Incommunicado detention of and judicial proceedings against several Iranian-American citizens

The International Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Iran.

Brief description of the situation:

The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by a reliable source about the arbitrary arrest and detention of several Iranian-American academics.

According to the information received, on 8th May 2007, Ms. Haleh Esfiandiari, director of the Middle East programme at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington DC, was arrested in Tehran after being summoned for questioning by Ministry of Intelligence officials and taken to section 209 of Evin prison, where she was allowed one call to inform her relatives that she had been jailed. Ms. Esfandiari is also a well-known advocate of dialogue between the US and Iranian governments.

Ms. Esfandiari, a 67-year-old scholar with both American and Iranian citizenship, had been in Iran visiting her 93-year-old mother when she was prevented from leaving on 30th December 2006 and her passport was taken. She was interrogated repeatedly before her arrest.

On 12th May 2007, the newspaper Kayhan accused her of spying for the US and Israel and of trying to incite a democratic revolution in the country.

On 15th May 2007, the authorities would have charged her with “acting against national security”.

On 29th May 2007, Mr. Ali Reza Jamshidi, Iran’s judiciary spokesman, said that Ms. Haleh Esfandiari was “formally charged” with “endangering national security” through propaganda against the system and “espionage for foreigners”. Under Iran’s Islamic sharia law, the charge could carry the death sentence.

Mr. Jamshidi further stated that the same charges had also been lodged against two other Iranian-Americans, Mr. Kian Tajbakhsh, an urban planning consultant, and journalist Ms. Parnaz Azima.

No trial date was announced and Mr. Jamshidi said the Intelligence Ministry was still investigating their cases.

Mr. Kian Tajbakhsh, an Iranian-American social scientist as well as a consultant working for the New York-based Open Society Institute, was arrested at his home in Tehran by agents of the Ministry of Information and brought to section 209 of Evin prison around 11th May 2007. He would be detained in incommunicado detention, without having access to legal counsel. According to the Institute, Mr. Tajbakhsh had been helping “to facilitate public health, humanitarian assistance and urban planning projects that [they] undertook openly and with the knowledge of the Iranian government”.

Ms. Parnaz Azima, a reporter for the U.S.-funded Radio Farda, the Persian-language service run jointly by Radio Free Europe /Radio Liberty and Voice of America, has been prohibited from leaving Iran since her passport was seized in January 2007. She would have been interrogated several times since them.

Finally, another dual citizen, Mr. Ali Shakeri, is also believed to have been banned from leaving Iran. No further information could be obtained on his situation as of the time of issuing this appeal.

The International Secretariat of OMCT expresses its deep concern about this arbitrary detentions and obstacles to freedom of movement, and calls upon the Iranian authorities to guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Mrs. Haleh Esfiandiari, Mr. Kian Tajbakhsh, Mr. Ali Shakeri and Ms. Parnaz Azima.

Moreover, OMCT recalls that authorities in Iran have to conform in all circumstances with article 9.1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Iran is a State party, which states that “Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention. No one shall be deprived of his liberty except on such grounds and in accordance with such procedure as are established by law”, as well as with the standard minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners.

Actions requested:

Please write to the authorities in Iran urging them to:

1. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Mrs. Haleh Esfiandiari, Mr. Kian Tajbakhsh, Mr. Ali Shakeri and Ms. Parnaz Azima;
2. Order their immediate release in the absence of valid charges, or, if such charges exist, bring them before an impartial, independent, competent and fair tribunal and guarantee their procedural rights at all times;
3. Order a thorough and impartial investigation into these events, in order to identify all those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the civil penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
4. Ensure the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international humanitarian law and human rights standards.

Addresses:

• Leader of the Islamic Republic, His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei, The Office of the Supreme Leader, Shoahada Street, Qom, Islamic Republic of Iran, Faxes: + 98.21.649.5880 / 21.774.2228, Email: info@leader.ir / istiftaa@wilayah.org / webmaster@wilayah.org
• President, His Excellency Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Presidency, Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, Fax: + 98.21.649.5880, E-mail: dr-ahmadinejad@president.ir
• Head of the Judiciary, His Excellency Mr. Mahmoud Hashemi Shahrudi, Ministry of Justice, Park-e Shahr, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, Fax: +98.21.879.6671 / +98 21 3 311 6567 / + 98 21 3390 4986, Email: Irjpr@iranjudiciary.com / info@dadgostary-tehran.ir
• Minister of Intelligence, Mr. Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie, Ministry of Intelligence, Second Negarestan Street, Pasdaran Avenue, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
• Minister of Foreign Affairs, His Excellency Mr. Manuchehr Motaki, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Abdolmajid Keshk-e Mesri Av, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, Fax: + 98.21.390.1999, Email: matbuat@mfa.gov
• Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 28 Chemin du Petit-Saconnex, 1209 Geneva, Switzerland, Fax: +41 22 733 02 03, Email: mission.iran@ties.itu.int
• Ambassador Mr. Ahani, Embassy of Iran in Brussels, 15a avenue Franklin Roosevelt, 1050 Brussels, Belgium, Fax: + 32 2 762 39 15. Email: iran-embassy@yahoo.com / secretariat@iranembassy.be

Please also write to the embassies of Iran in your respective country.

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Geneva, 29th May 2007

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.