IRANIAN WOMEN ASYLUM SEEKERS ARE
BEATEN BY THE GERMAN POLICE
Condemn the German Government’s Violations of Refugee Rights
New York City, December 23, 1999: The German government’s refugee rights violations have reached unprecedented heights. Last month in Nurenberg, the German police violently beat four Iranian women asylum seekers, namely Roya Mosayebi, Laleh Saadat, Nosrat Hajsoltani, and Zohreh Firuzan, in order to forcibly veil them. The police then took pictures of the wounded women for completion of their files at the Iranian Embassy in order to facilitate their deportation (refoulement) to Iran. In another incident in Bremen, the German police doctored an unveiled picture of Jamileh B. with a computer for the same purpose.
Subsequent outrage at these acts has prompted the Bremen authorities to back down. However, in response to Roya Mosayebi’s complaint to the Arnsbach court, that court has found that the Nurenberg authorities “acted in accordance with the law.” In its haste to further legitimize the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Arnsbach court has confused German laws with that of the Islamic Republic’s. It is in the Islamic Republic of Iran (and now in Germany) that women are imprisoned, beaten, tortured and forcibly veiled.
The brutal acts against Mosayebi and the others are a continuation of the German government’s policy of blatantly supporting one of the most heinous regimes of this century. The German government has revealed that it will do anything, including routinely re-victimizing the survivors of two decades of sexual apartheid, to further its economic and political interests.
The International Federation of Iranian Refugees (IFIR) calls on individuals and groups to resolutely condemn the German government’s violations of refugee and human rights and demand: * an end to deportations to Iran, * asylum for all women and others fleeing the Islamic Republic of Iran, * “refugee sur place” status to the five women and others whose lives and security have been endangered because they have become known to the Iranian authorities for their protests and political opposition activities in Germany, and * full social benefits for asylum seekers and an end to the policy of denying social benefits to those who have received deportation writs.
Send your protest letters, e-mails, and faxes to the following government officials:
* Josef Fischer, Foreign Minister; address: Platz der Republik 1, 11011 Berlin, Germany; e-mail: www.bundestag.de/btengver/mail/mail.htm; fax: +49 228 17 30 33.
* Otto Schily, Interior Minister; address: Platz der Republik 1, 11011 Berlin, Germany; e-mail: www.bundestag.de/btengver/mail/mail.htm; fax: +49 30 39 81 29 26.
* Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) and the Christian Social Union (CSU): e-mail: fraktion@cducsu.bundestag.de, oeffentlichkeitsarbeit@cdu.de, innenpolitik@cdu.de.
* Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD): e-mail: einewelt@spd.de, jusos@spd.de, parteivorstand@spd.de, redaktion@spd.de, gerhard.schroeder@spd.de, fax: +49 288 164 6800.
* Free Democratic Party (FDP): e-mail: webmaster@liberale.de.
* Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS): address: Jagerstr. 67, 10117, Berlin, Germany; e-mail: nowak@bt.pds-online.de, bundesgeschaeftsstelle@pds-online.de, parteivorstand@pds-online.de, redaktion@pds-online.de; fax: +49 30 24 11 04 6.
* Alliance 90/The Greens: address: Luisenstr. 32-34, 10117 Berlin, Germany; e-mail: info@gruene-fraktion.de; fax: 49 30 22 75 65 52.
* Jürgen Chrobog, Ambassador; German Embassy; address: 4645 Reservoir Rd., Washington, DC 20007-1998; e-mail: ge-embus@ix.netcom.com, gic1@germany-info.org; fax: (202) 298-4249 or 333-2653.
Send copies of your protest letters to IFIR at GPO, PO Box 7051, New York, NY 10116. Fax: 212-425-7260. E-mail: ifiric@aol.com.
Only united protests will push back the
German government’s assault on refugee
rights and unequivocally defend
those seeking protection.
SAMPLE LETTER
Date
* Josef Fischer, Foreign Minister; address: Platz der Republik 1, 11011 Berlin, Germany; e-mail: www.bundestag.de/btengver/mail/mail.htm; fax: +49 228 17 30 33.
* Otto Schily, Interior Minister; address: Platz der Republik 1, 11011 Berlin, Germany; e-mail: www.bundestag.de/btengver/mail/mail.htm; fax: +49 30 39 81 29 26.
* Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) and the Christian Social Union (CSU): e-mail: fraktion@cducsu.bundestag.de, oeffentlichkeitsarbeit@cdu.de, innenpolitik@cdu.de.
* Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD): e-mail: einewelt@spd.de, jusos@spd.de, parteivorstand@spd.de, redaktion@spd.de, gerhard.schroeder@spd.de, fax: +49 288 164 6800.
* Free Democratic Party (FDP): e-mail: webmaster@liberale.de.
* Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS): address: Jagerstr. 67, 10117, Berlin, Germany; e-mail: nowak@bt.pds-online.de, bundesgeschaeftsstelle@pds-online.de, parteivorstand@pds-online.de, redaktion@pds-online.de; fax: +49 30 24 11 04 6.
* Alliance 90/The Greens: address: Luisenstr. 32-34, 10117 Berlin, Germany; e-mail: info@gruene-fraktion.de; fax: 49 30 22 75 65 52.
* Jürgen Chrobog, Ambassador; German Embassy; address: 4645 Reservoir Rd., Washington, DC 20007-1998; e-mail: ge-embus@ix.netcom.com, gic1@germany-info.org; fax: (202) 298-4249 or 333-2653.
I / my organization am / is writing to condemn the German government’s violations of refugee and human rights. I am outraged that several Iranian women were forcibly veiled in order to facilitate their deportation to the Islamic Republic of Iran where a system of sexual apartheid rules. I / my organization demand(s) that the German government respect Iranian refugee rights by:
· ending deportations to Iran
· granting asylum to all women and others fleeing the Islamic Republic of Iran
· granting “refugee sur place” status to the five women and others whose lives and security have been endangered because they have become known to the Iranian authorities for their protests and political opposition activities in Germany, and,
· providing full social benefits to asylum seekers who have received deportation writs.
Signed: ______________________________
Name: ______________________________
Organization (if any): ______________________________
Address: ______________________________
E-mail: ______________________________
CC: IFIR, GPO, PO Box 7051, New York, NY 10116. Fax: 212-425-7260. E-mail: ifiric@aol.com
We, the undersigned, condemn the German government’s violations of refugee and human rights and are outraged that several Iranian women asylum seekers were beaten and forcibly veiled in order to facilitate their deportation to the Islamic Republic of Iran where a system of sexual apartheid rules. We demand that the German government respect Iranian refugee rights by ending deportations to Iran, granting asylum to all women and others fleeing the Islamic Republic of Iran, granting “refugee sur place” status to the women and others whose lives and security have been endangered because they have become known to the Iranian authorities for their protests and political opposition activities in Germany, and, providing full social benefits to asylum seekers who have received deportation writs.
Send the petition to: the International Federation of Iranian Refugees (IFIR), GPO, PO Box 7051, New York, NY 10116. Tel: 212-747-1046. Fax: 212-425-7260. E-mail: ifiric@aol.com. Web Site: www.hambastegi.org.