URGENT ACTION
PUBLIC AI Index: MDE
13/103/2006
20 September 2006
Further Information on UA 215/06 (MDE 13/089/2006, 09 August 2006) Fear for
safety/Medical concern/Torture
IRAN Ahmad Batebi (m) aged 28, former student
activist
Former student activist Ahmad Batebi is now known to
be held in Evin prison in
the capital,
times. He called off his hunger strike shortly after his family's first visit
to him in detention on 21 August. However, he is still said to be seriously
mentally and physically ill. Prison authorities are reportedly denying him
access to the medical treatment he needs.
Ahmad Batebi was re-arrested on 27 July after failing
to return from a period
of temporary leave from prison, which began around March 2005. He is serving a
10-year sentence in connection with involvement in student demonstration in
1999. Following his re-arrest his family was not told where he was detained
until 12 August, when he was permitted to telephone his wife, Somaie Baiienat,
and confirm that he was held in Section 209 of Evin
prison. His family have
only been permitted to visit him three times. During their first two visits,
Ahmad Batebi's family were accompanied by four prison
guards, although their
third visit, on 18 September, was reportedly less heavily supervised. Ahmad
Batebi is not permitted to see his lawyer.
Ahmad Batebi is reportedly in poor physical and
mental health, which is said to
be deteriorating. He suffers from a number of medical problems as a result of
being tortured and ill-treated during his previous period of detention,
including stomach and kidney problems. He has lost some of his teeth, and has
permanent hearing problems and poor vision. He has suffered from repeated lung
infections and breathing difficulties.
Despite the seriousness of his medical condition, prison authorities are
allegedly not permitting Ahmad Batebi to receive any
medical treatment beyond a
few pain killers. According to a press report, Dr Hesam
Firouzi, Ahmad Batebi's
doctor, wrote to the authorities on 6 August stating that his patient was at
risk of paralysis or heart attack, and needed to receive specialist treatment
outside prison.
Ahmad Batebi has reportedly been subjected to
psychological ill-treatment since
his re-arrest. He is reportedly denied the opportunity to see daylight, and is
forced to wear a blindfold during exercise sessions in the prison yard.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Hundreds of people, including Ahmad Batebi and fellow
student activists Akbar
Mohammadi and his brother Manuchehr
Mohammadi, were arrested following violent
clashes in
demonstrations. Dozens faced torture and ill treatment in incommunicado
detention, followed by manifestly unfair trials and imprisonment. The events
leading up to the violence began on 8 July 1999, when a small number of
students gathered in a peaceful demonstration outside their university to
protest against the closure of the daily newspaper Salam.
Ahmad Batebi was detained and sentenced to death on
charges relating to
endangering national security following an unfair and secret trial by a
prison term by
sentence was reduced to 10 years on appeal in early 2000. Around March 2005,
Ahmad Batebi was reportedly temporarily released, in
order to allow him to get
married. The period of leave was then extended, but Ahmad Batebi
failed to
return to prison after it had expired. On 23 June 2005, an interview with Ahmad
Batebi appeared in the
Ahmad Batebi as being "currently on the run,
avoiding the authorities in
On 28 June 2005, a Judiciary spokesperson announced that an arrest warrant for
Ahmad Batebi had been issued after he had failed to
return to prison at the
expiry of his leave.
Ahmad Batebi suffers from a number of medical
problems as a result of being
tortured and ill-treated during his previous period of detention.
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