The nine were arrested after protests against last year's presidential election

© Javad Montazeri

Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country. Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date. This is the third update to UA 171/09 (MDE 13/062/2009). Further information: www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/062/2009/en, http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/092/2009/en and http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/115/2009/en

URGENT ACTION

Three Iranian JOURNALISTs sentenced

ADditional Information

Bahman Ahmadi Amou'i, husband of journalist Zhila Bani Ya'qoub (who was released on 19 August) has been held at Evin Prison since his arrest on 20 June 2009. After 65 days of solitary confinement Bahman Ahmadi Amou'i was moved in late August to a cell in Section 209 of the prison, measuring 3.5 m² which he shared with two other detainees. Branch 2 of the Revolutionary Court acknowledged that they were investigating him at the beginning of October but as the investigation was still incomplete they would not allow his lawyer to see the investigation file.

Saeed Laylaz had appeared before Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran on 23 September to appeal against a two-month extension of his detention order but his appeal was rejected, despite an earlier order setting bail at two billion rials (approximately US$ 200,000).

Following the Ashoura commemoration on 27 December, which also coincided with the seventh-day of mourning for Grand Ayatollah Montazeri, a senior dissident cleric who had died the week before, well over a thousand people are reported to have been arrested, including 500 in Tehran, 200 in Najafabad and 600 in Esfahan. They include at least fifteen journalists: Mashallah Shamsolvaezin, Morteza Kazemian, Keyvan Mehregan, Reza Tajik, Mostafa Izadi, Mohammad Javad Saber, Behrang Tonkabani, Arvin Sedagatkish, Roozbeh Karimi, Mohammadreza Zohdi, Ali Hekmat, Sam Mahmoudi and three women, Badrolsadat Mofidi, Negin Derakhshan and Nasrin Vaziri.

Scores of people associated with opposition parties, human rights defenders and students are among many others detained since the demonstrations. The unrest on 'Ashoura was one of the worst since the days following the June 2009 presidential election. The authorities have stated variously that between seven and fifteen people died, although have disputed that security forces were responsible for all the deaths.

'Ashoura, the 10th day of the Islamic month of Moharram, is a Shi'a Muslim religious occasion marking the killing, or martyrdom, of Emam Hossein, the grandson of the Prophet Mohammad.

Since the announcement that incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had won the 12 June election, which many people disputed, the authorities have used excessive force to quell largely peaceful protests. Before the recent demonstrations, the authorities acknowledged 36 deaths, while the opposition claims that over 70 have died. The authorities have acknowledged that over 4,000 were arrested, although the true figure may well be higher. Many of those detained were tortured or otherwise ill-treated in detention centres across the country. Some have alleged they were raped, although the authorities have denied this after cursory investigations and other measures which appear designed to hide, rather than uncover, the truth. Over 80 have been sentenced to prison terms or flogging in connection with the unrest, including those sentenced after mass "show trials" which began in August. At least seven have been sentenced to death - most recently Ahmad Karimi and Ali Zahed were sentenced to death at the end of December 2009.

For further information about the post-election events please see Iran: Election contested, Repression compounded (Index MDE 13/123/2009), December 2009, http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/123/2009/en

Further information on UA: 171/09 Index: MDE 13/002/2010 Issue Date: 08 January 2010

top

Iran: End slide to more bloodshed

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL - PRESS RELEASE Date 8 Jan 2010

Amnesty International today condemned the further and wholly avoidable loss of up to 8-15 lives in Iran during the 'Ashoura religious commemorations.

The organization called on the authorities to ensure that those attending funerals and commemorations in the coming days and weeks are guaranteed the right to assemble peacefully and to express their opposition to the current government.

"The spiral of violence is growing in Iran and the excessive force by the security forces appears to be meeting unprecedented resistance from protestors," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty International Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.

Demonstrations on 27 December were policed by the Basij, a plain-clothed, volunteer paramilitary force under the control of the Revolutionary Guards, and the Special Forces units of the police. In the unrest following June's presidential elections, Basij personnel used firearms.

"The loss of life during 'Ashoura was wholly avoidable and this slide to more bloodshed must end now," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui.

Amnesty International has only been able to contact people in central Tehran who spoke of day-long clashes, from Vali Asr Square, College and Hafez Bridges - the latter of which security personnel used to hurl rocks at vehicles below - and Revolution Square (Meydan-e Enghlab) in the day to Mir-Damad street late into the evening as swathes of the city with covered in the smoke from the tear gas.

The funeral of 35 year old Seyed Ali Mousavi, the nephew of former presidential candidate and political leader, Mir Hossein Mousavi, is expected to take place along with others in the coming days.

Iran is bound by international human rights treaties such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that guarantee the right of peaceful assembly and expression.

"Despite Amnesty International's and others' advance appeals, in far too many places the authorities singularly failed to respect the rights of those Iranians taking part in 'Ashoura commemorations to peacefully assemble and to express themselves, even in opposition to the government. We deplore the increased levels of violence and renewed killing on 'Ashoura that was wholly avoidable."

"The Supreme Leader and government must instruct the police to end the use of force while leaders of the Revolutionary Guard must withdraw the Basij from demonstrations since time and time again it has been shown that their actions are fuelling conflict, leading to the loss of life."

Amnesty International again urged the authorities to invite to Iran independent human rights experts, such as those from the UN, in order to make an independent investigation into ongoing human rights violations.

"Inquiries announced by the authorities so far have been confusing and opaque and are simply not believed by most Iranians," Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui said.

Amnesty International also expressed concern at reports of arrests - possibly arbitrary - that are said to have taken place on 28 December. Reports indicate that political leader Ebrahim Yazdi had once again been detained along with three advisors to Mir Hossein Mousavi and Ayatollah Mousavi Tabrizi, a religious leader.

Human rights activist Emadeddin Baghi was detained at 06:45 in the morning, reportedly by four plain-clothed and armed men who are said to have forcibly entered Baghi's residence. A Dubai TV correspondent, a Syrian national, appeared to be unaccounted for in the course of 27 December

Background:
The unrest on 'Ashoura was the worst since the days following the June 2009 presidential election. As then, the mobile phone networks and internet services appeared largely disabled.

'Ashoura, the 10th day of the Islamic month of Moharram, is a Shi'a Muslim religious occasion marking the killing, or martyrdom, of Hossein, the grandson of the Prophet Mohammad and an important religious and community leader.

By around 21:00 GMT on 27 December the Acting Head of the Law Enforcement Forces (LEF) for Greater Tehran, Ahmad Reza Radan had admitted to four deaths in Tehran, adding that there were 300 arrests.

One person was said to have fallen off a bridge; two in car accidents and only one man - whose identity was not revealed - was said to have been shot. It is widely believed that this was a reference to Mir Hossein Mousavi's nephew.

Commander Ahmad Reza Radan of the Iranian police called the shooting suspicious since the police were not equipped with guns. During the unrest in June and July 2009, it appeared that only the Basij militia and members of the Revolutionary Guards were armed.

The authorities have claimed that some of those arrested belonged the illegal People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), banned since the early 1980s.

The Jonbesh-e Rah-e Sabz (JARAS) news outlet issued five names of individuals who were said to have been killed on 'Ashoura: Mehdi Farhadinia, Mohammad Ali Rasekhinia, Amir Arshadi, Shahram Faraji and Seyed Ali Mousavi, who is said to be the nephew of Mir Hossein Mousavi, one of the presidential candidates in June's election. Amnesty International has not been able to confirm the names issued.

Confrontation between thousands of mourners marking what is believed by Shi'a Muslims to be the martyrdom of Emam Hossein on the tenth ('ashoura) day of the month of Moharram and security officials were reported from Tabriz, Babol and Mashhad in the north of Iran; Tehran, Qom, Najaf Abad and Esfahan in the centre and Shiraz in the south.

Notes to editors

Amnesty International spokespeople are available. To request an interview or for more information please call +44 7778 472 126
Public Document

International Secretariat, Amnesty International, 1 Easton St., London WC1X 0DW, UK www.amnesty.org

top

Iran: Joint statement by Shirin Ebadi and Irene Khan

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL For release on Tuesday, 28 July 2009

The human rights crisis in Iran is deepening daily and next week's expected inauguration of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for a second term as president may spark further protests and a massive new clampdown, warned Irene Khan, Amnesty International's Secretary General, and Iranian Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Shirin Ebadi today.

"Three days ago, thousands of people in over 100 cities across the world joined in a Global Day of Action in protest at the numerous arrests, beatings and killings that have accompanied the Iranian authorities' attempt to force through the declared election result, which is so widely disputed," said Irene Khan. "The purpose was to express our solidarity with those whose rights are being violated in Iran, and to send a message to Iran's Supreme Leader and those about him that the violations must cease. The world is watching."

