IRN 171208
Incommunicado detention/ Fear for safety
The International Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Iran.
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by a reliable source and Antenna International, member organisation of OMCT SOS-Torture Network, about the arrest by security agents and incommunicado detention of two Baha’is, namely Mr. Masoud Atain and Mr. Anvar Moslemi, in the province of Mazandaran.
According to the information received, Mr. Masoud Ataian was detained in his home in Qa’emshahr by Intelligence Ministry officials on 17 November 2008, without showing warrants or giving reasons for his arrest. Led by an agent called Mr. Movahed, the officials searched his home, destroyed sacred pictures and confiscated holy texts, his computer and business documents. He is currently being detained in the Intelligence Office at Qu’amshahr. He was reportedly able to have a brief contact with his family but he has not been given access to a lawyer yet.
Mr. Anvar Moslemi was reportedly detained on 23 November 2008 in Sari. His current whereabouts could not be ascertained.
According to the information received, within the past year three other Baha’is have been taken into custody in Mazandaran. Mr. Tarazollah Allahverdi and his wife Ms. Sonya Tebyanian were detained on 17 October 2008 in Behshahr. Mr. Siamak Ebrahimi, detained and released two years ago, was again detained on 4 November 2008 in Tonekaban. He was sentenced to six months in prison and two years exile in the city of Zabol, over 1100 km away from his home.
The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concern with regard to the incommunicado detention of Mr. Masoud Atain and Mr. Anvar Moslemi. OMCT recalls that incommunicado detention facilitates torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. OMCT is further concerned about these detentions, which according to the information received, are consistent with a pattern of persecution and arbitrary arrest of members of the Baha’i minority in Iran. OMCT recalls to Iran that according to article 9 1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) “no one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention”.
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, 17 December 2008
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
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