HAMBASTEGI No. 84

September 1999

 WE ARE ALL OF THEM

By Maryam Namazie

International Federation of Iranian Refugees (IFIR) Director

September 16, 1999

 The Islamic Republic of Iran has declared the execution orders for four individuals who were involved in the July protests. We do not know who the four are, how many others have been tried in sham courts, how many have already been executed, and how many have been given long-term prison sentences, to be executed at later dates. Many of those who have fled after the repression following the July protests have contacted the International Federation of Iranian Refugees (IFIR). They say many more have disappeared, many more tortured, many more killed, and many more former political prisoners re-arrested than imaginable. The extent of this regime’s brutality and Islamic justice will only become clear to the world with its demise.  

These Iranian refugees, scarred psychologically and physically from two decades of terror, are the Islamic Republic’s biggest export. They are now in Turkey, Iraq, Greece, Cyprus, Pakistan, in detention centers in the United States and in holding centers in Europe. And while the persecuted grapple to gain protection in countries which have effectively deemed Iran safe, Iranian Foreign Minister Kharrazi travels the globe to secure international investments in an attempt to delay the regime’s downfall.

 On September 20, Kharrazi will be in New York City for a UN General Assembly meeting and on the 25th, he has invited some Iranians to the UN to dine with him. There will be some who will toast the regime of mass murder for their own self-interests – to further their investments, businesses, research, or seminars and panels. There will be many innumerable more, however, with other interests – a better life, who will be waiting for another opportunity to pull this regime under.

 What is the responsibility of those of us living abroad? We must unite against one of the most criminal regimes of this century. We must side with the four and all other prisoners who are threatened with execution. We must, with all our might, defend those who are sentenced to die.

 We are all of them.

JOIN IFIR’S CAMPAIGN TO FREE POLITICAL PRISONERS IN IRAN

September 14, 1999

An Iranian Revolution Court secretly handed down death sentences of four unnamed individuals for their participation in the demonstrations in July 1999. Gholamhossein Rahbarpour, head of Tehran’s revolution courts, announced that two of the execution orders had been confirmed by the Supreme Court and two others were under review. His remarks were the first public indication that "trials" had already been completed for some of those arrested in connection with the protests. 

The protests began on July 8, 1999 when students gathered outside university hostels in Tehran to oppose new laws further curbing the government-controlled press. Armed members of the Ansar-e-Hezbollah and the regime's security forces attacked students, stormed their residences, threw students out of windows, and set rooms on fire. On subsequent days, the size and nature of the demonstrations changed, with many others joining the protests.  

Despite a ban on demonstrations in Tehran, protests continued and spread to other cities. Six days of protests in 18 cities in Iran shook the very foundation of the Islamic Republic of Iran. For six days, tens of thousands came to the streets and called for an end to repression and an end to the Islamic Republic of Iran. Slogans heard in the streets included: "Political Prisoners Must Be Released," "Down, Down Mullah's Rule, Down," Cannons, Tanks, and Machine Guns, Don't Have Effect Anymore," and "People, the Rebellion Has Begun." 

The regime responded in its usual manner – with mass arrests, threats, intimidation, disappearances, torture, forced confessions, and murder. As a result of the ensuing repression, many were injured and at least nine people whose names have been recorded were killed. They include: Ezzatollah Ebrahim-Nezhad, Mohammad Javad Farhangi-Bostanabadi, Tami Hamifar, Naimi, Sohrabian, Yavari and Zakeri. On August 1, Behrooz Farajzadeh, a 53-year-old worker shot in the neck, died in hospital. Mahmoud Khabasian also died in hospital from a gunshot wound to his head. Khabasian's brother suffered a stroke and died when told of his brother's death. Iranian authorities have said one person died in the protests.  

According to Gholamhossein Rahbarpour, the head of Tehran's revolutionary courts, 1,500 (some reports say 1,400) people were arrested in connection with the demonstrations in Tehran alone. Rahbarpour said many were later released, but only on bail pending their "trials." Hundreds more remain in prison or have disappeared, some even from their hospital beds, and are presumably held by the authorities. Those in prison have been subjected to prolonged interrogations, beatings, torture, and have been forced to sign false confessions while blindfolded or to provide videotaped confessions extracted under torture. Though the regime has attempted to portray an atmosphere of normalcy to diffuse local and international outrage and solidarity in defense of the political prisoners, there is a continued wave of arrests. IFIR has also received reports of numerous people who have gone into hiding or fled the country.

