Iran
28.01.03
Urgent Interventions
Iran: incommunicado detention, torture and resulting death of Mr. Mohsen Rostami
Case IRN 280103
Incommunicado detention / Torture / Extra-judicial killing / Freedom of expression
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 incommunicado detention, torture and resulting death of Mr. Mohsen Rostami and the indiscriminate use of force against demonstrators in Iran.
According to the information received, on 17 November 2002 Mr. Mohsen Rostami reportedly died following having been subjected to torture and a lethal injection by agents from the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS). OMCT wrote to President Khatami on December 23rd, 2002 concerning this case, but has thus far received no response.
According to the information received, 32-year-old Mr. Rostami, from the Narmak district of Teheran, was arrested in Iranshahr, and then detained in an unknown location. His family reportedly travelled to Iranshahr a few days before his death in order to look for him and found him severely injured in a deserted street. The family asserts that signs of severe torture were evident on his head, face, feet and arms and also claim that Mr. Rostami was able to tell them that he had been subjected to an injection and that it would be impossible to save his life. The autopsy report from the coroner’s office confirmed that the cause of death was a poisonous injection that resulted in fatal damage to the liver. Furthermore, there have been claims that members of Mr. Rostami’s family have been threatened by the MOIS in order to prevent them from speaking publicly about his case.
According to the source, Mr. Rostami was accused of attempting to leave the country to join the opposition Peoples' Mojahedin Organization by MOIS agents during his detention. He was previously arrested by the MOIS in 1998, at which time he was also reportedly charged with being a Mojahedin supporter.
OMCT is gravely concerned by this reported use of torture and in particular by the use of a lethal injection as a means of eliminating perceived members of the political opposition. OMCT’s sources have indicated serious concern that this may signal a departure from the habitually more public means of execution used by the authorities, and as such, represents a new and disturbing development. Indeed, OMCT is concerned of the risk to political prisoners of being subjected to similar treatment, and therefore fears for the personal integrity of the persons who have been detained as a result of numerous violent incidents and arrests during the widespread clashes between student demonstrators and government security forces on 7-8 December 2002.
According to the reports, on 7-8 December 2002, security forces deployed to control the anti-government demonstrations in various locations around Iran and resorted to disproportionate violence as well as arresting several hundred students. The security forces reportedly used chains, truncheons, knives and clubs during the beatings, and in some cases resorted to shooting. In Shiraz during the morning of 7 December, the Revolutionary Guards reportedly opened fire on the gathering of students in downtown Falakeh Setad, in order to disperse the demonstration. At the university in Teheran on 7 December, members of the Special Anti-riot Unit, the paramilitary group Bassij, Intelligence Ministry agents and Ansar-e Hezbollah forces were called in, and, according to reports attacked and beat the student demonstrators. The following day, when a demonstration comprising an estimated 30,000 protestors degenerated into violent clashes, anti-riot guards used teargas and reportedly fired weapons to disperse the crowd, whilst agents within the crowd beat demonstrators with clubs. This violence went on well into the night and resulted in many students being injured and hundreds being arrested.
The names of 51 of the arrested persons that were provided to us on December 23rd were as follows:
Ehsan Mohammadi; Ali Sayyadi; Hessam Biabani; Mohammad Khezri; Sassan Rahmani; Zahra Nazari; Mohsen Zari; Roya Kaghazi; Ali Movahhed; Sara Eghbali; Nasrin Barghi; Ali Akbari; Majid Zohouri; Nazanin Hejazi; Saba Monjeh; Asghar Rahimi; Shohreh Sanai; Saeed Akrami; Nasrin Najmi; Hassan Zeidan; Arash Keikhosravi; Behnam Amini; Medhi Pour-Rahim; Soroush Azizi; Medhi Allahyari; Kiafar Jahan; Medhi Nakhl-Ahmadi; Morteza Zavvarzadegan; Peiman Aref; Farid Salavati; Azam Bahrami; Ali Farrokhi; Tirgarnejad; Mohammad-Ali Hajari; Amin Sorous; Abolfazl Hosseinzad; Roya Hassanizad; Massoud Eidizad; Siamak Bakhshi; Reza Naderi; Moslem Faveilzadeh; Massoud Shafii; Alireza Ruygar; Soussan Khodaparast; Quassem Moghaddam; Ali Pourhamdeh; Diba Naderi; Hassan Langeh; Sirous Ashkani; Morteza Talabzad; Youness Akriali.