Shirin Ebadi, Iran's most distinguished lawyer and human rights defender, is in London at Amnesty International's invitation.

An organization that she founded in 2001, the Centre for Human Rights Defenders (CHRD), was summarily shut down by the Iranian authorities last December because of its efforts to promote human rights and defend people who were detained and tortured. At least three of its leading members - journalist Abdolreza Tajik as well as Abdolfattah Soltani and Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, both leading human rights lawyers - have been detained since the start of the election-related protests. Two of them are held in Tehran's notorious Evin Prison, but the whereabouts of Mohammad Ali Dadkhah is unknown, raising particular fears for his safety.

"My colleagues have been rounded up because of their work to promote justice and the rule of law, and to defend the human rights of people in Iran," said Shirin Ebadi, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003. "They are now languishing in jail like so many others in my country because they stand up for universal values - the rights to freedom of opinion and expression and to register one's protest peacefully without fear of arrest or attack by strong-arm forces like the Basij."

Irene Khan and Shirin Ebadi cautioned that international attention and efforts must not fade, however intransigent the authorities in Tehran appear.

"People in Iran need international support now more than ever as the political divisions in Tehran play themselves out," said Shirin Ebadi. "International attention and pressure must be sustained and intensified if it is to have impact on those calling the shots in Tehran."

"In particular, the UN needs to play a more determined and decisive role," said Irene Khan. "Through its human rights and other mechanisms, the UN must investigate the violations taking place in Iran and compile evidence that can be used, one day, to bring those responsible to account."

Shirin Ebadi is visiting London as part of international efforts to highlight human rights abuses in Iran and to support a worldwide action that Amnesty International is launching in defence of the CHRD and its members, and to demand that it be allowed to reopen and continue its work.

top

POLITICAL PRISONERS REMAIN IN DETENTION

AI Index: MDE 13/072/2009
14 July 2009

Amnesty International is concerned about further arrests of politicians, journalists, lawyers and others in connection with the recent disputed presidential election in Iran. Hundreds of people are believed to be detained - many held in undisclosed locations - across Iran. Scores more - possibly as many as 197 - are reported to have been arrested on 9 July 2009 at a demonstration marking the tenth anniversary of 18 Tir, the suppression of student-led protests in 1999 in which at least one student was killed and many others were tortured or otherwise ill-treated. The families of those detained for commemorating the victims of the 1999 crackdown are said to have learnt only from posters pasted up by the authorities in public places that they can find out about the detainees' cases at court on 19 July 2009. Those detained are believed to be held in Evin Prison and at a detention facility in Kahrizak in Karaj, near Tehran.

Amnesty International is calling for anyone held solely for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression, assembly and association to be released immediately and unconditionally, and for all others to be promptly charged and tried in proceedings which meet international standards for fair trial or released. In any event, the authorities should immediately clarify the fate of all those detained in connection with recent events.

Amnesty International is also calling for a full and impartial investigation into the death of Sohrab Arabi, a 19-year-old student, who died from a bullet wound to the heart. He disappeared during a demonstration on 15 June 2009. His family was then unable to find out any information about him until 11 July when they were summoned to court where they recognized him from photographs of dead individuals. His body had apparently been at the Coroner's Office since 19 June. There is, as yet, no information as to what happened to him between 15 and 19 June, including either the exact date, or the circumstances, of his death.

Among those reported to have been arrested in recent days are political activists, journalists, academics and lawyers. Amnesty International fears for their safety in detention, as torture or other ill-treatment of detainees is common in Iran. They include:

• Journalist Massoud Bastani, who was arrested on 5 July when he went to the Revolutionary Court in Tehran to enquire about his pregnant wife Mahsa Amr-Abadi, also a journalist, who was arrested on 14 June.

• Human rights lawyer Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, who was arrested on 8 July 2009 and taken from his office in Tehran, along with several colleagues. Some of his colleagues were released shortly afterwards, but Mohammad Ali Dadkhah's whereabouts remain unknown.

• Bijan Khajehpour Khoei, a business and economic consultant, who was arrested on 27 June 2009 at Tehran airport when he arrived back from a trip to Vienna and London. During his brief trip abroad, he spoke to trade officials in Vienna and met the Iran British Business Chamber in London as part of his work to support Iranian business and encourage foreign investment in Iran. His whereabouts are unknown, and his family fear for his health as he is diabetic.

• Feyzollah Arabsorkhi, a former deputy trade minister and a senior member of the Islamic Revolution Mujahidin Organisation, a reformist political party, was arrested on 7 July.

• Journalist Kaveh Mozaffari, who was only released from Evin Prison on 15 June following his arrest on 1 May 2009 while covering a peaceful demonstration by labour activists on International Labour Day, was arrested in the street on 9 July by security forces.

• Mohammad Reza Yazdanpanah, a member of the Islamic Participation Front, was arrested in Tehran on 7 July.

• Joint US-Iranian national Kian Tajbaksh, a social scientist and urban planner who has taught at universities in Iran and the USA, was arrested at 9:00pm on 9 July 2009, at his home in Tehran. Two people who identified themselves as Iranian security officials, arrived at his residence, questioned him and his wife and searched the residence for three hours, before taking him away along with two computers and other items.

• Mehdi Mahdavi Azad, the director of the Shahab News site, was arrested on or around 23 June, but news of his arrest has only just been released.

• Towhid Beigi, a photographer associated with the campaign of presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi, was arrested in Enqelab Square, Tehran, during the demonstrations of 9 July.

• Journalist Hengameh Shahidi, a member of the National Trust Party's Tehran branch, is reported to have been arrested on 30 June.

• Majid Sa'idi, a well-known photographer for domestic and international media, was arrested on 10 July from his home.

Background information

In the month since the announcement on 13 June that the incumbent President Ahmadinejad had won the previous day's presidential election, which hundreds of thousands of Iranians dispute, the Iranian authorities have imposed draconian restrictions on freedom of expression, association and assembly. Security forces, including the paramilitary Basij, have been widely deployed in the streets to prevent and disperse peaceful and other demonstrations. Communications have been significantly disrupted and Iranian publications have been banned from publishing information about the nationwide unrest since the result was declared. Foreign journalists have been banned from the streets, their visas not renewed and some foreign reporters have been arrested or expelled from the country.

According to statements by officials recorded by Amnesty International, over 2,000 people have been arrested since 12 June by the police and Basij forces across the country during demonstrations or in their aftermath. These include prominent political figures close to two of the presidential candidates, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, and to former President Khatami, who supported Mir Hossein Mousavi's presidential election campaign. Some human rights defenders, as well as journalists have also been detained.

The authorities have acknowledged that up to 21 people were killed during demonstrations, but in at least some cases - such as that of Neda Agha-Soltan - whose death was filmed and circulated widely on the internet - they have denied that state officials were responsible, although her death does not appear to have been properly investigated. Unofficial Iranian sources say that many more protestors were killed, but it remains difficult to obtain accurate information about the total number of deaths as the whereabouts of many demonstrators remain unknown and the authorities have placed restrictions on bereaved families from holding memorial services. In the past, according to information received by Amnesty International, the Iranian authorities have under-reported deaths at the hands of security forces during demonstrations.

top

Women's rights activist and lawyer violently arrested

NEWS FLASH
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
17 July 2009

Amnesty International fears the wave of arrests of civil society activists in Iran is intensifying after lawyer and human rights activist, Shadi Sadr, was violently arrested in Tehran this morning on her way to Friday prayers.

Shadi Sadr was walking with a group of women's rights activists along a busy road when unidentified plain clothed men pulled her into a car. She lost her headscarf and coat in the ensuing struggle but managed briefly to escape. She was quickly recaptured and beaten with batons before being taken away in the car to an unknown location.

"This was an illegal, arbitrary and violent arrest in which no attempt was made by the authorities to show identification or provide any explanation for their action," said Malcolm Smart, Director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Programme."

"This is the latest of a continuing series of high profile arrests of Iranians - students, journalists, intellectuals, political and civil society activists - in the wake of protests over the disputed outcome of the presidential election."

Amnesty International is calling for Shadi Sadr to be immediately and unconditionally released.

Shadi Sadr is the defence lawyer of Shiva Nazar Ahari, a human rights defender and member of the Committee of Human Rights Reporters, who was arrested at her home in Tehran on 14 June 2009, shortly after the presidential election, by security officials who searched her house and took away personal items. She is now believed to be held in Section 209 of Tehran's Evin Prison where Shadi Sadr, her lawyer, had not been able to gain access to her.

