(HRW/IFEX) – The following is a Human Rights Watch press release: **Updates IFEX alerts of 29 July, 27 July, 26 July and 21 July 1999** IRAN THREATENS REVOLUTIONARY COURT TRIALS FOR “INCITEMENT” Televised Confessions Raise Concerns (New York, August 3, 1999) – The head of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court stated on August 2 that his office […]
(HRW/IFEX) – The following is a Human Rights Watch press release:
**Updates IFEX alerts of 29 July, 27 July, 26 July and 21 July 1999**
IRAN THREATENS REVOLUTIONARY COURT TRIALS FOR “INCITEMENT”
Televised Confessions Raise Concerns
(New York, August 3, 1999) – The head of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court stated
on August 2 that his office was investigating some of the students arrested
following demonstrations and peaceful protests earlier this month.
Hojatoleslam Rahbarpour said that the Revolutionary Court would move in
particular against persons whose statements “incited” or “fomented” recent
“events,” referring to street demonstrations protesting a violent pre-dawn
raid on a Tehran University dormitory, that left at least one dead and many
injured and detained.
“When governments launch campaigns against ‘incitement,’ freedom of
expression is often the first casualty,” said Hanny Megally, executive
director of Human Rights Watch’s Middle East and North Africa division. “The
Iranian judiciary has been in the forefront of the campaign to stamp out
dissent and Iran’s Revolutionary Courts are notorious for their disregard of
basic fair trial standards.”
Revolutionary Court head Hojatoleslam Rahbarpour also confirmed that
approximately 1,500 students had been detained in the aftermath of the
dormitory raid and the large street demonstrations in Tehran and other
cities protesting that assault. He said that most had been “provisionally”
released. Student leaders in Tehran believe that between 200 and 600
students remain in detention. On July 30, Human Rights Watch made public a
list of seventy-seven detained or missing persons, mostly students.
The July crackdown has also targeted non-violent political activists outside
of the universities. Four members of the Iran Nation Party-Bahram Namazi,
Khosro Seif, Farzin Mokhber, and Mehran Abdolbaghi — were picked up from
their homes on July 13. They and Rozbeh Farahanipour, a founder of the Marze
Por Gohar Party, remain in detention without charge. Their colleagues have
told Human Rights Watch that they were picked up after they had been seen
distributing leaflets at Tehran University. Among others also listed as
detained in a Ministry of Information statement are Saeed Rasoulian, Hajir
Palaschi, Mohamed Eghbal Kazerouni, and Elahé Amir Entezam. They were
arrested separately between July 13 and July 15. The ministry statement did
not specify any charges against them.
In addition, four detained members of the National Association of Iranian
Students – Manouchehr Mohamedi, Gholam Reza Mohajeri-Nejad, Rahim Reza’i,
and Malous Radnia – have been accused in the official media of
counter-revolutionary activities and ties with the United States and Israel.
The four have been kept in incommunicado detention and allowed no access to
legal counsel. On July 19, authorities broadcast a tape showing Mohamedi,
Mohajeri-Nejad, and Reza’i appearing to “confess” on television to these
charges, and government television reported that Malous had confessed as
well. Iranian television broadcast a “new confession” by Mohamedi on July
27 in which he implicated others among those in detention. He also claimed
that “we have received financial assistance from America on three or four
occasions to organize student movements.” Activists in the political reform
movement in Iran have told Human Rights Watch that they fear the government
will force others to make similar public “confessions.”
“This recourse to televised confessions is deeply troubling and suggests
that these individuals may have given these statements under duress,” said
Megally. “A government that presents public confessions by persons held
without access to families or lawyers is advertizing itself as a gross
violator of the most fundamental human rights.”
