URGENT ACTION
PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 13/116/2006
03 October 2006
UA 265/06 Arbitrary detention/fear for safety/possible prisoner of
conscience
IRAN Keyvan Rafi'i (m),
human rights defender
Kheyrollah Derakhshandi
(m), member of the Alumni Association of Iran and
former student activist
Abolfazl Jahandar (m),
journalist and former student activist
Dr Keyvan Ansari (m),
Central Council member of the Alumni Association
of Iran
The four men named above, all human rights defenders or former student
activists, are all believed to be detained in Section 209 in Evin Prison in
Tehran, where they are at risk of torture or ill-treatment. None of those
detained has been granted access to a lawyer. They may be prisoners of
conscience, held solely on account of their defence of human rights or their
peaceful political activities.
Keyvan Rafi’i is the
spokesman in
Activists in
for his arrest are not known, but it is feared it may be in connection with his
activities to publicize human rights violations in
September, he was granted a short family visit during which he complained to
his family about the conditions in which he is being held. He has reportedly
been on a hunger strike since 23 September in protest at his continued
detention without charge and his treatment in detention.
Kheyrollah Derakhshandi, a
graduate in industrial management, and Abolfazl
Jahandar were reportedly arrested on 19 August, along
with two other men who
were later released. Abolfazl Jahandar
was a member of the general council of
the Office for Fostering Unity (Daftar-e Tahkim-e Vahdat), a student
organization, before his graduation and is now a journalist who writes for the
website Pooya News (www.pooyanews.com). On 29 August,
Kheyrollah Derakhshandi’s
father reportedly said, "we have not been able to have any contacts with
him
since he was arrested. The entire family has gathered in front of Evin prison a
number of times but we were told that we don't have permission to see him…our
only information came from one of the representatives of the
Court
Since then, Kheyrollah Derakhshandi
has reportedly been granted a family visit,
but it is not clear whether Abolfazl Jahandar has received a visit from his
relatives.
Dr Keyvan Ansari was
reportedly arrested on 18 September outside his house. He
is a member of the Alumni Association of Iran (Sazman-e
Danesh Amukhtegan-e
Iran-e Eslami [Advar-e Tahkim-e Vahdat]). He was able to
telephone his family
some time later and reportedly said that he was being held in solitary
confinement in Section 209 of Evin Prison. His family
has not yet been allowed
to see him.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
On 5 September Iran's President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, gave a speech to a
selected group of students, saying, "Our education system has been under
the
influence of secular and arrogant thinking for 150 years in a way that
self-belief and identity were ignored and efforts were made to promote a
secular system and secular thoughts in society… I tell young people that
changing the secular teaching regime that has dominated for 150 years is a
difficult thing … We need to do it together. Measures have been taken before,
but it is not sufficient". A number of students have been denied
permission to
return to university for the new academic year, apparently because of their
political activities.
Sayed Ali Akbar Mousavi-Kho’ini,
the Head of the Alumni Association of Iran,
has been detained without charge in Section 209 since 12 June 2006 and has
reportedly been tortured and ill-treated (see UA 181/06, MDE 13/075/2006, 30
June 2006, and follow-up). The Alumni Association, whose membership is open to
graduates of Iranian universities, has been active in promoting democracy and
human rights in
security forces on 18 September, and computers and other office equipment was
seized. The association’s website, www.advarnews.com, which posted news about
the student movement and human rights, was forced to close, but has since
reopened on www.advarnews.us.
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AI Index: MDE 13/116/2006 |
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3 October 2006 |