AI Urgent Appeal Update-Mehrangiz Kar/Shahla Lahiji/Ali Afshari/Ezzatollah Sahabi
U R G E N T A C T I O N A P P E A L U P D A T E
---------------------------------------------------
Note: Please write on behalf of these people even though you may not have received the original UA when issued on May 3, 2000. Thanks!
22 February 2001
Further information on UA 103/00 issued 3 May 2000 and re-issued 6 July 2000; 18 December 2000; 17 January 2001 - ill- treatment/prisoners of conscience/medical concern
IRAN: Mehrangiz Kar (female), lawyer
Shahla Lahiji (female), publisher
Ali Afshari (male), student representative
Mehrangiz Kar, who has breast cancer, has been given permission to travel to Europe for medical treatment. She left Iran on or around 12 February, and is expected to return when the treatment is completed.
Shahla Lahiji remains free on bail, pending the outcome of her appeal against her four-year prison sentence.
Ali Afshari and Ezzatollah Sahabi (UA 182/00) are reportedly 'both back in Evin Prison'. The head of the Tehran Justice Department, Hojjatoleslam Abbas Ali Alizadeh, reportedly told this to the Article 90 Commission of the Iranian parliament, which investigates complaints by the public against all branches of the government, including the judiciary and the executive, on 30 January. The Commission had been investigating reports that both men had been held incommunicado for about a month, after they were arrested on new charges in late December 2000.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Mehrangiz Kar and Shahla Lahiji are both vocal supporters of women's and other human rights. In addition to the three people mentioned above, four other participants at the Berlin conference were sentenced to prison terms as follows: Saeed Sadr, 10 years; Khalil Rostamkhani, nine years; Ezzatollah Sahabi, four years (UA 182/00 issued June 27, 2000), Akbar Ganji, 10 years' imprisonment followed by five years in exile (follow-up on EXTRA 43/00, issued 16 January 2001). If they have been imprisoned solely because they attended the Berlin conference, Amnesty International will consider them to be prisoners of conscience. Six others who attended the conference have reportedly been acquitted.
FURTHER RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send telegrams/telexes/faxes/express/ airmail letters: - welcoming the decision to allow Mehrangiz Kar to seek medical treatment abroad;
- urging that the charges against her, Shahla Lahiji and all those convicted for their participation in the Berlin conference be dropped immediately and unconditionally, since they are prisoners of conscience;
- asking the authorities why Ali Afshari is still in custody;
- seeking assurances that he will be allowed to see his family and lawyers, and will be treated humanely in detention.
APPEALS TO:
Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran:
His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei
c/o The Presidency, Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection,
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Telegrams: Ayatollah Khamenei, Tehran, Iran
Salutation: Your Excellency
Head of the Judiciary:
His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahrudi
Ministry of Justice
Park-e Shahr
Tehran
Islamic Republic of Iran
Telegrams: Head of Judiciary, Tehran, Iran
Faxes: 011 98 21 537 8827 (number may be unreliable. A recorded message, in English, will indicate when to send fax - please send before it gives you the tone to leave a voice message)
Salutation: Your Excellency
President:
His Excellency Hojjatoleslam Sayed Mohammad Khatami
The Presidency
Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection,
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Telegrams: President Khatami, Tehran, Iran
Faxes: 011 98 21 649 5880
E-mails: khatami@president.ir
Salutation: Your Excellency
In lieu of an embassy please send copies to:
Iranian Interests Section
2209 Wisconsin Avenue NW
Washington DC 20007
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the Colorado office, if sending appeals after 5 April 2001.
New postage rates effective January 7, 2001
Domestic Rates:
First class letters, 1 ounce or less: 34 cents
Postcards: 20 cents
International Rates:
To Canada and Mexico:
Airmail letters, 1 ounce or less: 60 cents
Aerogrammes: 70 cents
Postcards: 50 cents
To all other countries:
Airmail letters, 1 ounce or less: 80 cents
Aerogrammes and Postcards: 70 cents
Remember that your letters to government officials should ideally consist of one page and the envelope, which will always keep the weight under one ounce. If you have a computer you should consider book-marking this web link: < http://postcalc.usps.gov/ > which will take you to the United States Postal Service Domestic Rate Calculator with a prominent link to its International Rate Calculator. Both will easily walk you through a few steps to determine the postage required for any envelope or package you want to send anywhere in the world.
Please read the monthly Urgent Action Network Newsletter posted on the web at: http://www.amnesty-USA.org/urgact/newslett.html
Urgent Action Network
Amnesty International USA
PO Box 1270
Nederland CO 80466-1270
Email: sharriso@aiusa.org
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgact/
Phone: 303 258 1170
Fax: 303 258 7881