IHRWG- Chronicle Vol 1, #4

I R A N H U M A N R I G H T S C H R O N I C L E

an IHRWG digest of Human Rights in Iran

Vol. 1, No. 4, August 1999


Editorial
---------

The past three months witnessed a number of major Human Rights related
events in Iran. The most publicized of these was the attack by vigilante
groups on Tehran University dormitories in July, which sparked off six
days of student protests culminating in riots. These attacks (which
followed a much milder version that took place in May) resulted in a
number of people being killed or injured, as well as hundreds of arrests.
We will issue a special supplement to the Chronicle, dedicated entirely
to the above events, in September.

The other major stories included the revelation of the names of four
suspects (and the reported suicide of the alleged mastermind) in
the extrajudicial killings of dissidents late last year. These revelations
were followed by a controversial report on the killings themselves.
The arrest of thirteen Iranian Jews on charges of spying for Israel
(a charge that carries the death penalty) led to international protests
and pleas to the Iranian government for their release.

As usual, there were numerous executions and instances of cruel punishments
(floggings and amputation). Assaults on the freedom of expression
continued unabated. A new controversial law, confirming the power
of the Guardian Council to vet candidates in elections (a clear
violation of the people's right to participate, directly or indirectly,
in the government of their country) created much heated debate.

In this issue, the latest developments in the following areas are
covered:


- Extrajudicial Killings - updates
- Freedom of Speech
- Persecution of Religious Minorities
- Executions, Death Sentences and Cruel Punishments
- Political Violence
- Free Elections
- Discrimination Against Women
- Children's Rights
- Torture
- Iranians abroad
- Other Human Rights News


Extrajudicial Killings - updates
--------------------------------

After more than five months since it last provided any information
about the extrajudicial killings of five political dissidents (see
the February and May 1999 issues of the Chronicle for coverage of
the case), the government finally provided some more details on the
matter. On June 20, Hojatoleslam Mohammad Niazi, the head of the judicial
organization of the armed forces disclosed the names of four agents of
the Ministry of Intelligence who were allegedly involved in the murders
of the political dissidents. The four were identified as Mostafa Kazemi,
Mehrdad Alikhani, Khosrow Barati and Saeed Emami.

At the same time, however, Mr. Niazi announced that Saeed Emami,
one of the four suspects, had committed suicide while in custody by
swallowing a hair-removal substance. According to Mr. Niazi, Saeed
Emami had "confessed" to being involved in the murders. He added that
the motive for those suspected of being behind the murders was "to face
the system with problems at international and local scenes and engage
senior officials of the system and the government with such issues."
Mr. Niazi also stated that 23 people had so far been "prosecuted" and
33 others were also "involved in the case as informed persons and
witnesses."

Far from shedding light on the mysteries surrounding the murders of
dissidents, Mr. Niazi's statements led to more suspicions about the
government's investigations into the matter. It was not clear why the
names of the rest of the arrested suspects, or their ranks in the
Ministry of Intelligence, were not provided. Mr. Niazi stated that 23
poeple had been prosecuted, but no detail of these 'trials' was
provided. Mr. Niazi alluded to Saeed Emami's confessions, yet the
contents of those confessions were not revealed.

Even more suspicious, as might be expected, was the "suicide" of
Emami, who was later referred to as the mastermind behind the
killings. A number of Iranian newspapers, quoting forensic
pathologists, claimed that Emami's "suicide" occurred on June 16 and
not June 19 as Mr. Niazi had claimed. A number of physicians, jurists
and lawyers were quoted as saying that the hair-removal substance
('Vajebi' in Persian) is "not that poisonous, that it is very difficult
to swallow it and if taken, it immediately provokes nausea." Moreover,
prisoners are offered a limited quantity of the product which is not
enough to provoke death. Mr. Akbar Ganji, a journalist who spent three
months in Evin prison said prisoners there are allowed one five minute
bath a week that is supervised by guards.

Most shocking was the claim by the Manateq-e Azad daily on
June 30 that "The name (Saeed Emami) was not in the computer of
the cemetery and the cemetery officials forbade the newspaper reporter
from following up the issue due to security reasons." The newspaper
added, "Was Saeed Emami the dead man who was buried in Behesht-e Zahra
last week?"

