(WiPC/IFEX) – The following is a 11 December 1998 WiPC letter to President Khatami protesting the recent disappearances of writers in Iran: **Updates IFEX alerts of 11 December, 10 December, 9 December, 8 December, 7 December, 3 December and 27 November 1998** December 11, 1998 His Excellency Hojatoleslam val-moslemin Sayed Mohammad Khatami President of the […]
(WiPC/IFEX) – The following is a 11 December 1998 WiPC letter to President
Khatami protesting the recent disappearances of writers in Iran:
**Updates IFEX alerts of 11 December, 10 December, 9 December, 8 December, 7
December, 3 December and 27 November 1998**
December 11, 1998
His Excellency
Hojatoleslam val-moslemin Sayed Mohammad Khatami
President of the Islamic Republic of Iran
The Presidency
Palestine Avenue
Azerbaijan Intersection
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: + 98 21 64 66 415
or 98 21 673 177 (via foreign affairs, ask to be forwarded)
Your Excellency,
We write to you as a matter of the utmost urgency to ask you to leave no
stone unturned to ensure the safety of writers in Iran.
In an extraordinary and terrifying series of events, three writers have
disappeared in the last two weeks, and two have subsequently turned up dead
in a Tehran morgue. There are now grave concerns for the safety of Muhammad
Ja’frah Pouyandeh, who disappeared two days ago, and that of his colleagues
who, understandably, fear that they too could disappear and meet their
deaths at any time.
Majid Sharif went missing on November 20. A translator and journalist, he
had contributed to the now banned publication Iran-e-Farda. He was
identified in a Tehran morgue on 24 November. The coroner’s report cited
heart failure as the cause of his death.
Mohammad Mokhtari, a poet and one of six writers questioned in connection
with a recent initiative to form a writers’ association called “Kanoun”, was
found dead in a morgue on December 9, after having being missing for 6 days.
Marks on his head and neck suggested he may have been strangled.
Mohammad Ja’frah Pouyandeh, an essayist and translator of French literature,
disappeared while on his way from his office to a meeting on December 9. His
family are gravely alarmed for his safety.
We know that many of Iran’s writers are chilled and horrified by these
events. Hushang Golshiri, Kazem Kordavini and `Ali Ashraf Darvishiyan are
among those who fear they may be the next to “disappear”. It is impossible
to know precisely who is responsible for these occurrences, but, when three
such events occur in a fortnight, the conclusion that there is underway a
deliberate intention to murder and silence seems unavoidable.
We therefore urge you, as a matter of the highest priority, to investigate
these events and to bring to justice those who are culpable. The legitimacy
and authority of the rule of law in your country is utterly undermined by
such happenings; moreover, Iran’s standing in the community of the nations
depends on those conducting such illegal campaigns of terror being
identified and punished.
We thank you for your attention and welcome your comments.
Sincerely,
Homero Aridjis, International President
Terry Carlbom, International Secretary
Appeals To
His Excellency
Hojatoleslam val-moslemin Sayed Mohammad Khatami
President of the Islamic Republic of Iran
The Presidency
Palestine Avenue
Azerbaijan Intersection
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: + 98 21 64 66 415 / 98 21 673 177 (via foreign affairs, ask to be
forwarded)
e-mail: iranemb@salamiran.org
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
