Urgent Action 1-27-11

URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA

To learn about recent Urgent Action successes and updates, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/iar/success
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26 January 2011

Further information on UA 6/11 - (17 January 2011) - Risk of forcible return

SWEDEN Several Iraqi asylum-seekers

On 19 January, Swedish police confirmed that Sweden had forcibly returned 20 Iraqis to Baghdad, on a charter flight organized with Danish authorities, who also forcibly returned a further six Iraqis. Amnesty International considers that their lives could be at real risk in Iraq.

Amnesty International believes that it is not safe to forcibly return anyone to the Iraqi provinces of Ninewa (Mosul), Kirkuk, Diyala, Salah al-Din and Baghdad, and to other particularly dangerous areas such as parts of Al Anbar province. Anyone facing forced return to any of these areas, regardless of whether they originate from those areas, should be granted asylum or alternative forms of protection. In those regions of Iraq serious risks, including the ongoing indiscriminate threats to life, physical integrity or personal freedom, arising from violence or events seriously disturbing public order are all valid grounds for international protection.

The authorities in Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and the United Kingdom have maintained a policy of enforcing returns of Iraqis whose asylum claims have been dismissed, claiming that it is “sufficiently safe” to return people to Iraq, despite clear guidelines from the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to the contrary. The UNHCR has repeatedly reiterated its objection to such forced returns by European states.

UNHCR officials reportedly met with several of those forcibly returned on 19 January from Sweden and Denmark, and continued to express concern about the practice of enforcing returns to Iraq.

Amnesty International continues to monitor the issue of forced returns to Iraq from Europe. In this instance, action taken by activists was unsuccessful, and the Swedish authorities proceeded notwithstanding any appeals they received. We hope, however, that in future the action taken by the UA network will prove decisive in stopping forced returns to Iraq.

No further action is needed on this appeal at the moment from the UA network. Many thanks to all who took action.

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Urgent Action Network
Amnesty International USA
600 Pennsylvania Ave SE 5th fl
Washington DC 20003
Email: uan@aiusa.org
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/
Phone: 202.509.8193
Fax: 202.675.8566
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END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
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URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA

To learn about recent Urgent Action successes and updates, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/iar/success
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For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa10210.pdf

Note: Please write on behalf of these persons even though you may not have received the original UA when issued on April 30, 2010. Thanks!

26 January 2011

Further information on UA 102/10 (30 April 2010) and follow up (21 May 2010 and 5 August 2010 and 5 January 2011) – Imminent risk of execution

IRAN

Abdloreza Ghanbari (m),
Ahmad Daneshpour Moghaddam (m),
Mohsen Daneshpour Moghaddam (m)
Javad Lari (m)
Farah (or Elmira) Vazehan

Ali Saremi (or Sarami) (m), executed
Ja’far Kazemi (m), aged 47, executed
Mohammad Ali Haj Aghaei (m), executed

Ja’far Kazemi and Mohammad Ali Haj Aghaei were executed on 24 January in Evin Prison, Tehran. They were convicted of moharebeh (enmity against God) for links with the banned political group, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), and “propaganda against the system”. Arrested in 2009 their death sentences were confirmed in 2010. Four others remain at risk of imminent execution.

Ja’far Kazemi and Mohammad Ali Haj Aghaei were arrested in September 2009 at a time of mass protests and tried together. Both men had visited relatives at Camp Ashraf in Iraq, where 3,400 PMOI supporters reside in exile. Ja’far Kazemi had previously been imprisoned in Iran for PMOI membership. He may have been tortured while being interrogated at Evin Prison after his arrest in 2009 and is said to have been pressured to make a televised “confession”, but to have refused. He and Mohammad Ali Haj Aghaei were sentenced to death in April 2010.For more information, please see http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/iran-hangs-two-activists-detained-during-2009-unrest-2011-01-24

Another prisoner, Ali Saremi (or Sarami) was executed without warning on 28 December. He was sentenced to death in December 2009 for “enmity against God” because of his alleged membership of the PMOI. According to media reports the death sentence on Farah (also known as Elmira) Vazehan was overturned on 19 January and her case was referred to Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court for re-examination. However, four men remain at risk of imminent execution: Abdolreza Ghanbari (or Qanbari), father and son Ahmad and Mohsen Daneshpour Moghaddam, and Javad Lari.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Teacher Abdolreza Ghanbari, aged 42, and father and son Ahmad and Mohsen Daneshpour Moghaddam, were all arrested after demonstrations which took place in Iran in late December 2009 marking the Ashoura religious commemorations. All three were sentenced after “show trials” in January and February 2010.

