Arrests and killings rise as election protests grip Iran

Amnesty Report

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Protester alleged to have been injured by gunfire from pro-government militia is helped by another protester, Tehran.

© AP GraphicsBank

17 June 2009

Demonstrations against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s disputed election victory have spread to all corners of the country. New reports suggest that around 15 protesters have been killed and hundreds more injured or arrested by security forces.

Up to two million people, including supporters of opposition leader Hossein Mousavi, took to the streets in Tehran on Monday to protest the outcome of the election. Large numbers massed again on Tuesday afternoon despite government threats that they would clamp down on "illegal protests".

Elsewhere in Iran, similar protests against the announcement of President Ahmadinejad's re-election have been met with an excessive force by police and security forces. In addition to seven protesters killed in Tehran, three people are reported to have died in Oroumiye and Shiraz.

While the arrest of dozens of political activists in the capital has been widely reported, less attention has been paid to the situation in provincial towns and cities.

In Tabriz, north-western Iran, 17 political activists, including doctors and those affiliated to the Nehzat-e Azadi (Iran Freedom Movement) are reported to have been detained and taken to unspecified locations on Monday night after they staged a peaceful protest in the city's Abresan Square.

Among those arrested was Doctor Ghaffari Farzadi, a leading member of the Iran Freedom Movement and a lecturer at Tabriz University.

Students appear to have been particularly targeted. Security forces entered dormitories at Tabriz University on Monday and detained 10 students who had been involved in demonstrations. On Tuesday, activist and student leader Amir Mardani was among hundreds more people detained.

In the city of Oroumiye, also in north-western Iran, local media reported on Tuesday that two people had been killed and hundreds more detained after a crackdown on around 3,000 protesters in Imam Street.

In Shiraz, southern Iran, security forces used tear gas as they forced their way into a university library. Reports say that several students were beaten and around 100 were detained. Unconfirmed reports suggest that one person may have been killed.

In the northern town of Babol, armed paramilitaries and plain-clothed officials are reported to have surrounded Babol University and targeted students in dormitories.

This scenario was repeated in other centres. In Mashhad, in the north-east, there were further reports of security forces attacking students and in Zahedan, in Iran’s southeast, two students are among at least three activists who have been detained

Amnesty International has called on the Iranian authorities to exercise restraint in their policing of any further demonstrations in connection with the election result and to end attacks on students. The organisation is looking into the reported deaths.

Read More

Violence against demonstrators marks new presidential term in Iran (News, 15 June 2009)
Iran's presidential election amid unrest and ongoing human rights violations (News, 5 June 2009)

Jelveh and Aung San, Defending Humanity, Defending

Jelveh and Aung San, Defending Humanity, Defending Conscience

By Elahe Amani

Friday 29 May 2009

Jelveh Javaheri of Iran and Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma have many differences at personal and political level. But, other than sharing the same biology, they have one thing in common, they both are prisoners of conscience by authoritarian states in countries where respect for human rights and human dignity is undermined and violated.

Aung San Suu Kyi, the acclaimed Burma leader and Nobel Peace Laureate in her famous speech “ All we want is our freedom” in 2003 said “As I travel through my country, people often ask me how it feels to have been imprisoned in my home —first for six years, then for 19 months. How could I stand the separation from family and friends? It is ironic, I say, that in an authoritarian state it is only the prisoner of conscience who is genuinely free. Yes, we have given up our right to a normal life. But we have stayed true to that most precious part of our humanity—our conscience.”

Aung San Suu Kyi was confined to a dilapidated house for 13 of the last 19 years, the woman known to the Burmese as ’the lady’ remains their prime minister-elect. She has been detained under house arrest by the country’s military regime under article ten of the 1975 state protection act, which permits the government to imprison anyone for up to five years. With her latest term of house arrest due to expire tomorrow, the Nobel peace prize laureate faces five years in prison over politically-motivated charges that she breached the terms of her detention. She is a prisoner of conscience.

Jelveh Javaheri, the young, vibrant and inspiring women activist in Iran like Aung San Suu Kyi has given up a “normal life” to stay true to her conscience and strive to change the discriminatory laws against women and girls in Iran. She, like thousands of Iranian women and men, demand what belongs to her and other women as human beings which is rights and dignity. She is also in detention and a prisoner of conscience.

Change for Equality, on May 2nd reported that six members of One Million Signatures Campaign, the campaign to change the discriminatory laws, were arrested during and after a peaceful demonstration which was held to celebrate May 1st. The police forces attacked the demonstrators even before they congregated and left many of the people with bloody faces.

There were more than 150 arrested and among them was Campaign activist Kaveh Mozafari, Jelveh’s husband. Jelveh was home when the intelligence forces raided their residence taking everything that potentially might have been useful to fabricate a case for pressing a charge against them including unthinkable and random items such as , Jelveh and Kaveh’s University degrees!!

