Saturday, November 28, 2009
Abuses in Iran
Journalist Held without Charge in Notorious Tehran Prison
By Ulrike Putz and Mathieu von RohrFariba Pajooh has been held in Tehran's notorious Evin Prison since she was arrested in August, with no access to an attorney. No charges have been filed against the Iranian journalist.
When she received the call from the intelligence service, Fariba Pajooh knew that it didn't bode well for her. We want to talk to you, they told her. It was supposedly just an informational meeting.
The men came to pick her up a few days later, on Aug. 22, the first day of Ramadan. Pajooh had spent the entire day at home with her mother, preparing the evening meal. She only left the house for a short time to buy some sweets. When she returned, she was being accompanied by three men.
The men were polite, says the mother. They spent an hour searching drawers and cupboards and checking the computer. They allowed the mother and daughter to break the fast together. Trembling with fear, the pair ate dates and drank tea. Then the men said that Pajooh had to come with them, but only for an hour. They promised the mother that they would treat her as if she were their own daughter. But they were lying.Harsh Crackdown
Since that day in August, Pajooh, 29, a petite woman with an attractive, girlish face, has been incarcerated in Tehran's notorious Evin Prison, in section 209, which is controlled by the intelligence service. She is one of more than 100 journalists and bloggers the regime ordered arrested in the wake of the widespread protests against the fraudulent elections that brought President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad back into power. But few have been locked up for as long as Pajooh, whose case makes it abundantly clear just how harshly the regime is cracking down on journalists.
In prison, Pajooh is suffering from severe depression and stress-related cardiac arrhythmia. Her parents were not permitted to see her during the first month of her incarceration. Now they are allowed to visit on Mondays, although they are often turned away. Pajooh's current attorney has not been given access to her at all. It was only after Pajooh had been imprisoned for two months that the lawyer even learned of the charges being leveled against her client: initially espionage, followed by "propaganda against the regime."
Pajooh is part of the generation of Iranians who have been striving for freedom since their youth. She was arrested for the first time at 18. She became a journalist, writing for reform-oriented publications, government news agencies and newspapers -- not about politics, but about Iran's social problems.
She was detained a second time in 2008, when she sought to travel to the United States for the presidential election there. When this year's protests against the Iranian regime rocked the country, Pajooh worked around the clock. She also worked as a translator for a Colombian correspondent, which made her even more suspicious to the authorities. She knew that she was in danger, she told friends, but insisted that she only wanted a better future for Iran.
"The pen is the enemy of ignorance," she wrote in her blog, a few days before she was arrested. "My pen is the friendliest of the friendly. I have conspired with my pen."
Demoralizing Conditions
Pajooh spent the first month of her captivity in a "grave," the word Iran's prisoners use to describe the tiny underground cells at Evin Prison, which is almost a city unto itself, hidden behind high walls on a hill above Tehran. She was not kept in any of the wards controlled by the Basij militias, from which reports of torture and rape have reached the outside world. But the loneliness of solitary confinement is demoralizing. Several times a day, the prisoners are taken to interrogations, where they are beaten and subjected to body searches.
After a while, prisoners learn to distinguish among their interrogators, identifying them by their shoes, which they can see despite being blindfolded, and by how aggressive they are. The interrogators berate, threaten and beat the prisoners, and then they try to entice them with the promise of freedom if they agree to confess.
After a month, Pajooh was moved to the above-ground section of the prison, where she shared a cell with another journalist, Hengameh Shahidi. The two women staged a hunger strike at the end of October and were taken to the infirmary after five days. Shahidi was released, but Pajooh was moved to a new cell.
The cell where she is now kept together with a handful of other prisoners is only about 10 square meters (around 100 square feet), with a tiny porthole providing daylight. The temperature drops to freezing at night. Pajooh needs to take eight pills every day: three for her heart, three antidepressants and two sleeping pills.
Empty Promises
Farideh Pajooh, the mother, says that Fariba is still being interrogated daily, sometimes until 11 in the evening. As young as she is, says the mother, her daughter already has a lot of white hairs. Her mental state is very worrying, the mother says.
The mother has spent the last three months going from one government office to the next, where she has heard many empty promises. Human rights organizations have become involved, but nothing has happened. The hearing of evidence was supposedly completed days ago, but a trial date has yet to be set.
Last week, the desperate family staged an eight-hour sit-down strike at the Revolutionary Court. When they were finally allowed to speak with Tehran's chief prosecutor, Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, he told them that he would look into the matter. Another promise.
Translated from the German by Christopher Sultan
Friday, November 20, 2009
UN resolution on Iran sends powerful message on human rights
UNITED NATIONS – The approval today of a strongly worded resolution on human rights in Iran sends a powerful signal to the Iranian government that the world is gravely concerned about how Iran treats its citizens, said the Baha'i International Community.
The resolution, approved by a vote of 74 to 48 by the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly, expressed "deep concern at serious ongoing and recurring human rights violations in the Islamic Republic of Iran." The list of violations included oppressive measures taken after the June presidential election and "increasing discrimination" against minority groups, including Baha'is.
"This year's resolution – which is among the most forcefully worded in more than 25 years of resolutions on Iran – sends a potent message to the government there, stating vigorously that the international community will not turn a blind eye to human rights violations," said Bani Dugal, the principal representative of the Baha'i International Community to the United Nations.
"The General Assembly identifies numerous violations, including the use of torture, the repeated abuse of legal rights, the violent repression of women, and the ongoing discrimination against minorities, including Baha'is, who are Iran's largest religious minority and are persecuted solely because of their religious belief," she said.
The resolution also expresses concern over the treatment of "Arabs, Azeris, Baluchis, Kurds, Christians, Jews, Sufis and Sunni Muslims and their defenders."
"The resolution also sharply condemns Iran's severe curbs on freedom of expression and its use of violence to silence dissent after the presidential election in June," said Ms. Dugal. "We can only hope that, given the severity of the resolution's expression, Iran will at long last heed the international community's recommendations and change its ways."
The resolution, which was put forward by Canada and cosponsored by 42 other countries, calls on Iran to better cooperate with UN human rights monitors, such as by allowing them to make visits to Iran, and asks the UN secretary general to report back next year on Iran's progress at fulfilling its human rights obligations.
Noting the turmoil that followed the presidential elections, the resolution devoted eight paragraphs to express "particular concern" about oppressive measures used by the government to suppress dissent. It noted specifically the persecution of journalists, human rights defenders, students and "others exercising their rights to peaceful assembly and association."
It also noted the "use of violence" against "Iranian citizens engaged in the peaceful exercise of freedom of association, also resulting in numerous deaths and injuries." And it criticized the holding of "mass trials and denying defendants access to adequate legal representation."
It makes extensive mention of the persecution of Baha'is, expressing concern over "attacks on Baha'is and their faith in State-sponsored media, increasing evidence of efforts by the State to identify, monitor and arbitrarily detain Baha'is, preventing members of the Baha'i Faith from attending university and from sustaining themselves economically."
The resolution also notes the continued detention of seven Baha'i leaders who were arrested in March and May 2008, stating they have faced "serious charges without adequate or timely access to legal representation."
For the Baha’i World News Service home page, go to:
http://news.bahai.org
______________________________
Copyright 2009 by the Baha'i World News Service. All stories and photographs produced by the Baha'i World News Service may be freely reprinted, re-emailed, re-posted to the World Wide Web and otherwise reproduced by any individual or organization as long as they are attributed to the Baha'i World News Service. For more information, go to http://news.bahai.org/terms-
UNITED NATIONS – The approval today of a strongly worded resolution on human rights in Iran sends a powerful signal to the Iranian government that the world is gravely concerned about how Iran treats its citizens, said the Baha'i International Community.
The resolution, approved by a vote of 74 to 48 by the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly, expressed "deep concern at serious ongoing and recurring human rights violations in the Islamic Republic of Iran." The list of violations included oppressive measures taken after the June presidential election and "increasing discrimination" against minority groups, including Baha'is.
"This year's resolution – which is among the most forcefully worded in more than 25 years of resolutions on Iran – sends a potent message to the government there, stating vigorously that the international community will not turn a blind eye to human rights violations," said Bani Dugal, the principal representative of the Baha'i International Community to the United Nations.
"The General Assembly identifies numerous violations, including the use of torture, the repeated abuse of legal rights, the violent repression of women, and the ongoing discrimination against minorities, including Baha'is, who are Iran's largest religious minority and are persecuted solely because of their religious belief," she said.
The resolution also expresses concern over the treatment of "Arabs, Azeris, Baluchis, Kurds, Christians, Jews, Sufis and Sunni Muslims and their defenders."
"The resolution also sharply condemns Iran's severe curbs on freedom of expression and its use of violence to silence dissent after the presidential election in June," said Ms. Dugal. "We can only hope that, given the severity of the resolution's expression, Iran will at long last heed the international community's recommendations and change its ways."
The resolution, which was put forward by Canada and cosponsored by 42 other countries, calls on Iran to better cooperate with UN human rights monitors, such as by allowing them to make visits to Iran, and asks the UN secretary general to report back next year on Iran's progress at fulfilling its human rights obligations.
Noting the turmoil that followed the presidential elections, the resolution devoted eight paragraphs to express "particular concern" about oppressive measures used by the government to suppress dissent. It noted specifically the persecution of journalists, human rights defenders, students and "others exercising their rights to peaceful assembly and association."
It also noted the "use of violence" against "Iranian citizens engaged in the peaceful exercise of freedom of association, also resulting in numerous deaths and injuries." And it criticized the holding of "mass trials and denying defendants access to adequate legal representation."
