PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 13/073/2008

23 May 2008

UA 138/08 Fear of torture

IRAN Farshad Dousipour (also known as Doustipour) (m), aged 23, Kurdish student

Kurdish student Farshad Dousipour was arrested on 15 May by plainclothesRevolutionary Guards officers. He had been walking in the street at the time, in the city of Ivan-e Gharb, in the western province of Ilam. It is not known where he was taken, and he is at risk of torture.

Farshad Dousipour is suffering from a lung condition contracted while he was held in Evin Prison, Tehran.

In late April, Farshad Dousipour had provided information to overseasPersian-language broadcasters, including BBC Persian and the news website Rooz Online, about unrest in Ivan-e Gharb that followedthe killing of three individuals by the security forces in demonstrations around the results of the last parliamentary elections. The Iranian authorities have condemned those who provide such information to news services outside Iran and dozens of people, in particular ethnic minority rights activists, have been arrested and prosecuted for giving such information to overseas journalists.

Farshad Dousipour is already on trial for speaking publicly at an event at Tehran University marking Iran's national University Students' Day,on 7 December 2007? yes. Following his speech, he was detained for 55 days in Section 209 of Tehran's Evin Prison, run by the Ministry of Intelligence, and freed on bail totalling around US$5,650. The case against him has not yet been heard. For more information on others arrested at the same time, see UA 331/07, MDE 13/147/2007, 13 December 2007.

A doctor in Ilam who has examined him has said that he is very ill as a result of a lung condition he contracted in Evin. The doctor says the health of Farshad Dousipour's lungs is in "crisis".

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Following the second round of Iran’s parliamentary election, held on 25 April, the authorities had announced that an opposition, or reformist, candidate had won. His supporters were celebrating when, several hours later, the Defo district governor announced that the earlier statement was wrong and that in fact a candidate allied to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had won. Press reports indicate that the announcement of the results was delayed by mismanagement of the election process. Supporters of the reformist candidate then gathered at the office of the district governor and held a demonstration. Public property was damaged by some of the demonstrators.

Human rights activists told Amnesty International that the demonstration was violently broken up by the security forces. Press reports suggest that security forces fired at demonstrators, possibly in reaction to the damage to public property. Three young men were shot dead and at least 20 others injured. The injured were taken to hospital. Two days of protest followed the killing of the three individuals, one young man and two boys, one of whom was reportedly 12 and the other 16. For one day shops were closed and workers refused to go to work. The Ministry of the Interior later announced that the reformist candidate had indeed won the election, and the province’s governor was replaced.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Persian, English, Kurdish or your own language:

- calling on the authorities to ensure that Farshad Dousipour has access to legal representation and any adequate medical treatment he may require;

- urging the Head of the Judiciary to ensure that Farshad Dousipour is held in a recognised place of detention under the control of the judiciary, where he will not be tortured or otherwise ill-treated;

- pointing out that Farshad Dousipour appears to have been detained solely for the peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of expression, and is therefore a prisoner of conscience, who should be released immediately and unconditionally.

APPEALS TO:

Head of the Judiciary

Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi

Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Justice Building, Panzdah-Khordad Square,

Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran

Email: info@dadgostary-tehran.ir (In the subject line write: FAO Ayatollah Shahroudi)

Salutation: Your Excellency

Minister of Intelligence

Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie

Ministry of Intelligence, Second Negarestan Street, Pasdaran Avenue, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran

Salutation: Your Excellency

Governor of Ilam province

Saeed Hashemi

Email: via website: http://www.portal-il.ir/modules.php?name=Contact

Scroll down to the empty fields, or boxes. Enter your name in the top box, your email in the middle one and your message in the large box. To send the message, press the right-hand button at the bottom.

ravabet_eamomi@yahoo.com (Ilam province public relations office)

Salutation: Your Excellency

COPIES TO:

Leader of the Islamic Republic

His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei, The Office of the Supreme Leader

Islamic Republic Street - Shahid Keshvar Doust Street, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran

Email: info@leader.ir

and to diplomatic representatives of Iran accredited to your country.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 4 July 2008.