Release of Ms. Haleh Esfandiari and fear for safety

The International Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) has received new information concerning the following situation in Iran.

New information

The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by reliable sources about the release of Ms. Haleh Esfandiari on Tuesday, 21 August 2007, after posting bail of an alleged amount of three billion Rials (approx. 240 000 Euro). The conditions of her release and the charges she may be facing are still unknown. Moreover, it is yet unclear whether her passport was given back and whether she has the permission to leave the county.

According to the information, Ms. Parnaz Azima paid a bail in May 2007 but the authorities did not return her passport. She is reportedly awaiting her trial however no date has been set. At the time of issuing the appeal, the fate of Mr. Ali Shakeri and Mr. Kian Tajbakhsh remains unknown.

The International Secretariat of OMCT welcomes the release of Ms. Haleh Esfandiari, but remains concerned about the conditions of her release. OMCT calls on the Iranian authorities to guarantee in all circumstances her physical and psychological integrity as well as of Mr. Ali Shakeri, Mr. Kian Tajbakhsh and Ms. Parnaz Azima.

Reminder of the situation

According to the information received, on 8 May 2007, Ms. Haleh Esfandiari, director of the Middle East programme at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington DC, was arrested in Tehran after being summoned for questioning by Ministry of Intelligence officials and taken to section 209 of Evin prison, where she was allowed one call to inform her relatives that she had been jailed. Mrs. Esfandiari is also a well-known advocate of dialogue between the US and Iranian governments.

Ms. Esfandiari, a 67-year-old scholar with both American and Iranian citizenship, had been in Iran visiting her 93-year-old mother when she was prevented from leaving on 30 December 2006 and her passport was taken. She was interrogated repeatedly before her arrest.

On 12 May 2007, the newspaper Kayhan accused her of spying for the US and Israel and of trying to incite a democratic revolution in the country. On 15 May 2007, the authorities would have charged her with “acting against national security”. On 29 May 2007, Mr. Ali Reza Jamshidi, Iran’s judiciary spokesman, said that Ms. Haleh Esfandiari was “formally charged” with “endangering national security” through propaganda against the system and “espionage for foreigners”. Under Iran’s Islamic sharia law, the charge could carry the death sentence.

Mr. Jamshidi further stated that the same charges had also been lodged against two other Iranian-Americans, Mr. Kian Tajbakhsh, an urban planning consultant, and journalist Ms. Parnaz Azima. No trial date was announced and Mr. Jamshidi said the Intelligence Ministry was still investigating their cases.

Mr. Kian Tajbakhsh, an Iranian-American social scientist as well as a consultant working for the New York-based Open Society Institute, was arrested at his home in Tehran by agents of the Ministry of Information and brought to section 209 of Evin prison around 11 May 2007. He would be detained in incommunicado detention, without having access to legal counsel. According to the Institute, Mr. Tajbakhsh had been helping “to facilitate public health, humanitarian assistance and urban planning projects that [they] undertook openly and with the knowledge of the Iranian government”.

Ms. Parnaz Azima, a reporter for the U.S.-funded Radio Farda, the Persian-language service run jointly by Radio Free Europe /Radio Liberty and Voice of America, has been prohibited from leaving Iran since her passport was seized in January 2007. She would have been interrogated several times since them.

Finally, another dual citizen, Mr. Ali Shakeri, is also believed to have been banned from leaving Iran.

Actions requested

Please write to the authorities in Iran urging them to:

1. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Ms. Haleh Esfandiari, Mr. Kian Tajbakhsh, Mr. Ali Shakeri and Ms. Parnaz Azima;
2. Drop any charges against Ms. Haleh Esfandiari and Ms. Parnaz Azima relating solely to the peaceful exercise of their rights to freedom of expression and association and allow them to travel freely;
3. Order the immediate release of Mr. Kian Tajbakhsh and Mr. Ali Shakeri in the absence of valid charges, or, if such charges exist, bring them before an impartial, independent, competent and fair tribunal and guarantee their procedural rights at all times;
4. Guarantee immediate and unconditionally access to their lawyers, families and any medical treatment they may require;
5. Order a thorough and impartial investigation into these events, in order to identify all those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the civil penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
6. Ensure the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international humanitarian law and human rights standards.

Addresses

• Leader of the Islamic Republic, His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei, The Office of the Supreme Leader, Shoahada Street, Qom, Islamic Republic of Iran, Faxes: + 98.21.649.5880 / 21.774.2228, Email: info@leader.ir / istiftaa@wilayah.org / webmaster@wilayah.org
• President, His Excellency 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 Mr. Mahmoud Hashemi Shahrudi, Ministry of Justice, Park-e Shahr, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, Fax: +98.21.879.6671 / +98 21 3 311 6567 / + 98 21 3390 4986, Email: Irjpr@iranjudiciary.com / info@dadgostary-tehran.ir
• Minister of Intelligence, Mr. Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie, Ministry of Intelligence, Second Negarestan Street, Pasdaran Avenue, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
• Minister of Foreign Affairs, His Excellency Mr. Manuchehr Motaki, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Abdolmajid Keshk-e Mesri Av, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, Fax: + 98.21.390.1999, Email: matbuat@mfa.gov
• Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 28 Chemin du Petit-Saconnex, 1209 Geneva, Switzerland, Fax: +41 22 733 02 03, Email: mission.iran@ties.itu.int
• Ambassador Mr. Ahani, Embassy of Iran in Brussels, 15a avenue Franklin Roosevelt, 1050 Brussels, Belgium, Fax: + 32 2 762 39 15. Email: iran-embassy@yahoo.com / secretariat@iranembassy.be

Please also write to the embassies of Iran in your respective country.

***

Geneva, 28 August 2007

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