Ramin Jahanbegloo, a leading Canadian-Iranian academic, was arrested on 28 April 2006 at the Mehrabad Airport in Tehran, whilst waiting to board a plane for Europe. His arrest and subsequent detention were not made public by the Iranian authorities until almost a week later on 4 May. The Iranian Ministry of Information has since confirmed that Ramin Jahanbegloo is being held in isolation in the Evin prison in Tehran. The authorities indicated that his detention is linked to his relations abroad.
Until now, no charges have been made public. For the first week of his detention he was denied contact with his family. Sources close to him have reported that, on 5 May, he was finally allowed to contact his family by telephone, and he is said to have told them that he had not been ill-treated. However, his family has not been permitted to visit him.
Ramin Jahanbegloo is a well-known intellectual and the author of several books on philosophy and political science. He is regularly asked to comment on current affairs in the international press. Dr Jahanbegloo is currently the Head of the Department of Contemporary Studies at the Cultural Research Bureau in Tehran.
FIDH and LDDHI believe that his detention is aimed at sanctioning his freedom of expression and consider on this basis that he has been arbitrarily detained in violation of Iran’s human rights obligations under international law. Moreover, FIDH and LDDHI are deeply concerned for his physical and psychological integrity.
FIDH and LDDHI therefore call for his immediate and unconditional release. More generally FIDH and LDDHI urge the Iranian authorities to comply with their obligations under international human rights law, in particular with article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is party, which states, that “anyone who is arrested shall be informed, at the time of arrest, of the reasons of his arrest and shall be promptly informed of any charges against him”.