Iran
20.03.02
Urgent Interventions
Iran: sentencing of Mr. Nasser Zarafchan
URGENT APPEAL – THE OBSERVATORY
New Information
IRN 004/0012/OBS 125.2
Legal condemnations
Iran
21st March 2002
The Observatory for the protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the FIDH and the OMCT, requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in the Iran.
New information :
The Observatory has been informed by the Human Rights League in Iran that, on March 18th, 2002, Mr. Nasser Zarafchan, who is the lawyer of Mrs. Sima Pouhandeh, the widow of Mohammed Djafar Pouhandeh, (writer and human rights defender, assassinated in 1998) was sentenced by the Military Tribunal of Tehran, to three years imprisonment for “possession of firearms and alcohol”. He was also sentenced to two years imprisonment for the opinions he had expressed during interviews with the press, concerning the trial dealing with the assassinations of Iranian intellectuals, which came to a conclusion in January 2001. Mr. Zarafchan appealed against the decision of the Tribunal.
Mr. Zarafchan’s trial began on November 3rd, 2001, before the Military Tribunal of Tehran. He was first arrested on December 9th, 2000, and released on bail two weeks later. During his trial, Mr. Zarafchan was arrested and then released two days later.
The Observatory considers this condemnation as arbitrary and fears that the procedure is in contradiction with the principles of a fair and impartial trial.
Action requested :
Please write to the authorities of Iran urging them to :
i. Guarantee under any circumstances the independence of justice and ensure that Mr. Zarafchan will benefit from a fair and impartial trial;
ii. Ensure that no violence, reprisals, menaces, discriminations de facto or de jure, pressures or any other arbitrary actions will be exercised against the defenders of human rights at Iran;
iii. Conform with the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 9 December 1998, in particular its article 1 which states that “everyone has the right, individually and in association with other, to promote and to strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels”;
iv. Conform with the disposals of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and of human rights regional and international instruments which bound the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Addresses :
- His Excellency Hojjatoleslam val Moslemin Sayed Mohammad Khatami, President of the Islamic Republic, The Presidency, Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection, Tehran (Iran); E-mail: khatami@president.ir
- His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahrudi, Head of the Judiciary, Ministry of Justice, Park-e Shahr, Tehran (Iran); Fax: + 98 21 879 6671
- The Iranian Embassy of your country.
Paris, Geneva, the 21st of March 2002
*************
The Observatory, a joint 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.
To contact the Observatory, call the Emergency Line:
E-mail: observatoire@iprolink.ch
Tel and fax FIDH +33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 / 01 43 55 18 80
Tel and fax OMCT + 4122 809 49 39 / 41 22 809 49 29
New Information
IRN 004/0012/OBS 125.2
Legal condemnations
Iran
21st March 2002
The Observatory for the protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the FIDH and the OMCT, requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in the Iran.
New information :
The Observatory has been informed by the Human Rights League in Iran that, on March 18th, 2002, Mr. Nasser Zarafchan, who is the lawyer of Mrs. Sima Pouhandeh, the widow of Mohammed Djafar Pouhandeh, (writer and human rights defender, assassinated in 1998) was sentenced by the Military Tribunal of Tehran, to three years imprisonment for “possession of firearms and alcohol”. He was also sentenced to two years imprisonment for the opinions he had expressed during interviews with the press, concerning the trial dealing with the assassinations of Iranian intellectuals, which came to a conclusion in January 2001. Mr. Zarafchan appealed against the decision of the Tribunal.
Mr. Zarafchan’s trial began on November 3rd, 2001, before the Military Tribunal of Tehran. He was first arrested on December 9th, 2000, and released on bail two weeks later. During his trial, Mr. Zarafchan was arrested and then released two days later.
The Observatory considers this condemnation as arbitrary and fears that the procedure is in contradiction with the principles of a fair and impartial trial.
Action requested :
Please write to the authorities of Iran urging them to :
i. Guarantee under any circumstances the independence of justice and ensure that Mr. Zarafchan will benefit from a fair and impartial trial;
ii. Ensure that no violence, reprisals, menaces, discriminations de facto or de jure, pressures or any other arbitrary actions will be exercised against the defenders of human rights at Iran;
iii. Conform with the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 9 December 1998, in particular its article 1 which states that “everyone has the right, individually and in association with other, to promote and to strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels”;
iv. Conform with the disposals of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and of human rights regional and international instruments which bound the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Addresses :
- His Excellency Hojjatoleslam val Moslemin Sayed Mohammad Khatami, President of the Islamic Republic, The Presidency, Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection, Tehran (Iran); E-mail: khatami@president.ir
- His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahrudi, Head of the Judiciary, Ministry of Justice, Park-e Shahr, Tehran (Iran); Fax: + 98 21 879 6671
- The Iranian Embassy of your country.
Paris, Geneva, the 21st of March 2002
*************
The Observatory, a joint 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.
To contact the Observatory, call the Emergency Line:
E-mail: observatoire@iprolink.ch
Tel and fax FIDH +33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 / 01 43 55 18 80
Tel and fax OMCT + 4122 809 49 39 / 41 22 809 49 29