Iran
09.08.02
Urgent Interventions
Iran: Arbitrary arrest and detention of a Human rights defender
URGENT APPEAL - THE OBSERVATORY
New Information
IRN 004/0012/OBS 125.5
Arbitrary arrest and detention
Iran
9 August 2002
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the FIDH and the OMCT, requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Iran.
New information :
The Observatory has been informed by the League for the Defence of Human Rights in Iran (LDDHI) that Mr. Nasser Zarafchan was arrested on August 7th 2002 and is now being detained in Evin prison.
Mr Zarafchan, a human rights defender and the lawyer of Mrs. Sima Pouhandeh, the widow of Mohammed Djafar Pouhandeh (a writer, who was kidnapped and murdered in December 1998 by Iranian secret services agents) had been sentenced to 5 years imprisonment and sentenced to 50 lashes on July 15th, 2002, by the Military Court of Tehran. He had appealed this decision before the Supreme Court. However, despite his appeal, he was at risk of being detained at any time, since an appeal before the Supreme Court is not suspensive. His lawyer asked that Mr Zarafchan’s sentence be suspended due to his poor health and due to the fact that the Military Court’s decision was not definitive.
The Observatory is gravely concerned about the arrest and imprisonment of Mr Zarafchan given his very bad health conditions. Last year, he was sent to hospital where he had an operation for cancerous growths.
The Observatory considers these measures against Mr. Zarafchan as being arbitrary, since they only aim at depriving him of his right to practice his legal profession.
Background information :
On July 15th, 2002, the Military Court of Tehran confirmed the sentence of the Military Tribunal of Tehran, which had sentenced Mr. Nasser Zarafchan on March 18th, 2002, to three years imprisonment for "possession of firearms and alcohol". Mr. Zarafchan had also been sentenced to two years imprisonment for opinions that he had expressed during interviews with the press, concerning the trial dealing with the assassinations of Iranian intellectuals, which came to a conclusion in January 2001. He had appealed against the decision of the Tribunal.
Mr. Zarafchan's trial began on November 3rd, 2001, before the Military Tribunal of Tehran. He had been first arrested on December 9th, 2000, and released on bail two weeks later. During his trial which lasted until March 18th, 2002, Mr. Zarafchan had been arrested before being released two days later.
Action requested :
Please write to the authorities of Iran urging them to :
i. Proceed to Mr. Zarafchan immediate release in the absence of any charges against him, and to guarantee his physical and psychological integrity in all circumstances,
ii. To guarantee that he be allowed access to adequate medical assistance during detention,
iii. Put an immediate end to the persecution and the harassment of the Iranian independent human rights defenders and allow them to act freely,
iv. Conform with the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 9 December 1998, in particular its article 1 which states that "everyone has the right, individually and in association with other, to promote and to strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels";
v. Conform with the disposals of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and of human rights regional and international instruments which bound the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Addresses :
- His Excellency Hojjatoleslam val Moslemin Sayed Mohammad Khatami, President of the Islamic Republic, The Presidency, Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection, Tehran (Iran); E-mail: khatami@president.ir
- His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahrudi, Head of the Judiciary, Ministry of Justice, Park-e Shahr, Tehran (Iran); Fax: + 98 21 879 6671
- The Iranian Embassy of your country.
Paris, Geneva, 9 August 2002
*************
The Observatory, a joint FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need.
To contact the Observatory, call the Emergency Line:
E-mail: observatoire@iprolink.ch
Tel and fax FIDH +33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 / 01 43 55 18 80
Tel and fax OMCT + 4122 809 49 39 / 41 22 809 49 29
New Information
IRN 004/0012/OBS 125.5
Arbitrary arrest and detention
Iran
9 August 2002
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the FIDH and the OMCT, requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Iran.
New information :
The Observatory has been informed by the League for the Defence of Human Rights in Iran (LDDHI) that Mr. Nasser Zarafchan was arrested on August 7th 2002 and is now being detained in Evin prison.
Mr Zarafchan, a human rights defender and the lawyer of Mrs. Sima Pouhandeh, the widow of Mohammed Djafar Pouhandeh (a writer, who was kidnapped and murdered in December 1998 by Iranian secret services agents) had been sentenced to 5 years imprisonment and sentenced to 50 lashes on July 15th, 2002, by the Military Court of Tehran. He had appealed this decision before the Supreme Court. However, despite his appeal, he was at risk of being detained at any time, since an appeal before the Supreme Court is not suspensive. His lawyer asked that Mr Zarafchan’s sentence be suspended due to his poor health and due to the fact that the Military Court’s decision was not definitive.
The Observatory is gravely concerned about the arrest and imprisonment of Mr Zarafchan given his very bad health conditions. Last year, he was sent to hospital where he had an operation for cancerous growths.
The Observatory considers these measures against Mr. Zarafchan as being arbitrary, since they only aim at depriving him of his right to practice his legal profession.
Background information :
On July 15th, 2002, the Military Court of Tehran confirmed the sentence of the Military Tribunal of Tehran, which had sentenced Mr. Nasser Zarafchan on March 18th, 2002, to three years imprisonment for "possession of firearms and alcohol". Mr. Zarafchan had also been sentenced to two years imprisonment for opinions that he had expressed during interviews with the press, concerning the trial dealing with the assassinations of Iranian intellectuals, which came to a conclusion in January 2001. He had appealed against the decision of the Tribunal.
Mr. Zarafchan's trial began on November 3rd, 2001, before the Military Tribunal of Tehran. He had been first arrested on December 9th, 2000, and released on bail two weeks later. During his trial which lasted until March 18th, 2002, Mr. Zarafchan had been arrested before being released two days later.
Action requested :
Please write to the authorities of Iran urging them to :
i. Proceed to Mr. Zarafchan immediate release in the absence of any charges against him, and to guarantee his physical and psychological integrity in all circumstances,
ii. To guarantee that he be allowed access to adequate medical assistance during detention,
iii. Put an immediate end to the persecution and the harassment of the Iranian independent human rights defenders and allow them to act freely,
iv. Conform with the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 9 December 1998, in particular its article 1 which states that "everyone has the right, individually and in association with other, to promote and to strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels";
v. Conform with the disposals of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and of human rights regional and international instruments which bound the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Addresses :
- His Excellency Hojjatoleslam val Moslemin Sayed Mohammad Khatami, President of the Islamic Republic, The Presidency, Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection, Tehran (Iran); E-mail: khatami@president.ir
- His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahrudi, Head of the Judiciary, Ministry of Justice, Park-e Shahr, Tehran (Iran); Fax: + 98 21 879 6671
- The Iranian Embassy of your country.
Paris, Geneva, 9 August 2002
*************
The Observatory, a joint FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need.
To contact the Observatory, call the Emergency Line:
E-mail: observatoire@iprolink.ch
Tel and fax FIDH +33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 / 01 43 55 18 80
Tel and fax OMCT + 4122 809 49 39 / 41 22 809 49 29