Urgent request

The human rights situation is getting out of hand and requires immediate action and deserves special attention. The purpose of this letter is to reiterate the importance of supporting Iran’s recent struggle for freedom, equality and democracy.  

Urgent request to save those recently arrested and sentenced to death – Second letter

30/05/2010

First letter sent: 02/01/2010

Dear fellow Europeans and supporters of human rights,

Six months ago we wrote a similar letter warning many European institutions that the violence and suppression against peaceful protesters, political activists, students and citizens in Iran will continue to escalate. We are thankful for many of the measures that were taken. However, since that time there have been more disturbing reports of unprecedented crackdowns against peaceful protests; extremely harsh and cruel treatment of political prisoners (including rape and torture) and executions. Many of the student activists and other human rights activists who were arrested have been sentenced with the death penalty.

Too many people have suffered and lost their lives and a far greater number of innocent lives are in jeopardy. The human rights situation is getting out of hand and requires immediate action and deserves special attention. The purpose of this letter is to reiterate the importance of supporting Iran’s recent struggle for freedom, equality and democracy. First, we would like to draw your attention to two issues which we feel are representative of the extent to which the human rights crisis has deteriorated. Second, we want to kindly ask you to support the Iranian pro-democracy movement in a number of simple ways in order to help protect innocent individuals from more mistreatment and death.

Rapid executions, increasing imprisonments and torture

Following last year’s post-election protests 217 people have been imprisoned and dozens continue to be executed. On the 9th of May the Iranian authorities executed five prisoners from Evin prison. The prisoners, four of them ethnic Kurds, were hung without their families or lawyers being notified, which is even against Iranian law. Iranian authorities have since refused to release their bodies. Since the post-election government crackdown prisoners involved in the protests have been reporting extreme cases of brutality and torture to their family members. To date there are dozens of activists on death row who may be executed any day.

The fate of a Peace Prize Candidate and fellow students

Bahareh Hedayat is a 29 year old spokeswoman for the student union “Office for Strengthening Unity” (Advar Tahkim Vahdat) and a nominee for the prestigious International Student Peace Prize. Bahareh and many other student activists were arrested during last year’s protests because of their brave stance in support of freedom, equality and democracy in Iran. Bahareh and her companions have been charged with crimes such as:

a) communicating anti-state propaganda through interviews with foreign media
b) insulting Iran’s Supreme Leader
c) insulting the Iranian president
d) disrupting the social order by participating in illegal gatherings

Immediate and effective action

Due to the urgency and intensity of the crisis we would like to propose a plan which we believe will have a strong and immediate effect on the situation. We would like to publish a small portfolio and distribute it to selected individuals and groups. The reason behind this is simple – many companies, institutions and embassies are not fully aware of the scale of the atrocities committed by the Iranian government and continue to negotiate with them and entities associated with them. These actions send the message that the Iranian regime can continue what it has been doing without any consequences.

The portfolio we suggest creating will include the following:

1) Photos and summaries of the two issues mentioned above
2) A few academically credible accounts of the human rights situation
3) A series of question that individuals and groups can ask certain entities which will reveal their link to the regime

We recommend that this portfolio be sent to embassies, companies involved in trade with Iran, cultural institutions and educational institutions. We would like everyone who is involved in any kind of dealings with Iranian organizations to realize exactly what is happening there and that there may be a chance that they are strengthening the Iranian regime if the organization they are working with is connected with the government.

1) Governments should not stand aloof or remain silent about human rights abuses and should seriously question and
criticize the Iranian regime before agreeing to diplomatic and economic relations.
2) Academics from all disciplines should pressure the Iranian government to improve the treatment of students and academics in Iran if they are to accept international students from Iran.
3) Businesses engaged with or intending to engage with Iranian companies should be certain that their partners are not linked to the government.
4) Cultural institutions need to be sure that they do not cooperate with groups or organizations that are funded by or created by the Iranian government.

In hope of peace and progress,

Iranian Progressive Youth