Background
Shadi Sadr, lawyer and journalist, was the director of Raahi, a legal advice centrefor women until it was closed down. She founded Zanan-e Iran (Women of Iran), the first website dedicated to the work of Iranian women's rights activists (http://www.raahi.org) and has written extensively about Iranian women and their legal rights. She has represented activists and journalists, several women sentenced to execution, whose convictions were subsequently overturned. She is also involved in Women's Field (http://www.meydaan.com), a group of women's rights activists who have launched several campaigns to defend women's rights, including the "Stop Stoning Forever" Campaign.

Shadi Sadr was among 33 women arrested in March 2007. Most had gathered outside a Tehran courtroom to protest peacefully against the trial of five women - Fariba Davoudi Mohajer, Shahla

Entesari, Noushin Ahmadi Khorassani, Parvin Ardalan and Sussan Tahmasebi - who were accused of "propaganda against the system", "acting against national security" and "participating in an illegal demonstration" in connection with the 12 June 2006 demonstration. Four of those on trial were also among those arrested, along with Shadi Sadr, a lawyer. Initially held in the Vozara detention centre, some were later transferred to Evin Prison. Most were released after several days, but Shadi Sadr and Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh - who is also involved in the "Stop Stoning Forever" Campaign - were held for over two weeks before being released on bail.

At a Revolutionary Court session in August 2007, which their lawyer was not allowed to attend and during which they were also questioned about their NGOs and their activities in the "Stop Stoning Forever"campaign, they were charged with illegal assembly, collusion against national security, disruption of public order and refusal to obey the orders of the police

top

POLITICAL PRISONERS REMAIN IN DETENTION

UREGNT ACTION
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
08 July 2009

At least eight political leaders remain in the custody of the Iranian Authorities, two of whom are being supervised in hospital. Ebrahim Yazdi has been released. They are all prisoners of conscience held solely on account of the peaceful expression of their views, including regarding the outcome of the election.

Seven of the eight political leaders arrested in Tehran on 16 June 2009, in connection with their perceived views on Iran's disputed presidential election or their links with former president, Mohammad Khatami remain detained. In addition to the individuals featured in the UA Mohsen Mirdamadi, a former senior member of parliament and of the Islamic Iran Participation Front (Jebhe-ye Mosharekat-e Iran-e Eslami) was also arrested on 13 June. Ebrahim Yazdi was released on 19 June, and was returned to a hospital in Tehran from where he had been arrested whilst undergoing tests.

Former Tehran city counsellor, advisor to former president Mohammad Khatami and investigative journalist, Said Hajjarian was transferred from Evin Prison to hospital under the control of the security forces, possibly on 3 July. Said Hajjarian is confined to a wheelchair following an attempted assassination in 2000. His wife was able to visit him once in prison. During her visit, Said Hajjarian told her that he had been given the medication that she had delivered to the prison two days after his arrest. On the day of the visit his blood pressure was high, for which he received no treatment, he was also in a poor psychological state. He requires, on a daily basis, specialized medicines and physiotherapy, which appears to have been denied. Mohsen Aminzadeh was also transferred to a hospital in Tehran on 4 July, for reasons unknown to Amnesty International. Both men remain incustody.

On 4 July, the lawyer representing Mohammad Ali Abtahi, Mohsen Aminzadeh, Behzad Nabavi, Abdollah Ramazanzadeh, Mostafa Tajzadeh and Mohsen Mirdamadi, said that he had not been allowed to visit any of his clients and stated that "their general charge is acting against national security" and that their cases would be referred to revolutionary courts after preliminary investigation if they are charged. None of their families have been allowed to meet them.

PLEASE WRITE IMMEDIATELY in Persian, Arabic, English, French or your own language:

• calling on the authorities to immediately and unconditionally release the political leaders and activists (please name them) and all others arrested solely on account of their peaceful views, including about the outcome of the elections, as they are prisoners of conscience;

• urging the authorities to ensure they are allowed immediate access to their family members, lawyers of their choice and any medical treatment they may require, and that they are not subjected to torture or other ill-treatment;

• urging the authorities to release them unless they are charged with internationally recognizable criminal offences in proceedings that meet internationally recognised fair trial standards.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 19 August 2009:

Leader of the Islamic Republic

Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei

The Office of the Supreme Leader

Islamic Republic Street - End of Shahid Keshvar Doust Street, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran

Email: info_leader@leader.ir via website: www.leader.ir/langs/en/index.php?p=letter (English)

www.leader.ir/langs/fa/index.php?p=letter (Persian)

Salutation: Your Excellency, Ayatollah

Head of the Judiciary

Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi

Office of the Head of the Judiciary

Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhouri, Tehran 1316814737, Islamic Republic of Iran

Email: shahroudi@dadgostary-tehran.ir (subject - FAO Ayatollah Shahroudi)

Salutation: Your Excellency

And copies to:

Minister of the Interior

Sadegh Mahsouli

Ministry of the Interior

Dr Fatemi Avenue

Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran

Fax: +98 21 8 896 203

+98 21 8 899 547

+98 21 6 650 203

Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country.

Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date.

URGENT ACTION

POLITICAL PRISONERS REMAIN IN DETENTION

ADditional Information

In the days following the announcement on 13 June that President Ahmadinejad had won the previous day's presidential election, which hundreds of thousands of Iranians dispute, the Iranian authorities have imposed draconian restrictions on freedom of expression, association and assembly. Security forces, including the paramilitary Basij have been widely deployed in the streets; access to the internet and mobile phone use have been intermittently blocked or significantly interrupted. Iranian publications have been banned from publishing information about the nationwide unrest since the result was declared. Foreign journalists have been banned from the streets, their visas not renewed and some foreign reporters have been arrested or expelled from the country.

According to statements by officials recorded by Amnesty International, at least 2277 people have been arrested since 12 June by the police and Basij forces across the country during demonstrations or their aftermath. These include prominent political figures close to either Mir Hossein Mousavi, fellow presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi or former President Khatami, who supported Mir Hossein Mousavi's campaign. Some human rights defenders, as well as journalists have also been detained. On 16 June lawyer and human rights defender Abdolfattah Soltani, was also arrested and detained (please see UA 160/09, MDE 13/059/2009, 19 June 2009: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/059/2009/en). Journalist Issa Saharkhiz was arrested on 4 July and taken away to an undisclosed location (please see UA 181/09, MDE 13/067/2009, 6 July 2009: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/067/2009/en) On 24 June, 70 academics met leading opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, and were arrested as they left his office. All but four were later released. Those still detained include the head of Mir Hossein Mousavi's election campaign, Dr Ghorban Behzadian and Ardeshir Amir Arjomand who is a professor of law at Shahid Beheshti University. Hundreds of others have been arrested during demonstrations against the outcome of the election which have been met with excessive use of force. Officials acknowledge at least 21 killed although the true number is likely to be higher.

In custody Mohammad Ali Abtahi, Mohsen Aminzadeh, Behzad Nabavi, Abdollah Ramazanzadeh, Mostafa Tajzadeh and Mohsen Mirdamadi, Mohammad Tavassoli, Said Hajjarian.

top

Iran: Government must stop executions of 14 men

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE
13 July 2009

Amnesty International urged the Iranian government to halt the public executions, scheduled for Tuesday 14 July, of 14 alleged members of the PRMI (People's Resistance Movement of Iran), also known as Jondallah, a Baluchi armed opposition group.

"The 14 did not receive a fair trial and these executions must not go ahead," said Malcolm Smart, Director of Amnesty International Middle East and North Africa Programme. "The Iranian authorities must abide by their international obligations to uphold human rights and guarantee fair trials, which is all the more essential in death penalty cases."

The 14, who include Abdolhamid Rigi, a brother of Jondallah's leader, are due to be hanged in public tomorrow morning in the city of Zahedan, south-east Iran. They were sentenced for moharebeh - "enmity against God" - for allegedly participating in armed attacks on officials and civilians and other offences. Abdolhamid Rigi's "confession" was recently broadcast on television even before he was tried, after he was forcibly returned to Iran from Pakistan in mid-2008.

Jondallah has carried out a number of attacks on Iranian government forces in Sistan-Baluchistan province, killing officials who were taken prisoner. Recently, Jondallah claimed responsibility for a suicide bomb attack on a mosque in Zahedan which killed as many as 25 worshippers. Amnesty International has repeatedly condemned such abuses. Most or all of those due to be executed tomorrow are believed to have been arrested before the attack on the mosque.

top

Iran: Journalists detained as news restrictions tighten

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE
26 June 2009

The Iranian authorities must immediately release dozens of journalists arrested since 12 June and who are at risk of torture in detention, Amnesty International said today as it adopted all of them as prisoners of conscience.

'It is shocking that journalists - whose job it is to provide information to others - are being detained, on top of all the other draconian measures the authorities have taken to restrict the free flow of information about what is really happening in Iran. Rather than trying to investigate alleged abuses, the only message the authorities are sending is that they are seeking to hide the truth, both from their own citizens and the rest of the world.'

