New information
IRN 003 / 0707 / OBS 072.3
Deterioration of health conditions / Arbitrary detention
Iran
December 22, 2008
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 and requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Iran.
The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources that Mr. Mohamad Sadigh Kaboudvand, a journalist and the President of the Association for the Defence of Human Rights in Kurdistan (RMMK), suffered an heart attack while arbitrarily detained and is in urgent need for medical treatment.
According to the information received, on December 17, 2008, Mr. Mohamad Sadigh Kaboudvand suffered a heart attack inside his cell in Evin Prison, in Tehran. His life would since be threatened. Mr. Kaboudvand had already suffered a heart attack on May 19, 2008. Prison doctors would have written to judicial authorities stating that Mr. Kaboudvand is in urgent need of specialist medical care outside of the prison, but the authorities have not taken any action. Earlier in December 2008, he was examined by prison doctors who noted that he was suffering from dizziness and unstable blood pressure, and that existing problems with his kidneys and prostate were worsening.
The Observatory expresses its deep concern about Mr. Kaboudvand’s health conditions, and urges the Iranian authorities to grant him immediate access to adequate medical treatment, including outside the prison if necessary.
The Observatory further recalls that Iran had committed to “uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights”[1] by presenting its candidacy to the Human Rights Council 2006 election and had insisted in this regard on the fact that the country had “continuously put great efforts into safeguarding the status and inherent dignity of the human person as well as the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms”[2]. The Observatory therefore urges the Islamic Republic of Iran to conform with international human rights standards.
On July 1, 2007, Mr. Kaboudvand was arrested and immediately transferred to the prison of Evin in Tehran. No reason for the arrest was given. His home was subsequently searched and some of his personal belongings (documents, books, computer, CDs, movies, etc.) were confiscated by the agents of the Revolutionary Prosecutor’s office.
At the end of May 2008, Mr. Mohamad Sadigh Kaboudvand was sentenced by the Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran to ten years’ imprisonment for “acting against State security by establishing the [RMMK]” and one year in prison for “propaganda against the system”.
On October 28, 2008, the Appeal Chamber of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran confirmed Mr. Mohamad Sadigh Kaboudvand’s sentence.
In 2006, Mr. Kaboudvand had already been condemned to a one-year suspended imprisonment sentence and to five years of privation of his journalistic activities for his involvement in the defence of human rights as well as for the publication of some articles defending cultural, social, and political rights of the Kurds in the Kurdish newspaper Payam-e Mardom-e Kurdistan (The Message of the People of Kurdistan). Mr. Kaboudvand is the Editor-in-chief of this newspaper.
Please write to the authorities in Iran urging them to:
Please also write to the diplomatic mission or embassy of Iran in your respective country.
Geneva-Paris, December 22, 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
[2] http://www.un.org/ga/60/elect/hrc/iran.pdf
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