Open letter of The Office to Foster Unity (Daftar-e-Tahkim-e-Vahdat) to United Nations' High Commissioner for Human Rights

Ms. Louise Arbour

United Nation’s High Commissioner for Human Rights

Greetings;

Five years have passed since the attacks on the student dormitories at Tehran and Tabriz universities.  In those assaults Mr. Ezat Ebrahimnejad was killed and Mr. Jamali, a medical student, lost his eyes and became blind.  In addition hundreds of students were beaten, injured and jailed.  Since then and despite the fact that there are still scores of students in prison for protesting this atrocities, no judicial authority has made an attempt to bring to justice those responsible for these crimes and no one has been persecuted for the midnight assault on innocent students.  Since Iran is one of the signatories to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and has ratified it in 1975, The Office to Foster Unity (Daftar-e-Tahkim-e-Vahdat) as the leading student organization that seeks freedom and democracy in Iran, hereby demands your investigation into these human rights violations and contradictions to articles of the ICCPR by Islamic republic’s judiciary.

Background:

In the late hours of the night of Thursday July 8th, 1999, a group of students staged a peaceful demonstration to protest the closure of a newspaper (Salaam) and the new restrictions on Freedom of Press imposed by the Fifth Congress (majlis).  Following these demonstrations, law enforcement and undercover paramilitary thugs attacked the dormitories of Tehran University and assaulted students who were asleep at the time.  In some cases they throw students out of windows to let them fall on the ground from higher floors.  Many people were injured and one medical student was blinded due to injuries to his head.  The next day an Ezat Ebrahimnejad was announced dead while the press reported more students killed, although their names were never disclosed.  At the time the highest authorities in the country condemned these incidents, promised full investigation of the case and even sacked the chief commander of the law enforcement forces for the Greater Tehran Metropolises. But gradually the direction of the investigation changed; attorneys representing students were arrested, and victims were accused of the crimes and even jailed.

Investigations:

Following the mockery court sessions, eventually two officers were condoned; one for administrative reasons and the other for stealing an electric shaver, and the rest were cleared of the charges and released.  Two attorneys who represented the students, Dr. Rohhami and Dr. Shirin Ebadi (the 2003 Peace Nobel Laureate) were arrested and later barred from their professional practice.  Ali Afshari, political secretary of The Office to Foster Unity (Daftar-e-Tahkim-e-Vahdat), was arrested and sentenced to one-year imprisonment based on charges filed by the same commander who was sacked right after the assaults.  Mr. Afshari’s case is still open.

As sub 3 of article 2 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights stipulates, the member countries are committed “to ensure that any person whose rights or freedoms as therein recognized are violated shall have an effective remedy, notwithstanding that the violation has been committed by persons acting in an official capacity.” But since the Islamic Republic of Iran has not provided means of seeking justice in these cases where people are denied their rights guaranteed by the covenant, we demand a full international investigation of this case.

Treatment of students:

After these events and reversal of the direction of the “18 teer” investigations, hundreds of Tehran Universities students and other protesting youth were savagely assaulted, arrested and were sentenced to arbitrary capital punishment and long term imprisonments.  The government tried to use these tactics to silence students and scare any opposition voices.  Every year close to the anniversary of July 8th event security and law enforcement authorities have militarized urban areas by deploying massive amount of forces and having students and intellectuals at large arrested.  Last year specially was notable because for the anniversary of the university assaults, more than 4000 students and dissidents including student movement activists such as Reza Alijani, Hoda Saber, Taghi Rahmani, Abdulah Momeni, Mehdi Aminizadeh, Reza Ameri Nassab, Pouya Mahmoudian, Mehdi Habibi, Hojat Sharifi, Arash Hashemi, Said Razavi Faghih, Mojtaba Najafi were arrested.  Of these Reza Alijani, Hoda Saber, Taghi Rahmani, and Peyman Peeran are still in prison.  In addition Ahmad Batebi, Manouchehr Mohammadi, Akbar Mohammadi, and Abbas Deldar have been in detention serving undeclared terms since July of 1999.  This is taking place despite article 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) that states” No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.”

Torture of detained students and intellectuals:

Reports of inhuman pressure and torture to get confessions uncover these clear violations for all to see.  Scores of detainees have announced upon their release that they have been subjected to long-term incommunicado confinement, severe beatings, degrading treatments, and long sleep deprival.  Their complaints to the “article 90 commission” of the legislative body that is in charge of investigating of citizen’s complaints have gone nowhere as have charges filed with the judiciary system, whereas the article 5 of the UDHR, article 7 of ICCPR, and article 38 of Iranian constitution all forbid use of torture and inhuman treatment of detainees in the process of their interrogation in order to obtain confessions. 

Denial of request to demonstrate on occasion of the July 8th events:

 It is noteworthy to state that every year law enforcement and security forces and other policy making organs such as the High Council of the National Security have limited citizen rights to assemble and freedom of speech close to the anniversary of the events and have created such environment that students and dissidents were forced to refrain from any action in fear of yet another assault.  This year for instance they deployed massive numbers of police and security units under the cover of traffic control in all public squares and intersections starting 3 months before the anniversaries.

As was mentioned it is more than five years that the Iranian people, university students and faculty are waiting for a court to bring the instigators of the July 8th attacks to justice.  We declare that we are disappointed with the prospect of reaching any justice through the internal judiciary system. Based on the numerous violations of the articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, we hereby demand that United Nations High Commission of Human Rights initiate a full international investigation of this case.

With best regards;

The Office to Foster Unity (Daftar-e-Tahkim-e-Vahdat),

The Union of Islamic Societies of University Students.

Contact us at:

Jomhouri- DC (EJI) 

P. O. Box 813 Herndon, VA 20172 USA

Fax: (1) 703- 991- 3059

Or in Europe: 

P.O. Box. 94638, 1090 GP Amsterdam, Holland 

Fax: (31)-20-774 66 03

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Last modified: July 17, 2004