Dozens of journalists - some who also campaigned for either Mir Hossein Mousavi or Mehdi Karroubi, both candidates in the presidential election, have been detained in the past fortnight with their whereabouts mostly unknown.

For example, around 20 of 25 employees of the newspaper Kalameh Sabz arrested at their office in Haft Tir Square on 22 June are still detained and their whereabouts remain unknown. Kalameh Sabz is a newspaper established by presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi in 2009, and which has not been published since 14 June.

Since the announcement on 13 June that President Ahmadinejad had won the election, the Iranian authorities have imposed severe restrictions on freedom of expression. Access to the internet has been blocked or significantly interrupted. Iranian publications have been banned from publishing information about the unrest. Foreign news journalists have been banned from the streets, and some foreign reporters have been expelled from the country.

'If nothing else, the authorities must immediately disclose the whereabouts of these journalists, ensure that they are not tortured or otherwise ill-treated and allow their families and lawyers access to them,' said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui. 'Unless the authorities lift all unlawful restrictions on freedom of expression - which includes the right of journalists to report on events - and release all the journalists arrested, we can only assume they are trying to hide evidence of abuse and further silence any critical voice'.

Background:
Hundreds of politicians, journalists, academics, students and human rights defenders, have been detained, some briefly, across Iran since the election. Most are either supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi or Mehdi Karroubi, or are close to ex-President Khatami who supported Mir Hossein Mousavi's campaign. Others have been critical of incumbent President Ahmadinejad's policies. On 24 June, 70 academics who had met Mir Hossein Mousavi that day were arrested as they left his office. All but four were released later. Those still detained include Dr Ghorban Behzadian, the head of Mir Hossein Mousavi's election campaign. According to official statements, well over a thousand others have been arrested during demonstrations against the outcome of the election which have been met with excessive use of force by security forces. Many were beaten, and according to the authorities, up to 21 people have been killed, although the true number is likely to be higher.

Among journalists detained in the past fortnight are:
Mahsa Amrabad, a journalist for the Etemad-e Melli newspaper founded by presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi, who was arrested from her home on 14 June.
Abdolreza Tajik, editor of the weekly magazine Farhikhtegan, who was arrested from the magazine's offices on 14 June.
Keyvan Samimi Behbehani, editor of the banned Nameh magazine, who was also arrested at home on 14 June. He is also a member of the Centre for Human Rights Defenders' Arbitrary Arrests Committee.
Mojtaba Pourmohsen, editor of the newspaper Gilan-e Emrooz, from the northern city of Rasht from where he hosted a programme for the Netherlands-based Radio Zamaneh, who was arrested on 15 June.
Fariborz Soroush, a freelance journalist who has given interviews to the Prague-based Radio Farda, who was reported to have been arrested on 16 June.
Saeed Laylaz, a prominent economic journalist who writes for Sarmayeh and who had been very critical of incumbent President Ahmadinejad's economic policies was arrested on 17 June.
Mohammad Ghochani, the editor of Etemad-e Melli was arrested on 18 June at his home. According to information received by Amnesty International, he is believed to be held in Section 209 of Evin Prison in Tehran, which is controlled by the Ministry of Intelligence.
Karim Arghandehpour, a freelance journalist and blogger who used to write for various now-banned reformist newspapers, who was arrested on 14 June.

Journalists reporting for foreign news outlets have also been arrested: Maziar Bahari, who has dual Canadian and Iranian nationality who reported for Newsweek from Iran, was arrested on 21 June. Iason Athanasiadis-Fowden, a Greek national who was covering the election for the Washington Times, was arrested when trying to leave Iran on or around 19 June.

top

Iran: Stop using Basij militia to police demonstrations

Iran: Stop using Basij militia to police demonstrations
22 June 2009

Following reports from Iran that members of the Basij militia have used excessive force against demonstrators - and in light of the history of abuses committed by this unaccountable branch of the security forces - Amnesty International calls on the government of Iran to stop using the militia to police demonstrations with immediate effect.

The Basij militia is a volunteer paramilitary force of men and women under the control of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). Its members are found in schools, universities, state and private institutions, factories, and even among tribes. Basij forces are widely used to help to maintain law and order and repress dissent, and have frequently been accused of using extreme brutality.

Many of those who took part in the recent demonstrations claim non - uniformed and armed personnel, whom they believed to be members of the Basij militia, used excessive force and carried out human rights violations - including beatings and use of firearms - against demonstrators on the streets. A video of a member of the Basij shooting from an building used by the Basij during the demonstrations on Monday 15 June in which at least 8 people were killed should have triggered an immediate investigation by the authorities and clear instructions should have been issued to prevent further loss of life. Another video of a young woman identified as Neda, dying apparently from a chest wound, has been widely circulated amid claims of involvement of Basij members.

The response of the Iranian authorities has not been to open a proper investigation to clarify the circumstances of any death but rather to issue further warnings that protests will be handled in a 'revolutionary manner' by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, the Basij militia and other police and security forces.

"Iranians wishing to peacefully express their opposition to recent events surrounding the election have no space to do so, as they are met with violence that has been legitimized by the highest authority in the land," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme. "It's time for the Iranian authorities to allow peaceful protest and to remove the Basij from the streets. The policing of any demonstrations should be left to the police or other security forces which are properly trained and equipped."

Following the speech from Iran 's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Friday demanding an end to the protests, there were further demonstrations on Saturday in Tehran and other cities and towns across the country. 13 people were killed according to the authorities and many more were injured. According to the government, over 400 people were arrested. Another demonstration of about 1,000 people in Tehran on Monday has been met with tear gas and arrests.

"Recent statements from the police, who denied opening fire on protestors, and from the Tehran Prosecutor-General, who blamed the killings on 'armed terrorists', look like an attempt to disassociate state organs from responsibility for violence," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui. "This is all the more reason to stop using the Basij as there is no way for the public to even identify them, let alone bring them to account for violations. If the Iranian authorities are not able to control such a militia, they should disband it. It is irresponsible to provide weapons and then to relinquish responsibility when abuses occur".

Amnesty International calls on the Iranian authorities to investigate fully all reports of death, including possible extrajudicial executions, and to bring anyone found responsible to justice.

top

Fear of excessive use of force/torture - IRAN Demonstrators against announcement of re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad

PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 13/061/2009
23 June 2009

Demonstrations in Iran continued following the Iranian presidential election on 12 June. Iran's state media reported that on 20 June, at least 475 people were arrested during post-election clashes and that up to 13 people died, and many more were injured. The true number may be higher. The security forces also used tear gas and water cannons against the protesters who were also beaten with truncheons. Amnesty International believes that those arrested are at risk of torture or other ill-treatment, and that other demonstrators are at risk of unlawful killing or even extrajudicial execution. The authorities are unlawfully restricting freedom of expression, assembly and association.

The death on 20 June of a young 26 year-old woman, Neda Agha Soltan, was captured on video and widely circulated on the Internet. Philosophy student Neda Agha Soltan was in a car with others, when they got stuck in traffic caused by protests on Kagar Avenue in Tehran. According to reports she got out of the car because of excessive heat and was then shot in the chest by an unidentified gunman, possibly a member of the Basij militia. Her family buried her the next day, but a memorial ceremony was reportedly cancelled after officials expressly forbade it. All other mosques in the Tehran area have been warned against holding services in her memory.

On 22 June, the Revolutionary Guards posted a statement on their website stating: "In the current sensitive situation ... the Guards will firmly confront in a revolutionary way rioters and those who violate the law" after Presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi called on his supporters to stage more demonstrations. He also urged them to refrain from violence and show self-restraint. Later on the internet, Mir Hossein Mousavi's supporters then urged people to carry black candles with green ribbons to demonstrate solidarity with the victims of the unrest. They also encouraged motorists to turn on their headlights for two hours from 5 pm to "show their solidarity with families of those killed during the recent events". At least a thousand demonstrators gathered in Tehran, defying the authorities' ban on demonstrations. Police fired tear gas and several arrests took place.

During his televised address to the nation during the 19 June Friday prayers in Tehran, the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, called for an end to street protests against the outcome of the election. Instead of instructing security forces, including the volunteer Basij militia, to act with restraint and in accordance with the law, he warned that if people continued to take to the streets, the consequences would lie with them.

On 22 June the official news agency IRNA quoted Ebrahim Raisi, a senior judiciary official, as saying on state television on 22 June that more than 450 people were detained during clashes with police in Tehran on 20 June in which at least 10 people were killed. He added that "those arrested in recent events will be dealt with in a way that will teach them a lesson," and that a special court was studying the cases. Amnesty International urges the authorities to urgently open investigations into the killings both that are confirmed and reported.

