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PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 13/015/2008
25 January 2008
UA 21/08 Torture/possible
prisoners of conscience/medical concern
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IRAN
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Behrouz Seferi (Safari in
Azerbaijani Turkic) (m), Iranian Azerbaijani
Layla
Heydari (f), his wife
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Iranian Azerbaijani Behrouz
Seferi, who has campaigned for Iran’s Azerbaijani minority to be given greater
rights to use their mother tongue, is now known to have been detained without
charge or trial since late May or early June 2007. His wife, Layla Heydari, has
been detained since 28 August. Both are held in Tehran's Evin Prison, where
they have allegedly been tortured. Neither has been allowed to consult a
lawyer.
Behrouz Seferi was arrested shortly
after demonstrations around the first anniversary of the publication of a
cartoon in an Iranian newspaper which many Iranian Azerbaijanis found
offensive. He was held in his home town of Zanjan until 4 December, when he was
moved to Evin Prison.
Layla Heydari ran a shop selling
Azerbaijani books, music and other cultural material until the authorities
closed it down in 2006. She obeyed official warnings not to publicise her
husband's arrest, but on 28 August she was summoned to visit him at the Ministry
of Intelligence detention centre where he was held at the time, and was
arrested. She too was moved to Evin Prison on 4 December.
Their families were allowed to
visit them on 31 December, and say they think both have been tortured to make
them give “confessions”. Layla Heydari is apparently in poor health, suffering
from severe headaches, but has been given very little medical help. She has
also reportedly suffered from heart problems, and has had to be treated on the
medical wing, whose staff apparently recommended that she be allowed medical
treatement outside prison
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Iranian Azerbaijanis, who live
mainly in the north and north-west of the country and are mainly Shi’a Muslims,
are the largest minority in Iran (at least 25-30% of the population). They are
increasingly demanding greater cultural and linguistic rights, including the
right to education in Azerbaijani Turkic. A small minority want Iranian
Azerbaijani provinces to break away from Iran and join with the Republic of Azerbaijan.
The Iranian authorities view those who seek to promote Iranian Azerbaijani
cultural identity with suspicion, and often charge them with vaguely worded
offences such as "acting against state security by promoting
pan-Turkism".
In May 2006, there were massive
demonstrations in towns and cities in north-western Iran in protest at a
cartoon published on 12 May by the state-owned daily newspaper Iran,
which many Iranian Azerbaijanis found offensive. Hundreds were arrested during
and after the demonstrations. Other waves of arrests have occurred around dates
significant to the Azerbaijani community, such as a boycott of the start of the
academic year in September 2006; after demonstrations in February 2007 on the
occasion of International Mother Tongue day; and on the anniversary of the May
2006 demonstrations.
In recent years the authorities
have grown increasingly suspicious of Iran's minority communities, many of
which are situated in border areas, and have accused foreign powers such as the
US and UK of fomenting unrest among them.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send
appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Persian, English, Arabic, French
or your own language:
- expressing concern that Behrouz
Seferi and his wife, Layla Heydari, have been detained without charge for some
months, and asking why they were arrested;
- calling on the authorities to
release them immediately and unconditionally if they are held solely for their
peaceful activism on behalf of Iran’s Azerbaijani minority, or else charge them
with recognisably criminal offences and try them promptly and fairly;
- urging them to investigate
reports that Behrouz Seferi and Layla Heydari have been tortured, and bring
anyone found responsible for abuses to justice;
- reminding the authorities that
the use of confessions extracted under duress is prohibited by Article 38 of
the constitution of Iran.
APPEALS 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
Salutation: Your Excellency
Head of the Judiciary
Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi
Shahroudi
Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh /
Office of the Head of the Judiciary
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
Minister of Intelligence
Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie
Ministry of Intelligence, Second
Negarestan Street, Pasdaran Avenue, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
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
Speaker of Parliament
His Excellency Gholamali Haddad
Adel
Majles-e Shoura-ye Eslami,
Baharestan Square, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: +98 21 3355 6408
Email:
hadadadel@majlis.ir (Please ask that your message be brought to the attention
of the Article 90 Commission)
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 7 March 2008.
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