Oct 23, 2006

Ahwazi: Appeal to Investigate Situation in Envin Prison in Iran


Several Human Rights Organizations Issued a petition condemning the Human Rights abuses that are occurring under the Islamic Regime in the “Evin Prison”

Below is the text of the petition released by the Human Rights Activists in Iran (H.R.A.I), the Committee Defense for Human Rights in north-west of Iran (H.RN.W.I), the Kurdish Human Rights Defense organization and the Ahwazi Human Rights organization (A.H.R.O):

An appeal to all Human Right Organizations of the World

Section 209 of Evin Prison in Iran is run by the Ministry of Intelligence of the Islamic Republic and except for the ministry agents no other government bodies have any control over the prison affairs.

During the last years many of Iran political prisoners have died in this Section under torture and many others kept in it have ended up being executed by firing squads or hanged. At this moment of time hundreds of similar prisoners are kept in this Section and the Ministry of Intelligence would not allow their names to be added to the long list of Iran political prisoners.
Most of these prisoners are held in solitary confinement and are constantly interrogated while under physical and psychological torture. The families of these prisoners very rarely have any information about the health or conditions of their loved ones, who are most of the time handcuffed and blindfolded, are denied of medical care and legal representation and do not even know on what charges they have been arrested. In Section 209 of Evin Prison even the very own repressive rules of the regime are not followed.

Those currently held at the Section include political dissidents, human rights activists, students, trade union officials and workers, as well as many other Iranians from all walks of life.
The following people are among the prisoners at Section 209:

Ali Akbar Mussavi Khoini, Dr. Saeed Masoori, Ahmad Batebi, Kayvan Rafii, Kianoosh Sanjari, Dr. Kayvan Ansari, Abulfazl Jahandar, Kheirullah Derakhshandi, Abdullah Al Mansouri, Ayatollah Kazemi Boroujerdi and many of his followers, as well as many prisoners from other provinces of Iran who have been transferred to Evin from their local prisons.

We, the undersigned, would therefore urge the Secretary General of the United Nations, the UN Human Rights Council, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch to assign a special investigating committee to visit Section 209 of Evin Prison in Iran and publish a report on their findings.

1- Human Rights Activists in Iran (H.R.A.I)

2- Committee defense for Human Rights in north-west of Iran (H.RN.W.I)

3- Kurdish Human Rights defence organization (R.M.M.K)

4- Ahwazi Human Rights organization (A.H.R.O)