On August 4, more than six weeks after the above conference, a
statement was released by Mr. Niazi's organization, providing
more details about the case. Saeed Emami (Eslami) was stated to
be "the main mastermind behind the serial killings" and, for the
first time, a photograph of him was released. Emami was identified
as deputy Minister of Intelligence. As with Mr. Niazi's June 20
conference, and the earlier report back in January, the killings were
attributed to a group of "rogue" Ministry of Intelligence agents.

The statement claimed that "five months prior to the first murder ...
the agents embarked on identification of their subjects," adding
that the suspects had plans to assassinate leading political figures
too. The statement went on to say that "the agents first planned to
commit the murders collectively, through explosion or by a machine-gun
fire at a gathering, but later changed their mind and murdered their
subjects individually in a cruel and atrocious manner in an attempt to
provoke people's sentiments and distort [the] image of the system." One
of the suspects was quoted as saying that the reason for the killings was
to distort the image of the system and isolate the country from the
international scene, as well as to sow discord in the country.

The statement also added that the agents had confessed that they
had planned to falsely attribute the murders first to the
Islamic Revolution Guards Corp. (IRGC) and then to former Minister
of Intelligence Qorbanali Dorri-Najafabadi, "in an attempt to suggest
that the killings had been carried out by the government and the system."


The statement said that "23 people were prosecuted as those accused
in connection with the case but following investigations, a number of
them who proved having played no role in the murders were released on
bail. However, the main agents, except for one who committed suicide,
are under detention and investigations are underway."

The statement then made a length reference to Saeed Emami's alleged
suicide. It claimed that Emami attempted to commit suicide "on six
different occasions since May 3, 1999, but each time he was saved by
officials in charge of watching him." It said that Emami had once said
in an interrogation that he had learnt methods of suicide from a spy,
who had already killed himself after his arrest." The officials claimed
in the statement that "measures were adopted to prevent Emami from committing

suicide," and that he was "under round-the-clock surveillance at the
prison." His behavior was monitored by "installing a camera in the cell
and keeping another culprit in Emami's cell. On June 16, "the watch officer
led Emami to [the] bathroom but due to ethical reasons the officer neglected
his mission for a few minutes and turned his eyes away" which gave Emami
the chance to swallow the depilatory substance. The statement added
that the officer took Emami out of the bathroom and informed the guard
officer and prison officials. Emami was immediately transferred to
prison's clinic and then to a specialized hospital but ... died 72 hours
later on June 19 of severe injuries caused by the poisonous substance.


The statement said "the watch officer and the prison officials had
been reprimanded for their carelessness in controlling Emami and
for providing him with the substance."

The August 4 statement, more than anything, appears to be aimed at
providing explanations (albeit not very convincing ones) to the
numerous questions that have been raised by the public and
the press regarding these murders. For example, the spate of murders
took place a few months after General Rahim Safavi, the head of the
Islamic Revolution Guards Corp (IRGC), made his infamous threat to
"cut the neck and tongues" of "counter-revolutionaries." Many in the
public and the press questioned if he (and the IRGC) were involved in
the murders. The August 4 statement seeks to show that the arrested
suspects tried to falsely blame the IRGC. Similarly, the lengthy
explanations regarding Emami's attempts (and finally success) at killing
himself seem to be a reaction to the numerous questions (some of which
were quoted above) that were raised by an unconvinced public and press.

As noted in our statements of December 13, 1998 and January 25, 1999,
the IHRWG believes that the methodical killings of dissident writers
and activists are the work of a death squad with the tacit, if not direct,
support of some centers of power in Iran. By dragging their feet on
carrying through with proper investigations into these murders, by
refusing to provide the public with all the information about the case,
by refusing to hold public and fair trials for the arrested suspects,
and by making disingenuous claims that the murders were part of a
foreign plot, the government authorities will only increase suspicion
among the population. This would create a breeding ground for all kinds
of rumors, making it increasingly difficult to learn the truth,
provide justice and uphold the rights of victims and suspects alike.


Freedom of Speech
-----------------

The violations against the basic principle of freedom of expression,
over the past three months, were by no means limited to the attacks
on the students covered in the previous section. As usual, there
were numerous closings of newspapers, as well as fines and temporary
arrests and imprisonment of journalists, as listed below.

May 30: Fereydoun Verdinejad, director of the Islamic Republic News Agency
(IRNA) was released from a six-hour detention after posting a bail
of Rls. 180 Million. Vardinejad faces some 30 complaints filed
against him by state-run television, some 20 members of the
parliament and the police. Exact details of the charges were not
made clear but a cartoon (printed in a paper belonging to the IRNA
group) which implied that the television programs should be flushed
into a toilet appears to have been one motive for his detention.

