Reporters sans frontières - Iran

Reporters sans frontières - Iran:

Two journalists under sentence of death now on 42nd day of hunger strike

Reporters Without Borders is worried about the state of health of journalists Adnan Hassanpour and Abdolvahed “Hiva” Botimar, who are under sentence of death and who began their 42nd day on hunger strike today. Their lawyer, Saleh Nikhbakht, who met them on 20 August, said they are “very weak” and “will not hold out much longer.” They are consuming nothing but of water with a little sugar dissolved in it.

“We hold the chief of the judicial system, Ayatollah Hashemi Shahroudi, personally responsible for the state of health of these two journalists, which is the result of the appalling conditions in which they are being held,” the press freedom organisation said. “They are in solitary confinement and their most basic rights are being flouted.”

Hassanpour and Botimar, who write for the magazine Asou, went on hunger strike to protest against the conditions in Sanandaj prison, in Iran’s Kurdish northwest, where they have been held for more than six months. They have been allowed to see their families only once, on 8 August. They are demanding an end to their solitary confinement, their transfer to another prison and the ability to see their relatives and lawyers freely. They are also asking to see a justice department official.

In his latest statement, published by the FARS news agency, Nikhbakht said the Sanandaj prosecutor refused to transfer them to the prison in Marivan, where their families live, unless ordered to do so by Ayatollah Shahroudi.

A revolutionary tribunal in Marivan sentenced them to death on 16 July for spying, “subversive activities against national security” and “separatist propaganda.”

Meanwhile, Reporters Without Borders is still without news of Ako Kurdnasab, a journalist with the weekly Karfto, who has been held in Sanandaj prison since 21 July, and Soheil Assefi, a freelance journalist who contributes to several news media, who has been held in Tehran’s Evin prison since 4 August. Neither has been tried and it is not known what they are charged with. Assefi has not been allowed any visits.

Two non-political prisoners have been placed in the cell in which Payam-e mardom-e Kurdestan editor Mohammad Sadegh Kabovand is being held in the Evin prison’s security wing 209 and, as a result, he is worried about his safety, his wife said. Kabovand has been held in Evin prison since his arrest on 1 July and initially he was in solitary confinement.

With 11 journalist currently detained, Iran continues to be the Middle East’s biggest prison for the press and is one of the world’s 10 most repressive countries as regards freedom of the media.

Sign the petition on behalf of Adnan Hassanpour and Abdolvahed “Hiva” Botimar

Targeting Journalists and the Information Superhighway Divide (Asharq Alawsat Newspaper)

Targeting Journalists and the Information Superhighway Divide (Asharq Alawsat Newspaper): Targeting Journalists and the Information Superhighway Divide

13/08/2007

Without publishing the details of their conviction, an Iranian Revolutionary Court issued death sentences against Iranian Kurdish journalist, Adnan Hassanpur, and Iranian Kurdish environmental activist, Abdolwahed (Hiwa) Butimar.

In a closed session, both journalists were convicted on charges of endangering national security, as well as conspiring and working to spread separatist propaganda against the state.

Hassanpur had previously criticized the Iranian regime on several occasions, and his weekly newspaper was banned from publication by the authorities in 2005. However, the accusations leveled against him and his indictment was not linked to his profession as a journalist. The mystery that surrounded his trial has led many to believe that his criticism of the regime was the real reason behind his conviction.

The sentences issued against the two men are neither exceptional nor reprehensible in a regime like the Iranian one, or in the Arab regimes in the region, all of which have a long history of targeting journalists and intellectuals. Many have been imprisoned or subjected to murder and prosecution. Although there is an abundance of news about unfair trials in various Arab states, this sentence issued by Iran’s Revolutionary Court is an alarming one since it has reached the death penalty, rather than just imprisonment.

But if the increasing number of reporters persecuted by their arbitrary regimes is a matter that elicits concern, then it must be said that the number of journalists abducted or killed is more abominable and frightening. This is especially so given the unprecedented rise in the number of victims, some of whom are in Iraq. Theirs is a plight that is not attentively received by the Arab public firstly, nor the international public opinion in turn.

When journalists are imprisoned, statements of condemnation and petitions are issued, while activists or concerned organizations try to mobilize the cause by exposing it before the public opinion.

When journalists are killed, in Iraq or Lebanon for example, we count the bodies  without disregarding the alarming numbers of the civilian victims in Iraq alone.

