Dr. Maleki’s letter to Ahmed Shaheed: I testify to 32 years of crime

In a letter to Ahmad Shaheed, the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Iran, Dr. Mohammad Maleki, the first president of Tehran University after the Islamic revolution, declared that he is ready to reveal the crimes he has witnessed over the past 32 years in Iran. Maleki was recently summoned to appear before the court.

“I am ready to reveal the facts I have witnessed in the Velayat-e Faghih prisons and pay the price for it.”

An excerpt of the letter: “I am one of tens of thousands of Iranians whose human rights have been frequently violated by the authoritarian and despotic rulers of the Islamic Republic of Iran over the past 32 years, and I have witnessed many crimes in Iranian prisons.”

The retired university professor added, “I shall testify how, during the 1980s, each night after being severely tortured, young prisoners and students, both male and female, were taken for execution by tens or hundreds. They walked toward their destiny while singing chants along the way.”

Dr. Maleki mentioned instances of torture in the Islamic Republic prisons and said: “During this period I was treated in the cruelest ways possible, including: being lashed with a cable wire on the soles of my feet and other parts of my body; being hung from the ceiling; my head being smashed against the wall; and being punched and kicked, which led to my blindness in the left eye and my right wrist to break…and all other kinds of torture. The signs of some of these tortures are still evident on my body.”

Below is the full text of the letter
(you can help Dr. Maleki get his voice heard by forwarding his translated letter to Ahmed Shaheed. Please find the contact details at the end of the letter):

In the Name of God

Dear Dr. Ahmed Shaheed,

I wish you success in your great and humanitarian undertaking. I am Dr. Mohammad Maleki, a retired university professor and the first President of the University of Tehran after the Islamic revolution. Based on my personal experience, I want to inform you of some of the egregious violations of human rights in my country, Iran, with the hope that it may be a step toward freeing my nation from so much atrocity, corruption, and cruelty by its rulers.

My dear brother, Mr. Shaheed,

I am one of tens of thousands of Iranians whose human rights have been frequently violated by the authoritarian and despotic rulers of the Islamic Republic of Iran over the past 32 years, and I have witnessed many crimes in Iranian prisons. Here I will mention some of them.

In 1979, following the victory of the Islamic revolution, and after being appointed as the President of the University of Tehran, I used all my resources to implement one of the aims of the revolution: managing the university and its colleges by a council composed of professors, students, and staff selected through a democratic election. However, the ruling system, which had assumed control over all affairs in the country, did not favor this plan. Finally, in a coup called the “Cultural Revolution”, [the ruling system] attacked the universities and murdered some students and injured or arrested some others and closed the universities. They arrested many of the protesting students and, after severe torture, executed them. The Management Council of the University of Tehran and the Supreme Council of the university, which administered the university, opposed this action. But instead of responding to the opposition, the ruling system arrested some of [the members], including me. For opposing the decree of the leader (Ayatollah Khomeini) [we were] sent to prison. In an illegal court, I was tried in the absence of a lawyer and was first sentenced to death and then to 10 years in prison. During this period I was treated in the cruelest ways possible, including: being lashed with a cable wire on the soles of my feet and other parts of my body; being hung from the ceiling; my head being smashed against the wall; and being punched and kicked, which led to my blindness in the left eye and my right wrist to break…and all other kinds of torture. The signs of some of these tortures are still evident on my body. After five years I was released, but for months I had to introduce myself to the Prosecutor once every few days in order to be interrogated, which was itself a type of torture.

In the year 2000, I was arrested again along with tens of national-religious activists and charged with “Subversion”. I was imprisoned for six months in one of the most horrific prisons [Eshratabad] operated by the IRGC. [I was held in a] solitary confinement cell measuring 1 X 2 meters. According to jurists and and psychologists, [this method of isolation] is called “white torture”. After enduring about seven months of imprisonment (white torture) I was released for trial. In an illegal closed court session I was sentenced to seven years of suspended imprisonment.

