Date: 10/03/2011
Song Sang-Hyun
President of the International Criminal Court
Po Box 19519, 2500 CM, The Hague, The Netherlands
Dear Mr. Song Sang-Hyun
The International Criminal Court has started pre-trial proceedings against Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi after prosecutors found “reasonable ground to believe that some ICC crimes have been committed in Libya.
The leaders of Islamic regime in Iran have committed crime against Iranian people for the past 32 years during which thousands of men and women, young girls and boys have been tortured, imprisoned, kidnapped, raped and executed. In 1981 shortly after the Islamic Regime established its totalitarian rule it started to arrest, torture, and execute anyone who even had a difference of opinion with the regime. There were also children who spent days and nights in solitary confinement with their imprisoned parents. According to the Iran Tribunal “The estimated numbers of victims rank between 4000 to 7000. This was the climax of a massive elimination process from 1981 to 1988, under which around 20,000 dissidents disappeared, either dying under torture or being executed by firing squads.”
I would like to draw your attention to the report compiled by UN jurist Geoffrey Robertson. In this report Mr Robertson has written about mass execution in 1988 and those responsible for the atrocity. The report is attached to this letter.
The above two periods of mass execution and torture are just a highlight of the ill-treatment of thousands of people in Iran, but it doesn’t end there, it is still happening. There is not a day without execution of innocent people for merely participating in a demonstration. Just 2 years ago in 2009 world witnessed how the police in Iran beat, and arrested people on the streets of Tehran and other cities in Iran. World haven’t forgotten Neda’s face, the young woman who was brutally killed in the street for expressing her freedom of expression.
The Islamic regime of Iran is still in the power, and is sill torturing, and killing thousands of people in on a daily basis. The question is why the International Criminal Court hasn’t done anything about it, and hasn’t made any attempt to bring the dictators in Iran to justice? The killing machine of the Islamic Regime in Iran is still active and is claiming thousands of lives. For the past 32 years torture and execution have been the answer to any trace of dissent in Iran, how many more lives have to be murdered to convince the ICC that people of Iran need protection too? In what magnitude the Islamic Regime of Iran have to commit crime so that ICC will put their names on their list of crime against humanity? In the past 32 years, the number of executions has passed thousands in Iran, is ICC waiting for this number to reach millions before acts and put the leaders of the Islamic Regime on trial?
On behalf of thousands of political prisoners and their families in Iran, I urge you to take an action, and put the leaders of Regime in Iran on ICC list to be arrested and to be put on trial for 32 years of crime against humanity.
Sincerely yours
Shiva Mahbobi
Spokesperson- Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI)
Cc: Human rights organisations, UN, European Parliament
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Urgent Appeal:
23 February 2011
Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Foreign Affairs, House of Commons Ottawa, ON K1A 0A, Canada
Re: Mr. Saeed Malakpour and Hamid Ghassemi-Shall
Dear Lawrence Cannon,
I am writing to draw your attention to the situation of Mr. Saeed Malakpour, a Canadian resident, and Hamid Ghassemi-Shall, a Canadian citizen who have been arrested and detained in Iran. Their lives are in great danger, and I should warn that if Canadian government fail to act and intervene in these two cases, and discuss them with Iranian Regime, these two innocent Canadians will be executed in the way Zahra Bahrami, a Dutch-Iranian citizen was hanged in Iran last month.
Mr Saeed Malekpour, 36, a Canadian residence, is a web developer and programmer. He was arrested in Tehran in October 2008 while visiting his family. Mr Malakpour was falsely charged with multiple so called offences such as “Taking action against national security by designing and moderating websites with adult content;” and “Agitation against the regime;” and “Contact with foreign entities;” “Insulting the sanctity of Islam;” and “Insulting the Supreme Leader and President.”. Mr. Malakpour was sentence to death in December 2010, but denies all the charges. Saeed has been tortured and beaten during his imprisonment. He is now in the infamous Evin prison awaiting execution.
Mr Hamid Ghassemi-Shall, 42, a Canadian citizen, was arrested and imprisoned in May 2008 while visiting his family. Mr Ghassemi-Shall was sentence to death by execution, but he denies the charge; he’s currently held in Evin prison.
The life of Saeed Malakpour and Hamid Ghassemi-Shall are in a grave danger, and the time to save them is running out; their rights and their lives must be protected by the Canadian government.
The only way to prevent Malakpour and Ghassemi-Shall being executed is by exerting a continuous pressure on the Islamic regime, by questioning Iranian diplomats in Canada, and by severing diplomatic relations with the regime in Tehran.
Canadian government is familiar with a high publicised case of another Canadian citizen, Zahra Kazemi, an Iranian- Canadian photojournalist, who was arrested in 2003 and later died in prison as a result of being tortured. Zahra was arrested for photographing student protest in Tehran. At the time, Canadian government recalled its ambassador from Iran.
The life of the Dutch-Iranian citizen Zahra Bahrami, who was hanged last month, could have been saved if the Dutch government would have taken an action immediately after her imprisonment. Recently in protest to Ms. Bahrami’s execution, the Dutch government has frozen all political relations with the regime in Iran, but it is too late, too little, because she is dead. Hopefully Canadian government will use this example to prevent the same happens again to Saeed and Hamid.
In numerous occasions, the Islamic regime in Iran have proved that they will not spare the life of innocent political prisoners, and when there is no continues pressure, they continue torturing and executing them. The key to save these two innocent lives from barbaric treatment is by publicising the case, and to exert political pressure on the regime in Tehran to free them.
I urge you to act immediately and save Saeed Malakpour and Hamid Ghassemi-Shall from being executed; these two are citizens of Canada, and should be treated the same as other Canadians. The Canadian government should demand their immediate and unconditional release from prison.
Please provide us with an update e through the address below.
Sincerely yours
Shiva Mahbobi- Spokesperson-Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI)
Cc: Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada Canadian embassy in Tehran
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Date: 20 February, 2011
Open Letter to the International Community
Call for an urgent action
People in Iran have joined the recent wave of demonstrations in the Middle East. The ongoing demonstrations has started in 14 February and is currently underway in many cities across Iran. Flowing the recent uprisings in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and several other counties in the region, once again world is witnessing a mass demonstrations against the Islamic regime in Iran. Once again world is witnessing another brutal crackdown on the demonstrators by the Islamic regime. Thousands have been arrested, and will be added to the pool of political prisoners who are already in prison being tortured, and are awaiting their execution.
Despite the fact that regime in Iran has been putting a tight restrictions on the Internet and is closely monitoring telephone calls from Iran to the outside world, people have managed to send out their messages and the news of their protests through the social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.
I would like to echo the voice of political prisoners and their families, and urge the international community to condemn the crack down of the protestors by Islamic regime of Iran. If the crack down on the demonstrators in Libya, Egypt, and Tunisia is condemned, then the same message of condemnation must be sent to the authorities of the Islamic Regime in Iran. The imprisoning and torturing of the demonstrators must be strongly condemned by the international community. The Islamic Regime should know that the world is watching and will not tolerate and allow their heinous act of crime to continue.
In reaction to recent crack down in Iran, the international community, the heads of states, and governments around the world must sever, and freeze their political ties with the Islamic Regime in Iran, and recall their ambassador from Tehran. The International community must not close their eyes on what is happening in Iran and should issue an arrest warrant for each of the authorities of the Islamic regime for crime against humanity.
Sincerely yours,
Shiva Mahbobi- Spokesperson- Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI)
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07 February 2011
Uri Rosenthal, Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs
PO Box 20061,2500 EB The Hague, The Netherlands
Re: The Islamic Regime secretly buried Zahra Bahrami
Her family is threatened holding any memorial, or notifying Dutch Embassy
Dear Uri Rosenthal
We have been informed that Islamic Regime’s guards have secretly buried Zahra Bahrami’s body in the city of Semnana in Iran, and threatened her family not to hold any memorial for her, and not to inform the Dutch Embassy in Iran.
Now that the Dutch government have failed to stop Zahra’s execution it is their responsibilities to publicly condemn this act of the Islamic Regime and sever all ties with such a “barbarous” regime, and recall their ambassador to Holland.
Shiva Mahbobi
Spokesperson- Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI)
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03/02/2011
Zahra Bahrami was executed in Iran for her political views and not drug trafficking
But Nieuwsuur TV alters the real motive behind Zahra Bahrami’s execution!
Everyone knows that Zahra was executed for her participation in anti-government demonstrations in Iran. But on Monday 31 February 2011, only two days after the news of Zahra Bahrami’s execution, a Dutch Current affairs TV program called Nieuwsuur reported a documentary program showing that in 2003 Mrs. Bahrami was sentenced to three years in prison in Holland for attempting to smuggle 16 kilos of cocaine. This news was repeated by the Islamic Regime’s affiliated TV program Press TV. In this program deliberate attempts were made to water down and question real reason behind Zahra’s execution. Nieuwsuur TV never made any reference to the torture she has endured by the order of the Islamic Regime for participating in anti-government demonstrations in Iran. Instead, the main emphasize and focus was on her drug conviction in Netherland, and not the despicable and “barbarous” act of executing Zahra Bahrami’s as a Dutch-Iranian citizen. The timing of this program was carefully and deliberately chosen to be two days after her execution to support the claims made by the Islamic Regime that Zahra was executed for drug trafficking and not for partaking in anti Islamic Regime demonstrations.
Does Nieuwsuur TV trying to prove that the Islamic Regimes has executed Zahra for drug trafficking? Does Nieuwsuur TV has any doubts that executing Zahra which the Dutch Foreign minister called “barbarous” and froze all contact with Islamic Regime was a crime? Is Niewsuur trying to convince the Dutch government to ease the diplomatic relations with Islamic Regime? Does Nieuwsuur TV even care that one of the Dutch citizens was innocently hanged by one of the most barbaric regime on earth? Who’s side in Nieuwsuur TV, human rights or dictatorship?
The Islamic regime accused Zahra of smuggling drug to Iran; this is nonsense. The drug charge was a pure fabrication to legitimize her execution. This is not the first time that regime uses this pretext; they have used this excuse to execute lots of the political prisoners and silence the critics. Regime uses this excuse because it is afraid of the anti-government protests in Iran, and to silence the international criticism.