But if that’s the case; how could we even begin to assess the impact of the consequences of information related to prosecution, murder and intimidation?! How can we find out what we know nothing of if this high cost of delivering information subsists? And what is the real price of silence, which is intended for many people in our region who are imprisoned by it.

Such questions are worthy of contemplation, particularly in light of the development and diversity of communication means. However, in the face of this information revolution, these regimes have remained ensnared by their inherent tyrannies, while the societies are victimized by their beliefs and dogmas. Iraq is an example; the number of journalists and civilians killed has become difficult to enumerate.

But this targeting is not simply planned by regimes alone, but also by rival groups, or sometimes even by the very group that the journalist is affiliated with  as in the cases of journalists who dare to criticize the practices of their fellow countrymen.

It is true that today we live in the era of the citizen-journalist, by virtue of the huge scope of information available on the Internet to all those wishing to express their opinions or share their experience. But this alone is not enough, especially with the dedicated efforts exerted to block the websites and prosecute activists on the web.

There is no doubt that the cost of death and murder are hard to measure, however this persistence in targeting and killing journalists doubles the danger that the rest of them have to endure.

It is the social cost of terror and a coercive inducement towards silence.

July 17th

July 17th:

View this file

Click here to view a pdf statement from the THE OBSERVATORY for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders' on behalf of Adnan & Hiwa.

We are fully confident of their rigour and integrity as an organisation in cases like this.

(file name: 092 IRN 007_0807_OBS 092.pdf)

LEFT PARTY OF SWEDEN

LEFT PARTY
OF SWEDEN


To His Excellency
The President of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Mahmoud Ahmedinejad

We have been informed that the two Kurdish journalists, Adnan Hasanpour and Hiwa Butimar, on the 17 of July 2007 were arrested and condemned by the regime because of articles they had published. They are, according to our sources, sentenced to death, whish is extremely inhuman. You can never prevent or stop anyone from thinking. You can not prevent someone from writing what he or she thinks.
If think that someone is thinking in a wrong way you can only convince him or her with the help of good arguments. If you use violence or sentence someone to death, and can do that because you are in power, you only expose that your arguments have run out. At the same time you commit a crime against
democratic and human rights. The international community will hold you and your regime responsible for the execution of of Adnan Hasanpour and Hiwa Butimar. We strongly protest against the death penalty against Adnan Hasanpour and Hiwa Butimar Yours Sincerely Lars Ohly
Kalle Larsson MP, Chairman
MP of the Left Party of Sweden.
Member of the Central Committee
of the Left Party of Sweden
Hans Linde MP, member of the Standing Committee of
Foreign Affairs in the Parliament of Sweden

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Two journalists on hunger strike protest their death sentences

Date: 14 August 2007
Source: Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
Person(s): Adnan Hassanpour, Abdolvahed Botimar
IFEX

