PUBLIC
AI Index: MDE 13/063/2006
08 June 2006
UA
163/06
Incommunicado detention/Fear of
torture/Medical concern
IRAN
Abbas Lisani (or Leysanli) (m),
aged 38, activist
Abbas
Lisani, a prominent activist for the rights of Iranian Azeri Turks, was arrested
on 3 June and is held at an unknown location, where he is at risk of torture. He
may require medical attention for injuries he suffered during a demonstration
before he was arrested.
He
was arrested at his home in the north-western town of Ardebil. His wife
reportedly said that more than 30 plainclothes security officials shot the lock
off their door and entered the house without showing any warrant, which is
required by law. She said they beat Abbas Lisani in front of her and their two
young sons, and insulted her when she asked them not to beat him. Saying they
had orders allowing them to shoot him, they handcuffed him and took him away.
They also took two mobile phones, CDs, books and a computer.
There
has been unrest, sometimes violent, in the Iranian Azeri Turkish community since
12 May, when the state-owned daily newspaper Iran published a cartoon
which many of them found offensive. The community (who sometimes call themselves
Iranian Azerbaijanis) live mainly in the north-west of the country. In cities in
the region there were demonstrations, sometimes violent, which have reportedly
led to hundreds of people being arrested (see UA 151/06, MDE 13/055/2006).
Some of those detained have allegedly been tortured. Publication
of the newspaper was suspended on 23 May and the editor-in-chief and the
cartoonist were arrested, but despite this there was a demonstration in Ardebil
on 27 May. Abbas Lisani was reportedly injured during this demonstration, but
managed to escape and went into hiding for about a week. He was arrested after
he returned home. Before he was arrested, he told his family and friends he
would go on hunger strike if detained.
Azeri
sources have claimed that dozens have been killed and hundreds injured by the
security forces. On 29 May a police official acknowledged that four people had
been killed and 43 injured in the town of Naqada. Amnesty International
recognizes that criminal damage occurred during at least some of the
demonstrations, and that governments have a right and a responsibility to bring
to justice those responsible for recognizably criminal offences.
However, the
Iranian authorities are also obliged to act in accordance with international
human rights law and human rights standards, including those relating to the
policing of demonstrations, the prohibition of torture and fair trial standards.
Abbas
Lisani has been arrested several times since 1997 in connection with his
political activity. He has been subjected to psychological and physical torture
in custody, and harassed when he is at liberty. He told Amnesty International in
May that the most severe torture he experienced was in June 2004, when he took
part in a sit-in protest by Azeri Turks at the Sarcheshme Mosque in Ardebil.
After the security forces took control of the mosque, they beat him severely and
suffocated him until he passed out. He spent a month in custody, 20 days of
which were in solitary confinement. He had severe injuries, including broken
ribs and a broken nose, for which he was denied medical treatment. He went on
hunger strike twice to demand medical care, but without success.
After two days in custody he was taken before Branch 7 of the
Revolutionary Court in Ardebil, where the judge refused to order medical
treatment for him and told him that the Intelligence service "should have
done worse". On release he was fined 800,000 Rials (approx US$87,000) and
given a suspended sentence of 15 lashes. He is still suffering health problems
caused by the torture.
Iranian
Azeri Turks, at around 25-30% of the population, are the largest minority in
Iran and live mainly in the north-west. Mainly Shi’a Muslims, like the
majority of the population, they are not subject to the same kinds of
discrimination as minorities of other religions, and are well-integrated into
the economy, but in recent years there has been a growing demand for greater
cultural and linguistic rights, such as the right to be taught in Turkish.
A small minority advocate the secession of Iranian Azerbaijani provinces
and union with the Republic of Azerbaijan. Activists
who promote Azeri Turkish cultural identity are viewed with suspicion by the
Iranian authorities, who often charge them with vaguely worded offences such as
“promoting pan-Turkism”.
The
Iranian authorities have accused outside forces, particularly the USA, of
stirring up the unrest in Iranian Azeri provinces. The USA has denied this.
-
expressing concern for the safety of Abbas Lisani, who was reportedly detained
in Ardebil on 3 June and is held in an unknown location;
-
asking the authorities to ensure that he is not tortured or ill-treated;
-
urging the authorities to release him immediately, unless he is to be charged
with a recognizably criminal offence;
-
asking the authorities to reveal where he is detained, and to allow him
unrestricted access to his family, lawyers of his own choosing, an interpreter
and any medical treatment he may require;
-
urging the authorities to conduct a prompt and impartial investigation into his
allegation that he was tortured in custody in 2004, and for anyone found
responsible to be brought to justice.
Leader
of the Islamic Republic
His
Excellency Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei
The
Office of the Supreme Leader, Shoahada Street,
Qom,
Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax:
+ 98 251 774 2228 (mark "FAO the Office of His Excellency, Ayatollah
al Udhma Khamenei")
Email:
info@leader.ir
istiftaa@wilayah.org
Salutation:
Your Excellency
Minister
of Intelligence
Gholam
Hossein Mohseni Ejeie
Ministry
of Information, Second Negarestan Street, Pasdaran Avenue
Tehran,
Islamic Republic of Iran
Email:
iranprobe@iranprobe.com
Salutation:
Your Excellency
Head
of the Judiciary
His
Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Ministry
of Justice, Park-e Shahr, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email:
Please send emails via the feedback form on the Persian site of the
website
http://www.iranjudiciary.org/contactus-feedback-fa.html
The text of the feedback form translates as:
1st line: name, 2nd line: email address, 3rd line: subject heading;
then
enter your email into the text box
Salutation:
Your Excellency
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 20 July 2006.