The crackdown on media continues and the foreign media are banned from covering demonstrations.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
In the days following the Iranian presidential election on 12 June, hundreds of thousands of Iranians took part in marches and demonstrations across the country, protesting against both the process and outcome of the election. After the Supreme Leader's speech on Friday 19 June clashes between demonstrators and security forces dramatically increased. The police and security forces, including the volunteer Basij militia, have used excessive force, including beating protestors with truncheons to end demonstrations. In some cases, demonstrators have been shot with live ammunition. The death toll is rising. Since the presidential elections a total of up to 21 killings have been confirmed by state media and scores of politicians, journalists, academics, students and human rights defenders have been detained, some briefly, across Iran.

The Basij militia is a volunteer paramilitary force of men and women under the control of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). Its members are found in schools, universities, state and private institutions, factories, and even among tribes. Basij forces are widely used to help to maintain law and order and control dissent, and have frequently been accused of using extreme brutality.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Persian, Arabic, English, French or your own language:
- calling on the authorities to ensure that security forces exercise restraint in the policing of any further demonstrations in connection with the election result, and that firearms are not used except as a last resort where strictly unavoidable in order to protect life;
- calling on the Iranian authorities to stop using the Basij militia to police demonstrations with immediate effect;
- stressing that all those detained, including the 475 arrested on 20 June, must be protected from torture or other ill-treatment, allowed access to their families, lawyers and any necessary medical treatment and should be brought before a judge without delay so they may challenge the basis of their detention;
- urging the authorities to order an independent and impartial investigation into the policing of the demonstrations, particularly into all deaths which have been reported;
- calling for anyone detained solely for their peaceful expression of their views regarding the outcome of the election to be released immediately and unconditionally;
- asking the authorities to stop unlawfully restricting the freedoms of association, assembly and expression, including the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas.

APPEALS TO:
Minister of the Interior
Sadegh Mahsouli
Ministry of the Interior
Dr Fatemi Avenue
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: +98 21 8 896 203/ +98 21 8 899 547/ +98 21 6 650 203
Salutation: Your Excellency

Head of the Judiciary
Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh (Office of the Head of the Judiciary)
Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhouri, Tehran 1316814737, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: shahroudi@dadgostary-tehran.ir (In the subject line write: FAO Ayatollah Shahroudi)
Salutation: Your Excellency

COPIES TO:
Leader of the Islamic Republic
Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Islamic Republic Street - End of Shahid Keshvar Doust Street, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: info_leader@leader.ir

via website: http://www.leader.ir/langs/en/index.php?p=letter (English)
http://www.leader.ir/langs/fa/index.php?p=letter (Persian)

Salutation: Your Excellency

and to diplomatic representatives of Iran accredited to your country.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 4 August 2009.

top

Arbitrary arrest/Fear of torture/prisoners of conscience

Mohammad Ali Abtahi (m), 51, all political leaders
Mohsen Aminzadeh (m)
Said Hajjarian (m), 55
Behzad Nabavi (m), 68
Abdollah Ramazanzadeh (m)
Mostafa Tajzadeh (m), 53
Mohammad Tavassoli (m)
Ebrahim Yazdi, 76
Public AI Index: MDE 13/058/2009
18 June 2009

Eight political leaders have been arrested in Tehran in connection with their perceived views on Iran's disputed presidential election, which was held on 12 June or their links with former president, Mohammad Khatami. On 17 June 2009, Ebrahim Yazdi was arrested and the other seven were arrested on 16 June. They are prisoners of conscience who should be released immediately and unconditionally. It is not known where they are held and Amnesty International fears for their safety.

Members of Mohammad Ali Abtahi's family told Amnesty International that he was arrested by three plain-clothed policemen who had come to his home on 16 June. Following a short conversation, he gathered a few personal possessions, told his family that he was being detained and was taken away. Mohammad Ali Abtahi, a cleric, was an advisor to former Iranian President, Mohammad Khatami, holding a Vice Presidential post in the President's second term. Mohsen Aminzadeh, who was Deputy Foreign Minister during the presidency of Mohammad Khatami, is a leading member of the Islamic Iran Participation Front (Jebhe-ye Mosharekat-e Iran-e Eslami ).

Said Hajjarian is former Tehran city counsellor and advisor to former president Mohammad Khatami and investigative journalist. He was confined to a wheelchair following an attempted assassination in 2000 in which the perpetrators argued that he was a legitimate target, or mahdour al-dam, a provision of Iranian law referring to those 'whose blood may be legitimately spilled', for having revealed the state's role in a series or murders, mainly in the 1990s. His neurologist has stated that he is in need of constant nursing care and physical therapy; detention could put his life in danger.

Behzad Nabavi, a founding member of the Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution Organization (Sazman-e Mojahedin-e Enghlab-e Eslami), a political body aligned with former President Mohammad Khatami, was a member of parliament between 2000-2004. In the 1980s he was a minister in governments headed by then Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi. Dr Abdollah Ramazanzadeh was government spokesperson while Mostafa Tajzadeh was Deputy Minister of Interior in former President Mohammad Khatami's administration, 2001 to 2004. Abdollah Ramazanzadeh is the deputy leader of the Islamic Iran Participation Front.

Mohammad Tavassoli, is a senior member of the Iran Freedom Movement (Nehzat-e Azadi). The party's Secretary General, Ebrahim Yazdi, was a member of the 1979 government and member of parliament following the revolution, was arrested at the Pars Hospital, central Tehran on 17 June, where he was under observation. The previous day his house had been searched and personal belongings such as notebooks and his computer were confiscated. His current whereabouts are unknown. He is said to have criticised the conduct of the 12 June election. He was returned to Pars Hospital on 18 June, possibly as a result of the deterioration in his health, but he appears to remain in custody.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
On 12 June, the Ministry of the Interior announced that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had won by what many consider to be an unexpectedly wide margin. The Guardian Council, a higher legislative and administrative body announced that the results were subject to their ratification and that a limited recount of ballots would be initiated. The other three candidates are said to have submitted formal complaints to the Council of Guardians, which oversees elections and a ruling on their complaints is expected within around a week days.

In the days following the election, thousands of people in favour of the incumbent took part in a rally while many thousands have taken part in marches and demonstrations across Iran that have condemned both the process and outcome of the election. Most of the demonstrations have been non-violent but in some cases violence erupted, including stone throwing and acts of arson. .The police and security forces have used excessive force, including beating and clubbing with truncheons, to control some of the demonstrations. While up to seven deaths have been confirmed by Iran's state radio, Amnesty International has recorded up to 15 killings, including of five students, whose death remains unconfirmed.

All of those arrested, who are amongst up to 2000 other people reportedly detained across the country, represent political groups that were widely seen as favouring candidates opposed to the incumbent, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Persian, Arabic, English, French or your own language: - calling on the authorities to immediately and unconditionally release the political leaders and activists named above and all others arrested solely on account of their peaceful views, including about the outcome of the elections, as they are prisoners of conscience;
- urging that they be allowed immediate access to their family members, lawyers of their choice and to any medical treatment they may require, and that they be protected from all forms of torture or ill-treatment;
- calling on the authorities to allow peaceful demonstrations to take place of those who wish to express their opinions on the elections.

APPEALS TO:
Leader of the Islamic Republic
Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei, The Office of the Supreme Leader
Islamic Republic Street - End of Shahid Keshvar Doust Street, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email:         info_leader@leader.ir
      via website: http://www.leader.ir/langs/en/index.php?p=letter (English)
      http://www.leader.ir/langs/fa/index.php?p=letter(Persian)
Salutation:         Your Excellency

Head of the Judiciary
Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh (Office of the Head of the Judiciary)
Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhouri, Tehran 1316814737, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email:         shahroudi@dadgostary-tehran.ir (In the subject line write: FAO Ayatollah Shahroudi)
Salutation:     Your Excellency

Minister of the Interior
Sadegh Mahsouli
Ministry of the Interior
Dr Fatemi Avenue
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: +98 21 8 896 203 +98 21 8 899 547 +98 21 6 650 203

and to diplomatic representatives of Iran accredited to your country.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 30 July 2009.

top

Iran : Violence against demonstrators marks new presidential term

Sunday 14 June 2009

The Iranian authorities must start an immediate investigation into the security forces' violent handling of thousands of demonstrators who took to the streets on Saturday to protest against the announcement of the victory of incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Friday's presidential elections.

Amnesty International has received reports from Iran that plain-clothes security forces unnecessarily used batons to beat and disperse non-violent individuals , injuring many people .

'The shocking scenes of violence meted out by the security forces need to be urgently investigated and those responsible for human rights violations must be brought to justice ,' said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme. 'While we recognise the duty of security forces to ensure that public order is upheld, the families of those detained, the Iranian public and the international community should be told what exactly are the basis of the charges and shown how exactly those arrested were connected to violence.'

