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Amnesty: Iran urged to free Kurdish
prisoner of conscience on hunger strike
12.7.2012
Amnesty International via Ekurd.net |
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Jailed Iranian Kurdish human rights activist
Mohammad Sadiq Kaboudvand,
currently in Iranian prison serving an 11-year
sentence. Kabudvand is being held in Tehran’s Evin
Prison. Photo: Ehsan Iran/Amnesty/Ekurd.net •
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July
12, 2012
LONDON,— The Iranian authorities must
release a journalist and prisoner of conscience who
has been on hunger strike since 26 May in protest at
being denied permission to visit his sick son,
Amnesty International said.
Mohammad Sadiq Kaboudvand, a former newspaper editor
and founder of the Human Rights Organization of
Kurdistan, is nearly half-way through a
10-and-a-half-year prison sentence after having been
convicted of charges relating to his journalism and
human rights work.
He is being held in Tehran’s Evin Prison.
"It appears that the authorities are denying
Mohammad Sadiq Kaboudvand the possibility to visit
his ailing son in an attempt to pressure him into
stopping his ongoing activism from inside prison by
way of open letters to officials," said Hassiba Hadj
Sahraoui, Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s
Middle East and North Africa Programme.
"Mohammad Sadiq Kaboudvand should not be in prison
in the first place, as he is being held solely for
the peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of
expression and because of his journalist and human
rights work. He should be released immediately and
unconditionally."
“Further tormenting a father by denying him the
right to visit his ailing son is another testament
of the cruelty of the Iranian authorities”.
Mohammad Sadiq Kaboudvand’s son Pejman has been ill
since January 2012 with an undiagnosed condition. He
has been allowed only one two-and-a-half hour
hospital visit with his son in February 2012.
Prison leave in Iran for family visits of this kind
is permitted under the Prison Regulations, and is
usually granted.
In an open letter from 27 May 2012, Mohammad Sadiq
Kaboudvand wrote:
“The Prosecutor and the security apparatuses
continue to deny [prison] leave because of their
enmity, grudge and malice towards me as a human
rights activist; this despite my having served half
of my illegal and unjust prison sentence and my
son’s incurable diseases and acute emergency
situation... Therefore, to protest the illegal and
inhumane behaviour of these judicial and security
officials, I launch an indefinite hunger strike as
of 9 PM, Saturday 26 May 2012”.
Mohammad Sadiq Kaboudvand’s health has also
deteriorated as a result of his prolonged hunger
strike. The official medical personnel and doctors
have recommended he be transferred to a hospital for
appropriate care.
Mohammad Sadiq Kaboudvand refused to be transferred
as he was to be handcuffed, and he was concerned
that he would be forcibly fed, including
intravenously, in hospital.
He is now receiving daily injections from the prison
doctors to support his weakened kidneys.
As well as his work with the Human Rights
Organization of Kurdistan (HROK), Mohammad Sadiq
Kaboudvand was editor of weekly newspaper Payam-e
Mardom-e Kordestan, which carried articles promoting
the cultural, social and political rights of Iran's
Kurdish minority.
Payam-e Mardom-e Kordestan was issued with a
three-year ban by Iran’s judiciary on 27 June 2004
for “disseminating separatist ideas and publishing
false reports”. On appeal to the Supreme Court, this
ban was lifted, though the newspaper has not
re-opened since.
In July 2009, Mohammad Sadiq Kaboudvand appeared
before Branch One of the Revolutionary Court in
Mahabad,www.ekurd.net
north-east Iran, on the charge of “propaganda
against the system” for the publication and
distribution of pamphlets about Kurdish women.
Mohammad Sadiq Kaboudvand reportedly told the court
that “the materials printed in the pamphlet referred
to in the indictment have no resemblance to the
literature published by HROK. The materials brought
out by HROK have the logo and the address of the
organization and we can only be responsible for the
materials published on the website of the
organization.”
No verdict is known to have been issued in this
trial.
URGENT ACTION
JAILED JOURNALIST ON HUNGER
STRIKE
Journalist Mohammad Sadiq Kabudvand has been on
hunger strike since 26 May 2012 in Tehran’s Evin
Prison in protest at the Iranian authorities denial
of his repeated requests to visit his gravely-ill
son. Mohammad Saqid Kabudvand is a prison of
conscience.
Mohammad Sadiq Kabudvand’s son Pejman has been ill
since January 2012 with an undiagnosed condition
that is apparently affecting his kidneys and
blocking veins in his legs. Since learning of his
son’s illness, Mohammad Sadiq Kabudvand has been
allowed to visit him in hospital only once, for
two-and-a-half hours, in February 2012.. Prison
leave for family visits of this kind is permitted
under Iran's Prison Regulations, and is usually
granted. Mohammad Sadiq Kabudvand may have been
denied such permission to visit his son to pressure
him to stop the activism he has continued from
inside prison through open letters to officials.
Mohammad Sadiq Kabudvand’s own health has
deteriorated as a result of his hunger strike. The
prison medical official and doctors have recommended
he be transferred to a hospital for appropriate
care. Mohammad Sadiq Kabudvand refused to be
transferred, as he was to be handcuffed, and was
concerned that he would be forcibly fed,
intravenously or otherwise, in hospital. He is now
receiving daily injections from the prison doctors
that are supposed to support his weakened kidneys.
Mohammad Saqid Kabudvand, who founded the NGO Human
Rights Organization of Kurdistan, was arrested on 1
July 2007 and is serving a 10-and-a-half year prison
sentence arising from his journalism and human
rights work.
