Sentencing /
Arbitrary detention
Iran
December 20, 2019
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights
Defenders, a partnership of FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture
(OMCT), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Iran.
Description of the situation:
The Observatory has been informed by the League for the Defence of Human
Rights in Iran (LDDHI) about the conviction of 12 labour rights defenders and
the arbitrary detention of two of them in connection with peaceful
demonstrations in April and May 2019.
According to
the information received, on December 14, 2019, the Court of Appeals of Tehran
sentenced Ms. Atefeh Rangriz, a researcher, and Ms. Marzieh Amiri,
a journalist, to five years in prison each on charges of “gathering and
collusion against national security” (Article 610 of the Islamic Penal Code).
Both had been arrested on May 1, 2019, during a Labour Day gathering in Tehran
and then released on bail in late October 2019. In the first instance trial in
late August 2019, Branch 28 of the Islamic Revolution Court had sentenced Ms.
Rangriz to 11 years and six months in prison and 74 lashes, and Ms. Amiri to 10
years and six months in prison and 148 lashes. Both appealed their conviction
and prison sentence. They remain free but may be arrested at any time.
On December
12, 2019, Mr. Ali Nejati, a member of the Workers Syndicate of Haft
Tappeh Sugar Cane Company, also arrested on May 1, 2019, during the Labour Day
gathering, was sentenced to five years in prison under Article 610 by Branch 28
of the Islamic Revolution Court. His trial took place on November 13, 2019. He
remains free and has appealed the sentence.
On December
7, 2019, Ms. Parvin Mohammadi, Deputy President of the independent Free
Union of Iranian Workers, was summoned by the Verdicts Enforcement Department
of Karaj District 1 and sent to Kachuee prison in Karaj, Alborz Province, to
serve a one-year prison sentence, and has remained detained since then. Ms.
Mohammadi had been arrested, together
with Ms. Haleh Safari and Mr. Alireza Saghafi Khorassani, both
labour rights defenders and members of Writers Association of Iran, on April 26, 2019 at a gathering of workers in a park in Karaj and released on
bail 15 days after their arrest. On August 24, 2019, the Islamic Revolution
Court of Karaj tried the three and sentenced them to one year in prison each on
charge of “propaganda against the system” (Article 500) on August 30, 2019 – a
conviction and prison sentence that the Court of Appeals upheld in early
October 2019. Ms. Safari and Mr. Saghafi Khorassani remain free but have been
summoned to serve their prison sentence and may be arrested at any time.
Six other human
rights defenders, all arrested on May 1, 2019 during the above-mentioned Labour
Day gathering in Tehran, were also sentenced to prison terms:
On December
4, 2019, Ms. Neda Naji, a civil and labour rights defender, was
sentenced by Branch 28 of the Islamic Revolution Court to six months in prison
on charges of “insulting government agents” (Article 609) and five years in
prison under Article 610. Her trial took place on November 10, 2019. If her
conviction is upheld on appeal, she will have to serve five years. After her arrest,
Ms. Naji was held in solitary confinement in the Ministry of Intelligence’s
Ward 209 in Tehran’s Evin prison until June 15, then transferred to Qarchak
prison south of Tehran, and back to Evin prison on July 7. She remains detained
in Evin prison and will appeal the sentence.
In late
November 2019, Ms. Anisha Assadollahi, an engineer and teacher, was also
tried by Branch 26 of the Islamic Revolution Court on charges of “disrupting
public order” (Article 618) and sentenced to one year in prison and 74 lashes.
Ms. Assadollahi was released four days after her initial arrest, re-arrested on
June 18, and released on bail on August 6. She appealed her conviction and sentence
and remains free awaiting the outcome.
On October
2, 2019, Ms. Nahid Khodajou, a board member of the Free Union of Iranian
Workers, was tried by Branch 26 of the Islamic Revolution Court under Articles
610 and 618. On October 10, she was sentenced to six years in prison for the
first charge and one year in prison for the second charge, in addition to 74
lashes, a two-year ban on membership of political and social groups, and
scribing two “specific books”. Ms. Khodajou was released on bail 33 days after
her arrest. She has appealed against her conviction and sentence. She remains
free awaiting the outcome.
Messrs. Hassan
Saeedi and Rassoul Taleb-Moghaddam, two members
of the independent Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company, who
were released on bail after more than a month, were tried by Branch 26 of the
Islamic Revolution Court. Mr. Saeedi was charged under Articles 610 and 618 and Mr. Taleb-Moghaddam
under Articles 500 and 618. In late August 2019, Mr. Saeedi was sentenced to
five years in prison, a two-year ban on membership of political groups, and a ban
on the use of smartphones. Mr. Taleb-Moghaddam was sentenced to two years in
prison, two years of internal exile in South Khorassan Province, 74 lashes, a
two-year ban on membership of political groups, and a ban on the use of
smartphones. They both appealed their conviction and sentence and they remain
free awaiting the outcome.
