Iran
10.04.00
Urgent Interventions
Iran: ill-treatment and prolongued detention
Iran: ill-treatment and prolongued detention
Case IRN 100400
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Iran.
Brief description of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by a reliable source of the ill-treatment and prolongued detention of Abbas Amir-Entezam in Iran.
According to the information received, Mr. Abbas Amir-Entezam, 67, the Deputy Prime Minister and the Spokesman of the 1979 Provisional Government of post-revolutionary Iran, has been in prison since December 19, 1979, exceeding the term awarded for his alleged crime of slander, and is in need of urgent medical assistance.
According to the information received, earlier this month, his wife paid the equivalent of $3000 to the prison authorities to have Mr. Entezam sent home long enough for him to receive medical treatment for kidney failure, a ruptured eardrum and loss of hearing in one ear, allegedly as the result of his long detention and repeated subjection to torture. However, he was transferred back to prison after only 8 days before he had received any care.
It is reported that the charges against him are espionage and slander. According to Iranian law, the maximum penalty for espionage is ten years, a sentence that Mr. Entezam has already served twice in addition to the confiscation of all his property.
The most recent charge of slander was brought against him by the family of the former head of Iranian prisons, Mr. Assadollah Lajavardi. In 1998, while under house arrest, in an interview with Voice of America, Mr. Entezam criticized the torture and ill-treatment of prisoners and the mass executions which took place on Mr. Lajavardi's watch. According to the information received, after the conlcusion of the slander pre-trial hearing, despite the posting of hefty sum for bail by his wife, he was not released. In February 1999, a trial was held but neither Mr. Entezam nor his attorneys were permitted in the courtroom. The request of the International Commission of Jurists, a member of the OMCT network, to have an observer present was also denied. These actions of the court were in violation of the articles 570, 572 and 575 of Iran's Constitution. Furthermore, according to Iran's Islamic penal code, the punishment for slander is no longer than one year.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Iran urging them to:
i. ensure Mr. Entezam immediate access to medical care and guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Abbas Amir-Entezam
ii. order his immediate release in the absence of valid legal charges or, if such charges exist, bring them before an impartial and competent tribunal and guarantee their procedural rights at all times;
iii. guarantee an immediate investigation into the allegations of torture and ill-treatment and denial of medical care, also Mr. Entezam’s prolongued illegal detention, identify those responsible, bring them before a civil competent and impartial tribunal and apply the penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions provided by law;
iv. guarantee adequate restitution, compensation and rehabilitation to Mr. Entezam and his family;
v. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards, particularly the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ratified by Iran.
Addresses
Leader of the Islamic Republic His Excellency M. Khatami, The Presidency. Palestine Ave. Azerbaijan Intersection. Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran. Fax: Iran 011 98 21 64 66 415
His Excellency The Minister of Culture, Mr. Mohajarani, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran. Fax 98 21 87 57 845
His Excellency The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Abdolmajid Keshk-e Mesri Avenue, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, Fax: 98-21 674 790
Geneva, April 10, 2000
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
Case IRN 100400
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Iran.
Brief description of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by a reliable source of the ill-treatment and prolongued detention of Abbas Amir-Entezam in Iran.
According to the information received, Mr. Abbas Amir-Entezam, 67, the Deputy Prime Minister and the Spokesman of the 1979 Provisional Government of post-revolutionary Iran, has been in prison since December 19, 1979, exceeding the term awarded for his alleged crime of slander, and is in need of urgent medical assistance.
According to the information received, earlier this month, his wife paid the equivalent of $3000 to the prison authorities to have Mr. Entezam sent home long enough for him to receive medical treatment for kidney failure, a ruptured eardrum and loss of hearing in one ear, allegedly as the result of his long detention and repeated subjection to torture. However, he was transferred back to prison after only 8 days before he had received any care.
It is reported that the charges against him are espionage and slander. According to Iranian law, the maximum penalty for espionage is ten years, a sentence that Mr. Entezam has already served twice in addition to the confiscation of all his property.
The most recent charge of slander was brought against him by the family of the former head of Iranian prisons, Mr. Assadollah Lajavardi. In 1998, while under house arrest, in an interview with Voice of America, Mr. Entezam criticized the torture and ill-treatment of prisoners and the mass executions which took place on Mr. Lajavardi's watch. According to the information received, after the conlcusion of the slander pre-trial hearing, despite the posting of hefty sum for bail by his wife, he was not released. In February 1999, a trial was held but neither Mr. Entezam nor his attorneys were permitted in the courtroom. The request of the International Commission of Jurists, a member of the OMCT network, to have an observer present was also denied. These actions of the court were in violation of the articles 570, 572 and 575 of Iran's Constitution. Furthermore, according to Iran's Islamic penal code, the punishment for slander is no longer than one year.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Iran urging them to:
i. ensure Mr. Entezam immediate access to medical care and guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Abbas Amir-Entezam
ii. order his immediate release in the absence of valid legal charges or, if such charges exist, bring them before an impartial and competent tribunal and guarantee their procedural rights at all times;
iii. guarantee an immediate investigation into the allegations of torture and ill-treatment and denial of medical care, also Mr. Entezam’s prolongued illegal detention, identify those responsible, bring them before a civil competent and impartial tribunal and apply the penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions provided by law;
iv. guarantee adequate restitution, compensation and rehabilitation to Mr. Entezam and his family;
v. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards, particularly the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ratified by Iran.
Addresses
Leader of the Islamic Republic His Excellency M. Khatami, The Presidency. Palestine Ave. Azerbaijan Intersection. Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran. Fax: Iran 011 98 21 64 66 415
His Excellency The Minister of Culture, Mr. Mohajarani, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran. Fax 98 21 87 57 845
His Excellency The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Abdolmajid Keshk-e Mesri Avenue, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, Fax: 98-21 674 790
Geneva, April 10, 2000
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.