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Iran: Kurdish Human Rights Defenders and
Journalists
20.7.2006
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Kurdish Human Rights
Defenders and Journalists. Sa’id Sa’edi and Ajlal
Qavami
July 2006 AI INDEX: MDE 13/080/2006
Iranian Kurdish journalists and human rights
defenders (HRDs) Sa’id Sa’edi and Ajlal Qavami will
appear before a court in Sanandaj, north-west Iran
on 17 July 2006. They are accused of acting against
national security and crossing the border illegally.
If convicted, they face between two to five years’
imprisonment. If imprisoned, Amnesty International
believes both men would be prisoners of conscience,
imprisoned solely for peacefully exercising their
rights to freedom of expression, assembly and
movement. Another Kurdish HRD, Roya Toloui, is also
facing trial in the same case, although she has left
the country and been granted asylum in the USA.
Roya Toloui was arrested on 1 August 2005. Sa’id
Sa’edi and Ajlal Qavami were arrested on 2 August
2005, following their participation in organizing a
demonstration against the killing of a Kurdish man,
Showan Qaderi in July 2005 which was followed by
violent unrest in Iranian Kurdistan. Their cases
went before Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Court in
Sanandaj and on 5 October 2005 they were released on
bail of 100 million Toumans (around US$114,000). The
original charge sheet carried further charges,
including that of being "mohareb" (at enmity with
God) which can carry the death penalty. However,
this was not included on the bail release warrant,
and following a legal challenge by lawyers in the
case, this and other charges were dropped and the
two charges referred to above remain.
Sa’id Sa’edi
Sa’id Sa’edi is a freelance journalist who worked
briefly on the editorial team of the Kurdish/Persian
paper, Asou, before resigning, along with 11 others.
Asou was reportedly closed down by the Ministry of
Culture and Islamic Guidance on 3 August 2005
following the unrest. Following his resignation, he
helped to establish a non-governmental organization
(NGO), the East Kurdistan Cultural Research
Institute (EKCRI) (or the Xorkhelat Institute), for
which their application for an official permit was
turned down by the police.
Following the killing of Showan Qaderi, the EKCRI
called for a peaceful demonstration which took place
on 30 July 2005, demanding an investigation into his
death, and the release of political prisoners. At
the end of the demonstration, Sa’id Sa’edi, Roya
Toloui, Azad Zamani, a member of the Association for
the Defence of Children's Rights (ADCR, or Kanoun-e
Defa’ az Hoqouq-e Koudekan), and two others were
allowed to meet the Regional Governor.
Following this, Kurdish opposition groups called for
another demonstration to be held on 1 August 2005 in
towns and cities in Iranian Kurdistan. EKCRI agreed
to participate in such a demonstration in Sanandaj
on the condition that it was peaceful. However, the
demonstrators were reportedly attacked by security
forces and the protest turned violent.
Sa’id Sa’edi did not participate in this last
demonstration as he was at the time appearing in a
court in Marivan, accused of illegally crossing the
border into Iraq. Nevertheless, the authorities
later accused him of going to Marivan in order to
organize the demonstration there.
On 2 August 2005, Ministry of Intelligence officials
came to his home. He was not there at the time, but
when he telephoned home and was told they had come,
he returned and was arrested on the spot. He was
held for eight days in the Ministry of Intelligence
detention facility in Sanandaj and was beaten during
his first day in detention. He was then transferred
to Sanandaj Central Prison where, after two weeks of
incommunicado detention, he was allowed visits from
his family and lawyer. Following his release from
detention, he travelled to the UK to attend a
Chevening Fellowship course on 'Government and
Non-Governmental Organisation relations', following
which he received death threats from an organization
calling itself Ommat-e Hezbollah-e Kurdistan
(Sanandaj Branch), which accused him of being a
British spy. These threats were included in a
statement by Ommat-e Hezbollah on 14 January 2006
which can be read (in Persian) at http://azad.gooya.name/politics/archives/042527.php
Ajlal Qavami
Ajlal Qavami is a journalist who began work in about
2000 with the daily newspaper, Iran, which he was
forced to leave following pressure and threats by
the Ministry of Intelligence. He then became a
member of the editorial board of the journal Payam-e
Mardom-e Kurdestan (People’s Message). After only 12
issues had been published, a court in Sanandaj
summoned the paper’s editor and some of its
journalists, including Ajlal Qavami, who was charged
with supporting dissident groups by writing
articles, and insulting the system’s leadership.
Ajlal Qavami was released on bail of 2 million
toumans (approx US$2,170). Payam-e mardom-e
Kurdestan was later closed down. Ajlal Qavami then
helped to establish the Kurdistan Human Rights
Organization of which he is currently a member of
the central council.
On 2 August 2005 Ajlal Qavami was arrested at his
workplace after members of the security forces
initially raided his house. In protest at his
detention, his prison conditions and his
deteriorating health condition, he reportedly
started a hunger strike, which lasted 22 days
including at the Sanandaj Central Prison where he
was transferred after his initial detention in the
Ministry of Intelligence detention facility in
Sanandaj. He has said that during his detention he
was tortured, including by being threatened by
prison officials with death at the hands of other
prisoners, and with rape by prisoners infected with
AIDS.