Zahra Bahrami’s convictions in Holland have nothing to do with her being executed by the Islamic Regime for her political activities. Zahra Bahrami participated in demonstrations in Tehran in December 2009 against the regime, she was vocal against the brutality of the regime, and she has done several interviews with opposition’s radios based in the US and Europe openly accusing the Islamic heads of state ordering killing and imprisonment of thousands of innocent demonstrators.
The Dutch TV program and those who are focusing on her offences in Holland, rather than her political activities against Islamic Regime have political motivations, and are trying to legitimize this brutal act of the regime in Iran. If the Dutch media would have invested on exposing the real reason behind her conviction in Iran, they could have most probably be able to save her, and she could been alive now. The question now is: does Nieuwsuur TV support Zahra’s execution by the Islamic Regime in Iran? If not, why not publicly condemn her execution?
The Dutch current affairs TV program Nieuwsuur owes and apology to Zahra Bahrami’s family, and all those people and organizations that fought hard to save Zahra.
Shiva Mahbobi
Spokesperson- CFPPI
Cc: Nieuwsuur TV
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Zahra Bahrami was hanged on Saturday 29 January 2011
Dutch government silently watched
one of its citizen being executed by the Islamic Regime in Iran
Minister of Foreign Affairs Uri Rosenthal has frozen all official contacts with Iran, but it’s too little too late now. This and other measures reflect the horror of the execution of the Dutch-Iranian citizen Zahra Bahrami in Iran. Zahra Bahrami was a Dutch- Iranian citizen who was arrested and sent to prison in Iran on 27 December 2009. She was hanged on 29 Januarys 2011. This proves a clear failure of the Dutch government to protect one of its citizens.
Zahra Bahrami’s execution has provoked an international outrage at the barbarous crime committed by the Islamic Regime in Iran. The Islamic regime is infamous for its execution of thousands of innocent people since took power in 1979. It is no surprise that the Islamic Regime has defied all international calls to release Zahra Bahrami, the surprise comes from the slow act of the Dutch government to protect one of its citizen. It took the Dutch Minster of Foreign Affair so long to act on behalf of Zahra, and the Dutch government was so slow in taking any serious action to guarantee her safety until it was too late. Now that she has been executed, the Dutch government has frozen all official contacts with the Islamic Regime in Iran. This is clearly not enough, and far from recalling the Dutch Ambassador from Iran, and sever all ties with the Islamic Regime, a regime with clear record of crime against humanity.
The Dutch Government’s lack of a credible negotiation on behalf of Zahrah Barhami, and lack of a serious intention to pressure the Islamic Regime to release her has lead the Regime in Tehran to carry out this heinous act without facing a real challenge.
Shiva Mahbobi, the spokesperson for Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI) has sent numerous letters to the Dutch Foreign minister, and warned him of the consequence of inactivity in this case; she has also warned him of the Islamic Regime’s disregards for all international laws. Mrs Mahbobi has asked the Dutch Government, Foreign minister, and even the Dutch Ambassador in Iran to act fast and to pressure the Islamic Regime to release Zahra, but all these warning fell on deaf ears, and the Dutch government decided to ignore all calls to save Zahra Bahrami.
In a letter on11 January 2011 to Mr. Uri Rosenthal, The Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Shiva Mahbobi mentioned “The time is running out and her life is in a great danger. Zahra is a Dutch citizen and her rights must be protected by the Dutch government. Failure to do so could send Zahra, an innocent person, to execution, and that short coming would be directly reflected on the Dutch government.” Again no action by the Dutch government.
Since August 2010 the CFPPI has been trying to draw an international attention towards the situation of Zahra by setting up an online petition, sending several letters to the Netherlands’ Foreign minister, contacting media and human rights organisations and holding demonstrations. The CFPPI continuously warned the Dutch government about Zahra’s case, and urged them to act on her behalf. The CFPPI has warned the Dutch government that the only way to prevent Zahra‘s execution is by exerting continuous pressure on the Islamic regime directly, but the Dutch government ignored all calls and continued its silence in this case.
The people of Netherlands ought to condemn the lack of action by the Dutch government to save Zahra Bahrami, and inquire an explanation from the Minister of Foreign Affairs. People in Netherlands need to know why their government didn’t take all the necessary measures, including restriction on the travelling of Iranian officials to the Netherlands, as a pressure tool to prevent her execution.
The Dutch government announced they have frozen official contacts with Iran to show their protest to the execution of Dutch-Iranian citizen Zahra Bahrami. This should have been done while Zahra was in prison awaiting her death sentence, this could have been done to save her from execution, but now it’s too little too late. The Dutch government needs to recall its ambassador to Iran, and close Iranian embassy in Netherlands. We ask everyone to show your protest and write to The Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Sample letter is provided:
Dear Mr Uri Rosenthal
I/we express my utmost anger and outrage over the execution of Zahra Bahrami. Zahra was a Dutch citizen and she should have been protected by the Dutch government. In protest to Zahra Bahrami’s execution we demand that your government must recall its ambassador in Tehran; we demand the closure of Iranian embassy in the Netherlands.
Name/ organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
City/country . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Uri Rosenthal, PO Box 20061,2500 EB The Hague, The Netherlands
Telephone: +31 70 3486486 , Fax: + 31 70 3484848
Email form: http://www.minbuza.nl/en/The_Ministry/Contact_the_Ministry/Contact_us/General_questions_and_comments
Or email address: u.rosenthal@minbuza.nl
Please send a copy to: catherine.ashton@ec.europa.eu , eastgulf@amnesty.org
Please send a copy for our record to: freepoliticalprisoners@gmail.com
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URGENT ACTION
Action day to support political prisoners in Iran
Saturday 29 January 2011
Tens of political prisoners are in danger of being executed
The Islamic regime in Iran have started a new wave of execution, tens of political prisoners have been sentence to death, many more are in danger of being executed, and the following names are only a few of them.
Political prisoners Jafar Kazemi, Zeinab Jalali, Zahra Bahrami, Habib Latifi, Mohamad Ali Aghaee, Yousef Rashidi, Mohsen and Ahmad Daneshpour are in imminent danger of being executed. Their execution sentences can be carried out at any moment.
The only way to stop the Islamic regime of Iran from executing prisoners is by gathering an international support for these prisoners. Sakineh Ashtiani’s life has been so far saved because of the collective effort of thousands of people all around the world.
At the moment hundreds of political prisoners are being tortured every day and their lives are in a grave danger, their families have been threatened or arrested for publicising the news about their loved one in prison.
People in Iran need your support; No matter where you are, you can be the voice of a political prisoner in Iran and put pressure on the regime to stop execution and torture.
If the political prisoners and their families have been silence by torture, imprisonment, threat and harassment, then you can be their voices.
Join us on
Saturday 29 January 2011
Political prisoners and their families need your support.
Together we can make a difference.
Join us on demonstrations in different cities listed below:
UK- London
Saturday 29 January, 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Trafalgar Square, North Terrace, outside of the National Gallery
Contact CFPPI: Alireza Rashidi on 07515732665
Sweden -Stockholm
Saturday 29 January, 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Sergel Plaza
Contact CFPPI: Mamad Amiri on 0737801510
Canada – Toronto
Saturday 29 January, 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Yonge St. and Dundas St
In front of the Eaton Centre
Contact CFPPI: Ramin Joubin on 6478629472
Norway- Oslo
Saturday 29 January, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
In front of the embassy of the Islamic regime of Iran in Oslo
Saturday 29 January, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
In front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Oslo
Contact CFPPI: Abolghasem Kardar on 041333268
The Netherlands- The Hague
In front of the Parliament
Friday 28 January, 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Contact CFPPI: Yalda Beiram on 0031650994005
Canada- Ottawa
In front of the Parliament
Saturday 29 January, 12:00– 2:00 PM
Contact CFPPI: David Aram on 613.859.7929
Germany- Hamburg
Contact CFPPI: Pedram Rezazadeh on 017648325613
To see the list of demonstration in other cities see:
http://notonemoreexecution.org
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Urgent Appeal:
11 January 2011
The Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mr. Uri Rosenthal
PO Box 20061, 2500 EB, The Hague, The Netherlands
Re: Ms. Zahra Bahrami
Dear Uri Rosenthal
I am writing in regards to Zahra Bahrami’s case, her alleged conviction, her trial and her death sentence by the Islamic Regime in Iran.
I am aware of all your efforts to communicate with the Iranian authorities regarding Zahra Bahrami’s case; I am also aware that the Iranian government has not taken any action thus far.
would like to draw your attention to the urgency of Ms. Bahrami’s case and the fact that the only way to prevent Ms Bahrami’s execution is by putting a constant pressure on the Iranian regime and its embassy in the Netherlands.
Under the article 5 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (24 April 1963), Promoting and protecting the interests of Dutch nationals abroad is one of the core tasks of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The time is running out and her life is in a great danger. Zahra is a Dutch citizen and her rights must be protected by the Dutch government. Failure to do so could send Zahra, an innocent person, to execution, and that short coming would be directly reflected on the Dutch government.
We urge you to take an action immediately. Ms Bahrami’s execution sentence can be carried out at any moment. People around the world expect you to act urgently.
Please see below list of 717 people who have supported Zahra Bahrami through our ongoing online petition.
Sincerely yours
Shiva Mahbobi
Spokesperson- Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI)
Cc: Cees J. Kole Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Tehran
Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
(This petition is ongoing and was created in August 2010)
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Zahra Bahrami’s death sentence has been confirmed
Her execution sentence can be carried out at any moment
Zahra Bahrami, a Dutch- Iranian citizen has been held in prison in Iran since 27 December 2009. Zahra Bahrami travelled to Iran to visit her family, and while there, she was arrested and charged allegedly with “Moharebeh” (which means enemy of God) and “acting against national security”. Zahra was tortured and forced to make a televised “confessions” to admit her charge. Zahra was trailed on 16 August 2010, but was denied access to a lawyer. During the trial she repeatedly requested to have an access to a legal representative, but her request was ignored.