Please write immediately in Persian, Arabic, English
or your own language:
* Calling on the Iranian authorities to release
Mohammad Sadiq Kabudvand immediately and
unconditionally, as he is a prisoner of conscience,
held solely for the peaceful exercise of his rights
to freedom of expression and association in his
journalism and human rights work;
* Calling on them to ensure that Mohammad Sadiq
Kabudvand receives any medical attention he may
require, including treatment at a medical facility
outside the prison, as recommended by the doctors of
Evin Prison;
* Calling on them to allow him prison leave to visit
his ailing son as stipulated in the Prison
Regulations..
PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE
22 AUGUST 2012 TO:
Leader of the Islamic Republic
Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Islamic Republic Street – End of Shahid
Keshvar Doust Street,
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: info_leader@leader.ir
Twitter: @khamenei_ir #Iran must release #Kabudvand
now
Salutation: Your Excellency
Head of the Judiciary
Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani
[Care of] Public Relations Office
Number 4, 2 Azizi Street intersection
Tehran,
Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: bia.judi@yahoo.com (Subject
Line: FAO Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani)
Salutation: Your Excellency
And copies to:
Secretary General High Council for Human Rights
Mohammed Javad Larijani
c/o Office of the Head of the Judicary
Pasteur St, Vali Asr Ave
South of Serah-e Jomhouri
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: info@humanrights-iran.ir
(Subject line: FAO Mohammad Javad Larijani
Also send copies to diplomatic representatives
accredited to your country. Please insert local
diplomatic addresses below:
Name Address 1 Address 2 Address 3 Fax Fax number
Email Email address Salutation Salutation
Please check with your section office if sending
appeals after the above date.
URGENT ACTION
JAILED JOURNALIST ON HUNGER STRIKE
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
In an open letter dated 27 May 2012, Mohammad Sadiq
Kabudvand wrote “the Prosecutor and the security
apparatuses continue to deny me [prison] leave
because of their enmity, grudge and malice towards
me as a human rights activist; this despite my
having served half of my illegal and unjust prison
sentence and my son’s incurable diseases and acute
emergency situation . . therefore, to protest the
illegal and inhumane behaviour of these judicial and
security officials, I once again have launched an
indefinite hunger strike as of 9 PM, Saturday 26 May
2012”.
Following his arrest on 1 July 2007, Mohammad Sadiq
Kabudvand was initially held in Section 209 of Evin
Prison, believd to be under the control of the
Ministry of Intelligence. He spent 40 days in
solitary confinement, and has said that he was
interrogated while he was blindfolded and his hands
and feet were bound. He went on an eight-day hunger
strike in protest at the conditions under which he
was held and interrogated, during which time prison
authorities told him that if he needed to use the
toilet, he had to seek formal permission in writing.
This exacerbated an existing kidney complaint.
Mohammad Sadiq Kabudvand passed out for about 30
minutes on 19 May 2008. He was given first aid by
another prisoner who is a doctor. His fellow
prisoners called for help and asked guards to take
him to the prison clinic, but they left him in his
cell. The following day, he was forced to attend a
scheduled trial session. Though the session was
cancelled when a representative from the
Prosecutor’s Office failed to appear, the trial
judge ordered that Mohammad Sadiq Kabudvand should
receive appropriate medical care in a hospital
outside Evin Prison. Despite this, Mohammad Sadiq
Kabudvand was not allowed to seek treatment in a
hospital but instead received medical attention at
the prison’s medical facility.
Mohammad Sadiq Kabudvand was transferred to hospital
outside Evin Prison on 9 January 2012. According to
his wife, Parinaz Baghbani Hassani, during a prison
visit on or about 30 December 2011, Mohammad Sadiq
Kabudvand said he had been feeling dizzy. She told
Amnesty International that he had phoned her on 10
January to say that he had been taken to hospital
for medical tests the previous day. These included a
prostate examination, blood tests and cardiovascular
tests. Based on the results of the medical
examinations, doctors had recommended admitting
Mohammad Sadiq Kabudvand to the hospital and
performing surgery on his prostate gland. Instead he
was taken back to Evin Prison. It is not clear
whether he received the medical care he needed.
Mohammad Sadiq Kabudvand, a member of Iran’s Kurdish
minority, is the founder and Chair of the Human
Rights Organization of Kurdistan (HROK, sometimes
known as RMMK from its Kurdish name). Until 2004, he
was also the editor of a weekly newspaper, Payam-e
Mardom-e Kordestan, which carried articles promoting
the cultural, social and political rights of Iran's
Kurdish minority. Payam-e Mardom-e Kordestan was
issued with a three-year ban by Iran’s judiciary on
27 June 2004 for “disseminating separatist ideas and
publishing false reports”. On appeal to the Supreme
Court, this ban was lifted, though the newspaper has
not reopened.
Mohammad Sadiq Kabudvand was transferred to Mahabad
prison, in West Azerbaijan Province, north-west Iran
on 16 July 2009. Three days later, he appeared
before Branch One of the Revolutionary Court in the
north-eastern city of Mahabad, charged with
“propaganda against the system” for the publication
and distribution of pamphlets about Kurdish women.
Mohammad Sadiq Kabudvand reportedly told the court
that “the materials printed in the pamphlet referred
to in the indictment have no resemblance to the
literature published by HROK. The materials brought
out by HROK have the logo and the address of the
organization and we can only be responsible for the
materials published on the website of the
organization.” No verdict is known to have been
issued in this trial.
He was previously the subject of UA 171/07 (MDE
13/081/2007) and follow-ups.
Name: Mohammad Sadqiq Kabudvand
Gender m/f: m
UA: 204/12 Index: MDE 13/046/2012 Issue Date: 11
July 2012
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