May 31: Mohammad Reza Zohdi, managing editor of the daily 'Arya', was
released from Evin prison after posting a bail of Rls. 21 Million.
Zohdi had been arrested on May 29 following complaints of
defamation, dissemination of false information, publishing military
secrets and inciting public opinion, filed against
him by the armed forces.

May 31: Issa Saharkhiz, a former official of the Ministry of Culture
and Islamic Guidance in charge of the local press, was put on
trial on charges of allowing the banned newspaper 'Zan' to
publish a special supplement while under a suspension order.
Saharkhiz was being tried by a special court for civil
servants. Saharkhiz argued that the court order against Zan was
a suspension, not a total ban. He also questioned whether the
court trying him had the legal right to address media offenses.

June 13: The biweekly 'Hoviyyat-e Kheesh' was banned after publishing
only three issues. The Revolutionary Court of Tehran announced
that the paper had been accused of insults and defamation against
the "main principles of the Islamic Republic's system."
Hosseyn Kashani and Heshmatollah Tabarzadi, the managing director
and Editor-in-Chief, respectively, of the paper, were
summoned to court for publishing "deceitful and offensive"
articles. Tabarzadi was formerly a director of 'Payam-e
Daneshjou', a paper that was banned three years ago.

(There have been subsequent reports by Amnesty International that
both men were imprisoned at Evin prison, then taken to an unknown
location for 20 days where they were allegedly tortured, before
being brought back to the prison. AI added "A number of their
associates, including Mohammad Massod Salamati, Seyed Djavad Emami
and Parviz Safari, were arrested on or around 13 July, and taken
to an unknown location.")

June 23: Saaid Hajarian, publisher of the 'Sobh-e Emruz' daily newspaper,
was interrogated for several hours by a Teheran court over
"having expressed doubts" regarding Islamic values in reply to a
reader's question, according to DPA. The interrogation session
lasted five hours. Hajarian was formerly a deputy of the Minister
of Intelligence.

June 27: A committee of the Majlis proposed to ban Iranian journalists
from talking to foreign "radios which are hostile to Iran." The
ban was apparently aimed at Radio Free Europe and Israel's
state-run radio. Iranian dissidents residing in Iran have
on occasion phoned Persian language broadcasts of foreign
radios to express their criticisms of the government. On August 3,
a bill was introduced in the Majlis to prosecute anyone who
speaks with "foreign embassies, missions, government organizations
parties and the mass media at any level and in any form detrimental
to the freedom, independence and national unity and interests" of
Iran.

June 27: President Mohammad Khatami demanded that cases involving
the media be removed from Revolutionary Courts and be
heard before special press juries. Khatami reiterated that "the
constitution has pointed out two instances where there is a
need for a jury, that is press violations and with regard to
political crimes, so that the rights of both society and the
individual are not violated." Khatami's remarks were a
reaction to numerous cases in which journalists have been
interrogated, arrested and fined by the Special Revolutionary
Courts (see above and in the past issues of the Chronicle for
examples). These courts offer fewer protections for defendants
than the general courts and have no provision for jury trials.

July 7: The daily 'Salam' was banned (see section above on Attacks on
Students for more details). On July 25, the Special Court for
the Clergy found Mohammad Mousavi-Khoeiniha, the publisher of
'Salam', guilty of printing classified material and defamation.
The eight members of the jury which returned the guilty verdict
were appointed by the judge himself! On August 4, Khoeiniha was
suspended from journalistic activities for three years, and
'Salam' itself was banned for five years. Khoeiniha was also
sentenced to prison and lashes both were suspended in light of
his "revolutionary credentials." Khoeiniha was a spiritual leader
of the students who took over the US embassy in Tehran in 1979.
He was also a leader of the Iranian pilgrims in Saudi Arabia
which clashed with Saudi police in the late 1980's, leaving 400
people dead.

July 7: The Majlis passed a bill to further restrict freedom of the
press. The bill, which was passed by 125 votes to 90, with
55 members abstaining, stated that "national security-related"
press offenses would be handled by the Special Revolutionary
Courts rather than the press courts (see preceding item on
the differences between the two). Individual journalists as well
as directors of publications would be legally responsible for
violations of the press law. Also, the new bill forces journalists
to reveal their sources, and bars opposition journalists and
editors from "any form of press activities." During the course
of the debate on the bill in the Majlis, Marziyeh Vahid-Dastjerdi,
a member who spoke in favor of the bill, said that "giving unlimited
freedom to the newspapers will lead to dictatorship," a statement
that was remarkably irrational! President Khatami and his entire
cabinet stated their opposition to the new law.