They asked Jelveh Javaheri to go with them for questioning at the local office. Jelveh, being arrested before knew her rights and asked for a court order but there was no legal document ordering her arrest. With the use of force, three security guards arrested Jelveh while her mother who was witnessing the scene, yelled at the guards, “ You are putting handcuffs on the hands of freedom”. The Security Branch of the Revolutionary Courts charged her with actions against national security and collusion with the intent to participate in a protest, and disruption of public order. According to reports by Jelveh herself, she objected to these charges and explained that she was arrested in her home and had not participated in any protest. After conducting investigations officials realized their mistake. No new charges have been brought against her since she was not even at the protest.

Many of the workers, students and all Campaign activist who were arrested on May 1st peaceful gathering, are released but Jelveh and her husband remain in detention. A wide range of human rights, labor activists and women’s rights groups and websites including but not limited to Change for Equality, Kanoon Zanan, and Feminist School condemned the brutal and violent suppression of May Day peaceful gathering and demanded an end to the illegal detention of Jelveh Javaheri, a founding member of the One Million Signatures Campaign and women’s rights defender and Kaveh Mozafari, also a women’s rights defender and a Campaign member.

Of all the women who were arrested on May 1st, Jelveh is the only woman who is still in detention. In a recent interview of Radio Zamaneh with Jelveh’s mother who witnessed her arrest, she said “My daughter was dragged out barefoot and taken away as part of her husband’s property! There is no other reason for her arrest and on-going detention”.

The Irony of the May Day encounter with protesters lies in the fact that the Iranian government which has a tall records of human rights violations, claims to be the government of “ Mostazafin ”, the government of poor, oppressed and economically marginalized people, the government of the toiling masses. The statesmen of Iran shake hands with leaders like Chaves, allow posters of Che Guevara to be distributed and Che’s mural be painted on the public walls while crashing May Day celebrations and signing economic treaties with global economic powers that compromises the best interest of Iranian people. They claim to be at the front line of struggle against “Big Satan and Global Estekbar” (loosely means global arrogance) and question human rights violations in Iraq and Guantanamo, yet violating the rights of people to freedom of speech and assembly, inflicting violence on a peaceful gathering on the International Worker’s Day and detain rights activists illegally and on unfounded charges or even without any charges. This is Turbo Hypocrisy!

The realities of our world and complexities that the intersection of global patterns such as globalization, militarization and the rise of religious fundamentalism present, charge all progressive people, women rights defenders, social justice activists and human rights organizations and communities to set their minds free of the old paradigms and look at the world with a lens sensitive to gender, race, economic and social stratifications. As Audre Lorde said “There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.” The global struggle of conscientious people for rights, dignity, democracy and justice are all part of the fabric of humanity that women like Jelveh Javaheri and Aung San Suu Kyi are standing firm to defend. They inspire all of us to be true to the most precious part of our humanity—our conscience.

Open letter to Shahrudi: http://www.campaignforequality.info...

An eye witness account: http://www.irwomen.info/spip.php?ar...

Amnesty International - Iran: Delara Darabi, juvenile offender, at risk of execution

PUBLIC
AI Index: MDE 13/031/2009
09 April 2009
UA 98/09 - Fear of imminent execution
IRAN - Delara Darabi (f) aged 22, juvenile offender

Delara Darabi's lawyer, Abdolsamad Khorramshahi, fears that his client is at imminent risk of being executed. This follows a telephone call he received from Delara Darabi on 21 March in which she said that she had heard rumours in Rasht Prison that she would be executed. Delara Darabi has been detained at Rasht Prison, in northern Iran since her arrest in 2003 and sentenced to death for murder for a crime she committed when she was 17.

Normal legal avenues in her case have been exhausted, though domestic and international concerns about her situation appear to have resulted in repeated and slow-moving legal reviews. To ensure that she will not be executed however, all the members of the victim’s family must agree to accept diyeh, or payment, sometimes called ‘blood money’ in exchange for her pardon. One relative is said to be undecided as to his wishes.

In September 2003, a then 17-year old Delara Darabi and her 19-year-old boyfriend Amir Hossein Sotoudeh broke into her father’s 58-year-old female cousin Mahin’s house to commit a burglary. Amir Hossein allegedly killed the woman during the burglary. Delara Darabi initially confessed to the murder in order to protect her boyfriend from execution, claiming that he had told her that as she was 17 she could not be executed. She subsequently retracted her confession.

Delara Darabi was initially sentenced to death by Branch 10 of the General Court in Rasht on 27 February 2005. In January 2006, the Supreme Court found "deficiencies" in the case and sent it to a children’s court in Rasht for retrial. Following two trial sessions in January and June 2006, Delara Darabi was sentenced to death for a second time by Branch 107 of the General Court in Rasht. Amir Hossein Sotoudeh was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment for complicity in the murder. Both received sentences of three years’ imprisonment and 50 lashes for robbery, and 20 lashes for an "illicit relationship". Delara Darabi’s death sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court on 16 January 2007.