Tehran’s prosecutor announced on 15 May that the death sentences of,Abdolreza Ghanbari and father and son, Ahmad and Mohsen Daneshpour Moghaddam, were upheld by the Appeal Court after they were found guilty of "enmity against God" in relation to their alleged links to the PMOI. The death sentences of Ja’far Kazemi and Mohammad Ali Haj Aghaei, both executed on 24 January 2011; and Mohammad Ali Saremi (or Sarami), executed on 28 December 2010 were also confirmed at the same time.In August 2010, Amnesty International received reports that another man, Javad Lari, a Tehran bazaar merchant in his 50s, had been sentenced to "death without pardon" for "enmity against God and corruption on earth". He is also held in Evin prison, where he was reportedly tortured and forced to ‘confess’.

Farah (also known as Elmira) Vazehan was arrested two days after the December 2009 Ashoura protests. She was sentenced to death for “enmity against God” in August 2010, after conviction of participation in the protests, including taking photographs and sending them abroad and support for the PMOI. A report on 19 January 2011 stated that her physical condition is poor, noting that in November 2010 she had complained of chest pains.

The execution of these two men are amongst the latest in a wave of executions which has seen the Iranian authorities execute at least 71 prisoners since the beginning of this year – an average of more than 20 each week, including Ali Saremi. Kurdish political prisoner Hossein Khezri, is believed to have been executed on 15 January (see: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/009/2011/en) .Three other men were hanged in Tehran on 24 January after they had been convicted of male rape while thousands more prisoners are on death row.

Two members of the Kurdish minority, known only as Ayoub and Mosleh, are among those reportedly facing execution. They are alleged to have taken part in and filmed sexual acts between men. Amnesty International wrote to the Head of Iran's Judiciary last week seeking clarification of their current legal situation and urging him to prevent their execution if they have been sentenced to death.

Ali Saremi, executed 28 December 2010, then aged about 63, has a son in the PMOI who lives in Camp Ashraf, Iraq, whom he visited. He was arrested on his return and sentenced to a year in prison, and was released in May 2007. Ali Saremi had previously spent 20 years in prison for his political activities both before and after the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran (see Iran: Halt executions of Kurdish and other political prisoners, MDE 13/007/2010, 12 January 2010 http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/007/2010/en). He was arrested in September 2007 after speaking at an event commemorating the summary executions of thousands of people in Iranian prisons in 1988 (see UA 286/07: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/128/2007/en ). In May 2010 he told Amnesty International from prison:

“I was tried in October 2008 before Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court, on the charge of “enmity against God” for membership of PMOI. I again denied this and defended myself as they had no evidence against me to prove the charge. I was sentenced to death in December 2009 and appealed through my lawyer. I only learnt about the confirmation of my sentence via the Tehran Prosecutor’s press conference [on 15 May]. Even though I have a lawyer, they do not recognize him. They do not communicate legal proceedings to him and do not notify him.” His lawyer has said publicly that he was never served with the execution verdict and had never received any information concerning his client’s case after the initial trial, including about appeals. He was not informed of the execution 48 hours in advance, as is required by Iranian law.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Deploring the executions of Ja’far Kazemi and Mohammad Haj Aghaei, and urging the Iranian authorities not to execute, Abdolreza Ghanbari (or Qanbari),Ahmad and Mohsen Daneshpour Moghaddam, and Javad Lari.;
- Reminding the Iranian authorities that under international law, the death penalty can only be carried out for “the most serious crimes”, which must be “intentional crimes with lethal or other extremely grave consequences."
- Urging that any person held solely on account of their family links to the PMOI should be released immediately and unconditionally. Any others sentenced after unfair trials should have their convictions and sentences reviewed as a matter of urgency, and none should face the death penalty.

APPEALS TO:
Leader of the Islamic Republic
Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Islamic Republic Street – End of Shahid Keshvar Doust Street,
Tehran,
ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
Email Via website:
http://www.leader.ir/langs/en/index.php?p=letter (English);
http://www.leader.ir/langs/fa/index.php?p=letter (Persian)
Salutation: Your Excellency

Head of the Judiciary
Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani
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@dadiran.ir or bia.judi@yahoo.com
Salutation: Your Excellency

COPIES TO:

Secretary General, High Council for Human Rights
Mohammad Javad Larijani
High Council for Human Rights
[Care of] Office of the Head of the Judiciary
Pasteur St, Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhuri
Tehran 1316814737
ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
Email: info@humanrights-iran.ir
(In subject line: FAO Mohammad Javad Larijani)

Iran does not presently have an embassy in the United
States. Instead, please send copies to:

Iranian Interests Section
2209 Wisconsin Ave NW
Washington DC 20007
Fax: 1 202 965 1073
Email: requests@daftar.org

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 25 February 2011.

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This Urgent Action may be reposted if kept intact, including contact information and stop action date (if applicable).
Thank you for your help with this appeal.

Urgent Action Network
Amnesty International USA
600 Pennsylvania Ave SE 5th fl
Washington DC 20003
Email: uan@aiusa.org
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/
Phone: 202.509.8193
Fax: 202.675.8566
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END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
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