Since August 2010 Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI) has been trying to draw an international attention towards the situation of Zahra by setting up an online petition, sending several letters to the Netherlands’ foreign minister, contacting media and human rights organisations and holding demonstrations. Hundreds of people have already sent protest letters to the Iranian regime in support of Zahra demanding her immediate release.
The European Parliament resolution of 8 September 2010 on the human rights situation in Iran stated that: “the Iranian Government reconsider Zahra Bahrami’s case, immediately grant her access to a lawyer and consular assistance, release her or grant her due process; calls on Baroness Ashton, the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, to raise the issue of Zahra Bahrami’s detention with the Iranian authorities”.
The Iranian authorities have come up with a new accusation which claims that Ms Bahrami had cocaine and opium in her possession at the time of her arrest. This is a well known tactic of the Iranian regime to use drug as pretext to legitimised execution of Zahra who is a political prisoner.
In an interview with Radio Netherlands Banafshe Najebpour, Zahra’s daughter mentioned: “The last time I have seen my mother was Tuesday last week. She was doing quite well, and she was certain that she would receive help from the Dutch government because she knows she hasn’t done anything wrong. But we didn’t get any help.”
Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI) is seriously concerned about Zahra’s life and safety. CFPPI has been campaigning to support and to demand Zahra Bahrami to be freed immediately. CFPPI has asked people to keep the pressure on the Islamic regime of Iran to free Zahra Bahrami. We have also urged Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs to take an action to save Zahra’s life. Zahra is a Dutch citizen and her rights must be protected by the Dutch government. We call on all human rights organisations and concerned individuals to write to Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Uri Rosenthal and urge him to take an action to save Zahra Bahrami.
The only way to prevent Zahra‘s execution is by exerting continuous pressure on the Islamic regime directly.
Zahra Bahrami and his family need your support
Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI)
12 January 2011
Take an action, by sending a protest letter to the address below:
Dear Mr Uri Rosenthal
I/we express concern for the situation of Zahra Bahrami. I/we urge the Dutch government to put pressure on the Islamic Regime of Iran to overturn Zahra’s dead sentence and release Zahra Bahrmai immediately and unconditionally.
Name/ organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . City/country . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mr. Uri Rosenthal
PO Box 20061,2500 EB The Hague, The Netherlands Telephone: +31 70 3486486 Fax: + 31 70 3484848
Email form: http://www.minbuza.nl/en/The_Ministry/Contact_the_Ministry/Contact_us/General_questions_and_comments
Or email address: u.rosenthal@minbuza.nl
Please send a copy to: catherine.ashton@ec.europa.eu , eastgulf@amnesty.org , info@leader.ir
Mr Cees J. Kole , Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Tehran, Email: teh@minbuza.nl
You can also send your protest letters to the Iranian Embassy in your country.
Please send a copy for our record to: freepoliticalprisoners@gmail.com
Sign our online petition in support of Zahra Bahrami
http://www.petitiononline.com/zahra123/petition.html
(This petition will be sent to Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Uri Rosenthal and members of European Parliament)
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Zahra Bahrami is in imminent danger of being executed
Zahra Bahrami, a Dutch- Iranian citizen has been held in prison in Iran since 27 December 2009. Zahra is due to be trial today 5 December 2010. It has become more apparent that her execution sentence will be announced soon.
Zahra Bahrami travelled to Iran to visit her family, and while there, she was arrested and charged allegedly with “Moharebeh” (which means enemy of God) and “acting against national security”. Zahra was tortured and forced to make a televised “confessions”; she was trialled on 16 August 2010, but was denied access to a lawyer. During the trial she repeatedly requested to have an access to a legal representative, but her request was ignored.
Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI) is seriously concerned about Zahra’s case, and fear for her life and safety. We have written several letters to the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maxime Verhagen, and have urged him to take an action to save Zahra’s life. Zahra is a Dutch citizen and her rights must be protected by the Dutch government. We call on all human rights organisations and concerned individuals to write to Maxime Verhagen and urge him to take an action to save Zahra Bahrami.
The only way to prevent Ms Bahrami‘s execution is by exerting continuous pressure on the Islamic regime directly
Zahra Bahrami needs your support.
Campaign to Free Political Prisoners
05 December 2010
Take an action by sending a protest letter to the address below:
the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Uri Rosenthal, PO Box 20061,2500 EB The Hague, The Netherlands
Telephone: +31 70 3486486 ,Fax: + 31 70 3484848, Email: u.rosenthal@minbuza.nl
Please send a copy to: Catherine Ashton,
EU High Representative for Foreign Affair
catherine.ashton@ec.europa.eu
Mr Cees J. Kole
Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Tehran
Email: teh@minbuza.nl , Fax: +98 21 2366 00190
Dear Mr Uri Rosenthal
I/we express concern for the situation of Zahra Bahrami. I/we urge the Dutch government to put pressure on the Islamic Regime of Iran to release Zahra Bahrmai immediately and unconditionally.
Name/ organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
City/country . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Please send a copy of your letter to CFPPI for our record.
freepoliticalprisoners@gmail.com
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26 September 2010
The situation of Zahra Bahrmai is still unknown
CFPPI is urging the Dutch government to take an action.
Zahra Bahrami, 45, mother of two, and a Dutch- Iranian citizen has been held in prison since December 2009. Despite the international pressure on the Iranian regime, Zahra is still still in prison, and have not been allowed to have access to a lawyer or to have visit from her family. in an interview with Netherlands TV Ahmadinejad said that his regime will not accept Zahra’s dual citizenship, and therefore Zahra cannot have the protection of the Dutch government. Zahra is a Dutch citizen, and the Islamic Regime must respect her citizenship. The Dutch government should pressure the regime in Tehran to respect Zahra’s Dutch citizenship regardless of her birthplace. Promoting and protecting the interests of Dutch nationals abroad is one of the core tasks of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The responsibility to save Zahra’s life falls directly into the obligations of the Dutch government. Shiva Mahbobi, the spokesperson of the CFPPI, in her letter on 06/09/2010 to Maxime Verhagen, the Netherlands Foreign Minster wrote:” It is very important that we obtain this update, because in similar cases as Zahra, when prisoners were charged with “Moharebeh” (which means enemy of God) and “acting against national security” their death sentence was carried out by the regime without any advance notice. “
Zahra Bahrami’s situation is unknown. Islamic regime initially announced that she will be sentence to either execution or life sentence. Due to the international pressure, Islamic regime of Iran has backed down and has not announced Zahra Bahrami’s sentence yet. Zahra’s freedom is mainly depends on the international pressure and the support of Dutch government.
The pressure on the Islamic regime must be continued. We urge the Dutch government to take an immediate action. See an article by Sebastiaan Gottlieb regarding the situation of Zahra Bahrami
http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/international-pressure-helps-says-exiled-iranian-lawyer
>> Sign our online petition in support of Zahra Bahrami
http://www.petitiononline.com/zahra123/petition.html
>>> Send a protest letter to Maxime Verhagen, the Netherlands Foreign Minster
(A sample letter is attached)
For more information please contact:
Parisa Pouyande on: +31 645 711 919 , Shiva Mahbobi : + 44 (0)7984 445 278
Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI)
[Sample letter]
Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mr. Maxime Verhagen PO Box 20061,2500 EB The Hague, The Netherlands Telephone: +31 70 3486486 Fax: + 31 70 3484848
Email: m.verhagen@minbuza.nl
Send a copy to: Catherine Ashton, EU High Representative for Foreign Affair
catherine.ashton@ec.europa.eu
C.J. Kole, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Tehran
Email: teh@minbuza.nl
Dear Mr Verhagen
I/we express concern for the situation of Zahra Bahrami. I/we urge the Dutch government to put pressure on the Islamic Regime of Iran to release Zahra Bahrmai immediately and unconditionally.
Name/ organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . City/country . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Please send a copy of your letter to CFPPI for our record.
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Political Prisoner Behrouz Javid Tehrani Must Be Freed!
At 10:00am in the morning of Wednesday, November 10th 2010, Behrouz Javid Tehrani, a well known political prisoner, was sentenced to 74 lashes. Accordingto recent published reports, Behrouz lashed by Hassan Akharian, an interrogator infamous for being responsible for painful torture techniques and attacks against prisoners that would often leave them in a near death state.
Behrouz Javid Tehrani, the last political prisoner of the July 10th 1999 uprising, has continued to be kept in the worst, most solitary and inhumane conditions, many months in Evin and now for more than two years under the most barbaric torture methods in another infamous prison, Gohardasht prison. Behrouz has been kept in solitary confinement in section 1 of Gohardasht prison, a section known as the “doghouse”, for months now.
Behrouz was arrested in June 2005. After a long waiting time, he was sentenced to overall 7 years of prison for completely unsubstantiated charges of engaging in propaganda against the regime, disrespecting the supreme leader, and cooperation with revolutionary groups. On March 7, 2010, Behrouz was transferred to solitary confinement in Rajaishahr prison. While in solitary, since March 26th, 2010, Behrouz has also been under intense torture.
On March 30th, 2010, prison officials told Behrouz that they would be transferring him from solitary confinement to the ward for dangerous criminals. In protest to this, Behrouz started a hunger strike. On Monday April 12th, 2010, after 13 days of being on hunger strike and one month of solitary confinement, he succeeded to compel his prison guards to submit to his requests. He was taken from solitary confinement to a ward called “the end of the road”.
After consistent confrontations and inhumane measures, Behrouz asked for medication but was met with prison officials beating him more and taking him to an unknown location. Despite the limitations of prison, Behrouz was able to write a note from his cell while he was partly unconscious that described the dire conditions he was enduring and that he was transferred to a solitary cell infamous as the Special Suite Number 1 of Rajaishahr prison.
On July 2nd, prison officials acting on the orders of the Information Ministry, were told to indeterminately extend Behruz’s solitary confinement beyond the previous decision of only holding him in solitary until the end of the July 10 uprising anniversary. In the last note that Behrouz was able to get out of prison, Behrouz stated that he has been threatened to death and that his life is in grave danger.
