|
Human Rights: Release of Kurdish labour
activist Mr. Mahmoud Salehi
10.4.2008
|
|
|
|
April
10, 2008
The Observatory has been informed by the
International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) about
the release on bail of Mr. Mahmoud Salehi,
spokesperson for the Organisation Committee to
Establish Trade Unions and former president of the
Saqez Bakery Workers’ Union, in Iran’s Kurdistan
Province.
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights
Defenders, a joint programme of the World
Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH),
has received new information on the following
situation in Iran and requests your urgent
intervention: |
Mahmoud Salehi |
New information:
According to the information received, on April 6,
2008, Mr. Mahmoud Salehi
was released
from the central prison of Sanandaj in Iranian
Kurdistan, reportedly on a 40 million toman bail.
Mr. Salehi had completed his one-year jail sentence
since March 23, 2008, but the authorities had
refused to release him.
Furthermore, Mr. Salehi had gone on hunger strike
since March 17, 2008, after he was summoned to
appear for questioning by Branch 4 of the Sanandaj
Courts and when new charges were issued against him.
It is believed that the new charges were brought
against him as a reaction to an international Day of
Action that took place on March 6, 2008 in his
favour and in retaliation for solidarity messages
that Mr. Salehi had managed to smuggle out of jail.
The new charges intended apparently to justify Mr.
Salehi’s continued detention beyond March 23, 2008.
The Observatory welcomes the release on bail of Mr.
Mahmoud Salehi, and thanks all the persons,
institutions and organisations who intervened in his
favour.
Background information:
Mr. Mahmoud Salehi had already spent more than five
years in prison since the mid 1980’s due to his
union activities. He was previously detained in
1986, 1995, 1999, 2000 and 2001.
Following his sentencing in 2005, along with Mr.
Jalal Hosseini, a member of the Saqez Bakery
Workers’ Union, Mr. Mohsen Hakimi, a member of the
Iranian Writers’ Association, Mr. Borhan Divangar
and Mr. Mohammad Abdipoor, all members of the Saqez
Bakery Workers’ Union, the authorities began lengthy
and unfair judicial proceedings against them in
2006. After the Appeal Court of the Kurdistan
province annulled the judgements,www.ekurd.net
the Saqez Revolutionary
Court sentenced them again for “meeting and
conspiring against national security” following
their involvement in the organisation of the May 1,
2004 celebration in Saqez. Only Mr. Mohammad
Abdipoor was acquitted.
On March 11, 2007, Messrs. Mahmoud Salehi, Jalal
Hosseini and Mohsen Hakimi faced their final appeal
trial before Division 7 of the Kurdistan Province
Court of Appeals. After some delay, their lawyer was
told that the Presiding Judge of Division 7 was on
leave. One hour later,www.ekurd.net
they were informed that
the hearing was going to take place after all. The
hearing took place at 10:45 a.m., with Judge Sadeghi
in the chair. At the time of the initial arrest of
the Saqez Seven, in May 2004, Mr. Sadeghi was the
prosecutor of the City of Saqez and had therefore
personally signed the arrest warrants against the
trade union leaders. In the second trial, held in
the Saqez Revolutionary Court in October 2006, he
was the Chief of the Justice Department in the city
of Saqez.
While no official verdict was given at the time of
the final trial on March 11, 2007 (neither the
lawyer nor the defendants were notified of the
trial’s outcome), Mr. Salehi was visited on April 9,
2007 by a commanding officer in the Saqez security
force at the Bakery Workers Association’s solidarity
office. The official required that Mr. Salehi appear
at the office of the Prosecutor to discuss issues
related to this year’s May Day celebration with the
Governor and Prosecutor of the City of Saqez.
Once in the Prosecutor’s Office, however, Mr. Salehi
was informed that the Kurdistan Court of Appeals had
reached a final verdict in his case and had
sentenced him to one year imprisonment and a further
suspended sentence of three years. He was arrested
on the spot and denied the right to inform his
lawyer or relatives. Mr. Salehi then protested his
sentence and arrest and refused to sign the verdict.
After the authorities were warned by Mr. Salehi’s
colleagues and relatives that the citizens of Saqez
would be called to protest, he was allowed to talk
on the phone with his family. He was then
transferred to the Central Prison of Sanandaj, the
capital of Kurdistan Province, and 400 kilometres
from Saqez, where his family resides.
On December 11, 2007, Mr. Mahmoud Salehi was
admitted to Tohid Hospital in the city of Sanandaj,
unconscious, after having collapsed repeatedly in
prison between December 4 and 10, 2007. Since, and
despite his critical health condition, Mr. Salehi
was brought back to jail.
Actions requested:
Please write to the authorities in Iran urging them
to:
i. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and
psychological integrity of Mr. Mahmoud Salehi, and
in particular ensure that he be granted all
necessary medical treatment, if necessary in
specialist medical facilities outside the prison
where he is held;
ii. Put an end to all acts of harassment, including
at the judicial level, against Mr. Mahmoud Salehi as
well as against all Iranian human rights defenders;
iii. Conform with the provisions of the UN
Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by
the General Assembly of the United Nations on
December 9, 1998, especially its Article 1, which
states that “everyone has the right, individually
and in association with others, to promote and to
strive for the protection and realisation of human
rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and
international levels”, and Article 12.2, which
provides that “the State shall take all necessary
measures to ensure the protection by the competent
authorities of everyone, individually and in
association with others, against any violence,
threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse
discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary
action as a consequence of his or her legitimate
exercise of the rights referred to in the present
Declaration”;
iv. More generally, ensure in all circumstances the
respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in
accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights and with international and regional human
rights instruments ratified by Iran.
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, Email: Irjpr@iranjudiciary.com
* 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,
Chemin du Petit-Saconnex 28, 1209 Geneva,
Switzerland, Fax: +41 22 7330203, Email:
mission.iran@ties.itu.int
* Ambassador Mr. Ahani, Embassy of Iran in Brussels,
avenue Franklin Roosevelt, 15 A. 1050 Bruxelles,
Belgium, Fax: + 32 2 762 39 15. Email: iran-embassy@yahoo.com.
Please also write to the diplomatic mission or
embassy of Iran in your respective country.
***
Geneva - Paris, April 8, 2008
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting
the code of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory, a 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. The Observatory was the winner
of the 1998 Human Rights Prize of the French
Republic.
To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:
E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org
Tel and fax FIDH + 33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 / +33 1 43
55 18 80 Tel and fax OMCT + 41 (0) 22 809 49 39 / +
41 22 809 49 29
FIDH’ s mandate is to contribute to the respect
of all the rights defined in the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights.
Copyright, respective author or news agency,
FUDH, 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
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 