At least 16 members of the Syndicate were summoned by
the security authorities during the first 10 days of December 2019.
In late August 2019, Ms. A’zam Khezri-Javadi
(a.k.a. Nasrin Javadi), a member of
the Free Union of Iranian Workers, was also tried by Branch 26 of the
Islamic Revolution Court under Articles 610, 500 and 618. Ms. Javadi was sentenced to a total of
seven years in prison, 74 lashes, a two-year ban on membership of political
groups, and a ban on the use of smartphones. Ms. Javadi was released on bail 29 days
after her arrest. She appealed her conviction and sentence and remains free awaiting the
outcome.
The
Observatory expresses its concerns over the prison sentences against, and
arbitrary detention of Ms. Parvin Mohammadi and Ms. Neda Naji, as well as the
prison sentences against Ms. Atefeh
Rangriz, Ms. Marzieh Amiri, Mr. Ali Nejati, Ms. Haleh Safari, Mr Alireza
Saghafi Khorassani, Mr. Hassan Saeedi, Mr. Rassoul Taleb-Moghaddam, Ms. A’zam
Khezri-Javadi, Ms. Anisha Assadollahi and Ms. Nahid Khodajou. Such actions seem
to be aimed only at punishing them for their legitimate defence of workers’
rights. The Observatory calls on the Iranian authorities to immediately and
unconditionally put an end to any acts of harassment against them, as well as all other human rights defenders in Iran.
Actions requested:
Please write to the authorities of Iran asking them
to:
i.
Drop all charges and put an end to all acts of harassment,
including at the judicial level, against Ms. Parvin Mohammadi, Ms. Neda Naji, Ms.
Atefeh Rangriz, Ms. Marzieh
Amiri, Mr. Ali Nejati, Ms. Haleh Safari, Mr Alireza Saghafi Khorassani, Mr.
Hassan Saeedi, Mr. Rassoul Taleb-Moghaddam, Ms. A’zam Khezri-Javadi (Nasrin
Javadi), Ms. Anisha Assadollahi and Ms. Nahid Khodajou, and all other
human rights defenders, and ensure they are able to carry out their activities
without hindrance;
ii.
Immediately and unconditionally release Ms. Parvin Mohammadi and Ms. Neda Naji,
and all human rights defenders detained in the country, as their detention is
arbitrary since it only seems to aim at punishing them for their human rights
activities;
iii.
Guarantee in all circumstances the physical integrity
and psychological well-being of Ms.
Parvin Mohammadi, Ms. Neda Naji, Ms. Atefeh Rangriz, Ms. Marzieh Amiri, Mr. Ali
Nejati, Ms. Haleh Safari, Mr Alireza Saghafi Khorassani, Mr. Hassan Saeedi, Mr.
Rassoul Taleb-Moghaddam, Ms. A’zam Khezri-Javadi, Ms. Anisha Assadollahi and Ms.
Nahid Khodajou, as well as all human rights defenders in Iran;
iv.
Conform to all the provisions of the United Nations
Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted by the UN General Assembly on
December 9, 1998, in particular its Articles 1, 6, 9, 11 and 12;
v.
Ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights
and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rights
standards and international instruments ratified by Iran.
Addresses:
• Leader of
the Islamic Republic, H.E. Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei, Fax: + 98 21 441 2030,
Email: info_leader@leader.ir; Twitter: @khamenei_ir
• President Hassan Rouhani, Islamic Republic of Iran,
Fax: + 98 21 644 54811; Email: media@rouhani.ir; Twitter: @HassanRouhani
(English) and @Rouhani_ir (Persian).
• Head of the Judiciary, H.E. Hojattolislam Ebrahim
Ra’eesi, Islamic Republic of Iran, Fax: +98 21 879 6671 / +98 21 3 311 6567,
Email: info@dadiran.ir / info@dadgostary-tehran.ir / info@bia-judiciary.ir
• Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mohammad Javad Zarif, Islamic
Republic of Iran, Fax: +98-21-66743149; matbuat@mfa.gov.ir
• Secretary General, High Council for Human Rights,
Mr. Mohammed Javad Larijani, Islamic Republic of Iran. Email: info@humanrights-iran.ir
• H.E. Mr. Esmaeil Baghaei Hamaneh, Ambassador,
Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations in
Geneva, Switzerland, Fax: +41 22 7330203, Email: mission.iran@ties.itu.int
• H.E. Mr. Peiman Seadat, Ambassador, Embassy of
Iran in Brussels, Belgium, Fax: + 32 2 762 39 15. Email: secreteriat@iranembassy.be
Please also write to the diplomatic representations of
Iran in your respective countries.
***
Paris-Geneva, December 20, 2019
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the
code of this appeal in your reply.
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