Despite suffering a number of illnesses that he has acquired since being in prison, particularly hits to the skull in 2005 in section 209 of Evin prison, Behrouz has not been allowed any medication. Furthermore, he is not allowed to see or talk with his family over the phone or see his lawyer. During beatings, he has cracked his skull and is only allowed to use the washroom 2 times every 24 hours.
The Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran requests all human rights organizations to put pressure on the Islamic regime of Iran and prevent them from conducting any further crimes against humanity.
Behrouz Javid Tehrani and all political prisoners must be unconditionally freed and prison guards must be publicly prosecuted for crimes against humanity.
Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI)
November 12th, 2010
Take an action by sending a protest letter to the addresses below:
I/we express concern for the situation of Behrouz Javid Tehrani. I/we demand his immediate and unconditional release.
Name/ organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
City/country . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Leader of the Islamic Republic:
Ali Khamenei, The Office of the Supreme Leader
Shoahada Street,Qom, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: + 98 25 7774 2228 E-mail: info@leader.ir
Copy to: urgent-action@ohchr.org catherine.ashton@ec.europa.eu
You can also send your protest letters to the
Iranian Embassy in your country.
Please send a copy for our record to: freepoliticalprisoners@gmail.com
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13 September 2010
The European Union Parliament insisted that the Iranian Government reconsider Zahra Bahrami’s case
The European Parliament resolution of 8 September 2010 on the human rights situation in Iran states that: “the Iranian Government reconsider Zahra Bahrami’s case, immediately grant her access to a lawyer and consular assistance, release her or grant her due process; calls on Baroness Ashton, the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, to raise the issue of Zahra Bahrami’s detention with the Iranian authorities”
Zahra Bahrami, 45, mother of two, and a Dutch- Iranian citizen who travelled to Iran to visit her family has been arrested in 27 December 2009.
Zahra was later transferred to section 209 of the notorious Evin prison where she spent more than six months in a solitary confinement without being allowed to have visitors. She was only allowed to have a very short telephone call to her family. Zahra’s family was put under pressure not to discuss the news of Zahra to media out side of the Iran.
Zahra Bahrami has been allegedly charged with “Moharebeh” (which means enemy of God) and “acting against national security”. She was physically and mentally tortured and forced to make a televised “confessions” admitting her charges. She attended the Islamic court on 16 August 2010 for the first time and was denied access to a lawyer. During the trial she repeatedly requested to have an access to a legal representative, but her request was ignored. She was told that her sentence will be announced in 10 days.
Soon after Zahra’s trial, CFPPI have send letters to Dutch foreign Minster and asked him to take an action, set up an online petition, sent press releases to human rights organisations and people around the world and asked them to support Zahra’s case. This case was also raised by the Netherlands’s member of European Union in August and they asked the foreign Minster of EU to take an action in regards to Zahra Bahrami’s case.
In 28 August 2010 Zahra was tried in section 15 of the Revolutionary Guard. Zahra Bahrmai was told in the court that she will be sentence to execution or life sentence. She is now awaiting another court hearing for the final verdict.
Ms Nasrin Sotoudeh who has recently become her lawyer was arrested on 4 September 2010 on charges of ‘propaganda against the state’ and ‘collusion and holding meetings with the aim of acting against national security’. Before her arrest, Ms Sotoudeh was not allowed to see her client and she only had telephone conversations with Zahra. On 12 September 2010, Sotoudeh’s husband, was threatened by Etelaat (intelligent service of the regime) to prevent them from publicising the case.
Due to the international pressure, Islamic regime of Iran has back down and has not announced Zahra Bahrami’s sentence yet.
Shiva Mahbobi, the spokesperson of the CFPPI, in her letter to Maxime Verhagen, the Netherlands Foreign Minster wrote: “The only way to prevent Ms Bahrami‘s execution is by exerting continuous pressure on the Islamic regime directly, and also by questioning Iranian diplomats in Netherlands. As we mentioned in our previous letter, under article 5 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (24 April 1963), Promoting and protecting the interests of Dutch nationals abroad is one of the core tasks of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The responsibility to save Zahra’s life falls directly into the obligations of the Dutch government, and any negligence in this case would be a huge embarrassment in an international level for your government.”
Zahra Bahrami is awaiting her final verdict and she is expected to be tried again soon.
Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI) is seriously concerned about Zahra’s situation, and fear for her life and safety. We demand immediate release of Zahra Bahrami and her lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh. CFPPI calls on all human rights organisations and concerned individuals to take an action immediately.
>> Sign our online petition in support of Zahra Bahrami
http://www.petitiononline.com/zahra123/petition.html
>>> Send a protest letter to Maxime Verhagen, the Netherlands Foreign Minster
(A sample letter is attached)
For more information please contact:
Parisa Pouyande on: +31 645 711 919 ,Shiva Mahbobi : + 44 (0)7984 445 278
Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI)
[Sample letter]
Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mr. Maxime Verhagen
PO Box 20061,2500 EB The Hague, The Netherlands
Telephone: +31 70 3486486 Fax: + 31 70 3484848 Email: m.verhagen@minbuza.nl
Send a copy to:
Catherine Ashton, EU High Representative for Foreign Affair
catherine.ashton@ec.europa.eu
C.J. Kole, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Tehran
Email: teh@minbuza.nl
Dear Mr Verhagen
I/we express concern for the situation of Zahra Bahrami. I/we urge the Dutch government to put pressure on the Islamic Regime of Iran to release Zahra Bahrmai immediately and unconditionally.
Name/ organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
City/country . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Please send a copy of your letter to CFPPI for our record.
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Nasrin Sotudeh Must Be Unconditionally Freed
and Given Immediate Medical Attention!
Lawyer, member of Defenders of Human Rights, women’s rights advocate, children’s rights advocate, recipient of the United Nations Award in Human Rights, and defence lawyer for many political prisoners and teenagers sentenced to execution, Nasrin Sotudeh, was threatened a number of times for her human rights work prior to being arrested. The groups engaging in the threats, under the guidance of the “Revolutionary Guard,” had asked her to cease representing her clients.
Nasrin Sotudeh was first interrogated at the Narmak facility. Afterwards, on September 4th, 2010, after receiving a summons from the prosecutor in relation to 3 baseless counts of engaging in anti-regime propaganda, collusion, and assembly for the purpose of instigating riots counter to national security, Nasrin was called to the Court of Evin Prison. Nasrin and her lawyer Nasim Ghanavi went to the Evin Courthouse. Courthouse officials did not allow Nasrin’s lawyer to be present during questioning, and after a very short questioning period Nasrin was arrested and taken to Evin prison.
Throughout the time Nasrin has been under arrest and incarcerated, she has not been allowed any contact with her defence lawyer. Also, contact with her family members and dependents have been extremely short-lived. Before being called to the Courthouse, security personnel from the Information Ministry had come to Nasrin’s home and office on August 28. They searched the two premises, made records of the documents and personal items they found, and seized her and her spouse’s computer and personal items.
Protesting the barbaric nature of her arrest, interrogations, and the unendurable torture in Section 209 where she is kept, Nasrin began to hunger strike. She was only permitted to see her 3 and 11 year old children, mother, and sister momentarily on November 4th. She has not been permitted to see Mr. Reza Khandan, her spouse; throughout the time of her incarceration she has only been able to speak with him over the telephone
for 3 seconds. Nasrin broke her 28-day long hunger strike momentarily after seeing her family. According to sources from inside the prison, she has lost considerable weight, her skin color has darkened, and her bodily strength has decreased so much that she did not have enough bodily power to fully hug her children.
Nasrin threatened that if the previous prison conditions continued she would resume her hunger strike. Within a short time, on October 31st, she began a dry hunger strike due to barbaric behaviour of interrogators in Evin Prison’s Section 209. A few hours after Nasrin had begun her dry hunger strike, the Tehran Prosecutor infamous for bloodshed, Abbas Jaafari Dolat-Abadi, went to Evin prison in the attempt to compel Nasrin to end her hunger strike. This meeting did not change her decision, however, and she has continued with her dry hunger strike.
Nasrin lawyers requested an update on Nasrin’s file from the court and were told by a judge named ‘Pir Abbasi’ that Nasrin’s case would be heard on November 15th in Section 26 of the “Revolutionary Court”.
Up until now many human rights organizations such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Journalists without Borders, as well as political figures such as Vaclav Havel, former President of Czechoslovakia, have protested the above conditions and requested that Nasrin Sotudeh be freed.
The Islamic Republic has taken Nasrin Sotudeh hostage, tortures her, does not allow her to see her children, spouse, and dependents, to scare other lawyers and the families of political prisoners, and so add a few extra days to its reign. Without a doubt, this is part of the dirty tactic of building a pretext for security and informational organs of the state to continue their wave of harassment and arrest against lawyers, human rights defenders such as Mohammad Olyai-far, Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, Abdol Fattah Soltani, Mohammad Seifzadeh, and the members of Defenders of Human Rights.
The Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI), in solidarity with the children, spouse, mother and dependants of Nasrin Sotudeh, requests from all human rights communities to pressure the heads of the Islamic Republic organization to free Nasrin and immediately transfer her to a hospital where she will be given special medical attention.
Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran
November 9th, 2010
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Urgent Appeal:
06 September 2010
Maxime Verhagen. Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs
PO Box 20061, 2500 EB the Hague, the Netherlands
Re: Mrs. Zahra Bahrami
Dear Maxime Verhagen,
Following my emails on 23 August 2010 and 20 August 2010, I am writing to you to request an update in Zahra Bahrami’s case.
I am aware of all your efforts to communicate with the Iranian authorities regarding Zahra Bahrami’s case; I am also aware that the Iranian government has not taken any action thus far. The time is running out and her life is in a great danger. Zahra is a Dutch citizen and her rights must be protected by the Dutch government. Failure to do so could send Zahra, an innocent person, to execution, and that short coming would be directly reflected on the Dutch government.
In order for us to continue pressuring the Islamic regime of Iran, and in order to stop Mrs. Bahrami’s death sentence being carried out, we need to obtain up to date news of her situation in prison as well as latest court’s decision. It is very important that we obtain this update, because in similar cases as Zahra, when prisoners were charged with “Moharebeh” (which means enemy of God) and “acting against national security” their death sentence was carried out by the regime without any advance notice.