July 20: Kazem Shokri, editor of 'Sobh-e-Emrouz' newspaper, was arrested
on charges of having authorized the publication of an article
"offensive to the Koran." He was released on bail on August 12.

July 20: Five journalists, identified as Mohsen Armin ('Zan'), Maryam Nadi
('Khordad'), Farima Kalami ('Khordad'), Zahmatkesh ('Neshat')
Najafi ('Azad') were arrested on charges of involvement in the recent
riots in Tehran (see section on Attacks on students).

August 1: Soheil Karimi and Reza Monjazipour from 'Jebheh' newspaper
were arrested. No reasons were given for their arrests. They
were freed two days later

August 2: Camelia Entakhabi-Fard, a reporter for the 'Zan' daily which
was closed down earlier this year, was arrested. The charges
against her were not announced.

August 2: Abbas Abdi, an editor of the banned daily 'Salam' went on trial
before the Qom Revolutionary Court on charges of accusing his
critics of secretly backing improved relations with the United
States of America. "Abdi's trial comes after numerous complaints
by religious students at many seminaries, ... and a group of
citizens," chief revolutionary court prosecutor Hossein Naqavi
said. He was freed the next day on Rls. 200 Million bail.

August 3: The domestic press department of the Ministry of Culture and
Islamic guidance warned the daily 'Qods' newspaper for "insulting"
two senior clerics in its July 31 issue. In that issue, 'Qods'
had criticized two clerics for the statements that they had
issued regarding the attacks on university students (see
relevant section above).

August 16: The disciplinary court of the prosecutor's office announced that
the verdict issued by judge Saeed Mortazavi, presiding over branch
1410 of the press court, was against the laws of the nation as his
final verdict was issued without the presence of the jury and the
accused. A criminal suit was filed against Mortazavi according to
article 26 of the court's code of conduct. Since last February, the
press court had been suspended due to the verdict issued by
Mortazavi which was void of legal standing.

We remind our readers that the fact that IHRWG is protesting the bans
on various publications and harassment of journalists is in no way
an endorsement of their political views or ideological beliefs. The
freedom of expression is a fundamental right which should be enjoyed by
all citizens regardless of their political convictions. We are also
protesting the unfair judicial process in which journalists are tried
as well as the ludicrous nature of the 'crimes' attributed to them.


Persecution of Religious Minorities
-----------------------------------

The arrest of a number of Iranian Jews on charges of espionage (which
in Iran is punishable by death) was one of the most highly publicized
(in the outside press, that is) events of the past three months. The
arrests of 13 Iranian Jews became public in late May, when it was
reported by a number of foreign publications. It is believed
that the actual arrests took place sometime in March, in the city of
Shiraz. There were reports that the arrests were made initially on
charges of financial misdeed, which were later changed to charges of
spying for Israel. The 13 arrested Iranian Jews have been identified
as follows:

Navid Balazadeh, 16
Nejat Beroukhim, 35
Farhad Seleh, 30
Shahrokh Paknahad, 29
Ramin Farzam, 35
Farzad Kashi, 30
Faramarz Kashi, 34 (brother of above)
Aasher Zadmehr (aka Shekasteh Band), 48
Nasser Yaghoub Levy Haim (Leveeim), 45
Javeed Beit Yaghoub, 40
Ramin Nemati, possibly 22
Danny Tefileen, possibly 28
Omid Tefileen, possibly 25 (brother of above)

The arrests of 13 people on charges of espionage were confirmed on
June 9 by the director general of the Iranian intelligence service
in the southern province of Fars. On June 10, Hamid-Reza Assefi,
spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reaffirmed that
the 13 will be put on trial. On June 15, however, the Iranian
mission to the United Nations issued a press release indicating that
more than 13 people, some of whom were Muslims, had been arrested
on espionage charges. It is not clear whether this amendment to
previous IRI statements was made in the face of mounting international
pressure on the IRI to respect the rights of its minorities, or not.

Earlier, on June 12, President Khatami told a gathering of revolutionary
guards that it was his "personal obligation to safeguard the security
and rights of every single member of religious minorities living in
Iran."

On June 28, there were unconfirmed reports that Iran had told
the office of German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder that nine of the
thirteen detained Jews were not spies.

As of this writing, all thirteen Jews remain imprisoned, and no
date has been set for their trials. No further names of people
(Jewish or Muslim) detained in addition to the 13 have been
provided.

The IHRWG calls on the IRI to immediately release all of those who
have been arbitrarily arrested. If clear and specific charges are
brought against them, then it must hold public and fair trials for
those charged.


Executions, Death Sentences and Cruel Punishments
-------------------------------------------------

We recorded sixteen executions over the last three months, although the
true number of figures is probably much higher.

May 28: Nour-Ahmad Shahbakhsh, Rahmat Shahbakhsh, Anvar Shahbakhsh,
Abdolhamid Shahbakhsh and an unnamed fifth man were hanged in
Zahedan on drug trafficking charges.

May 28: Eight men were hanged in Torbat-e jam on drug trafficking charges.

June 21: Mojtaba Nazar Abadi and Kambiz Naderi (Garavandi) were hanged in
Kermanshah for armed robbery at two banks.

August 8: Behzad Mahmoudipour-Kamachali, who was convicted of killing
Taher Mir-raje'i in a dispute on March 7 1997, was executed in
Lahijan.

The opposition Mojaheddin Khalq Organization alleged that a number of
political prisoners were executed over the past few months as follows:

May 13: Abbas Afradeh, aged 18, was hanged from a construction crane
in the city of Bandar Abbas.

mid-May: Two "Kurdish political prisoners", Mostafa Qaderi and Mohammad
Amin Chamak, were hanged in Orumieh prison. They had been
imprisoned several years ago.

May 18: Three men identified as Namdar, Faraj and Mojtaba, were hanged
in Tehran's Qasr prison. Two "Kurdish dissidents", Ibrahim
Sharifi and Javad Reza'i, were executed in Saqqez prison.

The IHRWG has not been able to confirm or dismiss these allegations.
While executions of 'convicted criminals' are widely reported in the
Iranian media (indeed many such executions are carried out in public),
executions of political prisoners are almost never reported, except
by opposition groups outside of the country.

A number of death sentences were also passed:

June 22: According to 'Iran' daily, a 35 year old man received two death
sentences on charges of kidnapping.

July 20: The daily 'Resalat' reported that three wardens who worked at
Evin prison had received death sentences on charges of
extortion. The men were charged with "extortion and intimidation
of the families of inmates." About a month later, there was a
report in 'Neshat' daily that a group of six officials, who
were accused of a series of crimes (including rape, kidnapping,
and extortion), were sentenced to lashings with three of them
also sentenced to death. The identity of the officials were not
released (only first name and initials of their surnames were
given) and no details were given of when and how they were arrested
or tried.

July 24: Ebrahim Tale'i was convicted of murdering a mother and two of her
children in June of 1998, and received two death sentences.

There is also renewed concern for the case of Helmut Hoffer, the German
businessman who had been sentenced to death for having an extra-marrital
affair with a muslim Iranian woman (see previous issues of the Chronicle).
Hoffer was re-arrested "because of certain links to foreign elements" -- an
accusation that could pave the way for espionage charges (which carry the
death penalty). Hoffer's earlier death sentenced had been overturned by the
Supreme Court and he is awaiting a new trial for those earlier charges.

The practice of cruel and barbaric punishments continued over the
last three months with a series of whipping and lashings as listed
below:

May 21: Seven men, convicted on charges of theft, were publicly
whipped between 40 and 50 times in Borujerd.

June 18: Three men, convicted on several charges of theft, had the
four fingers on their right hands amputated in public in
Tabriz.

June 22: A man was given 20 lashes in Mashhad for wearing eye shadow and
plucking his eyebrows.

June 23: The right hands of nine men, convicted of repeated charges
of robbery, were chopped off in a prison in Mashhad. The
punishments were performed in front of judicial and prison
officials as well as 150 inmates.

The IHRWG once again condemns such cruel practices in the strongest
possible terms and calls on the IRI to immediately stop all such
punishments.


