Mr. Kouhyar Goudarzi sentenced to five years' imprisonment on appeal

New information

IRN 006 / 0811 / OBS 108.3

Arbitrary detention /

Judicial harassment

Iran

September18, 2012

TheObservatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme ofthe International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World OrganisationAgainst Torture (OMCT), has received new information and requests your urgentintervention in the following situation in Iran.

Newinformation:

The Observatory has been informed by the Iranian League forthe Defence of Human Rights (LDDHI) about the confirmation onappeal of the sentence of five years' imprisonment in internal exile againstMr. KouhyarGoudarzi, a member of the Committee of Human RightsReporters (CHRR).

According to theinformation received, on September 15, 2012, the Tehran Province Courtof Appeals upheld the sentence of five years’ imprisonment in internal exilethat had been issued against Mr. Goudarzi on February 26, 2012 on charges of“propaganda against the system” and “assembly and collusion against the state”(see background information)[1]. Thisverdict now places Mr. Goudarzi at risk of arbitrary arrest at any moment.

Mr. Goudarzi’s lawyer, Dr. AlizadehTabatabaei, said on September 15, 2012, that the appeals judge had told him that he would issue anacquittal verdict. However, the Ministry of Intelligence, which was in favourof a sentence against Mr. Goudarzi, exerted its influence on the decision.

The Observatory recallsthat the Iranian legislation does not provide for “imprisonment in internalexile”, i.e. a sentence to be served in a remote location within the country,far from the detainee's hometown.

TheObservatory denounces this new arbitrary verdict against Mr. Kouhyar Goudarzisince it seems to merely aim at sanctioning his legitimate human rightsactivities, amid the continuing repression of the Iranian civil society.

TheObservatory further recalls that several other human rights defenders have alsobeen detained and faced acts of judicial harassment over the past months,including Ms. ShivaNazarahari and Messrs. Saeed Jalalifar and Navid Khanjani,members of the CHRR, as well as Messrs. Hossein Ronaghi Maleki, blogger and human rights activist, Issa Saharkhiz, ajournalist and founding member of the Iranian Association for the Defence ofFreedom of Press, and Ms. Zhila Baniyaghoub, an award-winning journalist and women's rightactivist[2].

TheObservatory is all the more concerned about the fate of Mr. Kouhyar Goudarzi thatin early September 2012, Ms. Shiva Nazarahari and Ms. Zhila Baniyaghoub weretaken into custody to serve the imprisonment sentences that had been previouslyimposed on them on similar charges.

Background information:

Mr. Kouhyar Goudarzi was arrested in December 2009 and subsequentlysentenced to one year in prison on charges, among others, of “propagandaactivity against the system through effective collaboration with the Committeeof Human Rights Reporters website”, “collection and publication of biased newsagainst the system and transfer of this information to terrorist organisationsbased abroad”, as well as “interviews with foreign media and publishingarticles in websites,” pursuant to Islamic Penal Code of Iran. He served thesentence and was released on December 14, 2010[3]. On July 30 or 31, 2011, Mr. Goudarzi was again arrested in Tehran andhis whereabouts remained unknown for several weeks, which amounted to enforceddisappearance. A day after his arrest, in the morning of July 31 or August 1,2011, his mother Ms. Parvin Mokhtar’e was also arbitrarily arrested at her homein Kerman, by four plainclothes agents, without a warrant. While in detention,she was informed that she had been accused of “insulting the Supreme leader”, “propagandaagainst the regime”, and “acting against national security”, whereas she had nopolitical or human rights-related activities. In December 2011, after spendingnearly five months in Kerman prison, she was sentenced to 23 months’imprisonment on charges of “assembly, collusion, and spreading propagandaagainst the State” by the Kerman Islamic Revolution Court. On appeal, thesentence was reduced to 23 months of suspended imprisonment. She was alsosentenced to a cash fine for “insulting the martyrs”, which she paid, beforebeing released on March 18, 2012.

On February 26, 2012, Mr. Kouhyar Goudarzi was sentenced by Branch 26of the Islamic Revolution Court to five years’ imprisonment to be served ininternal exile in the remote southeastern city of Zabul. He was convicted oncharges of “propaganda against the system” because of an interview he gave to theGerman magazine Der Spiegel, in which he spokeabout his hunger strike in solidarity with prisoners and his former cellmates.He was also convicted on charges of “assemblyand collusion against the system”. Although he lodged an appeal, he remaineddetained in Section 209 of Evin prison under the control of the Ministry ofIntelligence.