 The following list is a compilation of confirmed or unconfirmed political prisoners – women, men, and youth - obtained from various sources: 

Mehran Abdolbaghi, Hamid Aghajani, Golaleh Ahmadi, Amin Alipour, Mandana Arjomand, Afshin Bagheri, Forough Bahmanpour, Mehdi Bazazadeh, Faramarz Beiki, Khaled Rostam Zadeh Boukani, Maryam Danaii Broomand, Ahmad Darvish, Majid Deldar, Razgar Ghaderpoor Eghdam, Kamelia Entekhabi-Fard, Seyed Djavad Emami, Elaheh Emir Entezam, Mehdi Fakhrozadeh, Roozbeh Farahanipour, Ghorbanali Faraji, Hossein Ghadyani, Javad Ghahremani, Mohammad Ghandi, Amrollah Mir Ghasemi, Mehran Gorkani, Morteza Hadadi, Ali Hamidi, Ali Heydari, Mohamad Reza Heydari, Mir Reza Heydari, Seyed Mohamad Hosseini, Shirin Shah Hosseini, Kaveh Jaberi, Amir Saeed Jahani, Faramarz Jafari, Kiyanoush Jahanpour, Behieh Jilaani, Abbas Karami, Loghman Karbassi, Mohamad Reza Karbassi, Abdolbaghi Kashani, Mohammad Reza Kasraii, Mohammad Eghbal Kazerouni, Minoo Khadivar, Farima Kolahi, Mohammad Majidi, Esmaeil Moftizadeh, Manuchehr Mohammadi, Gholamreza Mohajeri-Nezhad, Farzin Mokhber, Davoud Ahmadi Mounes (Armin), Samad Mousavi, Davood Movahedi, Anahita Najafi, Ahmad and / or Bahram Namazi, Ms. Nasiri, Obaidi, Hejber Pelaschi, Monir Radnia, Saeed Rasoulian, Mehrnoosh Rostamian, Mohammad Masood Salamati, Baig Baler Saneei, Khosrow Seif, Maryam Shansi (Malous Radnia), Parviz Safari, Safarifar, Mohammad Salary, Salbi, Hamid Samandar, Shoshtari, Maryam Taadi, Ahmad Tahmassebi, Afshin Tajian, Ali Tavakoli, Mazdak Kark Yaraghi, Jalil Yekrangi, Mehdi Zahedghavi, Hossein Zahmatkash, Alireza Zamani, Hamid Zarafiniya, and Hassan Zarezadeh.

Clearly, many more are being held, including former political prisoners who are often the first to be harassed, intimidated and detained in any uprising or crisis situation. The Intelligence Ministry has said that it is holding "bandits, trouble-makers, anti-revolutionaries, atheists, criminals and saboteurs."

 Political prisoners, named and unnamed, have been imprisoned and tortured because of their opposition to repression and the absence of basic human rights in Iran. They must be immediately and unconditionally released.

 The regime has threatened the protesters with execution. Any false distinctions between Khatami's and Khamenei's faction have withered away in order to maintain the Islamic Republic of Iran. Khatami has stated that "deviations will be repressed with force and determination." Hassan Rohani, the first vice-speaker of the Majles (parliament) and secretary of the Supreme Council of National Security (SCNS) has said that those who "have revolted against the sacred state will be dealt by relevant tribunals and treated as enemies of god and corrupts." Such charges are counter-revolutionary offenses with mandatory death sentences.

 Despite the regime’s brutality, the people of Iran have risen demanding a better life. Those outside of Iran must create such an outpouring of solidarity that even the execution capital of the world, the Islamic Republic of Iran, cannot deny political prisoners in Iran their lives and unconditional freedom.

 Join IFIR’s Urgent Action Campaign which began in August 1999 to obtain the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners in Iran.

