Those arrested and detained without charge include journalists, Vahid DARGAHI, Issa ALINAZAR, Abolfazl VESALI, Amin MOVAHEDI, Jalil MOGHADDASI and Hamed IMAN, and student activists, Yashar GHAJAR and Abed TAVANCHEH. These latest arrests come against a backdrop of mounting violations of the rights to freedom of expression and association by the Iranian authorities.
Following anti-government demonstrations in the East Azerbaijan province in Tabri, sparked by the publication of a controversial cartoon in the official daily newspaper of Iran on 12 May, the Iranian authorities carried out a series of arrests of journalists, including Vahid DARGAHI, the editor of the newspaper Avay Ardabil, Issa ALINAZAR editor of the publication Arad, Abolfazl VESALI editor of the newspaper Nedaye Azarbadegan, and Amin MOVAHEDI, Jalil MOGHADDASI and Hamed IMAN, journalists for the local press. They are currently being held without charge in unknown locations.
Students Yashar GHAJAR and Abed TAVANCHEH were among those arrested following demonstrations at several universities in Tehran, which began on 20 May 2006. Students at Tehran’s Amir kabir Polytechnic University protested against the intervention of paramilitary and Basij (militia) forces to prevent elections for leaders of the student association, Anjoman-è-eslami, from taking place. Students also protested against crackdowns on cultural activities and independent student publications and increased presence of security forces on the campus.
Yashar Ghajar, student at the Amir kabir Polytechnic University in Tehran, and chairperson of the independent students’ association, Anjoman-è-eslami, was arrested without charge on 25 May 2006 by the security services, after taking part in demonstrations. The security services initially informed his family that he was being held but failed to disclose his location. On 5 June 2006 it was finally confirmed that Yashar Ghajar is detained at the Evin prison in Tehran.
Abed Tavancheh, also a student at the Amir kabir Polytechnic University, was arrested without charge on 27 May 2006 by the information services of the revolutionary guards. Abed Tavencheh, a blogger, had documented the events of the student demonstrations on his website. He is also being held in the Evin prison, in the infamous 325 (2-A) wing. This wing belongs to the information services of the revolutionary guards and has become known through numerous reports of torturing prisoners.
FIDH and LDDHI express their deep concern for the physical and psychological well-being of those detained. FIDH and LDDHI consider that they have been arbitrarily detained, in efforts aimed at sanctioning their freedom of expression and association, in flagrant violation of Iran’s human rights obligations under international law. FIDH and LDDHI therefore call for their immediate and unconditional release.
FIDH and LDDHI are submitting their cases to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions.