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MDE 13/084/2008 – 17 June 2008
UA 169/08 IRAN
Arbitrary arrest / fear of torture or ill-treatment
Mahboubeh Karami (f), aged 40, journalist and women’s
rights defender
and about 200 others
Mahboubeh Karami, journalist and women’s rights
defender, was removed from a bus and arrested by plain
clothed security forces on 13 June. The bus that
Mahboubeh Karami was on travelled past Mellat Park,
Tehran shortly after a demonstration had been held
there. About 200 other people are known to have been
arrested in connection to the demonstration. Amnesty
International is not aware of any violence on the part
of the protesters. The current whereabouts of all,
including Mahboubeh Karami, are unknown and they are at
risk of torture or other ill-treatment.
Deutsche Welle (in Persian at http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3412526,00.html),
quoting Iranian news agencies, reported that security
forces used tear gas and electric shock batons to
disperse the protestors. Check points were set up by
security forces in Vali Asr Street which runs alongside
the park. Car drivers were told to keep their vehicles
moving and their windows up. Several public buses were
stopped and boarded by plain clothed officers including
the one Mahboubeh Karami was travelling on.
Prior to her bus being boarded Mahboubeh Karami used her
cell phone to call her mother, Ms Mosa'edi, and tell her
that she was on a bus coming from Tajrish Square
(north-east of Mellat Park), but was stuck in traffic.
Twenty minutes later, Mahboubeh Karami called again and,
as it was happening, told her mother that she was being
removed from the bus and that her coat had been pulled
off. The cell phone was then disconnected and her family
have been unable to reach her on it since.
Ms Mosa’edi told the Campaign for Equality that her
daughter’s bag was found in the street by a fellow
passenger who returned it to her family and informed
them that all the women passengers had been taken off
the bus even though, as far as he could see, none had
been part of the demonstration as they were all sitting
on the bus.
Mahboubeh Karami's brother visited the Vozara detention
centre to enquire about his sister. At the centre many
relatives of those who had been arrested were there to
find out about their relatives’ location and welfare,
but all were told that there was no information.
According to the Campaign for Equality, Rezvan Moghaddam,
a friend of Mahboubeh Karami, visited Vanak Square to
see if she was in a detention centre there. She was also
unable to uncover any news of Mahboubeh Karami’s
whereabouts.
At a news conference on 14 June, the Head of the Tehran
Judiciary, Ali Reza Avaie, confirmed that 200 people had
been arrested. According to Deutsche Welle, he said that
those who were innocent or suspected of minor crimes
would hear about the status of their cases within a
week.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Those demonstrating in Mellat Park were protesting about
the arrest on 11 June of Abbas Palizdar, who had accused
several senior Iranian officials of financial corruption
in speeches he made at universities in Hamedan and
Shiraz in May. He was a member of a parliamentary
Judicial Inquiry and Review Committee that had conducted
an investigation into affairs of the Judiciary.
RECOMMENDED ACTION
Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in
Persian, Arabic, English, French or your own language:
- expressing concern at the reports that around 200
people, including Mahboubeh Karami, were arrested on 13
June following an apparently peaceful demonstration;
- calling on the authorities to clarify the names and
current whereabouts of all those arrested;
- urging the authorities to ensure that none of those
arrested are tortured or otherwise ill-treated while in
detention;
- calling for all those detained to be allowed immediate
access to their families, lawyers of their choice and to
any medical treatment they may require;
- calling for the immediate release of all those
detained unless they are charged with recognisably
criminal offences and brought to trial promptly and
fairly.
APPEALS TO
Head of the Judiciary in Tehran;
Mr Ali Reza Avaie;
Karimkhan Zand Avenue,
Sana’i Avenue, Corner of Ally 17, No 152,
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran;
Email: avaei@Dadgostary-tehran.ir
Salutation: Dear Mr Avaei
President;
His Excellency Mahmoud Ahmadinejad;
The Presidency,
Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection,
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran;
Email: dr-ahmadinejad@president.ir
via website: www.president.ir/email
COPIES TO
Head of the Judiciary;
Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi;
Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh,
Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave.,
south of Serah-e Jomhouri,
Tehran 1316814737, Islamic Republic of Iran;
Email: info@dadgostary-tehran.ir
(In the subject line write: FAO Ayatollah Shahroudi)
Salutation: Your Excellency
Director, Human Rights Headquarters of Iran;
His Excellency Mohammad Javad Larijani;
Howzeh Riassat-e Ghoveh Ghazaiyeh
(Office of the Head of the Judiciary),
Pasteur St, Vali Asr Ave.,
south of Serah-e Jomhuri,
Tehran 1316814737, Iran;
Fax: +98 21 3390 4986
(please keep trying);
Email: fsharafi@bia-judiciary.ir
(In the subject line: FAO Mohammad Javad Larijani),
int_aff@judiciary.ir
(In the subject line: FAO Mohammad Javad Larijani)
Ambassade de la République Islamique d'Iran,
Thunstrasse 68,
Case postale,
3000 Berne 6.
Fax: 031 351 56 52
E-mail:
secretariat@iranembassy.ch
Iran-Emb@bluewin.ch
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check if sending appeals after 29 July 2008
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Amnesty International | Schweiz/Suisse
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www.amnesty-ua.ch |
ua@amnesty.ch | Tel/Tél 031 307 22 22 | Fax
031 307 22 33
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