(RSF/IFEX) - On 13 August 2007, Reporters Without Borders wrote to United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon urging him to intercede in the case of Adnan Hassanpour and Abdolvahed Botimar, two journalists who were sentenced to death on 16 July, and to ask the Islamic Republic of Iran to adhere to the international treaties it has signed concerning civil and political rights.
"Their most basic rights were violated as they were barred from court when the sentence was handed down," the letter said. "Even more egregiously, they were not notified of the sentence and only found out from a newspaper."
Hassanpour and Botimar (who is also known as "Hiva"), were allowed a visit from a family member in their prison in Sanandaj, in Iran's Kurdish northwestern region, on 8 August. They discovered they had been sentenced to death from a report in the daily "Kayhan". They have been on hunger strike for nearly 30 days, and are consuming only water to which some sugar is added.
The letter pointed out that 11 journalists are currently in prison in Iran for trying to do their job. Some are serving sentences imposed in trials with no due process. Others are being held without trial. The prison conditions are appalling and they are denied access to the medical treatment they need.
"Journalists are being harassed and threatened by the regime, which is waging a witch-hunt against the independent media," the letter said. "Many of them have been brought into court on charges which are baseless but are deemed admissible by a compliant judicial system."
The letter concluded: "These men need to know that they have your support. If the United Nations were to intercede on their behalf, they would be able to recover a degree of dignity and the freedom to work as journalists. We are convinced that you could find ways and arguments to get Iran to respect the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which it has signed."
Of the nine other journalists currently in prison, Soheil Assefi is the one who was arrested most recently. A contributor to several news media, he was detained when he responded to a summons and presented himself to a Tehran court on 4 August, four days after officials from the prosecutor's office searched his home, taking personal documents and computer material. He is now being held in Tehran's Evin prison on unknown charges. He was able to telephone a relative on 9 August but has not been allowed to receive visits.
Farshad Gorbanpour, who was arrested for no clear reason on 31 July, is also being held in Evin prison. According to his wife, who was able to visit him once, he is charged with "activity against national security" and could be released if he pays bail of 200 million touman (approx. 158,000 euros).
Journalist Ako Kurdnasab of the Sanandaj-based weekly "Karfto" was arrested at his newspaper office by intelligence ministry officials on 21 July after one of the city's courts opened an investigation against him. He is now awaiting trial in Sanandaj prison. His family has had no word from him and does not know what he is charged with.
Ejlal Ghavami of "Payam-e Mardom-e Kurdestan" (a weekly that was closed by the authorities in 2004) has been detained since 9 July, a month after a Sanandaj court sentenced him on 9 June to three years in prison for "inciting populations to revolt" and "activity against national security." He has an eye infection. "Payam-e Mardom-e Kurdestan" editor Mohammad Sadegh Kabovand was arrested on 1 July and sent to Evin prison, where he staged an eight-day hunger strike in protest against his solitary confinement. Reporters Without Borders has been told that he is under a great deal of pressure to deny information published by the Kurdistan Human Rights Organisation, of which he is one of the founders. He is also reportedly charged with "activity against national security."
Said Matinpour of "Yarpagh" (an Azeri-language weekly based in Tehran) has been detained since 28 May, when he and his wife were arrested at their home in the northwestern city of Zanjan. He was transferred to Tehran two days later and is now being held in security section 209 in Evin prison. He has not been charged and neither his relatives nor his lawyer have been able to see him.
Three other journalists have been held since last year. Kaveh Javanmard of "Karfto" was arrested on 18 December in Sanandaj and was sentenced during a secret trial on 17 May to two years in prison for "inciting revolt" and "activity against national security." Ali Farahbakhsh, a contributor to several business newspapers including "Sarmayeh", was arrested on 27 November and was sentenced on 26 March to three years in prison for spying. He is currently being held in Evin prison's security section 209, where he has for some time been deprived of his medicine.
Finally, Mohammad Hassin Falahieh of the state TV station Al-Alam's Arabic-language service has been detained since November 2006. He was convicted of spying by a revolutionary court on 29 April and is now serving a three-year sentence in Evin prison's security section 209. His lawyer says he is ill and needs treatment.
Sign the petition on behalf of the journalists who have been sentenced to death in Iran: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=15054

Hunger strikes

Adnan & Hiwa have both been hunger striking for 35 days now. They are, as you may imagine, very weak.

We are trying to secure the help of Red Crescent/Red Cross to visit them with medical care and even obtain a transfer to a hospital from the jail in Sanandaj.

Keep campaigning on their behalf. Spread the news of this website. Keep writing letters and emails and if you are a praying person, please bring their case before God.

Visit granted for families

Martin Hadi Butimar, brother of Hiwa, writes about his family's visit to Hiwa.

A pleasing and decent visit, but anxious doubly and unpleasant!

I am pretty sure that you have already been aware so far through Medias about Mr. Adnan Hasan Poor and Mr. Hiwa Butimar two Kurdish journalists and social activists whom have been sentenced to death unfairly and far from justices human right frame work by the Iranian Revolutionary Supreme Court in charge of fighting against GOD! and also acting against Iranian National Security. This verdict of Iranian Revolutionary Supreme Court was accompanied by the Human Rights Organisations, Philanthropists, and noble Kurdish Nation’s reactions in all over the world.

As a results of these global pressures on the Iranian Government and also unlimited persistence of the accused to death youth’s families on the Iranian Revolutionary Supreme Court’s Judges and commissioners, they had agreed with short visiting of the families with their imprisoned sentenced to death youth, whom had been jailed in unknown places since they have sentenced to death which was 26 days ago. Of course during this time, the families were living in bewildered situation without having any news about their sons, whether or not that they are still alive.

For now not just as a Brother of Hiwa Butimar but, it is of my obligation as a human to inform all Medias, Human Rights Organisations, Philanthropists, Noble Kurdish Nation, Liberal Iranians and all democratic states in all over the world, about the current status of Adnan Hassan Poor and Hiwa Butimar and their general health according to the statements of the families after the short visiting of them.