·         Condemn the Islamic Republic of Iran for its repression and denial of basic human rights

·         Demand the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners, including those arrested during the July 1999 protests

·         Demand unconditional freedom of assembly, association and expression

Send your protest letters, resolutions and petitions to Ali Khamenei and Mohammad Khatami, at the Presidency, Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection, Tehran, Iran. E-mail: Iranemb@salamiran.org; khatami@president.ir. Send a copy of your letters to IFIR (e-mail: ifiric@aol.com; fax: 212-425-7260).

 Our international outrage can defend basic human rights and the lives and safety of innumerable human beings.

RESOLUTION

 Whereas,

·         The Islamic Republic of Iran has repressed the July 1999 protests of students and people in 18 cities in Iran;

·         At least nine men and women have been killed by the regime;

·         Over a thousand women, men and youth have been arrested, subjected to prolonged interrogations, beatings, torture, and have been forced to sign false confessions while blindfolded or to provide videotaped confessions extracted under torture;

·         There is a continued wave of arrests of former political prisoners and others;

·         The regime has threatened the protesters with execution;

Thus,

·         We condemn the Islamic Republic of Iran for its repression and denial of basic human rights;

·         We demand the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners, including those arrested during the July 1999 protests;

·         We demand an end to executions, and

·         We demand unconditional freedom of assembly, association and expression.

IFIR HELD ITS EIGHTH CONFERENCE IN GERMANY

August 1999

 IFIR held its eighth annual conference during July 22 to 25 in Germany. Nearly one hundred members, representatives and guests from Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States participated. During the conference, the IFIR Secretariat and branches reported on and evaluated their activities and passed resolutions and a future framework of action for the organization. At the conference, Soraya Shahabi’s leadership over the past several years was commended. Maryam Namazie was elected as IFIR’s new Director. Namazie selected Keyvan Javid as the IFIR Deputy Director and Behruz Milani as the Editor of Hambastegi (Persian). Majid Behroozi, Farshad Husseini, Yedi Mahmoodi, Fakhri Naderi, Laili Panahi, and Nader Sharifi were later selected to join the International Secretariat.

IFIR NEWS

August and September 1999

 IRAQ 

·         On September 16, Iranian refugees in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, began a sit-in at the UNHCR. The 30 families, many of whom have been in Iraqi Kurdistan for several years, are demanding resettlement to a safe third country. IFIR will soon begin a campaign in support of their demand.  

·         Yedi Medmoudi, an IFIR Secretariat member who spent several months in Iraqi Kurdistan on mission, returned in August 1999 with detailed information on the alarming plight of Iranian refugees. While there, he provided technical assistance to IFIR branches in Soleimaniyeh and Erbil, advocated with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on behalf of Iranian refugees, and helped obtain the release of IFIR activists arrested by the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iraq. IFIR will provide a report of the mission in the next issue of Hambastegi. 

·         In August 1999, Halaala Hadi, a 23 year old woman activist and armed guard of the first women’s shelter in Iraqi Kurdistan was murdered by her ex-husband. During the 1990’s, at least 4,000 women have been killed in Northern Iraq as a result of domestic or organized violence as well as "honor" killings. IFIR condemns Hadi’s murder and calls on all groups and individuals to support the women’s shelter and demand an end to violence against women in Iraqi Kurdistan. For more information, contact Shiva Mahbobi, the International Campaign in Defense of Women’s Rights in Iran, 1052 Pape Ave., PO Box 60087, Toronto, ONT., M4K 3Z3, Canada.

TURKEY 

·         In September, IFIR received reports that the presence of the Islamic Republic of Iran has greatly increased in the border town of Van and that the regime’s agents were intimidating refugees to divulge information on other refugees, on IFIR activists, as well as to "persuade" refugees to return. IFIR reported the incident and asked the UNHCR and international organizations to intervene on behalf of those at risk. 

·         In September, following a live interview with Maryam Namazie and Keyvan Javid with the Voice of America, IFIR was inundated with calls from refugees in various countries who had fled after the July protests. 

·         In August, IFIR activists in a Turkish town called Hakkari informed the Secretariat that the police were physically and psychologically abusing refugees residing in that town. Refugees were being summoned to the police station on a daily basis and beaten. After one refugee failed to show up, the abuse worsened. IFIR intervened on their behalf.