Violators of Prisoner Rights Must Be Punished

By Shahram Rafizadeh

Protests Over Fabricated Charges Against Students

Coinciding with the growing criticism of student activists with recent arrests and charges ‎by Tehran’s judiciary against student activists at Amir Kabir University, the Center for ‎Defenders of Human Rights and the Committee for Investigating Rogue Arrests issued ‎separate statements warning about the increasing suppression of civil society activists. ‎

In separate reactions, students from the Mashhad University and members of the Islamic ‎Student Associations of Eastern Universities held symbolic fasting and prayer sessions in ‎solidarity with detained Amir Kabir University students. They also released a statement ‎noting, “The use of inquisition era practices that existed in Europe is over, and judge ‎‎[Hassan] Haddad’s dream of returning Iran to the pre-revolutionary dark ages is comical ‎and unattainable.” Meanwhile, students from universities in Tehran also held symbolic ‎fasting sessions to protest student arrests in recent months. These students condemned ‎‎”physical and psychological hardships imposed on arrested students” and “accusations ‎connecting student activists with the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization.” ‎

Majid Tavakkoli, Hossein Tarkashvand, Esmaeil Salmanpour, Koroush Daneshyar, ‎Abbas Hakimzadeh, Mehdi Mashayekhi, Ahmad Ghassaban, Nariman Mostavagi, Yaser ‎Torkaman and Masoud Dehghan are among the imprisoned students, most of whom were ‎arrested more than three months ago. Shabnam Madadzadeh and Masoud Loghman are ‎the two other arrested students. ‎

Tehran’s prosecutor Hassan Haddad accused students of cooperating with the banned ‎Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization, [an armed group mainly in Iraq] noting, “This ‎information has been revealed in the past two weeks, showing that radical student ‎movements were spearheaded by these individuals and led by the Mojadein-e Khalq ‎Organization.” Haddad also claimed, “Some of these individuals communicated directly ‎with the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization and some indirectly, but knew where the ‎directions are coming from. These individuals were planning certain actions in ‎universities related to the upcoming [presidential] election, but thankfully their plans ‎were foiled with these arrests and revelations.”‎

Request to Punish Violators of Human Rights

Yesterday, the Center for Defenders of Human Rights released a statement condemning ‎the increasing suppression of civil society activists in Iran, as well as the unfair treatment ‎of those presently behind bars, calling for their release and the punishment of agents ‎responsible for violating the citizenship rights of imprisoned students.‎

Noting that recent arrests of civil society activists and their lack of access to fair ‎detention and trial processes, the Center for Defenders of Human Rights blasted the ‎accusation of “cooperating with the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization” as a “severe ‎charge that could lead to more severe verdicts,” adding, “These students have been ‎behind bars under unusually harsh circumstances for months.” ‎

The Center for Defenders of Human Rights called for “ending the widespread issuance of ‎arrest warrants,” “adherence to due process in all stages of discovery and trial,” “the ‎release of detained individuals,” and “the immediate punishment of violators of legal ‎rights,” among others.‎

On the other hand, yesterday, the Committee for Investigating Rogue Arrests issued a ‎statement condemning the “propagation of heavy and baseless charges not applicable to ‎student, civil society and political activists” as well as the “violation of due process and ‎the legal rights of defendants.” ‎

[Posted on Monday, May 4, 2009, at:  http://www.roozonline.com/english/archives/2009/05/violators_of_prisoner_rights_m.html]