Iran
26.10.04
Urgent Interventions
Iran: Legal proceedings against Emadeddin Baghi
URGENT APPEAL - THE OBSERVATORY
IRN 001 / 1004 / OBS 075.1
New Information
Legal proceedings
Iran
October 26, 2004
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), has received new information concerning the following situation in Iran and requests your urgent intervention.
New information:
The Observatory has been informed by the Iranian League for the Defence of Human Rights (LDDHI) that the suspensive character of the one year prison sentence pronounced by the Revolutionary Tribunal of Tehran in December 2003 against Mr. Emadeddin Baghi was lifted on October 17, 2004.
Mr. Baghi is the President of the Society for Defending Prisoners' Rights. He was also the editor-in-chief of a daily newspaper, Jomhouriyat (Republic), closed in September 2004, in which he regularly published articles on human rights issues.
The Court made its decision in absentia. This decision follows the publication by Mr. Baghi of articles against the death penalty. He has 20 days to appeal against this judgement.
The Observatory is very concerned about this judicial decision which aims at sanctioning Mr. Baghi's freedom of expression and violates the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, in particular its article 6.b, which provides for the right “to freely publish, impart or disseminate to others views, information and knowledge on all human rights and fundamental freedoms”.
Reminder of the facts:
Mr. Baghi had been prevented to leave Tehran on October 4, 2004 in order to participate in the Second World Congress Against the Death Penalty, organised by Penal Reform International and Ensemble Contre la Peine de Mort (Together Against the Death Penalty) in Montreal, Canada, from 6 to 9 October, 2004. In addition, his passport had been confiscated at the airport, which made it impossible for him to leave the country.
Mr. Baghi already spent three years in prison – from 2000 to 2003 – for his articles on the political assassinations of 1998.
Actions requested:
Please write to the authorities of Iran urging them to:
i. guarantee Mr. Baghi's right to a fair trial in appeal, so that he be acquitted, the charges against him being arbitrary;
ii. give him back his passport immediately;
iii. end all forms of harassment and restrictions on human rights defenders in Iran, and guarantee in all circumstances that human rights defenders and organisations are able to carry out their work, including through participation in international human rights events;
iv. ensure the implementation of the provisions of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted by the UN general Assembly on December 9, 1998 in particular 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 level", and articles 5 and 6.b above mentioned;
v. guarantee the respect of human rights in accordance with the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and other international human rights instruments ratified by Iran.
Addresses :
Paris - Geneva, October 26, 2004
Kindly inform the Observatory of any action undertaken quoting the code number of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory, an 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 / 43 55 18 80
Tel and fax: OMCT : + 41 22 809 49 39 / 809 49 29
E-mail : observatoire@iprolink.ch
IRN 001 / 1004 / OBS 075.1
New Information
Legal proceedings
Iran
October 26, 2004
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), has received new information concerning the following situation in Iran and requests your urgent intervention.
New information:
The Observatory has been informed by the Iranian League for the Defence of Human Rights (LDDHI) that the suspensive character of the one year prison sentence pronounced by the Revolutionary Tribunal of Tehran in December 2003 against Mr. Emadeddin Baghi was lifted on October 17, 2004.
Mr. Baghi is the President of the Society for Defending Prisoners' Rights. He was also the editor-in-chief of a daily newspaper, Jomhouriyat (Republic), closed in September 2004, in which he regularly published articles on human rights issues.
The Court made its decision in absentia. This decision follows the publication by Mr. Baghi of articles against the death penalty. He has 20 days to appeal against this judgement.
The Observatory is very concerned about this judicial decision which aims at sanctioning Mr. Baghi's freedom of expression and violates the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, in particular its article 6.b, which provides for the right “to freely publish, impart or disseminate to others views, information and knowledge on all human rights and fundamental freedoms”.
Reminder of the facts:
Mr. Baghi had been prevented to leave Tehran on October 4, 2004 in order to participate in the Second World Congress Against the Death Penalty, organised by Penal Reform International and Ensemble Contre la Peine de Mort (Together Against the Death Penalty) in Montreal, Canada, from 6 to 9 October, 2004. In addition, his passport had been confiscated at the airport, which made it impossible for him to leave the country.
Mr. Baghi already spent three years in prison – from 2000 to 2003 – for his articles on the political assassinations of 1998.
Actions requested:
Please write to the authorities of Iran urging them to:
i. guarantee Mr. Baghi's right to a fair trial in appeal, so that he be acquitted, the charges against him being arbitrary;
ii. give him back his passport immediately;
iii. end all forms of harassment and restrictions on human rights defenders in Iran, and guarantee in all circumstances that human rights defenders and organisations are able to carry out their work, including through participation in international human rights events;
iv. ensure the implementation of the provisions of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted by the UN general Assembly on December 9, 1998 in particular 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 level", and articles 5 and 6.b above mentioned;
v. guarantee the respect of human rights in accordance with the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and other international human rights instruments ratified by 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 / 21 774 2228 (ask fax to be forwarded to Ayatollah Khamenei), Email: webmaster@wilayah.org; (on the subject line write: For the attention of the office of His Excellency, Ayatollah al Udhma Khamenei, Qom
- President, His Excellency Hojjatoleslam val Moslemin Sayed Mohammad Khatami, The Presidency, Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, Fax: + 98 21 649 588, E-mail: khatami@president.ir
- Head of the Judiciary, 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
- Minister of Foreign Affairs, 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 7330203, E-mail: mission.iran@ties.itu.int
Paris - Geneva, October 26, 2004
Kindly inform the Observatory of any action undertaken quoting the code number of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory, an 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 / 43 55 18 80
Tel and fax: OMCT : + 41 22 809 49 39 / 809 49 29
E-mail : observatoire@iprolink.ch