MDE 13/037/2006
UA 80/06
Incommunicado detention/fear of torture and ill-treatment
IRAN : Azad Rasouli (m)
Abu Bakr Bapiri (m)
Khezer Sa’idnezhad (m)
Mohammad Saleh Kukhashireh (m)
Khaled Shirzad (m)
Abu Bakr Tikan Tapeh (m)
Avat Qorayshi (m)
Mohammad Amin Salimian (m)
Sa’adollah Soltanian (m)
Khezer Mouloudi (m)
Rezgar Salimian (m)
Dara Qorayshi (m)
Ribvar Salimian (m)
Kamel Salimian (m)
Up to 80 others
07 April 2006
The 14 men named above, and up to 80 other members of Iran’s ethnic Kurdish minority, were reportedly arrested on 19 and 20 March at their homes in the city of Bukan, west Azerbaijan Province. They are believed to be held incommunicado, and are at risk of torture or ill-treatment.
The security forces reportedly searched their houses and confiscated documents and personal computers. Their families have not been yet been told where they are or what they have been charged with, and they have tried to find them without success.
The men are reportedly former members of Kurdish opposition parties, and had been arrested a few years ago. They were released, and the government granted them immunity (aman nameh), but they have since reportedly been kept under supervision by the Ministry of Intelligence.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Kurds are believed to make up between 7 and 10% of the population of Iran. They live mainly in the north-eastern provinces neighbouring Iraq and Turkey, where the main economic activity is farming. For many years, Kurdish organizations such as the Kurdistan People’s Democratic Party (KDPI) and Komala engaged in armed resistance to the government, but more recently they have abandoned armed struggle for independence in favour of pursuing regional autonomy within a federal system of government, by peaceful means.
In June 2005, Iranian Kurds celebrating the election of Massoud Barzani as the first president of neighbouring Iraqi Kurdistan clashed with the security forces : police officers were injured and dozens of Kurds were arrested. In July, after the security forces shot dead Kurdish opposition activist Shivan Qaderi, and reportedly dragged his body through the streets behind a jeep, thousands of Kurds took to the streets to protest. Security forces reportedly killed up to 21 people, injured scores more and arrested at least 190.
RECOMMENDED ACTION : Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in English, Arabic, Persian or your own language :
expressing concern for the safety of the 14 men named above, and dozens of others, reportedly arrested on 19 and 20 March and now believed to be held incommunicado ;
seeking assurances that they are not being tortured or ill-treated ;
calling on the authorities to release them immediately, unless they are to be promptly charged with a recognizably criminal offence ;
calling for them to be given immediate access to lawyers, their families, interpreters and any medical treatment they may need.
APPEALS TO :
Leader of the Islamic Republic
His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed ’Ali Khamenei, The Office of the Supreme Leader
Shoahada Street, Qom, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax : + 98 251 774 2228 (mark « FAO the Office of His Excellency, Ayatollah al Udhma Khamenei »)
Email : info leader.ir
istiftaa wilayah.org
Salutation : Your Excellency
Head of the Judiciary
His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Ministry of Justice, Park-e Shahr, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email : irjpr iranjudiciary.org (mark « Please forward to His Excellency Ayatollah Shahroudi »)
via the judiciary website : www.iranjudiciary.org/feedba...
Salutation : Your Excellency
COPIES TO :
President
His Excellency Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
The Presidency, Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection, Tehran,
Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax : + 98 21 6 649 5880
Email : dr-ahmadinejad president.ir
via website : www.president.ir/email
Minister of the Interior
Hojjatoleslam Mustafa Purmohammadi
Ministry of the Interior, Dr Fatemi Avenue, Tehran,
Islamic Republic of Iran
Email : ravabetomomi moi.gov.ir
Fax : + 98 21 8 896 203
+ 98 21 8 899 547
+ 98 21 6 650 203
Ambassade de la République islamique d’Iran
Avenue de Tervuren 415
1150 Bruxelles
Fax : 02.762.39.15
Email : iran-embassy yahoo.com
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 19 May 2006.