The only way to prevent Ms Bahrami‘s execution is by exerting continuous pressure on the Islamic regime directly, and also by questioning Iranian diplomats in Netherland. As we mentioned in our previous letter, under article 5 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (24 April 1963), Promoting and protecting the interests of Dutch nationals abroad is one of the core tasks of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The responsibility to save Zahra’s life falls directly into the obligations of the Dutch government, and any negligence in this case would be a huge embarrassment in an international level for your government.
We expect you to act immediately and save Zahra’s life as a Dutch citizen, and to demand her immediate and unconditional release from prison.
Please provide us with an update e through the addresses below.
Attached is the list of people who have signed the petition to support Zahra Bahrami.
Sincerely yours
Shiva Mahbobi
Spokesperson – Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI)
Cc: Catherine Ashton
High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
Cees J. Kole Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Tehran
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Urgent Appeal:
20 Augest 2010
Maxime Verhagen
Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs
PO Box 20061,2500 EB The Hague, The Netherlands
Re:Mrs. Zahra Bahrami
Dear Maxime Verhagen;
Dear Maxime Verhagen,
following my emails on 23 August 2010 and 20 August 2010, I am writting to you for an update in Zahra Bahrami’s case.
it is very important to have an update on her situation since in other cases who have been charged with the same charges “Moharebeh” (which means enemy of God) and “acting against national security” the death sentence was carried out by the regime without any advanced announsment. I am aware awar of the effort to comunicate the sitution of Zahra Bahrami with the Iranian authoriy, I am also aware that the Iranian governmetn has not take an action. the only way to prevent Ms Bahrami to be executed is by puting constant pressure on the Iranian regime and its embassy in the Netherland. as we mentioned in our previous letter nder article 5 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (24 April 1963), Promoting and protecting the interests of Dutch nationals abroad is one of the core tasks of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
peple around the world expect you to act urgently.
please see below list of people who have supported Zahra Bahrami through ongoing online petition.
yours sincerellyPlease provide us with an update through the addresses below.
Sincerely yours
Shiva Mahbobi
Spokesperson – Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI)
Cc: Cees J. Kole Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Tehran
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URGENT ACTION
Action day to support political prisoners in Iran
Saturday 7 August 2010 at 2:00
Tens of political prisoners are in danger of execution
• Jafar Kazemi, 46: a textbook lithographer at Amir Kabir University in Tehran, in imminent danger of being executed.
• Mohamad Ali Saremi, Mohamad Ali Hajaghaee, Abdolreza Ghanbari, Mohsen and Ahmad Daneshpour, Javad Lari: sentenced to death by execution.
• Ms Zainab Jalalizade: in prison awaiting execution.
• Borzoo Nozari, 17: student, arrested in a protest in 2009, serving a 2 years sentence.
• Behnam Ibrahimzadeh: children’s and workers’ rights activist, brutally beaten and arrested in 12 June 2010, his condition and whereabouts is unknown.
• Jailed workers, Mansour Osanloo, Ibrahim Madadi, Mehdi Shandiz, Reza Shahabian:
in prison and tortured on a daily basis.
• Jailed students Majid Tavakoli: was arrested in 2009, still in prison.
• Behrooz Javid Tehrani: was arrested in 1999, still in prison.
• Ms Bita Samimizadeh: a university student, sentenced to 5 years in prison.
The list continues…………..
Hundreds of political prisoners are being tortured every day and their lives are in a grave danger.
Political prisoners and their families need your support.
We call on all human rights organisations and concerned individuals to take and action.
Join our action day in support of political prisoners in Iran. Together we can make a difference.
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August 2010
For Freedom of the Detained Teachers in Iran
More than one million teachers in Iran are deprived of their basic rights regarding their social and employment rights. Receiving low wages that sometimes is not paid for several months, lack of insurance and proper medical facilities, unsecured employment, housing problem, and ideological and unscientific educational system are among the most important problems that Iranian teachers are dealing with. These teachers have been struggling for over ten years to improve their working condition, but each time, their efforts and objections have been violently confronted by the Islamic regime in Iran.
Not only the widespread protests of the teachers in recent years have been declared unlawful, at the same time, most of their organizations have been considered illegal, and all their efforts for pursuing their demands in the form of legal organizations and groups have been suppressed.
In the recent years, because of teacher’s opposition to their working and living condition, and because of their effort to improve these situation, thousands of their leaders and families have been under the most severe pressures by the police and the Iranian secret service. The regime’s responses to this opposition have been a constant threat, expulsion, imprisonment and torture, exile and execution of the teachers.
Although the case of the young teacher Farzad Kamangar who was executed 2 months ago is not the only one, it is one of the most known, and obvious ways of the regime’s reactions against the defying teachers.
Farzad was a journalist and active member of the Teachers Union of Kurdistan who was arrested in 2006 in accusation of being a member of the one of the opponent organizations of the regime. The police and the secret service had no proof against him. All these years that Farzad was in prison, they tortured him brutally, but he never compelled to what he was accused of. However, according to his solicitor, in a court that lasted only a few minutes he was sentenced to be executed and he was executed secretly in the dawn of 9th of May 2010, whereas his legal case was still in the progress.
At the present time there are numerous teachers in the prisons in Iran, and one of them is at risk of being executed.
Mr Abdolreza Ghanbari is one of them who has been sentenced to execution by the revolutionary Court of Tehran. He is one of the teachers of Pakdasht high school and a lecturer of the university with many years of experience in teaching in schools and universities. On the 14 of January 2010 he was arrested and sentenced to the execution on accusation of “fighting against the regime through the link with the opposition groups”. The court used these reasons in sentencing Alireza Ghanbari : “ to have suspicious emails and relationship with one of the TV stations outside the country”.
Seyed Hashem Khwastar, Rasoul Badaghi, Abdollah Momeni, Mahmoud Beheshti Langaroudi, ali Akbar baghani, Mohamad davari, Alireza Hashemi, Hossein Bastani Nejad, ghorban Ahmadi, Farajollah Zendehdelan, Mohamadali Shirazi, Mehdi Farahi Shandiz and Shahani are other detained teachers which some of them have been detained for months without being given any reason for their detention from the judicial system of Iran. Their families are trying to find some information about their situation and the reason for their imprisonment.
The violent reaction of the Islamic Republic of Iran against the teachers and other opponents’ protests, have created a wide spread wave of internal and international oppositions. The international organizations and foundations like (EI), I.L.O and Amnesty International alongside the people of Iran, times and times have condemned the government and the leader of Iran for their violent suppressing of the teachers’ protests and asked them to end these violent confrontations against the protesters, and called the regime to comply with their demands.
Help us to put pressure on the Islamic Regime of Iran to release jailed teachers
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Jafar Kazemi in Imminent Danger of Execution
Help use to save his life
Jafar Kazemi, 46, a textbook lithographer at Amir Kabir University in Tehran was arrested during the protests in Tehran in September 2009. He was kept in solitary confinement for more than two months, and then transferred to section 305 of Evin prison which is known for its inhuman condition. According to his lawyer Naseem Ghanavi , Jafar Kazemi has been charged with “moharebeh” (enemy of God), acting against national security, and propaganda against the government. He was tried in branch 28 of the revolutionary court. Kazemi was previously imprisoned for 9 years from 1981 -1989.
Jafar kazemi has been sentences to death by execution, his appeal was rejected by the Supreme Court, and he is in danger of being executed now.
Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI) is concerned about the life and the safety of Jafar kazemi. We call on all human rights organisations and concerned individuals to take an action immediately by sending a protest letter to the heads of the state in Iran.
[ a sample letter is attached]
Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI)
Take an action by sending a protest letter to the address below:
I/we express concern for the situation of Jafar Kazemi. I/we demand his immediate and unconditional overturn of his execution sentence and his immediate release.
Name/ organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
City/country . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Leader of the Islamic Republic:
Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Shoahada Street,Qom, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: + 98 25 7774 2228 E-mail: info@leader.ir
Please send a copy of your letter to CFPPI for our record.
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27/07/2010
The condition, and whereabouts of Behnam Ibrahimzadeh is unknown
Behnam Ibrahimzadeh, a blogger and children’s rights activist was arrested on 12 June 2010 in Tehran. He was brutally beaten by the prison guards, and as a result he endured severe injuries to his leg and chest with broken ribs. On 22 July 2010 his family went to the notorious Evin prison to visit him, but they were told by the prison guards that Behnam is no longer detained there, but they refused to disclose his whereabouts.
Previously his family was told that he is kept in section 7 of the Evin Prison. In Evin, he has been under an immense physical and mental pressure, and hasn’t been allowed to see his family. He was only has allowed a very brief telephone conversation in which he informed his family about his injuries.
Behnam was previously arrested and taken to the Evin prison on May Day 2009, and then he was released after a short while.
Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI) is concerned about the life and the safety of Behnam Ibrahimzade. We call on all human rights organisations and concerned individuals to send a protest letter to the heads of the state in Iran, and demand an unconditional release.
Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI)
Take an action by sending a protest letter to the address below:
I/we express my concern for the situation of Behnam Ibrahimzade. I/we demand his immediate and unconditional release.
Name/ organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . City/country . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,
The Presidency,Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection,
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, Fax: + 98 21 649 8580, E-mail: dr-ahmadinejad@president.ir
Leader of the Islamic Republic:
Ali Khamenei, The Office of the Supreme Leader
Shoahada Street,Qom, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: + 98 25 7774 2228 , E-mail: info@leader.ir
Please send a copy of your letter to CFPPI for our record.
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12 /07/2010
Support campaign to free jailed workers in Iran
A group of labour activists and campaigners in Iran has recently launched “Free Them Now!” a campaign to free jailed workers, to expose their situation and their inhuman treatment in jail and to attract an international awareness toward the attack on workers by the Islamic regimes in Iran. Worker in Iran have increasingly been arrested, tortured, and their activists have been continuously harassed and thrown in jail. Their families have been put under an immense pressure to keep silent.