Some of these persons may have been released since he information was provided to us, but it is believed that many remain in detention. No further details have as yet become available.
The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned about reports that the authorities tortured and subsequently administered a lethal injection to Mr. Rostami. Furthermore, OMCT is also gravely concerned about the alleged State Security Forces’ use of unwarranted and indiscriminate force against demonstrators and fears for the physical and psychological integrity of those that have been arrested during these events. OMCT calls upon the authorities to order thorough and impartial enquiries into these incidents, identify those responsible, bring them before a civil competent and impartial tribunal and apply the penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions provided by law. Furthermore, OMCT calls upon the authorities to order the detainees’ immediate and unconditional release and guarantee that adequate reparation is provided to the victims of human rights abuses and their families.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Iran urging them to:
i. take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of the afore-mentioned detainees being held in relation with the clashes between students and the authorities in early December 2002;
ii. order their immediate and unconditional release;
iii. guarantee adequate reparation to Mr. Mohsen Rostami’s family and to all persons who were injured in the afore-mentioned clashes;
iv. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with international human rights standards.
Addresses
Note: if you have any problems getting through to the fax numbers or e-mail addresses, please use those of the Ambassador to the UN cited below.
· President Hojjatoleslam val Moslemin Sayed Mohammed Khatami, The Presidency, Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, E-mail: khatami@president.ir
· Minister of Justice, Mahmoud Hashemi Shahrudi, Ministry of Justice, Park-e Shahr, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, Fax: 98 21 879 6671
· Minister of Foreign Affairs, M. Kamal Kharrazi, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Abdolmajid Keshk-e Mesri Av, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, Fax : 98 21 390 1999
· Ambassador Mohammad Reza Alborzi, Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations in Geneva, Chemin du Petit-Saconnex 28, 1209 Geneva, Switzerland, fax: +41 22 7330203, e-mail: mission.iran@ties.itu.int
Please also write to the embassies of Iran in your respective country.
Geneva, January 28th, 2003
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
Incommunicado detention / Torture / Extra-judicial killing / Freedom of expression
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 incommunicado detention, torture and resulting death of Mr. Mohsen Rostami and the indiscriminate use of force against demonstrators in Iran.
According to the information received, on 17 November 2002 Mr. Mohsen Rostami reportedly died following having been subjected to torture and a lethal injection by agents from the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS). OMCT wrote to President Khatami on December 23rd, 2002 concerning this case, but has thus far received no response.
According to the information received, 32-year-old Mr. Rostami, from the Narmak district of Teheran, was arrested in Iranshahr, and then detained in an unknown location. His family reportedly travelled to Iranshahr a few days before his death in order to look for him and found him severely injured in a deserted street. The family asserts that signs of severe torture were evident on his head, face, feet and arms and also claim that Mr. Rostami was able to tell them that he had been subjected to an injection and that it would be impossible to save his life. The autopsy report from the coroner’s office confirmed that the cause of death was a poisonous injection that resulted in fatal damage to the liver. Furthermore, there have been claims that members of Mr. Rostami’s family have been threatened by the MOIS in order to prevent them from speaking publicly about his case.
According to the source, Mr. Rostami was accused of attempting to leave the country to join the opposition Peoples' Mojahedin Organization by MOIS agents during his detention. He was previously arrested by the MOIS in 1998, at which time he was also reportedly charged with being a Mojahedin supporter.
OMCT is gravely concerned by this reported use of torture and in particular by the use of a lethal injection as a means of eliminating perceived members of the political opposition. OMCT’s sources have indicated serious concern that this may signal a departure from the habitually more public means of execution used by the authorities, and as such, represents a new and disturbing development. Indeed, OMCT is concerned of the risk to political prisoners of being subjected to similar treatment, and therefore fears for the personal integrity of the persons who have been detained as a result of numerous violent incidents and arrests during the widespread clashes between student demonstrators and government security forces on 7-8 December 2002.
