PUBLIC
AI Index: MDE 13/168/2008
18 November 2008
Further Information on UA 68/08 (MDE 13/047/2008, 12
March 2008) Fear of torture New concerns: Possible prisoner of
conscience/ unfair trial
IRAN
Ebrahim Mehrnahad (or Mehrnehad) (m), aged 16
Fazlorahman Jahras (m), aged about 16
Abdollah Salarzahi, (m), leading member, Voice of Justice
Young People’s Society (VJYPS)
Asadollah Shahbaksh, (m) student,
VJYPS member
Ebrahim Mehrnehad, a member of the
Baluchi minority in
Iran, has been sentenced to five years’
imprisonment, two of them suspended. Fazlorahman Jahras, Abdollah
Salarzahi and Asadollah Shahbaksh, members of the Baluchi minority, have
been released.
Ebrahim Mehrnehad was arrested in
March 2008, and held in Zahedan Central Prison in Sistan and Baluchistan Province,
south-eastern Iran.
On or around 16 September, a court in Zahedan sentenced him on charges
of ‘acting against national security’ and ‘spreading propaganda’. These
charges may relate to his public condemnation of the death sentence
imposed on his brother, Ya'qoub Mehrnehad, who was subsequently executed
in August. Ebrahim Mehrnehad was not given access to a lawyer and
according to reports, he has been tortured, including by being burnt. He
may be a prisoner of conscience, detained solely on account of
the peaceful exercise of his rights to freedom of
expression and association.
Baluchi journalist and civil
society activist Ya'qoub Mehrnehad was executed on 4 August 2008 (see UA
38/08, MDE 13/038/2008, 12 February 2008 and follow-ups). Ya'qoub
Mehrnehad was the head and co-founder of Voice of Justice Young People’s
Society (VJYPS), which organizes events such as
concerts and educational courses for young Baluchi people, and raises
funds to help the poor. Ebrahim Mehrnehad was
previously arrested after a meeting of VJYPS, in May 2007, and released
after three months.
Fazlorahman Jahras was released in
August. Abdollah Salarzahi, spokesperson and Central Council member of
the VJYPS, and Asadollah Shahbaksh, a member of the VJYPS and geography
student at Azad
University
in Zahedan, were both released at the end of August. Amnesty
International has no further information relating to their cases.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Iran’s
Baluchi minority is believed to constitute one to three per cent of the
country’s total population of around 70 million. Most ethnic Baluchis
live in Sistan-Baluchistan province, with smaller numbers in
Kerman
province. However, Baluchis have migrated elsewhere in Iran, particularly Tehran, to find work. Baluchis in Iran mostly
speak Baluchi as a first language, with a minority speaking Brahoui.
Most are Sunni Muslims, although the majority (around 90 per cent) of
Iranians are Shi’a. An estimated 20,000 of the 1.7 million inhabitants
of Sistan-Baluchistan province are said to be nomads.
There has been an increase in human rights violations
on the Baluchi minority by the Iranian government following a number of
attacks on Iranian officials by the Baluchi armed group, the
People's Resistance of Movement of Iran (PRMI), formerly known as
Jondallah. This has included widespread arrests and concurrent marked
rise in the number of executions of ethnic Baluchis, often after grossly
unfair, summary trials.
For further
information please see:
Iran: Human Rights Abuses
against the Baluchi Minority, MDE 13/104/2007, September 2007; at
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/104/2007.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send
appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Persian, French, English or
your own language:
- welcoming the release of
Fazlorahman Jahras, Abdollah Salarzahi and Asadollah Shahbaksh;
- urging the authorities to
release Ebrahim Mehrnehad if he is being detained solely for the
peaceful exercise of his rights to freedom of expression and
association;
- asking to be informed in detail
of the charges brought against him;
- calling on the authorities to
ensure that any appeal procedure conforms to international standards for
fair trial;
- urging the authorities to ensure
that Ebrahim Mehrnehad has access to his family and a lawyer of his
choice and to any medical treatment he may require;
- urging the authorities to ensure
that he will not be tortured or otherwise ill-treated while in
detention;
- reminding the authorities that
the use of confessions extracted under duress is prohibited by Article
38 of the Constitution of Iran.
APPEALS
TO:
Head of the Judiciary
His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud
Hashemi Shahroudi
Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh /
Office of the Head of the Judiciary
Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave., south
of Serah-e Jomhouri, Tehran
1316814737, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email:
info@dadgostary-tehran.ir (In the subject line write: FAO
Ayatollah Shahroudi)
Salutation:
Your Excellency
Minister of Intelligence
Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie
Ministry of Intelligence, Second Negarestan Street, Pasdaran Avenue,
Tehran,
Islamic Republic of Iran
Salutation:
Your Excellency
Governor of Sistan -
Baluchistan
province
Mr Dahmarde, Governor
Fax:
+98 541 3231990
E-mail:
info@sb-ostan.ir
Salutation:
Dear Sir
COPIES TO:
Leader of the Islamic Republic
His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed
‘Ali Khamenei, The Office of the Supreme Leader
Islamic Republic Street - Shahid Keshvar Doust Street
Tehran,
Islamic Republic of Iran
Email:
info@leader.ir
Salutation:
Your Excellency
Director, Human Rights
Headquarters of Iran
His Excellency Mohammad Javad
Larijani
Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh
(Office of the Head of the Judiciary)
Pasteur St, Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhouri,
Tehran
1316814737, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax:
+98 21 3390 4986 (there are problems with this line, please try
three times)
Email:
int_aff@judiciary.ir (In the subject line: FAO Mohammad
Javad Larijani)
and to diplomatic representatives
of Iran
accredited to your country.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS
IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International
Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 30
December 2008.
