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FIDH urges the Iranian authorities to
investigate the suspicious death of Kurdish student
22.1.2008
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Suspicious death in prison
January 22, 2008
The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
and the Iranian League for the Defence of Human
Rights (LDDHI) urge the Iranian authorities to
investigate the death in prison of Mr. Ebrahim
Lotfollahi. FIDH and LDDHI furthermore express their
deep concern over the increasingly frequent arrests
of student activists and women’s rights defenders
over the past months.
Mr. Ebrahim Lotfollahi, a Kurdish law student,
died in the prison
of Sanandaj, in Iran’s Kurdish northwestern region
(Iranian Kurdistan), on January 15th, 2008. Mr Lotfollahi
was arrested, for unknown reasons, on January 6th,
2008. |
Ebrahim Lotfollahi, Iranian Kurdish student died in
prison in Iranian Kurdistan. |
According to the Iranian authorities,www.ekurd.net
Mr. Lotfollahi committed
suicide,
however, his family, who had visited him a few days
prior to his death, claims that he was then in good
spirits. Mr. Lotfollahi was burried without the
autorisation from his family who had requested in
vain for
an autopsy to
be conducted.
FIDH and LDDHI recall another case of suspicious
death in prison: Ms. Zahra Bani-Ameri, a physician,
died in prison in the city of Hamedan, on October
13th, 2007 in what was also claimed to be a suicide.
Her brother nevertheless claimed that she had seemed
to be fine when they spoke on the phone just 30
minutes before her death. Ms. Bani-Ameri was
arrested, with her fiancé, on October 12th, 2007,
for having an « illegal relationship ». According to
Iranian law, immoral relationships between men and
women who are not married may be subject to criminal
punishment.
At present there are over 50 students held in
detention in Iran. Mr. Majid Tavakoli, Mr. Ahmed
Ghassaban and Mr. Ehsan Mansouri, three student
activists accused of defaming Islam in a student
newsletter, are in detention since May 2007. Mr.
Yasser Goli,www.ekurd.net
a member of the «
Kurdish democratic student association », is in
detention, for unknown reasons, since the beginning
of October 2007.
Ms. Ronak Safarzadeh and Ms. Hanna Abdi, two women’s
rights activists, members of the « Azarmehr
Association of Women of Kurdistan », and active
within the « One Million Signatures Campaign » are
in detention since September and October, 2007. The
mother of Mr. Yasser Goli, Mrs. Fatemeh Goftaria,
also a member of the « AzarMehr», has been recently
arrested. The « AzarMehr » association is under
strict police surveillance.
FIDH and LDDHI strongly urge the Iranian authorities
to put an immediate end to the current harsh
repression against civil society, and especially the
student and the women’s right movement, in
conformity with the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights (ICCPR). FIDH and LDDHI further
request that the alleged suicides of Mr. Lotfollahi
and Ms. Bani-Ameri be thoroughly investigated.
Press contact : Karine Appy + 33 1 43 55 14 12 / +
33 1 43 55 25 18
fidh org
Iranian Kurdistan
**
Iranian Kurdistan (Kurdish: Kurdistana Îranê or
Kurdistana Rojhilat (Eastern Kurdistan) or Rojhilatê
Kurdistan (East of Kurdistan)) is an unofficial name
for the parts of Iran inhabited by Kurds and has
borders with Iraq and Turkey. It includes the
greater parts of West Azerbaijan province, Kurdistan
Province, Kermanshah Province, and Ilam Province.
Kurds form the majority of the population of this
region with an estimated population of 4 million.
The region is the eastern part of the greater
cultural-geographical area called Kurdistan.
More about Iranian Kurdistan
KDPI
The Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran in Kurdish
(Hîzbî Dêmokiratî Kurdistanî Êran) is a Kurdish
opposition group in Iranian Kurdistan which seeks
the attainment of Kurdish national rights within a
democratic federal republic of Iran.
The current
General Secretary of the Democratic Party of Iranian
Kurdistan is Mustafa Hijri
More about KDPI- Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran
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