URGENT ACTION
PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 13/119/2006
13 October 2006
Further Information on UA 123/06 (MDE 13/048/2006, 5 May 2006) incommunicado
detention/fear for safety/possible prisoner of conscience
IRAN Ramin Jahanbegloo (m),
joint Iranian/Canadian national
Ramin Jahanbegloo was
released on bail on 30 August 2006 after four months in
detention in Section 209 of Evin Prison in Tehran,
during which time he is
believed not to have had access to a lawyer.
On the evening of his release he gave a long interview to the Iranian Students’
News Agency (ISNA), the text of which can be read in Persian at
http://www.isna.ir/Main/NewsView.aspx?ID=News-780366. He told ISNA that he had
not been accused of espionage, but of acting against national security, and
having contact with foreigners. When asked if he had finally accepted the
charge that he had acted against national security, he replied, "I
accepted the
charge of acting against national security to the extent that I said that I had
been in contact with the foreigners, and that I was part of that circle. To
this extent, I accepted that I had acted against national security, but with
the proviso that I did not know that what I was doing was acting against
national security." He said that his case remained with the Prosecutor’s
Office
for investigation, but did not know whether he would be formally charged or
not. He said that he did not know the amount of bail that had been paid, but
that the deeds of two houses had been used as guarantees.
Regarding his time in detention he said he had not been subjected to
psychological or physical pressure, but he said, "The first month was very
difficult for me, because I was not used to the place and I had no visitors
either. During the following three months they put me in a solitary cell, which
had television and newspapers and where I could meet with the members of my
family and have telephone contact. I do not know whether those special
facilities were only for me or not. However, I enjoyed conditions [privileges]
that at least other prisoners who were in [such cells] did not have".
During the interview, Ramin Jahanbegloo
talked about his academic work and his
contact with foreign organizations and stated that he believed he had been
trapped into carrying out political work for American organizations. He said,
"I wrote a proposal for the Marshall Fund [which describes itself as
"a
non-partisan American public policy and grantmaking
institution dedicated to
promoting greater cooperation and understanding between the
Iranian intellectuals. I raised the issue of strengthening the civil society
and the issue of toppling [the government]…I did not think at all that I was
engaged in political work. I thought that I was engaged in intellectual work.
The plan was an abstract plan. It was not a plan for a political group, but now
I see that the outcome was different from what I had hoped. In other words, as
a person who has a clear, non-political, social and intellectual background on
the international stage, I see that my work has been misused for political
purposes."
Amnesty International is concerned that Ramin Jahanbegloo appears to have been
detained in connection with the peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of
expression and association, and that he may face the vaguely-worded and overly
broad charge of "acting against national security". If he were to be
convicted
and imprisoned solely on the basis of such charges, Amnesty International would
consider him to be a prisoner of conscience and would call for his immediate
and unconditional release. Although Amnesty International notes Ramin
Jahanbegloo’s assertion that he was not subjected to
psychological or physical
pressure, the organization is concerned that he may have been compelled to
testify against himself or to confess guilt during
interrogations which did not
respect the necessary human rights safeguards, such as the right to access to
legal counsel.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Academic Ramin Jahanbegloo,
who has joint Iranian and Canadian citizenship, was
arrested in April 2006 at
Department of Contemporary Studies at the privately-run Cultural Research
Bureau in
French on philosophy and current affairs in
contributor to international newspapers and journals in which he comments on
Iranian affairs.
On 7 May, Minister of Intelligence Gholam Hussein Mohseni Ejeie stated that
Ramin Jahanbegloo had been
arrested for "having contact with foreigners". In a
statement on 3 July carried by the ISNA, the Minister said, "Ramin Jahanbegloo
was one of the people detained concurrent with US efforts to stage a velvet
revolution in Iran …The US was planning to launch a velvet revolution in Iran,
and Jahanbegloo had a role in this respect."
On 15 July, a report in the Iranian newspaper Resalat
suggested that Ramin
Jahanbegloo had made a video-taped
"confession" which had been shown in some
Iranian "cultural circles".
"confessions" on national television. In previous cases, people who
have made
such "confessions" have later stated that such confessions were made
after they
had been tortured or ill-treated.
Rights (ICCPR), which includes the right not to be compelled to testify against
oneself or to confess guilt (Article 14.3.g). Principle 21 of the UN Body of
Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or
Imprisonment states that it should be prohibited to take undue advantage of the
situation of a detainee for the purpose of compelling him to confess or
incriminate himself.
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AI Index: MDE 13/119/2006 |
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13 October 2006 |