This Campaign for workers in Iran is aiming:
1. To stop the terror and violence against the workers by the Islamic Regime.
2. To protect worker’s right to be organised and form their organisations.
3. To guarantee worker’s freedom for assembly, meeting, and to hold protests.
4. To safeguard freedom to strike and participation in rallies without fear of being arrested and thrown in prison.
Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran actively supports this campaign, and calls on all concerned individual and organisations, and all trade unions and labour activists to join and support this campaign.
For more information regarding this campaign please see the attached press release.
Shiva Mahbobi
Spokesperson – Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI)
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Free Them Now!
Campaign to free JAILED WORKERS in IRAN
In Iran workers are routinely arrested for going on strike, for building a union or for celebrating May Day. That is what happened to bus workers in Tehran: Over 700 of them were arrested when they went on strike in 2006. Some of their leaders, such as Mansoor Ossanlou, are still in jail, and some have been fired from their jobs. It happened to sugar cane workers when they organised protests over unpaid wages and built a union. Their leaders have spent months in prison and are daily harassed with court summons and heavy bails. Some have also lost their jobs. Teachers who took strike action and held rallies over their pay and conditions have also been put in prison. Over the years, hundreds of workers have met a similar end for exercising their fundamental right to freely organise, strike and assemble.
Arbitrary arrests and detentions, long prison terms, violent interrogations, beatings, even use of lashing to degrade and break down, denial of medical care to sick detainees, constant harassment in the form of court summons, heavy bails and daily threats issued against the workers and their families, and the ultimate weapon of cutting workers off their livelihood by firing them, make up a brutal regime of systematic persecution of labour activists in Iran.
In May this year the regime added to its 31-year record of horrific human rights abuse by executing well-known teacher and labour activist Farzad Kamangar, along with four other political prisoners. The world’s trade unions and human rights organisations had been campaigning for Farzad’s release for years, and vehemently condemned the callous killings.
We, a group of labour activists and campaigners from Iran and around the world, have set up this campaign to highlight the plight of the workers currently in jail in Iran or under the threat of arrest and detention. The aim of the campaign is the immediate and unconditional release of all labour activists who are currently in jail. Some of us are former members of the very unions suppressed by the regime in Iran, who are continuing the fight in exile through this and other campaigns.
Our demand is clear: the terror and violence against workers in Iran must stop! Workers in Iran should be able to freely exercise their fundamental right to set up their own organisations, meet, assemble and protest as they wish, take strike action, organise and take part in rallies, etc., without fear of being arrested and thrown in jail. All jailed workers must be immediately and unconditionally freed!
The following workers are currently known to be held in various prisons and detention centres in Iran. The actual list is much longer. The whereabouts of some remain unknown (The list is regularly updated on our blogs):
From the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs United (Vahed) Bus Company:
Mansoor Ossanlou (President)
Ebrahim Madadi (Vice President)
Saeed Torabian (Spokesperson)
Reza Shahabi (Treasurer)
From the Iranian Teachers’ Trade Association:
Ghorban Ahmadi
Ali Akbar Baghani
Hossein Bastani Nejad
Mahmoud Beheshti Langroodi
Rasoul Bodaghi
Mohammad Davari
Alireza Hashemi (General Secretary)
Seyyed Hashem Khastar
Abdollah Momeni
* Another teacher, Abdolreza Ghanbari, was arrested during the mass anti-government demonstration on 27 December 2009. He has been sentenced to death.
Other detained labour activists:
Behnam Ebrahim-zadeh
Mehdi Farrahi Shandiz
We call on all trade unions and human rights organisations around the world and all individuals and organisations appalled by the horrific human rights abuse in Iran to support and sign up to this campaign.
Initial signatories:
Mamad Amiri (Labour activist, Sweden)
Davoud Aram (Labour activist, Canada)
Foroogh Arghavan (Labour activist, Canada)
Masoud Arzhang (Labour activist, Canada)
Naser Asghari (Labour activist, Canada)
Shahla Daneshfar (Labour activist)
Pascal Descamp (Labour activist, member of CGT, France)
Saleh Falahi (Labour activist, transport workers’ union, Norway)
Morteza Fateh (Labour activist, UK)
Ahmad Fatemi (Labour activist, member of Unionen, Sweden)
Reza Fathi (Labour activist, former member of a union in Iran)
Farshad Hosseini (Labour activist, Holland)
Mehran Khorshidi (Labour activist, transport workers’ union, Norway)
Yadi Kouhi (Labour activist, France)
Mehran Mahboobi (Labour activist, Canada)
Shiva Mahboobi (Spokesperson, Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran)
Manouchehr Mahdavi Tabar (Former member of the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Vahed Bus Company)
Abbas Mandegar (Labour activist, transport workers’ union, Canada)
Shahnaz Morattab (Labour activist, postal workers’ union, Germany)
Arsalan Nazeri (Labour activist, Australia)
Mohammad Nemati (Former member of the Free Union of Iranian Workers)
Saber Rahimi (Labour activist, Norway)
Reza Rashidi (Former Member of the Follow-up Committee to Set Up Free Workers’ Organisations in Iran)
Bahram Soroush (Labour activist)
Abbas Zamani (Labour activist, former member of a union in Iran)
Campaign co-ordinators:
Shahla Daneshfar
Shahla_Daneshfar@yahoo.com 0044-77798 98968
Bahram Soroush
Bahram.Soroush@gmail.com 0044-7852 338334
8 July 2010
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20th of June, the International Day in Support of Political Prisoners in Iran
Ever since the formation of the Islamic Regime in Iran in 1979, thousands of people have been imprisoned and tortured; they are punished for exercising their freedom of expression. Men and women who speak against the regime are put in prisons and even executed. No one is spared: mothers give birth in prison, parents watch their children being tortured, young children are kept in prison cells with their parents, and political prisoners are brutally tortured every day in Iran. Many of the political prisoners aren’t allowed to have visitors and they are kept in solitary confinements for months and even years. Hundreds of political prisoners lost their lives under tortured, but the world never got to hear their stories. This has been happening in Iran for 30 years; it is happening right now.
CFPPI will commemorate the 20th of June every year until the last political prisoner in Iran is freed. This day will provide the opportunity to bring our forces together, and to strongly echo the voice of these prisoners throughout the world. We call on all organisations and individuals to join us.
On 20th June 2010 Show your support and help to raise awareness about the political prisoners in Iran. Join us on this day:
• To release all political prisoners unconditionally and immediately!
• To stop execution immediately!
Join us by:
-Joining our demonstration
-Sending a protest letter to the Islamic regime of Iran
– Organizing a solidarity event with political prisoners in Iran
– Speaking of the crimes committed by Islamic regime in public, with your friends and colleagues
If you need more information on the situation of political prisoners in Iran please contact us.
Campaing to Free Political Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI)
20 June 2010
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Mansoor Osanloo must be freed immediately!
Mansoor Osanloo, a labour activist and the secretary general of the bus drivers’ union has been in prison for several years, and has subjected to torture and brutality; as a result, he suffers from number of illnesses.
Based on his illnesses the prison doctors considered his physical condition unfit to be in prison, but the Information Ministry rejected his release. Disregarding his health condition and intentional vindictiveness towards Osanloo, who is suffering from heart condition and malnutrition, has put him under heaps of stress. He is suffering from skin disease but being denied time in the sunlight. Osanloo has had three eye surgeries thus far, suffering from back condition, and has intestine illness; this is deliberate torture! Mansoor Osanloo has spent nearly 11 months in prison without being allowed any visitors.
Osanloo was arrested in December 2005 and spent 8 months in prison. In November 2006 he was detained for one month and was release on bail. The third time he was arrested shortly after returning from the annual conference of the International Transport Workers’ Federation(ITF) in June 2007, when he was dragged out of a bus and beaten in public.
In March 2007 he was convicted and sentenced to a five years prison in Evin. On June 30 2007 by the order of the notorious Information Ministry, he was transferred to section five of the Rajaeeshahr prison where the drug addicts and criminal are kept. In section 5 Seyed Mohammad Husseini and Mohammad Barkhi, two high security prisoners, were among the detainees and one of them knifed Osanloo last year, and the other one, planned another knife attack, but other prisoners stopped him. These kinds of unsuccessful callous attacks took place numerous times, but Osanloo was saved by his fellow prisoners.
On March 2010 Osanloo complained about the guards’ attack on the detainees who were arrested in recent demonstrations; he was punished by being transferred to a solitary confinement for a week.
After being employed for 26 years, Osanloo was put on trial, convicted, and fired from his job in absentia; as a result, his family is under an immense economic pressure.
This cruel and unjust treatment must be stopped now. We call on all organisations to pressure the Islamic Regime and to demand the unconditional release of all political prisoners. Mansoor Osanloo must be release, and receive proper medical treatment immediately.
Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI)
11 April 2010
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17/03/2010
Queridas madres
Les estoy escribiendo en el nombre de las mujeres cuyos hijos y nietos han desaparecidos o han sido detenidos, torturados y asesinados.
Les estoy escribiendo en el nombre de las madres que cada semana se reúnen una vez a la semana para pedir la liberación o el hallazgo de sus hijos, igual que vosotros firmes y decididas que protestabais en la plaza de Mayo defendiendo a vuestros hijos.
Las entendéis bien, ya que habéis tenido una experiencia parecida con la diferencia de que esta vez los asesinaron están ocurriendo en Irán, un país cuyo pueblo ha vivido treinta años de dictadura cruel.
Yo misma, con solo 16 años de edad, estuve en cárcel varios meses y a mi madre no la dejaban visitarme .Mi madre y muchas madres, han estado delante de las cárceles muchos años han recibido innumerable humillación y insulto de las guardias del régimen.
Algunas, ya solo quieren que les devuelvan a sus hijos o les digan donde están la tumbas de sus hijos, hay algunas que después de treinta años todavía no saben que les ha ocurrido a sus hijos.
Hoy en día, las madres de presos políticos se reúnen frecuentemente delante de la cárcel de Evin, pidiendo la libertad de sus hijos. El grupo de las madres que son conocidas como las madres de luto también ha trasladado sus reuniones a las puertas de esta cárcel donde el régimen guarda la mayoría de los presos políticos.
