before they can be implemented. The E’temad report states that her execution is expected to take place in the next few days.

The 2nd World Congress Against the Death Penalty will be held in Montreal on October 6-9, 2004. It is being organised by ECPM and PRI
Abolishing the Death Penalty is Your Business !

From October 6-9, 2004, Montreal will be the world capital of human rights and a point of convergence for all citizens committed to the universal abolition of the death penalty. Whether you are a citizen, student, teacher, artist, lawyer, magistrate, elected official, or journalist, come join us to say NO to the death penalty in China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United States, Cuba and everywhere it affects men and women.

Because there is no justice in killing, Because we can fight crime more effectively without capital punishment, Because judicial error is always possible, Because the globalization of human rights is underway,
We urge you to come to Montreal to join the struggle for universal abolition of the death penalty!

From Strasbourg to Montreal 2004

The 1st World Congress Against the Death Penalty took place in Strasbourg (France) in June 2001. At the European Parliament and the Council of Europe, parliamentary presidents, lawyers, leading NGOs and citizens from around the world demanded “a halt to all executions on the road toward universal abolition”.

Objectives of Montreal 2004

The universal abolition of the death penalty becomes an increasingly attainable goal with every passing year : each year additional countries abolish it (including, since 2001, Chile and Turkey); there was an international outcry when the governments of Lebanon and Chad resumed executions in 2003; international law prohibits the death penalty (International Criminal Court, the Arusha Tribunal and the Hague Tribunal).

Montreal 2004 plans to reinforce the movement:

- To sensitise international public opinion and invite citizens everywhere to say NO to the death penalty.

- To convince Canada, France, Mexico, Brazil and other countries to ratify the Protocol 2 of the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which outlaws the death penalty.

- To encourage additional countries, such as Kazakhstan, Mali and Senegal, to eliminate the death penalty from their respective penal codes.

- In abolitionist countries, to prohibit the extradition of individuals and to accept refugees who could be condemned to death in their countries of origin.




PROGRAM
2004-10-07
10:45 - 12:30 Minors and the death penalty (with Amnesty International)
Roundtables
Juvenile offenders
President: Ms. Béatrice Vaugrante, President, AISCF, Canada
Rapporteur: Ms. Magali de Lambert, AISCF, Canada

Participants:
• Ms. Sue Gunawardena-Vaughn, Directeur of the Program To Abolish Death Penalty, United States
• Mr. Olivier Delas, Professor at l’Université du Québec at Montréal, Canada
• Mr. Bill Pelke, President of Journey of Hope, United States
• Mr. Eric Prokosch, Death Penalty Coordinator, AI, England
• Dr. Cécile Rousseau, Psychiatrist, Canada

Many juveniles are still sentenced to the death penalty, notably in the United States, China, Yemen, Iran, Congo and in Saudi Arabia. However, many international treaties prohibit this practice, in particular the International Convention for the Rights of the Child, which has been ratified by every country, to the exception of the United States and Somalia. Can juveniles be targeted when most agree that they have yet to complete their emotional, intellectual and physical development? Participants in this roundtable will explore these issues and discuss Amnesty International’s recently launched campaign against the juvenile death penalty.


Location : Place des Arts
Moderated by : Béatrice Vaugrante

World Day Against the Death Penalty: "War on Terror" is no justification for executions

World Day Against the Death Penalty: "War on Terror" is no justification for executions

Reporters Without Borders: Mounting threats to journalists

Reporters Without Borders sounded the alarm today about the mounting press freedom violations in Iran, where journalists are constantly being threatened or summoned for questioning by officials in the justice and intelligence ministries.

In one recent case, Arash Sigarchi was summoned for questioning by the intelligence ministry on 27 August in Rashat (in Gylan province) and was placed in police custody for two days. A contributor to the regional daily Gylan Emroz, he also keeps a weblog called Panhjareh Eltehab ("Window of Anxiety" in Farsi).

He was questioned in great length about the weblog. The day before the interrogation, he had published an article with photographs about the annual meeting held at Khavarn cemetery in Tehran by the families of prisoners who were the victims of mass executions in 1989.

Reporters Without Borders said it also condemned the travel ban on Emadoldin Baghi, a freelance journalist and press freedom activist, who wanted to travel to Europe and the United States to take part in human rights conferences. Baghi said he was handed a letter as he was about to board a plane on 5 October in which "the special clerical court requested that I be prevented from leaving Iran."

Baghi, who also heads an association of prisoners of conscience, said : "I have been under increasingly closer surveillance for several months. The surveillance was stepped up even more in the past few days and two agents are constantly following me."