Political Violence
------------------

In the May 1999 issue of the Chronicle we reported on the assassination
of IRI officials by the MKO armed opposition group. On June 9, a truck
bomb exploded in Baghdad, killing 6 members of the MKO as well as an
Iraqi civilian. Many more were injured. The MKO alleged that the
bombing was carried out by the IRI. Several hours after the bombing,
a number of scud missiles were launched from Iran at the Ashraf MKO
military base in Iraq, lending credence to the MKO allegations. On
August 4, government officials in Khuzestan reported that a "heavily
armed" MKO member, identified as Nouh Majdemi, was killed in a gun
battle at a border post in Abadan.

As we stated in the previous issue of the Chronicle, the responsibility
of breaking the cycle of political violence lies primarily with the
IRI government, being the dominant power in the Iranian political scene.
Such acts of indiscriminate bombing will only worsen the situation. To
reduce political violence, the government must respect the basic human
rights of Iranian citizens of all walks of life and political persuasion.
It must allow them to express themselves freely through publication of
their ideas, creation of organizations and political parties and
participation in elections for public office.


Free Elections
--------------

On August 11, the Iranian parliament voted 116 to 60 (with almost
100 members abstaining or not present) to uphold the right of the
12-man Guardians Council (GC) to screen candidates for all government
elections in Iran. Over the past two decades, the GC has
interfered in almost all major elections (presidential and parliamentary)
by screening candidates on the basis of their ideology, political
tendencies and beliefs -- i.e. the very criteria based on which
the people are supposed to elect their representatives! This
interference by the GC has been one of the biggest violations
of the basic right of Iranians to take part in the government of
Iran, either by standing for office or freely choosing their
representatives.

The IHRWG has time and again protested the vetting of candidates by the
GC (e.g. see past issues of the Chronicle). The parliament's action to
uphold the GC's practice is also a violation of the right of the people.
Candidates cannot be disqualified based on their political beliefs or
ideological convictions. Doing so would very much defeat the purpose of
holding elections for public office. Candidates who have different
ideological and political outlooks provide the electorate with different
options on how to manage the affairs of the country. It is up to the
people alone to choose one or the other option.


Discrimination Against Women
----------------------------

Since the Iranian government has imposed its version of Islamic penal
code almost two decades ago, the Iranian judiciary has officially considered
women to be lesser beings than men. As we have pointed out in the
past (see, for instance, our September 6, 1995 statement "Women's
rights are human rights and human rights are universal!") there are
numerous laws which clearly are discriminatory against women.

On May 17, the judiciary adjusted the cash value of Diyeh (blood money
that a killer can pay to the victim's family) for inflation (setting a
ceiling of $20,000). They also reaffirmed that Diyeh for a woman is
half of that for a man.


Children's Rights
----------------

On May 22, it was reported that the "Green House", a home for street
children, had been opened in Tehran in April. The home's director,
Mostafa Jan-Qoli, was quoted as saying that there are more and more
children (20,000 according to some estimates) living in the streets,
particularly in Tehran. Many of the homeless children sleep in
abandoned vehicles and spend the day begging or performing menial
jobs.

The center currently acts as a "transit point" for children aged 11
to 19. It tries to reunite children with their parents, if they have
any. So far, the center has taken in 79 children. Eighteen of them were to
remain because there was no other place for them. But 10 of the 18 ran
away, preferring life on the street.

The IHRWG drew attention to the plight of children in Iran in its
statement of September 23, 1995, "Children are the future". In that
statement, we emphasized the fact that many children lack basic needs
such as proper food, sheltering and clothing. The Green House project
appears to be a step in the right direction, but it is too little in
our view. The government must go much further. As we stated back in
September of 1995, the IHRWG challenges the Iranian government to:

1. acknowledge the children as Iran's future

2. guarantee basic and decent living conditions for all children, with
special attention to the needs of the many children living in poor
families and/or rural areas

3. provide free and adequate health care for all children

4. enforce existing laws guaranteeing free and compulsory education

5. provide an education system aimed at bringing up children with
physical and mental skills, tolerant attitudes, and critical minds

6. reform all laws which affect children in order to remove all forms of
discrimination, exploitation and forced separation of young children
from their natural mothers

7. provide adequate support and recourse for children to protect them
from cruelty and abuse, and necessary laws to take account of
children's age when dealing with their crimes

8. raise the minimum working age for all children and protect them from
economic exploitation

9. provide free and adequate recreational facilities and opportunities to
use them

10. allow Iranian children to grow up in freedom:

freedom from oppression, prejudice and discrimination
freedom from poverty, ignorance and exploitation
freedom to grow in a safe and healthy environment
freedom to choose their own future, to choose their own
careers,
to choose their own beliefs, to dream their own dreams, and to
make those dreams come true.


