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Tuesday 29 January 2008

Amnesty: Torture/possible prisoners of conscience/medical concern


PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 13/015/2008 25 January 2008

UA 21/08

Torture/possible prisoners of conscience/medical concern

IRAN

Behrouz Seferi (Safari in Azerbaijani Turkic) (m), Iranian Azerbaijani
Layla Heydari (f), his wife


Iranian Azerbaijani Behrouz Seferi, who has campaigned for Iran's Azerbaijani minority to be given greater rights to use their mother tongue, is now known to have been detained without charge or trial since late May or early June 2007. His wife, Layla Heydari, has been detained since 28 August. Both are held in Tehran's Evin Prison, where they have allegedly been tortured. Neither has been allowed to consult a lawyer.

Behrouz Seferi was arrested shortly after demonstrations around the first anniversary of the publication of a cartoon in an Iranian newspaper which many Iranian Azerbaijanis found offensive. He was held in his home town of Zanjan until 4 December, when he was moved to Evin Prison.

Layla Heydari ran a shop selling Azerbaijani books, music and other cultural material until the authorities closed it down in 2006. She obeyed official warnings not to publicise her husband's arrest, but on 28 August she was summoned to visit him at the Ministry of Intelligence detention centre where he was held at the time, and was arrested. She too was moved to Evin Prison on 4 December.

Their families were allowed to visit them on 31 December, and say they think both have been tortured to make them give "confessions". Layla Heydari is apparently in poor health, suffering from severe headaches, but has been given very little medical help. She has also reportedly suffered from heart problems, and has had to be treated on the medical wing, whose staff apparently recommended that she be allowed medical treatement outside prison

BACKGROUND INFORMATION Iranian Azerbaijanis, who live mainly in the north and north-west of the country and are mainly Shi'a Muslims, are the largest minority in Iran (at least 25-30% of the population). They are increasingly demanding greater cultural and linguistic rights, including the right to education in Azerbaijani Turkic. A small minority want Iranian Azerbaijani provinces to break away from Iran and join with the Republic of Azerbaijan. The Iranian authorities view those who seek to promote Iranian Azerbaijani cultural identity with suspicion, and often charge them with vaguely worded offences such as "acting against state security by promoting pan-Turkism

In May 2006, there were massive demonstrations in towns and cities in north-western Iran in protest at a cartoon published on 12 May by the state-owned daily newspaper Iran, which many Iranian Azerbaijanis found offensive. Hundreds were arrested during and after the demonstrations. Other waves of arrests have occurred around dates significant to the Azerbaijani community, such as a boycott of the start of the academic year in September 2006; after demonstrations in February 2007 on the occasion of International Mother Tongue day; and on the anniversary of the May 2006 demonstrations."

In recent years the authorities have grown increasingly suspicious of Iran's minority communities, many of which are situated in border areas, and have accused foreign powers such as the US and UK of fomenting unrest among them.


APPEALS TO:
Leader of the Islamic Republic, His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei,
The Office of the Supreme Leader, Islamic Republic Street - Shahid Keshvar Doust Street
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: info@leader.ir
[Salutation: Your Excellency]

Head of the Judiciary, Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh / Office of the Head of the Judiciary
Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhouri, Tehran 1316814737, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: info@dadgostary-tehran.ir (In the subject line write: FAO Ayatollah Shahroudi)
[Salutation: Your Excellency]

Minister of Intelligence, Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie
Ministry of Intelligence, Second Negarestan Street, Pasdaran Avenue, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
[Salutation: Your Excellency]

PLEASE SEND COPIES OF YOUR APPEALS TO:
His Excellency Mr Rasoul Movahedian,
Embassy of Islamic Republic of Iran, 16 Prince's Gate, London SW7 1PT.
Fax: 020 7589 4440
Email: info@iran-embassy.org.uk

AND, IF POSSIBLE, TO THE FOLLOWING: (Time difference = GMT + 3.5 hrs / BST + 2.5 hrs)
President, His Excellency Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
The Presidency, Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: dr-ahmadinejad@president.ir
via website: www.president.ir/email

Speaker of Parliament, His Excellency Gholamali Haddad Adel
Majles-e Shoura-ye Eslami, Baharestan Square, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: 0098 21 3355 6408
Email: hadadadel@majlis.ir (Please ask that your message be brought to the attention of the Article 90 Commission)

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY

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