It makes extensive mention of the persecution of Baha'is, expressing concern over "attacks on Baha'is and their faith in State-sponsored media, increasing evidence of efforts by the State to identify, monitor and arbitrarily detain Baha'is, preventing members of the Baha'i Faith from attending university and from sustaining themselves economically."
The resolution also notes the continued detention of seven Baha'i leaders who were arrested in March and May 2008, stating they have faced "serious charges without adequate or timely access to legal representation."
For the Baha’i World News Service home page, go to:
http://news.bahai.org
______________________________
Copyright 2009 by the Baha'i World News Service. All stories and photographs produced by the Baha'i World News Service may be freely reprinted, re-emailed, re-posted to the World Wide Web and otherwise reproduced by any individual or organization as long as they are attributed to the Baha'i World News Service. For more information, go to http://news.bahai.org/terms-
Thursday, November 05, 2009
- Theft at the Baha’i cemetery in Sangsar
- November 4th, 2009
- According to HRANA [Human Rights Activists News Agency], based on reports from the Baha’i Committee of Human Rights Activists in Iran, unidentified persons took one of the two large water tanks at the Baha’i cemetery in the city of Sangsar (near Semnan) in the past few days.
This type of water tank is very large and holds a considerable volume of water. Moving it without proper equipment and a crane is impossible. It is noteworthy that the road leading to this cemetery has been closed by the Municipality of Sangsar for a while now, and access has been restricted to Municipality personnel only.
[Source: http://hra-news.info/news/8275.aspx; Translated by Iran Press Watch]
Comments (3) - Court order for the arrest and imprisonment of a Baha’i woman in Semnan
- November 4th, 2009
- According to HRANA [Human Rights Activists News Agency], based on reports from the Baha’i Committee of Human Rights Activists in Iran, Mrs. Manizheh Manzavian, a Baha’i in Semnan, who was arrested and detained during the month of Khordad of the current year [May-Jun 2009] and subsequently released on bail [see http://www.iranpresswatch.org/post/4091], has been sentenced to three years and six months of imprisonment by the [Islamic] Revolutionary Court of the city of Semnan, presided over by Judge Zangui.
The charges brought against Mrs. Manizheh Manzavian, as stated, include activities against [National] security by teaching the Baha’i Faith, as well as membership in an organization opposing the Islamic regime and related to the Baha’is. It is important to note that Mrs. Manizheh Manzavian was previously a member of the informal administrative committee of the Baha’is of Semnan which, in the last month of Esfand [Feb-Mar 2009], was shut down by order of the Prosecutor of the Islamic Revolutionary Court, after which she had had no further activities [in the Baha’i administration].
[Source: http://hra-news.info/news/8276.aspx; Translated by Iran Press Watch]
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Iran Press Watch: The Baha'i Community
Kidnapping and Torture of a Baha’i in Shiraz
Posted: 03 Nov 2009 08:33 AM PST
A Baha’i has been kidnapped, persecuted, and tortured by unknown individuals in Shiraz.
According to HRANA [Human Rights Activists News Agency], based on reports from the Baha’i Committee of Human Rights Activists in Iran, Mr. Rouh’u’llah Rezaie, a 45-year-old Baha’i in Shiraz, was stopped, kidnapped, and moved to an unknown place as he was returning home, to his wife and child, from a gas station early in the morning on 8/8/1388 [October 27,2009]. There, he was threatened, insulted, and subjected to a simulated hanging in a show-execution. He was left naked in extreme cold, and different parts of his hands, chest, and forehead were burnt by cigarettes. Finally, he was released on a road in the suburbs of Shiraz.
It should be noted that Mr. Rezaie was imprisoned for five years in 1360 [1971], when he was 18, in Adel Abad prison in Shiraz. He has endured the most terrible conditions and all possible physical and psychological pressure due to his religious beliefs.
[Source: http://hra-news.info/news/8174.aspx; Translated by Iran Press W
Kidnapping and Torture of a Baha’i in Shiraz
Posted: 03 Nov 2009 08:33 AM PST
A Baha’i has been kidnapped, persecuted, and tortured by unknown individuals in Shiraz.
According to HRANA [Human Rights Activists News Agency], based on reports from the Baha’i Committee of Human Rights Activists in Iran, Mr. Rouh’u’llah Rezaie, a 45-year-old Baha’i in Shiraz, was stopped, kidnapped, and moved to an unknown place as he was returning home, to his wife and child, from a gas station early in the morning on 8/8/1388 [October 27,2009]. There, he was threatened, insulted, and subjected to a simulated hanging in a show-execution. He was left naked in extreme cold, and different parts of his hands, chest, and forehead were burnt by cigarettes. Finally, he was released on a road in the suburbs of Shiraz.
It should be noted that Mr. Rezaie was imprisoned for five years in 1360 [1971], when he was 18, in Adel Abad prison in Shiraz. He has endured the most terrible conditions and all possible physical and psychological pressure due to his religious beliefs.
[Source: http://hra-news.info/news/8174.aspx; Translated by Iran Press W
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