Mr. Mansour Osanloo has finally received emergency eye surgery

New information

IRN 005 / 0707 / OBS 077.4

Arbitrary detention / Judicial proceedings / Health concern

Iran

October 23, 2007


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:


New information:


The Observatory has been informed by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) that Mr. Mansour Osanloo, President of the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (Sandikaye Kargarane Sherkat-e Vahed), finally received much-needed emergency eye surgery.


According to the information received, on October 20, 2007, in the evening, Mr. Mansour Osanloo was taken from the Evin prison, where he has been detained since early July 2007 (See background information), to Tehran’s Shahid Doktor Labafinejad Hospital in order to receive a successful eye surgery. Mr. Osanloo had already lost the sight of one eye after being denied urgent medical treatment while in detention, and was at risk of becoming totally blind. He is expected to return to prison following a short period of recuperation.


In spite of this hospitalisation, the Observatory keeps fearing for Mr. Osanloo’s physical and psychological integrity and considers his detention to be arbitrary as it merely aims at sanctioning his involvement in favour of economic and social rights in Iran. The Observatory recalls that Mr. Osanloo has been subjected to many violations of his rights in the past, including violence and arbitrary detentions, in reason of his activities as a trade union leader in Iran (See Annual Reports 2005 and 2006 of the Observatory).


Background information:


Mr. Mansour Osanloo was abducted on July 10, 2007 by unidentified assailants as he was leaving a public bus near his home. According to witnesses, Mr. Osanloo’s assailants beat him severely, and took him away in a metallic grey Peugeot to an undisclosed location. Mr. Osanloo had apparently been followed all day by the unmarked Peugeot car. Such vehicles are well known as being associated with the Iranian Security Forces.


On July 12, 2007, Mr. Osanloo’s arrest was acknowledged by the Revolutionary Prosecutor Mortazavi. Since then, Mr. Osanloo was reportedly charged with “conspiring against national security”.


On September 3, 2007, the wife of Mr. Mansour Osanloo, Ms. Parvaneh Osanloo, and his sister were briefly arrested in Tehran after they attempted to meet with Ms. Louise Arbour, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, who was at the time visiting Iran.


Actions requested:


Please write to the authorities in Iran urging them to:



  1. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Mansour Osanloo as well as of his relatives;

  2. Release Mr. Mansour Osanloo immediately and unconditionally as his detention is arbitrary;

  3. Ensure that he be granted a fair and impartial trial in the soonest delay so that the charges against him be dropped as they merely sanction his human rights activities;

  4. Put an end to all acts of harassment against all Iranian human rights defenders;

  5. Conform with the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 9, 1998, especially its Article 1, which states that “everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels”, and Article 12.2, which provides that “the State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration”;

  6. More generally, ensure in all circumstances the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and with international and regional human rights instruments ratified by Iran.


Addresses:



Please also write to the diplomatic mission or embassy of Iran in your respective country.


***


Geneva-Paris, October 23, 2007


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