Iran
23.08.05
Urgent Interventions
Iran: End of Mr. Akbar Ganji's hunger strike
URGENT APPEAL - THE OBSERVATORY
IRN 001 / 0004 / OBS 030.8
Arbitrary detention
Iran
August 23, 2005
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), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Iran.
According to the information received, in the night from August 20 to August 21, 2005, Mr. Akbar Ganji, whose health had become alarming after more than two months of hunger strike (See background information below), ended his hunger strike, reportedly subsequent to an agreement reached with some members of the Prosecutor Office. His wife, Mrs. Massoumeh Shafii, who had not been allowed to visit him since August 1, 2005, was finally given permission to see him on August 21, 2005.
Mr. Ganji has been hospitalised since July 17, 2005, and he has been since then fed and medicated intravenously. According to Mr. Ganji’s family, his doctors declared that it will be later decided whether Mr. Ganji is going to have surgery on the meniscus of his two knees, when his health allows it.
The Observatory notes that on August 5, 2005, the Presidency of the European Union “requested an urgent call on the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Iranian Judiciary to make representations on the situation faced by Akbar Ganji”. The Presidency also recalled that “the EU [had] previously called on the Iranian authorities to free him immediately on humanitarian grounds” and stated that “in his role as local Presidency of the EU, the British Ambassador to Tehran [had] requested that the Iranian authorities allow him to visit Mr Ganji in the hospital where he is being held”.
The Observatory, which had expressed its concern regarding Mr. Ganji’s health and life, urges the Iranian authorities to grant Mr. Ganji an unconditional and definitive release, his detention aiming only at sanctioning his freedom of expression and being as such arbitrary.
In May 2005, Mr. Akbar Ganji started two hunger strikes to protest against his imprisonment. In addition, Mr. Ganji suffers from asthma and serious back problems, for which doctors recommended that he be immediately hospitalised. On May 28, 2005, Evin prison officials proposed to him that he should be examined by two doctors chosen by his family to confirm his poor state of health and, on that basis, they would grant him permission to leave the prison for two weeks in order to receive medical treatment, which was given effect on May 30.
On June 14, 2005, his house was searched on order of Mr. Mortazavi, Prosecutor of Tehran, in order to arrest him. On the following day, Mr. Akbar Ganji presented himself to jail and was put in solitary confinement on June 16, 2005. On the same day, he started a hunger strike.
On July 17, 2005, Mr. Akbar Ganji, who had reportedly lost 50 pounds as a consequence of his hunger strike, was hospitalised in Tehran’s Milad Hospital. His lawyers were denied to visit him, and his wife was authorised to visit him only once. According to his doctor, he had been hospitalised in order to have surgery on his two knees, and maybe his spinal column.
i. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Akbar Ganji;
ii. Ensure immediately the unconditional and definitive release of Mr. Akbar Ganji;
iii. Put an immediate end to all acts of harassment against Iranian human rights defenders;
iv. Conform with the provisions of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 9, 1998, in particular its article 1 which provides that “every person has the right, individually or collectively, to promote the protection and fulfilment of human rights and fundamental liberties at the national and international levels”, as well as its article 12.2, which provides that “the State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually or 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”;
v. More generally, conform with the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and with the other international instruments ratified by the Islamic Republic of Iran.
***
Geneva - Paris, August 23, 2005
Kindly inform the Observatory of any action undertaken quoting the code number 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:
Tel and fax: FIDH : +33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 / 33 1 43 55 18 80
Tel and fax: OMCT : + 41 22 809 49 39 / 41 22 809 49 29
Email: observatoire@iprolink.ch
IRN 001 / 0004 / OBS 030.8
New information
Arbitrary detention
Iran
August 23, 2005
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), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Iran.
New information:
The Observatory has received new information by the Iranian League for the Defence of Human Rights (Ligue pour la défense des droits de l’Homme en Iran – LDDHI), according to which Mr. Akbar Ganji, a prominent journalist and human rights defender who has been imprisoned for more than five years in Tehran’s Evin prison, put an end to his hunger strike.According to the information received, in the night from August 20 to August 21, 2005, Mr. Akbar Ganji, whose health had become alarming after more than two months of hunger strike (See background information below), ended his hunger strike, reportedly subsequent to an agreement reached with some members of the Prosecutor Office. His wife, Mrs. Massoumeh Shafii, who had not been allowed to visit him since August 1, 2005, was finally given permission to see him on August 21, 2005.
Mr. Ganji has been hospitalised since July 17, 2005, and he has been since then fed and medicated intravenously. According to Mr. Ganji’s family, his doctors declared that it will be later decided whether Mr. Ganji is going to have surgery on the meniscus of his two knees, when his health allows it.