The families were awarded a short visit of their son by the Iranian Intelligence service in Sanandaj Intelligence service’s jail, on Tuesday the August 9^th 2007. the intelligence service commissioners were let 2 members of each families to visit their son while two officers were presented during the visit and they were pictured every moments of their meeting. This appointment have clarified for the families that their son are imprisoned in Sanandaj.

Mr. Adnan hasan Poor and Mr. Hiwa Butimar were mentioned the they have been displaced suddenly from Mariwan Public prisons to Sanandaj Jail 26 days ago without making them aware of their death sentences, and also without attendance of their advocate. They have been undergoing tortures and strict torment in Sanandaj Jail since they have been arrived there, and therefore as an objection against these wild treatments of the Jail wardens, they have been strike from eating since that time. However they have written 3 letters to the Court about their strike and they have delivered them to the Jail commissioner, which none of them has not been handled to the Court yet.

However, they were not informed from their death sentences from date that issued up to last week when they were reading their Death Sentenced Confirmation by the Iranian Justice spokesman in the Jail’s newspaper as his statements were published in the several Daily Newspapers in Iran. After knowing about their death sentences in Newspaper eventually, they have been more deterministic on their strike and persisting on it, which is still continuing. According to the family, they are not in good health conditions and they definitely need medical treatments as soon as possible. Otherwise they are going through more and more weakness and gradual dying from starvation as results of their strike. In additions, the Jail’s Commissioners have denied the medical check up or treatments of them by the Jail’s Doctor.

As families of Mr. Adnan Hasan Poor and Mr. Hiwa Butimar, we are stretching out our hands humbly towards Non Border Physicians Organisation, Humans Right Watch, Humans Right Defenders and all philanthropists in all over the world to help our sons in the Jail.