He too was mentioned in the Ommat-e Hezbollah
statement which accused him of acting in the
interests of the USA and he has received threatening
phone calls from individuals claiming to be from the
same group. Ajlal Qavami continues to suffer health
problems relating to his detention, including
problems with his eyes, which he says became
infected as a result of the unsanitary conditions in
Sanandaj Prison.
Roya Toloui
Roya Toloui, a pathologist and founding member of
the Association of Kurdish Women for the Defence of
Peace and Human Rights and editor of the monthly
cultural magazine Rassan, was arrested on 1 August
2005 and spent 66 days in detention before being
released on bail. She then fled Iran and was granted
asylum by UNHCR in Turkey before being resettled in
the USA. She has described her torture in detention
on several occasions. For example, in an interview
with Radio Farda on 27 January 2006 she said,
"During the night of 6 August, [an official]
personally tortured me in the most brutal ways and
subjected me to such behaviours that cannot be
expressed," she said. "They were forcing me to
confess. I wrote that I will speak only in the
presence of my lawyer and they laughed at me. I
wrote that this is against human rights and that I
had the right to see my lawyer. They lost their
patience and they ordered that my children should be
brought in and they threatened me and said that they
will burn my children alive in front of my eyes."
She added, "It’s very difficult for me to talk about
[what I went through]…I'm partly worried that women
who are actively involved in the women's movement
would fear that they could face torture in case of
arrest. But my message to all Iranian women who
fight for their rights is that their struggle should
[continue] with courage". More details of her
testimony about her detention can be read (in
English) at:http://www.abfiran.org/english/document-243-499.php
and http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/05/28/wislam28.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/05/28/ixnews.html
Travel bans
Both Sa’id Sa’edi and Ajlal Qavami have received
travel bans and are believed to have had their
passports confiscated, leaving them unable to leave
the country. In Sa’id Sa’edi’s case this came into
effect after his return from the UK.
Charges
Amnesty International believes that Ajlal Qavami and
Sa’id Sa’edi were detained solely on account of
their participation in the organization of
demonstrations which they believed should have
remained peaceful in July and August 2005. Amnesty
International recognizes that they have also been
charged with crossing the border illegally, but
notes that Article 12 of the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights (to which Iran is a
state party) expressly recognizes the right to
freely leave one’s own country and that crossing the
border legally between Iran and Iraqi Kurdistan can
be made difficult by Iranian officials. In this
context, Amnesty International believes the main
reason for their detention was their participation
in the organization of the demonstrations.
Amnesty International believes that if Ajlal Qavami
and Sa’id Sa’edi are convicted and imprisoned, they
would be prisoners of conscience and would therefore
call for their immediate and unconditional release.
Background
The Kurds are one of Iran’s many ethnic groups. They
live mainly in the province of Kurdistan and
neighbouring provinces bordering Kurdish areas of
Turkey and Iraq.
Violent unrest in the Kurdish areas of Iran broke
out in July 2005 and continued for several weeks,
after Iranian security forces shot dead a Kurdish
opposition activist, Showan Qaderi, and reportedly
dragged his body through the streets behind a jeep.
Thousands of Kurds took to the streets to protest.
Security forces reportedly used light and heavy
weaponry in response to the demonstrations which in
at least some places included attacks by
demonstrators on government buildings and offices.
Up to 20 people were reportedly killed and hundreds
more injured. The authorities acknowledged that five
people were killed, and stated that their deaths
were under investigation. At least 190 were
arrested, according to official reports, although
the true figure may well be higher.
RECOMMENDED ACTION
Please send faxes/ e-mail letters in Persian,
Arabic, English or French:
- urging the Iranian authorities to immediately drop
any charges relating to Sa’id Sa’edi’s and Ajlal
Qavami’s organization of the July and August 2005
demonstrations and to illegal border crossing;
- stating that Sa’id Sa’edi and Ajlal Qavami are
facing trial on 17 July, and that if convicted and
imprisoned, you would consider them to be prisoners
of conscience, detained solely on account of their
peaceful political activities;
- reminding the Iranian authorities that Article 12
of the ICCPR expressly recognizes the right to leave
one’s own country and urging them to remove the
travel bans against Sa’id Sa’edi and Ajlal Qavami
and to return their passports to them;
- urging the Iranian authorities to conduct a
prompt, thorough and impartial investigation into
the alleged beating of Sa’id Sa’edi and the torture
of Ajlal Qavami and Roya Toloui. Anyone found
responsible for abuses should be brought to justice
promptly and fairly and the authorities should
publicly condemn any instances of torture and
ill-treatment by security and prison officials. If
any violations are found to have occurred, the
victims should be granted an effective remedy and
appropriate compensation.
http://www.amnesty.org
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