The Observatory notes that on August 5, 2005, the Presidency of the European Union “requested an urgent call on the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Iranian Judiciary to make representations on the situation faced by Akbar Ganji”. The Presidency also recalled that “the EU [had] previously called on the Iranian authorities to free him immediately on humanitarian grounds” and stated that “in his role as local Presidency of the EU, the British Ambassador to Tehran [had] requested that the Iranian authorities allow him to visit Mr Ganji in the hospital where he is being held”.
The Observatory, which had expressed its concern regarding Mr. Ganji’s health and life, urges the Iranian authorities to grant Mr. Ganji an unconditional and definitive release, his detention aiming only at sanctioning his freedom of expression and being as such arbitrary.
Background information:
Mr. Akbar Ganji, a journalist of the daily newspaper Sobh-e-Emrooz, was arrested on April 22, 2000 for having written several articles suggesting the involvement of the Iranian regime, including former President Hashemi Rafsanjani and former Intelligence Minister Ali Fallahian, in the assassination of dissident opponents and intellectuals in late 1998. Mr. Ganji was also arrested because he took part in a conference in Berlin on the Iranian legislative elections and democratic reforms in April 1998. In January 2001, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison but the appeal court reduced the sentence to six months in May 2001. However, in July 2001, the Supreme Court quashed the May sentence on technical grounds and imposed a six-year jail sentence on the charge of “threatening national security and propaganda against the institutions of the Islamic State” (See Observatory Annual Report 2004).In May 2005, Mr. Akbar Ganji started two hunger strikes to protest against his imprisonment. In addition, Mr. Ganji suffers from asthma and serious back problems, for which doctors recommended that he be immediately hospitalised. On May 28, 2005, Evin prison officials proposed to him that he should be examined by two doctors chosen by his family to confirm his poor state of health and, on that basis, they would grant him permission to leave the prison for two weeks in order to receive medical treatment, which was given effect on May 30.
On June 14, 2005, his house was searched on order of Mr. Mortazavi, Prosecutor of Tehran, in order to arrest him. On the following day, Mr. Akbar Ganji presented himself to jail and was put in solitary confinement on June 16, 2005. On the same day, he started a hunger strike.
On July 17, 2005, Mr. Akbar Ganji, who had reportedly lost 50 pounds as a consequence of his hunger strike, was hospitalised in Tehran’s Milad Hospital. His lawyers were denied to visit him, and his wife was authorised to visit him only once. According to his doctor, he had been hospitalised in order to have surgery on his two knees, and maybe his spinal column.
Action requested:
Please write to the Iranian authorities, urging them to:i. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Akbar Ganji;
ii. Ensure immediately the unconditional and definitive release of Mr. Akbar Ganji;
iii. Put an immediate end to all acts of harassment against Iranian human rights defenders;
iv. Conform with the provisions of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 9, 1998, in particular its article 1 which provides that “every person has the right, individually or collectively, to promote the protection and fulfilment of human rights and fundamental liberties at the national and international levels”, as well as its article 12.2, which provides that “the State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually or 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”;
v. More generally, conform with the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and with the other international instruments ratified by the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Addresses:
- Leader of the Islamic Republic, His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei, the Presidency, Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, Faxes: + 98 21 649 5880 / + 98 21 774 2228 (ask fax to be forwarded to Ayatollah Khamenei), Email: webmaster@wilayah.org / info@wilayah.org (on the subject line write: For the attention of the office of His Excellency, Ayatollah al Udhma Khamenei, Qom)
- President, Mr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Presidency, Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, Fax: + 98 21 649 5880
- Acting Head of the Judiciary ad interim, His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahrudi, Ministry of Justice, Park-e Shahr, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, Fax: +98 21 879 6671, Email: Irjpr@iranjudiciary.com
- Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs ad interim, His Excellency Kamal Kharrazi, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Abdolmajid Keshk-e Mesri Av, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, Faxes: + 98 21 390 1999 (number may be unreliable; please mark “care of the Human Rights Department, Foreign Ministry”), Email: matbuat@mfa.gov
- Ambassador Mohammad Reza Alborzi, Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Chemin du Petit-Saconnex 28, 1209 Geneva, Switzerland, Fax: +41 22 733 02 03, E-mail: mission.iran@ties.itu.int
***
Geneva - Paris, August 23, 2005
Kindly inform the Observatory of any action undertaken quoting the code number 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:
Tel and fax: FIDH : +33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 / 33 1 43 55 18 80
Tel and fax: OMCT : + 41 22 809 49 39 / 41 22 809 49 29
Email: observatoire@iprolink.ch