On August 22, 2009, while I was suffering from prostate cancer, heart arrhythmia and high blood pressure and was passing chemotherapy sessions and also suffered from a heart condition and frequent syncope, in the early morning some Ministry of Intelligence agents rushed into my home and, after inspecting the house and confiscating many of my books, transferred me directly from my sickbed to the Ministry of Intelligence ward (209) in Evin prison. I was held in solitary confinement for three months. In the interrogation sessions, they insulted and humiliated me in all ways possible, and just because of my critical writings and speeches, accused me of Moharebeh (enmity with and waging war against God) and insulting Khomeini and Khamenei (the leaders of the Islamic Republic). Finally, after 191 days of imprisonment, due to my critical health condition for which I had been transferred to the hospital several times, they granted me a sick leave so that my chemotherapy sessions may continue and the surgery for implanting a pacemaker be performed.

Recently, I was summoned to appear before the closed court, which is against the laws of the Islamic Republic, so that the verdict of the judge may be issued. Presently I spend the hard and excruciating days waiting for my sentence. I am an ailing 78-year-old man; however, I am ready for any sentence because my goal has been, is, and will be to struggle against tyranny and despotism of the ruling system in Iran. I rely on God and the people and I am not afraid of any retribution. My wish is to meet you and reveal some facts about the oppression of this nation and what has happened in Iran during the past three decades.

Dear Dr. Shaheed,

I shall testify how during the 1980′s, each night after being severely tortured, young prisoners and students, both male and female, were taken for execution in tens or hundreds;. They walked toward their destiny while singing chants along the way. I am ready to reveal the facts I have witnessed in the Velayat-e Faghih prisons and pay the price for it.

Finally, as an Iranian, I wish you success in your task. And I assure you that God is on your side. I am looking forward to meeting you.

Best regards,

Dr. Mohammad Maleki
Suspended political prisoner and former president of the University of Tehran
September, 2011

Special thanks to Davood Eftekhar for the translation,
Source: Persian2English

TAKE ACTION!

Please forward Dr. Maleki’s letter to Ahmad Shaheed:
Email | sr-iran@ohchr.org

Further inquires can also be directed to:

Mr. Naveed Ahmed — Tel. +41 22 928 9477 / email: nahmed@ohchr.org or Rose Parris Richter (Tel. +1 917 226 4551/ email: srhumanrights@gmail.com

Nasrin Sotoudeh on the front page of the Times, receives new sentence

Prominent Iranian lawyer and human rights activist Nasrin Sotoudeh is on the front page of today’s issue of the Times, with the title, “The lawyer who was jailed for daring to defend freedom.”

According to HRANA, yesterday, branch 54 of the Tehran Appeals Court reduced Nasrin Sotoudeh’s sentence to six years in prison and reduced the ban from practising law to ten years. The sentence was issued to one of Nasrin Sotoudeh’s lawyers, Mina Jafari.

Last year Judge PirAbassi from branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court had sentenced Nasrin Sotoudeh to 11 years in prison, banned her from practising law and leaving the country for 20 years.

Nasrin Sotoudeh is held in Evin prison’s women’s ward. Due to the abuse she and her family have endured by the Iranian authorities, she has refused to attend the last few family cabin visits. She has stated that she will continue to not attend the visits until the situation improves.

Nasrin Sotoudeh is the recipient of the 2011 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award. In 2008, she was awarded the Human Rights prize by the International Committee on Human Rights.

She was arrested on September 4, 2010 and spent long periods of time in solitary confinement. She has also spent long durations on hunger strike since her incarceration.

Nasrin Sotoudeh has committed no justifiable crime. The Iranian authorities have demonstrated that they are threatened by the lawyer’s defense of her clients, who are mainly human rights activists arrested and abused following the June 2009 Presidential election.

Nasrin Sotoudeh is a member of the Defenders of Human Rights, the One Million Signatures Campaign to Change Discriminatory Laws Against Women, and the Society for Protecting the Rights of the Child.