At least 170 people were arrested on Saturday during clashes between security forces and hundreds of demonstrators around the Ministry of the Interior and other areas in central Tehran. Those arrested included leading political figures who were accused by the authorities to have 'orchestrated' the unrest. Some have since been released.

'We urge the Iranian authorities to ensure that all Iranians are granted the right to express themselves peacefully, to associate and to assemble. No one should be arrested for questioning the results of the elections and the Iranian authorities need to act in a transparent manner to address the concerns raised by many Iranians that results have been tampered with ,' said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui.

Although universities have been closed, one report received by Amnesty International indicated that some 100 riot police, wearing helmets and shields, had chased some 300 - 400 students on grounds belonging to the University of Tehran. Security personnel also used pepper and tear gas to quell the unrest, notably at the student dormitory in Pol-e Gisha, Tehran and another one in Shiraz.

In another incident, police on motorcycles beat supporters of presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, who had staged a sit-in in Vanak Square, Tehran to protest the results of the elections.

At the end of Saturday night, in parts of central Tehran, burning barricades were strewn across the road in places and clashes with security forces were continuing, including in the areas of Abbas Abad and, Saadat Abad, in areas around Tajrish.

Demonstrations also spread to other cities, including Rasht ; Mashahd; Shiraz and Ahwaz, where many of Iran 's Arab minority reside; Zahedan, in Iran 's southeast and centre of Iran's Baluchi minority; and Oroumiye, a city mainly populated by Kurds and Azerbaijani Turkish people.

In the course of the unrest on Saturday, access to You Tube, Facebook and other social networking internet sites was blocked, as was access to a range of online news services. SMS communications were reported to be restricted. Many of these outlets carried reports which raised concerns that the conduct of the election was flawed and results had been rigged .

'Instead of instituting an information clampdown, including by blocking video sharing social networking sites like You Tube and Facebook; along with a handful of online news sites, the authorities should openly address the concerns and criticisms clearly expressed by so many,' Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui said.

Amnesty International has called on the authorities to ensure that newspapers linked to other presidential candidates are permitted to carry the statements of those candidates.

'We deplore that the new presidential term is heralded with widespread abuses. Amnesty International considers anyone arrested simply for demanding transparency and for questioning the results of the elections to be a prisoner of conscience, who should be immediately and unconditionally released.'

Background
Iran has witnessed a growing climate of repression and intimidation in the run-up to the elections. This has been termed by many commentators as a deliberate strategy to ensure that president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wins the election.

Prior to the closure of the polls, newspapers linked to the other candidates than incumbent President Ahmadinejad were reportedly occupied and their work carried out under the supervision of security forces.

In the hours following the closure of the polls, the Ministry of the Interior is said to have confidentially informed Mir Hossein Mousavi that he had won the elections and he was in the process of preparing for a press conference, when his office was raided on a reported verbal order issued by Tehran Province prosecutor, Said Mortazavi. At least three of Mir Hossein Mousavi's advisors were detained. Mir Hossein Mousavi issued a statement stating that he would 'not surrender to this dangerous charade'.

Public Document

****************************************

For more information please call Amnesty International's press office in London , UK , on +44 20 7413 5566 or email: press@amnesty.org

International Secretariat, Amnesty International, 1 Easton St., London WC1X 0DW , UK www.amnesty.org

top

Iran: Election amid repression of dissent and unrest

9 June 2009

The Iranian presidential elections are to be held this month on 12 June. The candidates are: the incumbent President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; Mohsen Rezaei, a former commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps; Former Prime Minister, Mir Hossein Mousavi (backed by former president, MohammadKhatami); and Mehdi Karroubi, a former parliamentary speaker.

While Amnesty International welcomes pledges from some of the candidates to address the prevailing discrimination against women in the country -- an issue which has been forced to the forefront of the debate by the efforts of women's rights activists - and ethnic minorities and to tackle economic issues to improve the welfare of the population, there are other serious human rights concerns which also need addressing. These include severe curtailments of freedom of expression, arbitrary arrests, torture and other ill-treatment, unfair trials and a high recourse to the death penalty (including against juvenile offenders) as well as incidents of people being stoned to death.

• At least 194 people have been executed so far this year in Iran, including five women and three juveniles convicted of crimes allegedly committed before they were 18, a practice strictly prohibited under international law.

• At least 140 juveniles are known to be on death row in Iran.

• At least one person has been stoned to death this year in Iran, despite a 2002 directive from the Head of the Judiciary ordering a moratorium on stonings. Amnesty International is aware of seven women and three men currently under sentence of death by stoning.

The election period has also seen increased repression, both of people expressing their opinions directly about the elections, or of those seen to be opposed to the system in some way, including students, women's rights activists, lawyers and unrecognized religious minorities, such as the Baha'is and the Ahl-e Haq.

Amnesty International is also concerned that all but four of the candidates have been excluded from standing, including all women, on the grounds of discriminatory criteria. The Council of Guardians is the body which screens all candidates for election to "ensure their suitability for the Presidency". Article 115 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran stipulates that candidates must be from "religious and political personalities" [Persian: rejal] and possess: "Iranian origin; Iranian nationality; administrative capacity and resourcefulness; a good past record; trustworthiness and piety; convinced belief in the fundamental principles of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the official religion of the country." In previous elections, the majority of candidates registered were disqualified under these criteria, including all women. The exclusion of women appears to have been as a result of an interpretation of the word rejalas meaning "men".

Amnesty International is concerned about the increasing number of arrests in recent weeks leading up to the presidential elections, which indicates worsening repression of people who want to express their opinions:

In the pre-election period, Amnesty International has received reports suggesting increased waves of arbitrary arrests and harassment targeting in particular members of Iran's religious and ethnic minority communities, including Baha'is and converts from Islam, students, trade unionists and women's rights activists.

By imprisoning people for merely expressing dissenting views, the Iranian authorities are stifling the free debate which is a pre-requisite of elections. Citizens should be able to freely express their grievances and their demands so that candidates can address them.

• Jelveh Javaheri, a member of the One Million Signatures Campaign (also known as the Campaign for Equality), which is collecting signatures to a petition demanding equal rights for women was released on bail on 7 June. She is one of around 150 people arrested on 1 May 2009. Most -- including Jelveh Javaheri's journalist husband Kaveh Mozaffari who is still detained along with several others - were arrested in Laleh Park in Tehran where a celebration of International Workers' Day was being held. Jelveh Javaheri, however, was arrested at home without an arrest warrant when security officials came with her husband to search their house.  She has since been charged with "acting against national security through membership in the One Million Signatures Campaign and with the aim of disrupting public order and security." At least three other women associated with the Campaign for Equality are currently imprisoned, including Alieh Aghdam-Doust who is serving a three-year prison sentence.

• The campaign of Mir Hossein Mousavi -- himself a member of the Azerbaijani minority -  has attracted allegations of racism after a video posted on YouTube on 14 May allegedly showed former President Mohammad Khatami (who supports Mr Mousavi) making comments belittling Iranian Azerbaijanis. Mr Khatami has since stated that the video was a fake. In the days after the video surfaced, hundreds of Azerbaijani activists held rallies and organized protests, demanding an apology from Mr Khatami.  Some have been arrested and are being held in incommunicado detention.

• For example, on 22 May, in a government-organized rally in El Goli (also known as Shah Golu) Park in Tabriz, in north-west Iran, a group of Azerbaijanis protested against the Khatami video and demanded that education be made available in the Azerbaijani Turkic language. Ali Reza Farshi, a professor in the Islamic Azad University of Marand, north-west of Tabriz, along with 14 other protestors were reportedly arrested and are believed to be still detained. Four of the protestors are reported to have suffered injuries and were bleeding as they were taken away. There is no information on their health.

• On 27 May, Emad Bahavar, head of the youth wing of the Iran Freedom Party who was campaigning for the presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi, was arrested on charges of "propaganda against the system". He has since been released on bail.

• At least two university students -- Abbas Hakimzadeh and Mehdi Mashayekhi remain detained without trial by the Ministry of Intelligence in Section 209 of Evin Prison in Tehran following their arrests in February 2009. Other students arrested with them who have since been released have said that they were tortured in detention. On 28 April 2009, a Revolutionary Court judge said that eight students, including those still detained, had been accused of cooperating with the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran, an opposition group based in exile. He added that they had intended to carry out some activities in the university during the forthcoming election.

• Following a fierce clash in April between members of the Kurdish armed opposition group, the Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan (PJAK) and security forces in which at least 18 policemen were killed, dozens of Kurds are reported to have been arrested. Others were said to be detained following the eight-day visit of the Supreme Leader, Ali Khamene'i, to Kordestan Province in mid-May.