According to the reports, on 7-8 December 2002, security forces deployed to control the anti-government demonstrations in various locations around Iran and resorted to disproportionate violence as well as arresting several hundred students. The security forces reportedly used chains, truncheons, knives and clubs during the beatings, and in some cases resorted to shooting. In Shiraz during the morning of 7 December, the Revolutionary Guards reportedly opened fire on the gathering of students in downtown Falakeh Setad, in order to disperse the demonstration. At the university in Teheran on 7 December, members of the Special Anti-riot Unit, the paramilitary group Bassij, Intelligence Ministry agents and Ansar-e Hezbollah forces were called in, and, according to reports attacked and beat the student demonstrators. The following day, when a demonstration comprising an estimated 30,000 protestors degenerated into violent clashes, anti-riot guards used teargas and reportedly fired weapons to disperse the crowd, whilst agents within the crowd beat demonstrators with clubs. This violence went on well into the night and resulted in many students being injured and hundreds being arrested.
The names of 51 of the arrested persons that were provided to us on December 23rd were as follows:
Ehsan Mohammadi; Ali Sayyadi; Hessam Biabani; Mohammad Khezri; Sassan Rahmani; Zahra Nazari; Mohsen Zari; Roya Kaghazi; Ali Movahhed; Sara Eghbali; Nasrin Barghi; Ali Akbari; Majid Zohouri; Nazanin Hejazi; Saba Monjeh; Asghar Rahimi; Shohreh Sanai; Saeed Akrami; Nasrin Najmi; Hassan Zeidan; Arash Keikhosravi; Behnam Amini; Medhi Pour-Rahim; Soroush Azizi; Medhi Allahyari; Kiafar Jahan; Medhi Nakhl-Ahmadi; Morteza Zavvarzadegan; Peiman Aref; Farid Salavati; Azam Bahrami; Ali Farrokhi; Tirgarnejad; Mohammad-Ali Hajari; Amin Sorous; Abolfazl Hosseinzad; Roya Hassanizad; Massoud Eidizad; Siamak Bakhshi; Reza Naderi; Moslem Faveilzadeh; Massoud Shafii; Alireza Ruygar; Soussan Khodaparast; Quassem Moghaddam; Ali Pourhamdeh; Diba Naderi; Hassan Langeh; Sirous Ashkani; Morteza Talabzad; Youness Akriali.
Some of these persons may have been released since he information was provided to us, but it is believed that many remain in detention. No further details have as yet become available.
The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned about reports that the authorities tortured and subsequently administered a lethal injection to Mr. Rostami. Furthermore, OMCT is also gravely concerned about the alleged State Security Forces’ use of unwarranted and indiscriminate force against demonstrators and fears for the physical and psychological integrity of those that have been arrested during these events. OMCT calls upon the authorities to order thorough and impartial enquiries into these incidents, identify those responsible, bring them before a civil competent and impartial tribunal and apply the penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions provided by law. Furthermore, OMCT calls upon the authorities to order the detainees’ immediate and unconditional release and guarantee that adequate reparation is provided to the victims of human rights abuses and their families.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Iran urging them to:
i. take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of the afore-mentioned detainees being held in relation with the clashes between students and the authorities in early December 2002;
ii. order their immediate and unconditional release;
iii. guarantee adequate reparation to Mr. Mohsen Rostami’s family and to all persons who were injured in the afore-mentioned clashes;
iv. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with international human rights standards.
Addresses
Note: if you have any problems getting through to the fax numbers or e-mail addresses, please use those of the Ambassador to the UN cited below.
· President Hojjatoleslam val Moslemin Sayed Mohammed Khatami, The Presidency, Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, E-mail: khatami@president.ir
· Minister of Justice, Mahmoud Hashemi Shahrudi, Ministry of Justice, Park-e Shahr, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, Fax: 98 21 879 6671
· Minister of Foreign Affairs, M. Kamal Kharrazi, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Abdolmajid Keshk-e Mesri Av, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, Fax : 98 21 390 1999
· Ambassador Mohammad Reza Alborzi, Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations in Geneva, Chemin du Petit-Saconnex 28, 1209 Geneva, Switzerland, fax: +41 22 7330203, e-mail: mission.iran@ties.itu.int
Please also write to the embassies of Iran in your respective country.
Geneva, January 28th, 2003
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.