Sé que las habéis apoyado en su batalla últimamente. Les abrazo calurosamente desde lejos. Pero mi intención en escribir esta carta es pedirles una colaboración más allá de esto para que con vuestra ayuda y la ayuda de otras organizaciones de derechos humanos pongamos el régimen de Irán bajo presión para que deje en libertad a las madres detenidas y a todos los presos políticos.
Las madres de los presos políticos os necesitan.
Espero su respuesta
Saludos
Shiva Mahbobi – El responsable de la campaña para la libertad de presos políticos en Irán.
Las madres de luto:
El grupo de las madres de luto se formó espontáneamente en junio 2009 por un grupo de las madres después de las manifestaciones en protesta a fraude en las elecciones en las que unos jóvenes fueron asesinados o encarcelados.
Las madres de luto, se reunieron el primer sábado después de la muerte de Neda en un parque cercano del lugar de su asesinato, llamado parque Laleh y fueron atacadas por las fuerzas del orden. Neda era una chica de 27 años que murió de un tiro en el pecho durante las manifestaciones del sábado 20 de junio de 2009 en una de los callejones alrededor de la calle Kargar. Desde aquel entonces este grupo de las madres se reúne todos los sábados a las 7 de la tarde en el parque Laleh en Teherán.
Aquí abajo se puede ver algunas noticias y los ataques que este grupo han recibido del régimen:
8 de Febrero 2010
El día 8 de febrero un grupo de fuerzas de seguridad atacaron a la casa de un miembro de las madres de luto, la detuvieron, inspeccionaron la casa y retuvieron sus efectos personales.
Los miembros de la familia de esta persona dicen que en el orden de detención también figuraba los nombres de “Leila Seifolahi, Zhila Karam zadeh Makvandi, Fatemeh Rastegar ,Goli Hosieni y Manije Taheri ¨ que todas son miembros del grupo de madres de luto.
Todavía no se sabe todos los nombres de las personas detenidas con certeza pero las fuentes no oficiales dicen que 19 mujeres de este grupo han sido detenidas .pero para afirmarlos necesitamos documentos más solemnes.
17 de Enero:
Las fuerzas de seguridad habían ocupado el parque Laleh y no dejaron que el grupo de las madres de luto se reuniera para hacer su ritual semanal .Todavía no se sabe nada de las posibles detenciones.
Algunas de las madres consiguieron encontrar se en las calles alrededor del parque para recordar su juramento que no van a olvidar esta promesa y al mismo tiempo otro grupo de las madres en otro punto de la ciudad se reunieron con pancartas y fotos de sus hijos para recordar al gobierno que puede ocupar un parque, pero no puede controlar todo el país. “seguimos vivas todavía”
12 de Enero 2010
Después de 72 horas de resistencia todos los miembros del grupo de las madres de luto fueron puestos en libertad.
El martes a las 7:30 de la tarde al fin las madres de luto salieron de la cárcel después de 72 horas en detención mezclada con las palizas, hambre e insultos.
Según cuentan, habían metido 7 presos en un espacio de 6 metros sin ninguna facilidad para la higiene y con las luces encendidas 24 horas. No tenían suficiente espacio para poder acostar se ni les daban comida.
Al fin después de aguantar 72 horas de estas condiciones inhumanas y medievales, se libraron 14 miembros de este grupo que habían sido detenidos.
Durante todo el tiempo de detención el grupo había resistido contra los prisioneros que querían ponerlos en libertad y solo mantuvieran una de ellas en la detención. El grupo resistió diciendo que o saldrían todas o no saldría ninguna.
Al fin las madres de luto hicieron retroceder a los prisioneros en su decisión y poner las a todas en libertad al mismo tiempo.
Cuado se libraban estas mujeres las familiares ,las otras miembros del grupo y sus partidarios que les esperaban en la puerta les recibieron gritando “ el preso político debe poner se en libertad” y hicieron temblar los muros de las fuerzas de represión.
Las madres de luto han sido libradas de ahí pero siguen siendo muy preocupadas por el destino de muchas chicas jóvenes y mujeres que han visto ahí dentro en las celdas aisladas y privadas de las primeras facilidades de la vida humana.
Aquellas mujeres de las que hablan las madres de luto son las que habían sido detenidas durante las protestas de Ashura(aniversario de muerte de Hussein ,un imam de los chiies que fue traicionado y matado en una batalla injusta ,y es símbolo de pureza ) en Teherán , la situación de aquellas mujeres les había hecho olvidar de las situación horrible de la que habían salido y insistieron en que el mundo tiene que reaccionar ya que los responsables de interrogaciones habían amenazado a aquellas mujeres con pena de muerte y ejecución.
11 de Enero 2010
Detención de las madres de luto:
Hoy (el 11 de Enero 2010) a las nueve de la mañana las familiares y los miembros del grupo las madres de luto que habían sido detenidas ayer por las fuerzas de seguridad en el parque de Laleh acudieron a la prisión temporal situada en la calle Vozara en Teherán para preguntar por la situación de estas mujeres detenidas.70 o 80 personas reunidas delante de la puerta de la prisión eran los esposos , los hijos ,amigos y otros miembros del grupo de las madres de luto que iban con frecuencia a la guardia para preguntar pero siempre recibían la misma respuesta “ tenéis que acudir a la oficina de la corte de la revolución ,aquí no decidimos sobre el futuro de los presos y están solo aquí temporalmente.”
A las 12 de la mañana una ambulancia entró en el edificio, un hecho que provocó muchas inquietudes entre las familias por que de 14 mujeres detenidas, 9 fueron trasladadas a las urgencias de hospitales de Sayad y Firoozgar ya que sufren diabetes, alta presión sanguínea y otros enfermedades debido a la edad avanzada que tienen .Algunas han sido devueltas a la prisión por la noche y otras estarán aquí por la mañana siguiente.
Los familiares y amigos después de no recibir noticia de sus seres queridos que estaban ahí dentro, hicieron una cadena humana en la calle dando eslóganes como” viva la madre” , “libertad para las madres” y no dejaron pasar a los coches para atraer la atención de la gente que pasaban en coche y los vecinos hacia lo que estaba pasando .
La carta abierta de grupo las madres de luto por el motivo de detención de algunos de los miembros del grupo:
¡Otra vez insulto, otra vez injusticia otra vez detención a las madres en el parque de Laleh!
El eco del silencio de las madres cada día es más potente y los locos violentos que no saben nada de política no pueden soportar los gritos silenciosos de las madres.
No hay ni un solo sábado que las fuerzas de seguridad, Basij o las fuerzas sin uniforme no se presenten en estado de alerta en el parque .Tienen miedo de que las madres de luto saboteen la seguridad nacional con su búsqueda sin violencia de la justicia.
Otra vez el 19 de Day (9 de enero 2010) 30 madres de luto fueron detenidas y trasladadas a la prisión de Vozara con distintos pretextos aun antes de que la reunión empiece.
Nosotras condenamos este hecho contra humanidad y contra la ley y exigimos la libertad de nuestras amigas.
Aconsejamos a los responsables del gobierno que si quieren que acabe las reuniones de las madres de luto escuchen a lo que queremos: dejen en libertad a todos los presos políticos y traen los responsables de estas violencias y matanzas ante la justicia y juzgarles en un corte justo y público.
Firma:
Las madres de luto: 10 de enero de 2010
9 de enero de 2010
Ataque violento a las madres de luto y detención de algunas de ellas
A las 16:45 cuando las madres de luto estaban reuniéndose al lado de lago principal del parque Laleh fueron atacadas violentamente por un grupo de las fuerzas del orden y las fuerzas sin uniforme. Algunas de las madres fueron detenidas durante estos ataque .los testigos dicen que han visto al menos 3 madres detenidas.
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12/03/2010
Rahman Ebramizadeh, and his son, Esa must be released immediately and unconditionally!
Based on the news we have received from student activists, on 3 March 2010 the notorious Revolutionary Guards have arrested a labour activist Rahman Ebrahimzadeh and his son Esa and have taken them to Oshnaveyeh’s detention centre. A week later, they were transferred to Oromieye’s prison to appear in court. Rahman’s family, worried for their safety, health, and wellbeing, attempted to find out their whereabouts, and to demand their immediate release, but prison authorities have kept a tight lip. The house search was conducted without any prior notice, or any search warrant.
Around the same time, two more of Rhaman’s sons, Loghman and Behnam Ebrahimzadeh received threatening phone calls. Loghman was taken to Oshnaveyeh’s detention centre for questioning on 9 March 2010. Following an International 2009 May Day rally in Park Laleh in Tehran, Behnam who is a blogger, labour and children activist, and also a member of the Society in Defence of Children was arrested and briefly kept in Evin prison.
Around the same time few other labour activists: Hossein Betrooti, Fata Soleymani, Abbass Hashempour, Samad Ahmadpour, and Rahman Tanha were also arrested and transferred to Oshnaveyeh’s detention centre. Also, Children’s activists: Shiva Nazar Ahari, Saeed Jalalifar, and Maryam Ziya are still in prison and there are no news about their health and wellbeing.
Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran calls all human rights organisations and individuals to support our call, and demand immediate and unconditional release of Rahaman Ebrahimizadeh, his son Esa, and all other labour and children activists.
Take an action
Send a protest letter to the Islamic Regime of Iran.
You can also send your letter to Iranian embassy in your country.
Please send your letter to: info@leader.ir and dr-ahmadinejad@president.ir
please send a copy for our record to: freepoliticalprisoners@gmail.com
A sample protest letter is provided below:
I/we condemn the arrest and intoregation of labour and children rights activists in Iran. I/we demand the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners in Iran.
Name/ organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
City/country . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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24/02/2010
Elham Ahsani, a university student, was arrested on Tuesday 9 February 2010 at her home by the Islamic Regime’s secret service in Teheran. The reason for her arrest is not known, although it may be connected to the recent protests against the Islamic regime in Iran. Elham was initially arrested along with her brother Nader Ahsani, but Nader was among the 28 prisoners who were released on 21 February 2010; The continuous demonstrations of 700 families of political prisoners in front of the Evin Prison forced the regime to free 28 prisoners.