• In the run-up to the elections violent unrest has intensified in Sistan-Baluchistan province in south-eastern Iran. A member of the armed Baluch group, the People's Resistance Movement of Iran (PRMI), carried out a suicide bomb attack on a mosque in the provincial capital of Zahedan on 28 May. Up to 25 people were reported to have been killed and dozens more were injured. The PRMI said that the attack was a reprisal for the execution of several Sunni clerics in recent years. Amnesty International has condemned the attack on the mosque.

• Less than 48 hours after the bombing, three men were hanged in public near the site of the attack amid claims that they were responsible. Later comments clarified that the three men had been in detention at the time of the bombing, but they had "confessed" to providing the explosives used in the bombing. Further unrest broke out afterwards with up to ten people killed, and dozens arrested.

• Iran's Baluch minority - in common with other minorities in Iran - suffer discrimination by the state authorities leading to gross violations of their economic, social and cultural rights. They live mainly in the provinces of Sistan-Balouchistan and Kerman and are believed to constitute between one and three per cent of the country's total population of around 70 million. They are mainly Sunni Muslims, whereas the majority of Iran's population are Shi'a Muslims.

Note to editors:

For more information, please see:

Iran: Ensure free presidential election: http://www.amnesty...

Iran: Human Rights ...:

http://www.amnesty...

Iran: Worsening repression of dissent as election approaches:

http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/012/2009/en

Iran: Women's Rights Defenders Defy Repression MDE 13/018/2008:

http://www.amnesty...

Public Document

For more information please call Amnesty International's press office in London, UK, on +44 20 7413 5566 or email: press@amnesty.org

International Secretariat, Amnesty International, 1 Easton St., London WC1X 0DW, UK www.amnesty.org

top

Iran: Outrage at execution of Delara Darabi

Friday 1 May 2009

This morning, Iranian authorities executed Delara Darabi in Rasht Central Prison. She is the second person to be executed this year after being convicted of a crime she was alleged to have committed while still under 18, Amnesty International revealed today.

"Amnesty International is outraged at the execution of Delara Darabi, and particularly at the news that her lawyer was not informed about the execution, despite the legal requirement that he should receive 48 hours' notice. This appears to have been a cynical move on the part of the authorities to avoid domestic and international protests which might have saved Delara Darabi's life," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme.

Delara Darabi was executed despite her having been given a two-month stay of execution by the Head of the Judiciary on 19 April.

"This indicates that even decisions by the Head of the Judiciary carry no weight and are disregarded in the provinces," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui.

Delara Darabi was convicted of murdering a relative in 2003 when she was 17. She initially confessed to the murder, believing she could save her boyfriend from the gallows, but later retracted her confession. She was being detained at Rasht Prison in northern Iran since her arrest in 2003, during which time she developed a significant talent as a painter.

Amnesty International does not consider her trial to have been fair, as the courts later refused to consider new evidence which the lawyer said would have proved she could not have committed the murder.

Amnesty International had campaigned for her life since her case came to light in 2006, urging the Iranian authorities to commute her death sentence and calling for a her re-trial in proceedings that meet international standards.

The execution of Delara Darabi brings the number of executions in Iran this year to 140. She is the second woman known to have been executed. Iran has executed at least forty two juvenile offenders since 1990, eight of them in 2008 and one on 21 January 2009, in total disregard of international law, which unequivocally bans the execution of those convicted of crimes committed when under the age of 18.

Public Document

****************************************

For more information please call Amnesty International's press office in London , UK , on +44 20 7413 5566 or email: press@amnesty.org

International Secretariat, Amnesty International, 1 Easton St., London WC1X 0DW , UK www.amnesty.org

top

Urgent Actions on 2 detained Baha'is, a juvenile in danger of imminent execution, and 12 prisoners of conscience.

27 March 2009

PUBLIC            AI Index:  MDE 13/023/2009       
        27 March 2009

UA 84/09    Arbitrary arrests/ prisoners of conscience       

IRAN    Haleh Houshmandi-Salehi (f)    ] members of the Baha'i community
    Farham (also known as Hadi) Masoumi (m)    ]

Two members of the Baha'i community, Haleh Houshmandi-Salehi and Farham Masoumi were arrested after being summoned to appear on 18 March at the Ministry of Intelligence's offices in the city of Shiraz, in Fars Province, south western Iran. Based on the information available, Amnesty International believes  they are prisoners of conscience, detained solely because of their religious beliefs or their peaceful activities on behalf of the Baha'i community.

Farham Masoumi was arrested and released a few hours later on 15 March, following a search of his house. He was detained for a second time on 18 March when he was summoned to appear at the detention facility run by the Ministry of Intelligence in Shiraz.

Haleh Houshmandi-Salehi and her husband Mr Houshmandi were away from Shiraz on 15 March when their home was raided by officers from the Ministry of Intelligence. Haleh Houshmandi-Salehi's mother was threatened and forced to hand over the house keys by officers who confiscated all the family's books, CDs, computer and other personal items, including some of their child's belongings. The officers also had an arrest warrant for Haleh Houshmandi-Salehi who was not present at the time. On 17 March, she received a telephone call in which she was summoned to appear the next day at the detention facility run by the Ministry of Intelligence in Shiraz. She was arrested when she went there on 18 March. 

When Haleh Houshmandi-Salehi's husband asked officials at the detention facility about the reason for his wife's arrest, he was informed that she and Farham Masoumi were arrested because of their involvement in "illegal activities". When he contacted the local Information Office of the Ministry of Intelligence he was told: "Your wife is a Baha'i, and for now that is sufficient reason for her arrest".

Haleh Houshmandi-Salehi was amongst a group of more than 53 individuals, mostly Baha'i, involved in a programme teaching underprivileged children in the city of Shiraz. They were arrested in May 2006 even though the authorities had granted permission for their activities and later released. In August 2007, all 53 were tried by Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Court in Shiraz. They were charged with offences relating to state security. Fourteen who attended the court sessions were told orally of the verdict against the whole group.  Three were each sentenced to three years' imprisonment for "organizing illegal groups" and to an additional one year's imprisonment for "propaganda on behalf of groups that are opposed to the Islamic system". The other 50, including Haleh Houshmandi-Salehi, were sentenced to suspended prison sentences of four months for "participating in an illegal group" and a further eight months for "propaganda on behalf of groups that are opposed to the Islamic system". All those involved have appealed against their convictions and sentences (see UA 25/08, MDE 13/017/2008, 25 January 2008).

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The Baha'i faith was founded about 150 years ago in Iran and has since spread around the world. Since the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979, the Baha'i community has been systematically harassed and persecuted. There are over 300,000 Baha'is currently in Iran, but their religion is not recognized under the Iranian Constitution, which only recognizes Islam, Christianity, Judaism and Zoroastrianism. Baha'is in Iran are subject to discriminatory laws and regulations which violate their right to practise their religion freely, as set out in Article 18(1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a state party. The Iranian authorities also deny Baha'is equal rights to education, to work and to a decent standard of living by restricting their access to employment and benefits such as pensions. They are not permitted to meet, to hold religious ceremonies or to practise their religion communally. Since President Ahmadinejad was elected in 2005, dozens of Baha'is have been arrested.

Members of the Baha'i community in Iran profess their allegiance to the state and deny that they are involved in any subversive acts against the government, which they state would be against their religion. The Baha'i International Community, which describes itself as an international non-governmental organization with affiliates in over 180 countries and territories, together representing over 5 million members of the Bahá'í Faith, believes that the allegations of espionage for Israel which have over the years been made against the community in Iran stem solely from the fact that the Baha'i World Centre is in Israel.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Persian, Arabic, English or your own language:
- calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Haleh Houshmandi-Salehi and Farham Masoumi as they appear to be detained solely because of their beliefs or peaceful activities on behalf of the Baha'i community;
- otherwise calling for their release unless they are charged with a recognizably criminal offence and brought to trial promptly and fairly;
- urging the Iranian authorities to ensure that they are not subjected to torture or other ill-treatment;
- urging the authorities to ensure that they are given immediate and regular access to their relatives and lawyers of their choice, and to any medical treatment they may require.

APPEALS TO:
Head of the Judiciary
Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh (Office of the Head of the Judiciary)
Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhouri, Tehran 1316814737, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email:         shahroudi@dadgostary-tehran.ir (In the subject line write: FAO Ayatollah Shahroudi)
Salutation:     Your Excellency

Leader of the Islamic Republic
Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei, The Office of the Supreme Leader
Islamic Republic Street - End of Shahid Keshvar Doust Street, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email:         info_leader@leader.ir
      via website: http://www.leader.ir/langs/en/index.php?p=letter (English)
      http://www.leader.ir/langs/fa/index.php?p=letter(Persian)
Salutation:         Your Excellency

Head of Judiciary, Fars Province
Mr Siyavoshpour
Fars Province Judiciary
Karim Khan Zand Street
Shohada Square, Shiraz, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email:         info@farsjudiciary.ir
   
COPIES TO:
President
His Excellency Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
The Presidency, Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax:         + 98 21 6 649 5880
Email:         via website: http://www.president.ir/email/

and to diplomatic representatives of Iran accredited to your country.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 8 May 2009.