Hadi Butimar

Zagros2707@yahoo.co.uk

0044 771 948 6669

0044 770 311 2814

DEATH PENALTY: Two Kurdish Journalists on Iran's Death Row

Saturday, August 04, 2007

IPS

By Kimia Sanati

TEHRAN, Aug 1 (IPS) - Kurdish human rights and political groups have launched an Internet campaign to save the lives of Adnan Hasanpoor and Abdolvahed (Hiva) Bootimar, two Iranian Kurdish journalists who were sentenced to death on Jul. 16 by a revolutionary tribunal in the Iranian Kurdish city of Marivan.Hasanpoor was found guilty of 'moharebe' (taking up arms against the Islamic state) and espionage. The charge of espionage rested on telephone interviews he gave to the foreign media, including the Voice of America, his lawyer was quoted as saying by the Iranian Labour News Agency. Bootimar was also tried on the charge of moharebe, fellow Kurdish journalist Khosrow Kurdpoor told IPS. Kurdpoor, who runs the Mukrian News website, was quoting the lawyer who represented the two journalists. Reporters Without Borders (RSF - Reporters sans frontières), the international press freedom watchdog, has voiced deep concern over the sentences of the two journalists and appealed to the international community to ask Iran to reverse its decision and refrain from executing the two men "who only exercised their right to inform their fellow citizens". Iran is on its way to becoming one of the world's biggest prisons for journalists, RSF said. "We know nothing about the trial procedures but we know they held Hiva (Bootimar) and Adnan (Hasanpoor) in jail for several months before their trials. Hiva, who is an environmentalist and one of the founders of the Marivan's Sabzchiya environment protection society, has apparently been tried on the 'charge of affiliation to a political group that has armed struggle in its charter'," a Kurdish human rights activist, who requested anonymity, told IPS. "He is not known to have had any such connections himself, but there are rumours that he is being held as hostage to make his brother, who has fled the country, return," said the activist. Asu, the Kurdish language weekly to which Hasanpoor and Bootimar contributed, was banned on Aug. 4, 2005, forcing it to halt its reporting of the riots that broke out in Mahabad, western Iran, and which spread to other Kurdish-populated towns and villages of western Iran. The unrest that lasted for over a month in the Kurdish areas was provoked by the death of Shwane Qaderi, a 25-year-old who was shot by the police on the streets of Mahabad. His body was then tied to a military vehicle and dragged through the streets of the city. Pictures of Qaderi's tortured body could be seen on the Internet and angry crowds in Kurdish towns and villages attacked government offices and banks. The riots and demonstrations left scores of people dead and injured. Hundreds were arrested. On Jul. 13, Abdolsamad Nasiri, 17, was beaten to death by security agents in Mahabad, Kurdistan Media, the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan's publication centre, reported. "The circumstances of the youth's death are not clear but the atmosphere in the city that day had been very tense and many shops had closed to commemorate the anniversary of the assassination of Abdolrahman Qasemlou, leader of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, in 1989 in Vienna," the Kurdish activist told IPS. The Iranian government, accused of orchestrating the assassination by Kurdish parties and groups, has always denied any connection with the killing of the expatriate Kurdish leader. The Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan is the oldest Kurdish political party. Last month, on the anniversary of the assassination of its leader, the party called on the people in Kurdish cities to turn off their lights for three minutes in protest. On the same day, spontaneous rallies in a number of Kurdish cities were reported by Kurdish news websites. Shops were also reported closed as a sign of protest for what the Kurds say is huge discrimination against them in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Iranian Kurds, who had largely been submissive before the Islamic Revolution of 1978, rose up against the new regime along with some other ethnic minorities, demanding the right to self-determination. After several years of armed struggle, various Kurdish groups, most of them with leftist leanings, were brought under control. Since the fall of Saddam Hussein in Iraq and the establishment of the Kurdish Authority in northern Iraq, Iranian Kurds have once again been pursuing their demands with greater vigour. But armed struggle is no longer on the agenda of many of the groups who fought the central government two decades ago. Many say they are now seeking federalism. Only the PJAK (Partiya Jiyana Azad Kurdistane or Party for Free Life of Kurdistan), a small guerrilla group, still carries out armed operations against the government forces. It is said to be affiliated to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The PJAK has bases in Turkey and northern Iraq and the Iranian government occasionally launches cross-border raids against its bases. The guerrillas downed an Iranian Revolutionary Guards helicopter in western Iran in March this year, killing two top brass revolutionary guards and seven other military staff. "In recent years the people in Kurdish populated areas have increasingly chosen civil and peaceful methods over violence in their struggle. For example, in protest against the death sentence passed on Adnan Hasanpoor, the market and shops were closed in Marivan," Kurdpoor told IPS. Three other Kurdish journalists and human rights activists, Aku Kordnasab, Ejlal Qavami and Mohammad Sadiq Kaboudvand, arrested during the past month, and Kaveh Javanmard, arrested in May and sentenced to two years in prison, are presently held in prison, Kurdpoor said. In the absence of a free press, news from the Kurdish-populated areas and reports of the sentences passed on the two journalists have only been carried on Kurdish and opposition news sites. The Iranian press is very strictly censored. Many media organizations resort to self-censorship to avoid being banned by the government. The Iranian Labour News Agency, the only major news agency not under government control, which consistently reported on human rights related issues, was recently banned. (All parties named in the article are illegal and banned in Iran.) (END/2007)

EU urges Iran not to execute Kurdish journalists

August 4, 2007
Middle East Times

BRUSSELS -- The European Union Friday called on Iran to halt the executions of two Kurdish journalists convicted for harboring links to armed groups. The EU's Portuguese presidency in a statement also voiced concern at collective public executions that have been taking place in Iran recently. "The EU calls on the Islamic Republic of Iran to halt the executions of Adnan Hassanpour and of Abdolwahed Boutimar, and to ensure that the two accused be given a fair trial" in accordance with the international human rights convention, the statement read. The EU also condemned Iran's "increasing recourse to the death penalty" and "the growing repression against all groups which exercise their right to freely express their opinions, in particular in Kurdish and Arab minority regions." Iran's judiciary confirmed Tuesday for the first time that Adnan Hassanpour and Abdolvahed "Hiva" Botimar were sentenced to death July 16 by a revolutionary court in northeastern Kordestan province as "enemies of God." Iran hanged in public seven people convicted of rape and kidnapping in its holy second city of Mashhad Wednesday, the latest execution of criminals arrested in a crackdown on thugs. Iran has stepped up hangings of such convicts deemed to be a public menace. Kurds form a minority believed to be around several million people in Iran, most of whom live in the northwestern provinces of West Azarbaijan and Kordestan on the border with Turkey and Iraq. The border area is hugely sensitive, with Iranian security forces in recent years fighting banned Kurdish separatist parties, in particular Pejak, a group linked to Turkey's outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

condemning the death sentences Petition

condemning the death sentences Petition

Iran: Adnan Hassanpour sentenced to death - English Pen

Iran: Adnan Hassanpour sentenced to death - English Pen: English PEN is alarmed by the death sentence handed down to Iranian Kurdish journalist, writer and human rights activist Adnan Hassanpour on 16 July 2007. Hassanpour is believed to have been convicted of being a mohareb ('an enemy of God') and 'acting against national security', apparently for expressing his views on the Kurdish issue. PEN fears that he is being detained solely for the peaceful exercise of his right to free expression, and if so calls for his immediate and unconditional release.