Initially, Elham’s family were not told of her whereabouts, but under the pressure, the prison authorities claimed that Elham is held in the Evin prison. While in prison, she is under an immense physical and mental pressure, and hasn’t been allowed to see her family.
Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI) is concerned about the life and the safety of Elham Ahsani . The Islamic Regime of Iran must release Elham, and all other political prisoners.
We call on all human rights organisations and concerned individuals to send a protest letter and demand an immediate and unconditional release of Elham Ahsani.
Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI)
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22/02/2010
Families of Political prisoners in Iran need your support
Following the on-going demonstrations that have started in summer of 2009 in Iran, hundreds of people have been arrested, imprisoned and several have been executed. In concurrence with the mass arrests families of these political prisoners have been gathering in front of the notorious Evin prison and Revolutionary Court in Tehran demanding their immediate and unconditional release. These support for these demonstration are growing: on 30th January 2010 the number of the protesters reached an all time high of 2000 families and their supporters, and on 11th February 2010, the 31st anniversary of the 1979 revolution, around 1000 of people gathered to demand the release of all political prisoners. Despite the brutal assault by the guards and thugs deployed by the regime, the families are determined to continue their protest in order to keep the pressure on the regime to free their loved ones. In several occasions the regime was under such a pressure that they were forced to release around a hundred of prisoners. On 16th February 2010 more than 300 families gathered in front of the Evin prison, shouting “free all political prisoners” and ultimately forced the authorities to release 18 of these prisoners. The most recent gatherings were on 22nd February 2010 when more than 600 families gathered in front of the Revolutionary Court and 21st February when 700 gathered in front of Evin Prison which forced the prison’s authority to release 29 prisoners. In last few weeks more people including families of ex-political prisoners and families whom their children have been executed previously have joined the protest.
As a result of these continuous demonstrations, the Islamic regime has been forced to release several political prisoners, but these families need help and support to free their children and all other political prisoners, they need an international support, they need your support to echo their voice globally.
Background information
The current protests in front of the notorious Evin prison are the extension of the protests in the streets of many cities in Iran which began in June 2009 and resulted in many men, women, and even
children as young as 12 years old being arrested, imprisoned, tortured and raped. Many of those arrestees are still in prison; some of them have been executed or disappeared and no one knows their whereabouts, even their families. This is not the first time the Islamic regime has fiercely cracked down any sign of opposition to its existence and brutally suppressed the struggle of the people for freedom. The resistance of the Iranian people against the Islamic regime has been ongoing for the past three decades, but this time is different; these demonstrators are defying all levels of authorities within the regime, and even shouting “death to the dictator” meaning the supreme leader which according to the Islamic rules it carry a punishment of death by execution.
Take an action
Send a protest letter to the Islamic Regime of Iran.
You can also send your letter to Iranian embassy in your country.
Please send your letter to: info@leader.ir and dr-ahmadinejad@president.ir
please send a copy for our record to: freepoliticalprisoners@gmail.com
A sample protest letter is provided below:
I/we condemn the Islamic regime’s attack on demonstrators in Iran. I/we demand the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners in Iran and an end to the executions in Iran.
Name/ organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . City/country . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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22 February
We have received reports of prisoners being viciously attached by the Islamic guards in an organised and mass scale. In several occasions the guards have marched to the prison cells and started beating the prisoners brutally until they were unconscious. The most recent case happened on 12 February 2010 when the guards have attacked prisoners in Rajaeeshahr Prison.
Also, Mansour Osanlo, director of the syndicate for municipal bus drivers in Tehran, who has been in Rajaeeshahr prison since 2006 was transferred to a solitary confinement following the 12th February raid. Mansour Osanloo has been removed from solitary confinement a week later and returned to the general section of Rajaeeshahr prison.
Some of the other recent prison raids are as follow:
– 27 January 2010, in few occasions the guards have attacked prisoners in Gohardasht Prison in the city of Karaj
– 21 January 2010, prison raids in Oroomiye Prison
– 15 December 2009, guards have brutally beaten political prisoners in ward number 4 of the Gohardasht prison in Karaj.
In these violent attacks the guards used batons, electric shocker and other torture devices to torment the prisoners.
The brutal treatment of the prisoners must be stopped and the Islamic regime must be put under an international pressure to free all political prisoners immediately, and unconditionally.
Take an action
Send a protest letter to the Islamic Regime of Iran.
You can also send your letter to Iranian embassy in your country.
Please send your letter to: info@leader.ir and dr-ahmadinejad@president.ir
please send a copy for our record to: freepoliticalprisoners@gmail.com
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Date: 05/02/2010
David Miliband MP
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
King Charles Street, London, SW1A 2AH
Re: Help to Stop Executions in Iran!
Dear David Miliband,
According to Amnesty International’s most recent report from 2008, the Islamic Republic of Iran have executed 346 people in 2008.
During the current demonstrations in Iran which began in June 2009, many men, women, and even children as young as 12 years old were arrested, imprisoned, tortured and raped; some of them were executed; many of those are still in prison and facing execution. This is not the first time the Islamic regime has fiercely cracked down any sign of opposition to its existence and brutally suppressed the struggle of the people for freedom.
We have been receiving reports on brutal attacks on protesters, arrests and imprisonment, torture and rape and execution of the detainees. Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI) is campaigning to free these political prisoner, and also to stop medieval treatment of theses innocent people by the Islamic regime, and we need your support more than ever before.
I urge you now to:
• Use your influence to press Islamic regime of Iran to abolish the use of the death penalty
• Encourage all other European countries to pressure Iran to cease all executions
Only by sustained international pressure will Iran stop taking innocent lives in this cavalier, arbitrary and brutal way.
Yours Sincerely
Shiva Mahbobi
Spokesperson – Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI)
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We have received news that on Wednesday 28 January 2010, Bahman Reza Mahabadi Khandan, upon leaving his sister’s house, was arrested by few plain cloth militias, and was taken to an undisclosed detention centre. Also, on Thursday 29 January 2010, secret agents attacked his mother’s house and confiscated his literatures and his personal belongings. Reaz Mahabadi is a children writer and also a member of the Society for a World Children Deserve. The Organisation’s main office has been shut and other members such as Maryam Ziya, Mehdi Amizesh, Bita Samimi, Saeedeh Mirzaee and Saeed Hassanzadeh have been arrested and transferred to the notorious Evin prison.
Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI) is enraged with the latest arrestment and death sentences handed by the Islamic regime. We call upon all human rights organisations and concerned individuals to use all available resources, and to express their opposition and protest against the latest prosecution of demonstrator and political dissidents.
Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI)
30 January 2010
A sample protest letter is provided below:
I/we condemn the Islamic regime’s attack on demonstrators in Iran. I/we demand the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners in Iran and an end to the executions in Iran.
Name/ organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
City/country . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Please send your letter to: info@leader.ir , dr-ahmadinejad@president.ir
please send a copy for our record: freepoliticalprisoners@gmail.com
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19 January 2010
TO ALL FREEDOM-LOVING ORGANIZATIONS and individuals
During recent protests in Iran, hundreds of people have been arrested, imprisoned, and tortured; many more are facing their death sentence and execution, solely for exercising their rights of participating in demonstrations and to raise their voice against the current situation. Children as young as 12 years old were arrested, imprisoned, tortured and raped. This is not the first time the Islamic regime has fiercely cracked down any sign of opposition to its existence and brutally suppressed the struggle of people for freedom. The struggle against the Islamic regime has been ongoing for the past three decades, but this time is different: the demonstrators are defying all levels of authorities within the regime and shouting “death to the dictator”.
More than ever these men and women, boys and girls need support; they need our support, your support. Only the international condemnation of the despicable act of the Islamic Regime of Iran is the answer. Join us in our protest:
• To release all political prisoners unconditionally and immediately!
• To stop execution immediately!
• To shut down Iranian embassy in London!
• To break political ties with the Islamic regime of Iran by the UK government!
Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI)
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7 January 2010
TO ALL FREEDOM-LOVING PEOPLE, TO ALL LABOUR, STUDENT, AND HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS ACROSS THE WORLD
Following the December 2009 demonstrations in Iran in which thousands of people came to the streets in Tehran and other cities, hundreds of men, women and youngsters have been arrested and imprisoned by the authorities.
Following the mass arrests, the Islamic regime announced that the protesters will face harsh punishment and many of the prisoners will be executed. According to the latest news received from Iran, on 31 December around 300 of the prisoners have been transferred to the notorious section 8 of the Gohardasht prison in the city of Karaj. The section 8 is an infamous section of the Gohardasht prison where prisoners are being tormented and tortured to their last breath. The prison guards along with the government agents and secret services have been continuously interrogating and severely torturing the arrested demonstrators; As a result the lives of these prisoners are under a grave danger.
The current demonstrations in Iran are continuation of the protests which began in June 2009 in which many men, women, and even children as young as 12 years old were arrested, imprisoned, tortured and raped; many of those are still in prison. This is not the first time the Islamic regime has fiercely cracked down any sign of opposition to its existence and brutally suppressed the struggle of the people for freedom. The resistance of the Iranian people against the Islamic regime has been ongoing for the past three decades but this time is different: the demonstrators are defying all levels of authorities within the regime and shouting “death to the dictator” meaning the supreme leader. The reports coming from the streets of different cities in Iran are just an overview of what is happening in Iran right now.
These brutal treatments of the imprisoned demonstrator must be stopped, and the Islamic regime must be put under an international pressure to free all those arrested.
We need to protest against the brutal crackdown of the protesters by the Islamic regime of Iran. A strong international solidarity and unity with Iranian demonstrators is the answer.
More than ever those men and women, boys and girls need your support. Please join us by sending a protest letter to pressure the Islamic regime of Iran to stop arresting and torturing the demonstrators and to immediately and unconditionally release all political prisoners in Iran.
Shiva Mahbobi
Spokesperson – Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI)
A sample protest letter is provided below:
I/we condemn the Islamic regime’s attack on demonstrators in Iran. I/we demand immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners in Iran.
Name/ organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
City/country . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Please send your letter to: info@leader.ir , dr-ahmadinejad@president.ir
please send a copy for our record: freepoliticalprisoners@gmail.com
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