PUBLIC            AI Index: MDE 13/024/2009   
        27 March 2009

UA 86/09    Arbitrary arrest/prisoners of conscience
   
IRAN        Delaram Ali (f)            ]
      Leila Nazari (f)            ]
      Khadijeh Moghaddam (f)    ]
      Farkhondeh Ehtesabian (f)    ]
Mahboubeh Karami (f)        ]    members of the One Million Signatures Campaign
Baharah Behravan (f)        ]   
      Ali Abdi (m)            ]
      Amir Rashidi (m)        ]
      Mohammad Shourab (m)    ]
      Arash Nasiri Eghbali (m)     ]
      Soraya Yousefi (f), member of Mothers for Peace
      Shahla Forouzanfar (f), member of Mothers for Peace

The 12 people named above were arrested in the capital, Tehran, on 26 March, and held in police stations until that evening, when they were taken to Evin prison. Amnesty International considers all 12 to be prisoners of conscience, held solely for the peaceful exercise of their internationally recognized right to freedom of assembly.

They were arrested as they prepared to make visits marking the Iranian New Year to families of detained activists, including students and trade unionists, and also the family of Dr Zahra Bani Yaghoub, who died in detention in suspicious circumstances in 2007.

According to the website of the One Million Signatures Campaign (also known as the Campaign for Equality) (http://www.campaignforequality.info/english/spip.php?article489), the 12 detainees' relatives have said they have been accused of "creating unease in the public mind" and "disrupting public order", which are offences under Articles 618 and 698 of the Penal Code, and which carry sentences of imprisonment and/or flogging.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The Campaign for Equality, launched in 2006, is a grassroots initiative composed of a network of people committed to ending discrimination against women in Iranian law. The Campaign gives basic legal training to volunteers, who travel around the country promoting the Campaign. They talk with women in their homes, as well as in public places, telling them about their rights and the need for legal reform. The volunteers are also aiming at collecting one million signatures of Iranian nationals for a petition demanding an end to legal discrimination against women in Iran.

Dozens of activists have been arrested for their activities for the Campaign for Equality, some while collecting signatures for the petition. The authorities have blocked the Campaign's website at least 19 times. The Campaign has frequently been denied official permission to hold public meetings, and Campaign activists usually hold their meetings in the homes of sympathizers, some of whom have then received threatening phone calls apparently from security forces officials, or been summoned by them for interrogation. At least one such meeting was broken up by police, who arrested those present and beat some of them. Some members have been banned from travelling abroad.

At least two other women associated with the Campaign for Equality are also in custody: Ronak Safarzadeh has been held since October 2007, and Zeynab Beyezidi is serving a four-year prison sentence. The Campaign for Equality is also calling for the release of Alieh Aghdam-Doust, who is serving a three-year sentence imposed for her participation in a peaceful demonstration against legalized discrimination against women, which was held in June 2006, before the Campaign for Equality was launched. Amnesty International considers all to be prisoners of conscience.

Mothers for Peace was launched in 2007 by a group of Iranian women to campaign against possible military intervention in Iran over its nuclear programme, and to seek "viable solutions" to the region's instability (see http://www.motherspeace.com/spip.php?article84).

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Persian, Arabic, English, French or your own language:
- calling on the authorities to release the 12 (naming them), as they are prisoners of conscience, held solely for the peaceful exercise of their internationally recognized right to freedom of assembly;
- in the meantime, urging the authorities to grant them immediate and unconditional access to their families, lawyers of their choice and any medical treatment they may require.

APPEALS TO:

Head of the Judiciary
His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh / Office of the Head of the Judiciary
Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhouri, Tehran 1316814737, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email:         info@dadiran.ir, shahroudi@dadgostary-tehran.ir
(In the subject line write: FAO Ayatollah Shahroudi)
Salutation:     Your Excellency

COPIES TO:
Leader of the Islamic Republic
Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader
End of Shahid Keshvar Doust Street
Islamic Republic Street
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email:         via website: http://www.leader.ir/langs/en/index.php?p'letter (English)
    http://www.leader.ir/langs/fa/index.php?p'letter (Persian)
Salutation:     Your Excellency

Director, Human Rights Headquarters of Iran
Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh (Office of the Head of the Judiciary)
Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhouri
Tehran 1316814737, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax:     +98 21 3390 4986 (please keep trying)
Email:    info@dadiran.ir (In the subject line: FAO Director, Human Rights Headquarters)
Salutation:     Dear Sir

and to diplomatic representatives of Iran accredited to your country.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 8 May 2009.

PUBLIC            AI Index: MDE 13/025/2009       
        27 March 2009

UA 87/09    Fear of imminent execution
       
IRAN     Abumoslem Sohrabi (m), aged 24, juvenile offender

Abumoslem Sohrabi is at risk of imminent execution for a murder committed when he was 17 years old. His execution order has been approved by the Supreme Court and passed to the Office for the Implementation of Sentences, the body responsible for seeing that all sentences - including executions - are carried out.

In December 2001, Abumoslem Sohrabi from the city of Firouzabad, in Fars Province, stabbed a 25-year-old man, Amin, in what he claimed was an act of self-defence. Abumoslem Sohrabi says that Amin had raped him on numerous occasions and was harassing him at the time of the incident, by asking him out and offering him motorbike rides, but he had repeteadly refused the advances. On the day of the killing, Abumoslem Sohrabi had again refused a ride with Amin, who then threatened to tell others about their previous encounters. Abumoslem Sohrabi then said he would accept the ride, but, after mounting the motorbike, hit Amin and then ran away. Amin came after him, and they fought. Abumoslem Sohrabi managed to grab a knife that Amin was carrying knife and used it against him. He then fled the scene on Amin's motorbike, apparently not knowing that he had killed him.

Abumoslem Sohrabi was tried by Branch 3 of the Revolutionary Court in Firouzabad and sentenced to qesas (retribution) for murder committed in order to steal Amin's motorbike. However, in a letter to the Supreme Court, the judge who issued the original death sentence retracted his ruling in the light of evidence that Abumoslem Sohrabi was a rape victim and acted in self-defence. In July 2008 Branch 33 of the Supreme Court in Tehran ordered a review of the case but the death sentence was upheld.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Iran has executed at least 42 juvenile offenders since 1990, eight of them in 2008 and one on 21 January 2009.

The execution of juvenile offenders is prohibited under international law, as stated in Article 6(5) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), to which Iran is a state party, and so has undertaken not to execute anyone for crimes committed when they were under 18.

In Iran a person convicted of murder has no right to seek pardon or commutation from the state, in violation of Article 6(4) of the ICCPR. The family of a murder victim have the right either to insist on execution, or to pardon the killer and receive financial compensation (diyeh).

For more information about executions of child offenders in Iran, please see Iran: The last executioner of children (Index: MDE 13/059/2007), June 2007,(http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engmde130592007).

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Persian, Arabic, English or your own language:
- expressing concern that Abumoslem Sohrabi is at imminent risk of execution for a crime committed when he was under 18;
- calling on the authorities to commute his death sentence;
- reminding the authorities that Iran is a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which prohibit the use of the death penalty against people convicted of crimes committed when they were under 18.

APPEALS TO:

Head of the Judiciary
Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh (Office of the Head of the Judiciary)
Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhouri, Tehran 1316814737, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email:         shahroudi@dadgostary-tehran.ir (In the subject line write: FAO Ayatollah Shahroudi)
Salutation:     Your Excellency

COPIES TO:

Leader of the Islamic Republic
Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Islamic Republic Street - End of Shahid Keshvar Doust Street, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email:         info_leader@leader.ir
      via website: http://www.leader.ir/langs/en/index.php?p'letter (English)
      http://www.leader.ir/langs/fa/index.php?p'letter (Persian)
Salutation:         Your Excellency

Director, Human Rights Headquarters of Iran
Mohammad Javad Larijani
Howzeh Riassat-e Ghoveh Ghazaiyeh (Office of the Head of the Judiciary)
Pasteur St, Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhuri, Tehran 1316814737, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax:         +98 21 3390 4986 (please keep trying)
Email:        fsharafi@bia-judiciary.ir (In the subject line: FAO Mohammad Javad Larijani)
    int_aff@judiciary.ir (In the subject line: FAO Mohammad Javad Larijani)
Salutation:    Dear Mr Larijani

and to diplomatic representatives of Iran accredited to your country.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 8 May 2009.