Source: Persian2English

Amnesty International Issues Urgent Action for Kouhyar Goudarzi and His Mother

Amnesty International Issues Urgent Action for Kouhyar Goudarzi and His Mother

URGENT ACTION

Kouhyar Goudarzi, a member of the Committee for Human Rights Reporters (CHRR), was arrested on 31 July 2011 in Tehran , Iran , by plainclothes individuals believed to be from the Ministry of Intelligence. His mother , Parvin Mokhtareh, was arrested the next day. They are at risk of torture or other ill treatment.

In the early hours of 1 August, shortly after Kouhyar Goudarzi was arrested, his mother Parvin Mokhtareh was also arrested in Kerman, in southern Iran. During her arrest, Parvin Mokhtareh was reportedly told that her son had been arrested and sent to Evin Prison. Parvin Mokhtareh has been accused of “insulting the Leader”, “propaganda against the system”, and “acting against national security”, stemming from interviews she gave when her son was imprisoned in 2010 in relation to his peaceful human rights activities.

Read the full report, and take action!

FREE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS!

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: WELCOME RELEASES MUST BE FOLLOWED BY FREEDOM FOR ALL PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

PUBLIC STATEMENT

Date: 31 August 2011

Amnesty International welcomes the reported release of around 70 prisoners of conscience and political prisoners, convicted of vaguely worded “security related” charges including involvement in the protests which followed the disputed presidential election of 2009. They were among 100 said to have been pardoned by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on 27 August 2011, ahead of the Eid al-Fitr celebrations at the end of the Islamic month of Ramadan.

Those freed included Dr Arash Alaei, Milad Asadi and Mohammad Pour Abdollah, whose release the organization had campaigned for. Most of those released had served over half their sentences and were eligible for parole. Official media also reported that 1,218 other prisoners had been pardoned in a separate decree.

However, many other prisoners of conscience remain held in poor conditions in Iran’s overcrowded prisons which often leads to them developing serious health problems. They include lawyers such as Nasrin Sotoudeh, Mohammad Seyfzadeh , Javid Houtan Kiyan and Mostafa Daneshju; journalists such as Ahmad Zeidabadi, Abdollah Momeni, Isa Saharkhiz, Bahman Ahmadi Amou’i , Mohammad Mourizad and Keyvan Samimi (who has recently developed a liver tumour for which he may not be receiving necessary medical treatment); and student activists such as Behareh Hedayat, Majid Tavakkoli, Zia Nabavi , Ashkan Zahabian and Mahdieh Golrou.

Human rights and minority rights activists are also still imprisoned, such as Abolfazl Abedini Nasr (previously the spokesperson for Human Rights Activists in Iran, a human rights organization), Mohammad Sadi q Kab udvand (a member of the Kurdish minority who founded the Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan), Ronak Safazadeh (also a member of the Kurdish minority) and Sa ’i d Metinpour (a member of the Azerbaijani minority who called for greater cultural and linguistic rights for his community). They are held alongside women’s rights activists such as Alieh Aghdam-Doust, Mahoubeh Karami, Maryam Bidgoli and Maryam Bahreman . Political activists are also held, such as Mohsen Mirdamadi , Behzad Nabavi, Abdollah Ramazanzadeh and Heshmatollah Tabarzadi , as well as trade union activists such as teacher Rasoul Bodaghi, and bus workers Ebrahim Madadi and Reza Shahabi.

Members of some of Iran’s religious minorities also remain held as prisoners of conscience, such as seven Baha’i leaders serving 20-year prison sentences imposed for alleged “espionage”, which they deny, and Pastor Yousef Naderkhani, a Christian whose death sentence for “apostasy” was overturned, but who remains in prison awaiting a review of his case, which could see the death sentence re-imposed.