Torture
-------

On July 10, Brigadier General, commander of the intelligence and security
division of the police, was acquitted on charges of torturing detained
municipality officials. (see Chronicle Vol.1, No. 3 for details of the
charges). He was sentenced to eight months in prison, however, on charges
of "disobedience of military rules" and "insulting the accused." The trial
was conducted in a Tehran military court, behind closed doors.

The IHRWG strongly believes that the Iranian public and press must have
access to the proceedings of such important trials. Moreover, we renew
our call to put on trial all those officials who have been involved in
torturing political prisoners.


Iranians Abroad
---------------

In mid-May, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported that
Iranian nationals were being arrested and tortured in Turkey. These
arrests apparently followed the deterioration of relations between the
two countries (sparked by the case of a female Turkish MP being barred
from the Turkish parliament because she was wearing a headscarf). An
official at the Iranian Consulate in Istanbul told IRNA that the Turkish
police arrested and beat Iranian nationals under false accusations without
investigation. He added that after the Iranian nationals are proved innocent
by the Turkish judicial authorities, the police keeps the detainees in prison
under deplorable conditions until the scars caused by torture had healed.

On May 28, the New York based Committee for Humanitarian Assistance to
Iranian Refugees (CHAIR) issued a statement claiming that the Turkish
military had "brutally killed 9 Iranian and Iraqi refugees who were part
of a caravan of 50 attempting to enter the country to register with the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)." The statement
added that of "those remaining, five have been hospitalized due to
resulting injuries whilst the other 36 have been detained by the authorities."
"The fate of the remaining refugees is unknown," CHAIR wrote.

The IHRWG has not been able to confirm or dismiss either of the two reports
above (which concern two different groups of Iranians in Turkey). Having
said that, there have been widespread reports by independent international
human rights groups of the abuse of Iranian nationals (particularly
political refugees) by the Turkish authorities over the past two
decades (e.g. see IHRWG "Appeal to the Turkish and United Nation authorities
on behalf of Iranian refugees in Turkey", released on July 2, 1996).

On August 2, newspapers reported that a 36 year old Iranian had been
sentenced to death by a Dubai criminal court after being convicted
on charges of trying to sell 107 grams of heroin to an undercover
policeman. The IHRWG is concerned about the fate of this Iranian national,
and calls on the Government of the United Arab Emirates to rescind the
death sentence. We encourage the UAE to abandon the death penalty
altogether.


Other Human Rights news
-----------------------

Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights stipulates
that "Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the
health and well-being ... including food, clothing, housing and medical
care and necessary social services." The extent to which many Iranians
are deprived of this law is illustrated by the long lines of young
unemployed men who, every morning, appear outside a government
office to sell their organs (kidneys in particular) for money.

On June 10, the Guardian (published in London) ran a story on this
appalling situation. According to the Guardian, the men sell their
kidneys for 10m Rials, or for a Peykan car. One man married four wives
and ordered them to each sell a kidney for cash. Others try to strike a
deal directly with the kidney recipients, in the hope of getting a better
rate. According to officials, black market sales account for 80% of all
kidney donations. An estimated 1,000 1,200 transplants are performed
each year.

Economic hardships, caused primarily by mismanagement, corruption
and poor planning (all of which occur all the more frequently
because the basic rights of Iranians to freely choose their
public officials have been denied) are the obvious reason why
so many young Iranians have resorted to such desperate measures
to earn a living.

Government officials have acknowledged the existence of this problem.
Reza Khatami, the deputy health minister, was quoted as saying that
the government is totally opposed to this. Yet little is being done
about it.

-----

On June 30, the police issued a warning to Iranian brides to conform
to the government's definition of Islamic dress codes. They also
warned that "corrupt music" will not be tolerated. Steps would
be taken against the violators, the police warned.

Such interference in the private lives of Iranian citizens is totally
unacceptable. As we have pointed out several times in the past, no
group or government has the right to impose its cultural values on
other people.




______________________________________________________________
Your address has been put on a mailing list for the SOLE purpose of
receiving Iranian human rights news and action and public declarations
and announcemnets of the Iranian Human Rights Working Group (IHRWG).
If you do NOT like to be on this mailing list, or would like to ADD
any other address to it, please send a message back to the following
address.
ihr@mech.gla.ac.uk