He was sentenced in 2000 to three years in prison for contributing articles to several reformist newspapers that have since been closed. He went back to journalism activity after being released in February 2003 and became the editor of the daily Jomhouriyat, which the authorities closed down in July this year. He was given a one-year suspended sentence in December 2003 without any official reason being given.

Reporters Without Borders also voiced concern about the fate of three journalists, Hanif Mazroi, Shahram Rafihzadeh and Rozbeh Mir Ebrahimi, whose families have received no word of them since their recent arrests.

Ebrahimi, who was arrested at his Tehran home on 27 September, is the former political editor of the reformist daily Etemad (which means "Trust" in Farsi). He has also worked for several other reformist newspapers now closed by the authorities, including the daily Jomhouriyat, which was banned by the judicial authorities on 18 July.

Rafihzadeh's brother, Bahram Rafihzadeh, told the news agency ISNA : "Ever since my brother was arrested, we have had no information about him or the case against him. Officially, he cannot be allowed any visits until the case against him is "clarified," but there is no case information to be transmitted."

Scoop: Asylum seekers begin hunger strike at Villawood

Scoop: Asylum seekers begin hunger strike at Villawood

Amnesty International: Iran: End limitations on human rights work

The confiscation of the passport of a leading member of the Society for the Defence of the Rights of Prisoners (SDRP), Emaddedin Baqi, on 4 October 2004, as he was about to travel abroad to take part in several conferences and meetings concerning human rights, is another blow to Iran’s implementation of international human rights standards and part of an emerging pattern of harassment of independent human rights defenders.

The order to ban Emaddedin Baqi from travelling reportedly came from the Special Court for the Clergy (SCC), an extra-constitutional institution which Amnesty International and several United Nations bodies have urged be fundamentally altered or abolished on account of the Court’s inherent incapacity of providing the basic guarantees of due process.

Preventing Emaddedin Baqi from taking part in human rights conferences, by the SSC, which has never sentenced, tried or even summoned him, is contrary to Article 7 of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders which states that "everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to develop and discuss new human rights ideas and principles and to advocate their acceptance".

Amnesty International urges the authorities to investigate allegations that Emaddedin Baqi has been harassed, for his passport to be returned and for the apparently arbitrary travel ban placed on him to be lifted.

Amnesty International calls on the Office of the Supreme Leader of Iran to grant recognition to those seeking to promote and protect human rights in Iran and to direct the judiciary, government and parliament to implement the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.

IranMania News: Armed robber hanged publicly in Iran

IranMania News

Heads the Committee for the Defence of Prisoner's Rights banned from leaving Iran for Europe, US

LONDON, Oct 6 (IranMania) - Iranian dissident intellectual Emaddedin Baghi has been banned from travelling to Europe and the United States, where he was to take part in several conferences on human rights, press reports said Tuesday.

According to Agence France Press (AFP), Emaddedin Baghi, who heads the Committee for the Defence of Prisoner's Rights, had been slated to meet European Union officials working on human rights and attend meetings on the subject in the Netherlands, the United States and Canada.

"I had my passport and at passport control at the airport, my name did not figure on a list of people forbidden from leaving Iran and I was given an exit stamp. But before boarding the plane, an agent turned up and told me to accompany him," Baghi told the Iran newspaper.

"They presented me with a letter from a special clerical tribunal demanding I be prevented from leaving Iran," he added, complaining that "according to the law only people who have been ordered by a tribunal not to leave the country are barred from leaving the country, which is not my case."

In 2000, Baghi was jailed for three years for his writings in several pro-reform newspapers. He was released in February 2003, when he resumed his journalistic activities.

In December 2003, a Tehran Revolutionary Tribunal handed Baghi a one-year suspended prison sentence for "propagating against the regime" and having links with opposition groups

Iranian authorities plan to execute Ali M, Morteza F and Milad B – all of whom are under the age of eighteen and are currently in detention

The Islamic Republic of Iran once again demonstrates its contempt for human rights by sentencing three more teenagers to death. Not content with the merciless recent execution of the sixteen year old Atefeh Rajabi, the Iranian authorities plan to execute Ali M, Morteza F and Milad B – all of whom are under the age of eighteen and are currently in detention. Execution of children is prohibited by Article 37 of the International Human Rights (Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989).
We, the undersigned, express our unreserved condemnation of these executions, and call upon human rights organizations to pressure the Iranian government to stop these barbaric acts. To sign this petition