According to PEN's information, Adnan Hassanpour, journalist and advocate of cultural rights for Iranian Kurds, was detained on 25 January 2007 in Marivan, a small city in the northwestern province of Kurdistan. He was reportedly held incommunicado without charge in a Ministry of Intelligence facility in Marivan, and transferred to Marivan prison on 26 March 2007. He appeared before the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Sanandaj on 12 June 2007, in the presence of his lawyer.

Adnan Hassanpour was reportedly taken from Marivan prison to an unconfirmed place of detention, possibly the detention facility run by the Ministry of Intelligence in Sanandaj, the capital of Kurdistan province, early in the morning of 15 July 2007. On 16 July 2007 he was told that he had been sentenced to death on charges of espionage and Moharebeh ('being at enmity with God'). If confirmed on appeal, the sentences would then have to be further confirmed by the Supreme Court.

In April 2007, the Mehr News Agency, which is said to have close links with Iran's judiciary, apparently alleged that Adnan Hassanpour had been in contact with Kurdish opposition groups and had helped two people from Khuzestan province, who were wanted by the authorities, to flee from Iran. However, in an interview carried by the online publication Rooz, Hassanpour's lawyer, Saleh Nikbakht, said that the charges related to a phone conversation he had with a staff member of Radio Voice of America.

Adnan Hassanpour is a former member of the editorial board of the Kurdish-Persian weekly journal, Aso (Horizon), which was closed by the Iranian authorities in August 2005, following widespread unrest in Kurdish areas. He had previously been tried in connection with articles published in the journal. He is a member of the Kurdish Writer's Association. Hassanpour's cousin, environmentalist Abdolwahed (known as Hiwa) Butimar was also tried with Hassanpour on the same charges, and handed down the death penalty.

On 23 July 2007, four Kurdish intellectuals were arrested for their activities in support of Hassanpour and Butimar, including journalist Ako Kurdnasab, a Board member of the weekly Karaftu, Behzad Kordestani, a well-known poet and writer from Marivan, and Bakhtiyar Rehimi, a journalist from Marivan. Behzad Kordestani was released without charge on 24 July 2007, but Ako Kurdnasab and Bakhtiyar Rehimi will reportedly remain in gaol for at least two months, and are feared to be held incommunicado.

PEN is deeply concerned about an apparant pattern of repression against journalists and human rights activists in Iranian Kurdistan, which has been ongoing since unrest broke out in the Kurdish areas of Iran in July 2005, and was violently suppressed by the authorities. Several other Iranian-Kurdish journalists are currently detained, including Kaveh Javanmard, Mohammad Sadiq Kabudvand and Ejlal Qavami (see previous bulletins).

Please send appeals:

* Expressing dismay at the death sentence handed down to journalist Adnan Hassanpour, and fears that he is being held in violation of Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Iran is a signatory;
* Expressing concerns at reports that he has been ill treated in detention, and seeking reassurances from the Iranian authorities that Adnan Hassanpour's wellbeing is guaranteed;
* Expressing concern about an apparent crackdown on Iranian-Kurdish journalists and writers, and calling for the immediate and unconditional release of all journalists and writers detained in Iranian Kurdistan solely for the peaceful expression of their views.

Addresses:

His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei,
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Shoahada Street, Qom
Islamic Republic of Iran

SalutationL Your Excellency
His Excellency
Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Ministry of Justice, Park-e Shahr,
Tehran
Islamic Republic of Iran

Salutation: Your Excellency
Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie
Ministry of Intelligence,
Second Negarestan Street,
Pasdaran Avenue,
Tehran
Islamic Republic of Iran


Copies to:

His Excellency President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
The Presidency,
Palestine Avenue,
Azerbaijan Intersection,
Tehran
Islamic Republic of Iran

Fax Via Foreign Ministry: 98 21 6 674 790
(mark: 'Please forward to H.E. President Ahmadinejad')

It may be most effective, however, to send the above appeals via the Iranian representative in London:


His Excellency Mr Rasoul Movahedian
Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran
16 Prince's Gate
London SW7 1PT

Fax: +44 (0)20 7589 4440
www.englishpen.org/writersinprison/bulletins/iranadnanhassanpoursentencedtodeath
tinyurl.com/2bls35