On April 12, 2012, after spending more than nine months indetention including two months in solitary confinement, Mr. Goudarzi was released on bail pending his trial onappeal.

Actionsrequested:

Please write to the Iranian authorities and ask them to:

i. Guaranteein all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Kouhyar Goudarzi and ofthe aforementioned six human rights defenders, as well as all human rights defenders in Iran;

ii. Putan end to any kind of harassment - including at the judicial level -against Mr. Kouhyar Goudarzi as well as againstthe aforementioned six human rights defenders, and more generally against all human rights defenders in Iran;

iii. Releaseall the aforementioned sixhuman rights defenders immediately and unconditionally, as their detention onlyaims at sanctioning their human rights activities;

iv. Conformin any circumstances with the provisions of the Declaration on Human RightsDefenders, adopted on December 9, 1998 by the United Nations General Assembly,in particular:

- itsarticle 1, which states that “everyone has the right, individually or inassociation with others, to promote the protection and realization of humanrights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels”;

- itsarticle 5.b, which states that “everyone has the right, individually and inassociation with others, at the national and international levels, (…) to form,join and participate in non-governmental organizations, associations orgroups”;

- itsarticle 12.2 which provides that “the State shall take all necessary measuresto ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individuallyand in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitraryaction as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rightsreferred to in the present Declaration”;

v. Ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights andfundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rights standardsand international instruments ratified by Iran.

Addresses:

· Leader of the Islamic Republic, His ExcellencyAyatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei, The Office of the Supreme Leader, ShahidKeshvardoost St., Jomhuri Eslami Ave., Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran,E-Mail: info_leader@leader.ir, Faxes: + 98 21 649, + 98 21 649 / 21 774 2228, info_leader@leader.ir

· President Mr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Presidency,Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran,Fax: + 98 21 649 5880. E-Mail: dr-ahmadinejad@president.ir

· Head of the Judiciary, His Excellency Ayatollah SadeqLarijani, , Office of the Head of the Judiciary, Pasteur Street, ValiAsr Avenue, south of Serah-e Jomhouri, Tehran, 1316814737,Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, Fax: +98 21 8796671 / +98 21 3 311 6567, Email: bia.judi@yahoo.com / info@dadgostary-tehran.ir / info@bia-judiciary.ir

· Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ali Akbar Salehi,Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Abdolmajid Kushk-e Mesri Av, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, Fax:+98-21-66743149

· SecretaryGeneral, High Council for Human Rights, Mr. Mohammed Javad Larijani, [Care of]Office of the Head of the Judicary, Pasteur St, Vali Asr Ave, South of Serah-eJomhouri, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran. Email: info@humanrights-iran.ir

· H.E. Mr. Seyed Mohammad Reza Sajjadi, Ambassador,Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Chemin du Petit-Saconnex 28,1209 Geneva, Switzerland, Fax: +41 22 7330203, Email: mission.iran@ties.itu.int

· Embassy of Iran in Brussels, 15 a avenue FranklinRoosevelt, 1050 Bruxelles, Belgium, Fax: + 32 2 762 39 15. Email: iran-embassy@yahoo.com

Please also write to the diplomatic representations of Iranin your respective countries.

***

Paris-Geneva, September 18, 2012

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the codeof this appeal in your reply.

The Observatory, an OMCT and FIDHventure, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims tooffer them concrete support in their time of need.

To contact the Observatory, call theemergency line:

· E-mail:Appeals@fidh-omct.org

· Tel and fax FIDH + 33(0) 1 43 55 25 18 / +33 1 43 55 18 80

· Tel and fax OMCT + 41 (0) 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22 809 49 29

[1] SeeObservatory Urgent Appeal IRN 006 /0811 / OBS 108.2, issued on April 19, 2012.

[2] See Observatory Press Release, issued on September11, 2012

[3] While in prison, Mr. Goudarzi was awarded the 2010John Aubuchon Press Freedom Award by the US National Press Club in August2010.