In addition, arrests are continuing of individuals who appear to have been targeted for their political or other beliefs or activities. Sha hrokh Zamani, Nima Pour Yaghoub, Sassan Vahabi va sh, Mohammad Ja rahi and Sayed Boyuk Sayedlar, all labour rights activists, were all arrested in June 2011 and have been tried on various charges relating to their links to a workers’ group. Sassan Vahabivash and Sayed Boyuk Sayedlar were reportedly released on bail on 20 August 2011. Some of those arrested are held in conditions amounting to enforced disappearance. For example, Ali Reza Sepahi Laeen, a poet and member of the Kurdish minority who works in the Public Relations office of Ferdowsi University in Mashhad, was arrested on 30 July 2011 from his home in the city. As of 27 August 2011, his family had been unable to discover any information as to his whereabouts and are extremely worried about his health as he suffers from diabetes.

Additionally, dozens of environmental protesters calling for immediate action to halt the desiccation of Lake Oroumieh in West Azerbaijan province are reported to have been arrested in various towns and cities in north-west Iran following demonstrations on 27 August, with at least three reported to have been killed by security forces.

Amnesty International is calling for the immediate and unconditional release of anyone held in Iran solely for the peaceful exercise of their rights to freedom of expression, association or assembly, or on account of their religious beliefs. All others held should be granted immediate access to their families and lawyers, and should be released unless they are brought to trial in accordance with international standards for fair trial.

Background

Dr Arash Alaei, an internationally renowned expert in the prevention and treatment of HIV and AIDS who was not politically active, had been held since his arrest in June 2008 was serving a six year prison term after conviction of “co-operating with an enemy government” after months in pre-trial detention without access to a lawyer and an unfair trial in which secret evidence was produced which he was not allowed to see or challenge. His brother Kamiar, arrested around the same time and sentenced to three years in prison, was released after serving two and a half years. Their arrest is believed to be related to their links with foreign academics and civil society organizations, including in the USA. Amnesty International regarded them as prisoners of conscience who should never have been imprisoned and campaigned for their release along with a wide range of health and human rights organizations.

Milad Asadi, aged about 24, was a student of electrical engineering at Khajeh Nasir University and also a leading member of the Office for the Consolidation of Unity, a national student body which has been prominent in demanding political reform and an end to human rights violations in recent years at the time of his arrest. He was arrested shortly before mass demonstrations against the government took place on university campuses on 7 December 2009 - Students’ Day in Iran - marking the anniversary of the killing of three students in 1953 by police. He was held for weeks in solitary confinement in a tiny cell of two square metres. He was initially sentenced to seven years in prison.

Mohammad Pour Abdollah, a Tehran University student linked to the left-wing Iranian students’ organization Students for Freedom and Equality, was arrested at his house on 12 February 2009. Held for over one month in solitary confinement at Evin Prison, he was transferred on 18 March 2009 to Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj, west of Tehran. His six-year prison term, imposed after conviction of “gathering and colluding with the aim of harming national security, and “propaganda against the system” and membership of groups opposed to the system” was reduced to three years on appeal.

Others who are reported to have been among those released are Ehsan Abdoh Tabrizi, Laleh Hassanpour, Zahra Jabbari, Kayvan Farzin, Amir Aslani, Sourena Hashemi, Mohsen Ghamin, Arsalan Abadi, Nazanin Hassan Nia, Soussan Tebyanian, Akram Heydarian, Sama Shamlou, Fatemeh Darvish, Ali Behzadian Nejad, Hamid Reza Nojoumi, Abolfazl Ghassemi,Kourosh Ghassemi, Artin Ghazanfari, Gholamreza Azadi, Meysam Roudaki, Amir Hossein Ghanbari, Omid Sharifi Dana, Behnam Ansari, Rouhollah Mirzakhani, Massoud Yazdchi,Mohsen Mokhtari, Sajjad Moradi, Ali Malihi, Fatemeh Khorramjou, Kiarash Kamrani, Hamid Samiei, an Esfahan University professor identified as Mousavi, Omid Esmailzadeh, andMojtaba Hashemi.

Public Document from Amnesty International