In March 2007, her lawyer filed an appeal against her death sentence. In April 2007 her death sentence was confirmed following a further review by Branch 7 of the Supreme Court, after which the verdict was sent to the Head of the Judiciary for consideration. In December 2007, as a result of procedural flaws having been identified, the Head of Judiciary reportedly returned the case to Rasht for a further review. In February 2008, human rights lawyer Mohammad Mostafaie was reported to have visited Delara Darabi in prison. She was said to be very depressed and told Mohammad Mostafaie that she was tired of the waiting and of her unbearable life in prison. For further information please see: UA 04/06, MDE 13/001/2006, 6 January 2006 and follow-ups.

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 great concern at reports that Delara Darabi may be at imminent risk of execution for a crime committed when she was under 18;
- calling for re-trial of the case in proceedings meeting international standards for fair trial and in line with the Convention of the Rights of the Child, to which Iran is a state party:
- urging the Iranian authorities to commute her 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

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

COPIES TO:
Director, Human Rights Headquarters of Iran
Mohammad Javad Larijani
Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh / Office of the Head of the Judiciary
Pasteur St, Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhuri
Tehran 1316814737, Iran
Fax: +98 21 3390 4986 (please keep trying)
Email: info@dadgostary-tehran.ir (In the subject line write: FAO 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 21 May 2009.

Praised Globally, Detained Locally

By: Elahe Amani

Tuesday 31 March 2009

Change for Equality: On the brink of the Persian New Year, the first day of Spring, Iranian women activists heard some encouraging news. The illustrious honoree at the Feminist Majority Foundation’s Fifth Annual Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Global Women’s Rights is the Campaign for One Million Signature Demanding Changes to Discriminatory Laws in Iran.

more...

2008 Human Rights Report: Iran

2008 Human Rights Report: Iran
2008 Human Rights Report: Iran*

Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor

2008 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices

February 25, 2009

The Islamic Republic of Iran, with a population of approximately 70 million, is a constitutional, theocratic republic in which Shia Muslim clergy dominate the key power structures. Government legitimacy is based on the twin pillars of popular sovereignty-–albeit restricted--and the rule of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution. The current supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was not directly elected but chosen by a directly elected body of religious leaders, the Assembly of Experts, in 1989. Khamenei's writ dominated the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government. He directly controlled the armed forces and indirectly controlled the internal security forces, the judiciary, and other key institutions. The legislative branch is the popularly elected 290-seat Islamic Consultative Assembly, or Majles. An unelected 12-member Guardian Council reviewed all legislation passed by the Majles for adherence to Islamic and constitutional principles and also screened presidential and Majles candidates for eligibility. In 2005 hardline conservative Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad won the presidency in an election widely viewed by the international community as neither free nor fair. Civilian authorities did not fully maintain effective control of security forces.

More...

Moral Victory of Iranian Women 30 Years After

Amnesty International Statement on Khavaran

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL - PUBLIC STATEMENT

20 January 2009
Iran: Preserve the Khavaran grave site for investigation into mass killings

Amnesty International calls on the Iranian authorities to immediately
stop the destruction of hundreds of individual and mass, unmarked graves
in Khavaran, south Tehran, to ensure that the site is preserved and to
initiate a forensic investigation at the site as part of a long-overdue
thorough, independent and impartial investigation into mass executions
which began in 1988, often referred to in Iran as the “prison
massacres”. The organization fears that these actions of the Iranian
authorities are aimed at destroying evidence of human rights violations
and depriving the families of the victims of the 1988 killings of their
right to truth, justice and reparation.

Reports indicate that between 9-16 January 2009, the numerous ad hoc
grave markings made by the families of some of those executed in
previous years were destroyed by bulldozer. The site was at least
partially covered by soil and trees were planted.

Amnesty International additionally calls on the Iranian government to
act on its standing invitation to UN mechanisms and to facilitate the
visit to the country of the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial,
summary or arbitrary executions. In his visit he should be allowed to
have an unhindered access to the Khavaran site with a view to indicating
how best to conduct an investigation into the events of 1988, including
in relation to the unmarked graves at Khavaran.

The Iranian authorities have the obligation to conduct an impartial
investigation into the events and bring to justice those responsible for
the “prison massacres” in fair proceedings and without recourse to the
death penalty. Destruction of the site would impede any such future
investigation and would violate the right of victims, including the
families, to an effective remedy.

The Iranian authorities also have a responsibility to ensure that the
body of anyone secretly buried who was not the victim of a crime is
returned to his or her relatives. Destruction of the grave site would
prevent this from happening and inflict further suffering on the
families of the victims of the “prison massacres” who have been yearly
commemorating the killing of their loved ones by gathering in Khavaran.
Background

Between August 1988 and February 1989, the Iranian authorities carried
out a massive wave of executions of political prisoners – the largest
since those carried out in the first and second year after the Iranian
revolution in 1979. In all, between 4,500 and 10,000 prisoners are
believed to have been killed.

Amnesty International has repeatedly called for those responsible for
the “prison massacre” to be brought to justice in a fair trial without
the death penalty.

For further information, see Iran: The 20th anniversary of 1988 "Prison
Massacre", AI Index: MDE 13/118/2008, 19 August 2008,
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/118/2008/en , and Amnesty
International’s report, Iran: Violations of human rights 1987-1990 (AI
Index MDE 13/21/90).

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

Working to protect human rights worldwide