News in brief-
Ensafali Hedayat ( journalist living in exile ) has published a report about violation of human rights by the Islamic Republic in Iran's province of Azarbayjan.
Here is part of this report:

" After wide spread arrest and imprisonment of men activists in the field of Human rights in Azarbayjan of Iran, now the women political -human rights activists is being arrested and imprisoned in Azarbayjan ."

"Based on a reliable news that i have received, Mrs. Shahnaz Gholami was arrested nine days ago by the agents of the Ministry of Information in Eastern part of Azarbayjan and she was transfered to an unknown location for interrogation." said Mr. Hedayat.
Background:
"Mrs. Shahnaz is born in the city of Ahar.... She has a daughter and in the begining of revolution she became a member of the Monafeghin Organization (Peoples Mojahedin). At the time of street clashes between Islamic Republic and Mojahedin, she was also arrested and was imprisoned.She was sentenced to death but because she was very young the regime stoped the execution .She spent 3-4 years in prison.After release from prison, she joined the Association of Iran's Women Journalists(roza) . "
In recent months a group of women in Azarbayjan came together to protect the human rights of women in Azarbayjan. Shahnaz has written extensive article about women's right.
Shahnaz isn't the only women arrested or jailed because of her fight for the human rights of women in Azarbayjan. Here is a list of other women:

Ms. Leila Heidari - from Zanjan - has been arrested since 2-3 days ago- She owns a bookstore-
Her husband "Behruz Safari " also an activist has been arrested three months ago.She has no information about her husbands whereabout and she does not know which security or military agents has kidnapped him and in which city or prison he is been kept.

Ms. Atieh Taheri was also the target of the ministries agent but when the agent attended in her home she was not at home but the agents arrested her brother inlaw for questioning .Currently she is being pursued by the agents.

Mr. Saleh Kamrani is the husband of Mina Kamrani . Ms. Mina does not have any information about her husband and the agents from the Ministry of Information wont allow her to see her husband.The agent forced Mr. Kamrani to call his wife and tell her to shut her mouth and not to speak with reporters.

The agents did not allow the wife of Mr. Abas Lesani to attend in her husbands trial. They throw her out of the court room and proceeded the trial in closed door without a defense lawyer .

Tens of women from Azarbayjan have been arrested and imprisoned for just demanding the right to study in their own "Turkish" language. Among these women Ms. Parisa Babaei -fard or Maheny Zanganeli the poet and writer from Azarbayjan is included.After several time being arrested and detained Ms. Maheny left Iran and currently live in Turkey .

Another women who is very active in the human rights of women and children in the city of Tabriz is Ms. Zohreh Vafaei. She owns " Zeynab Pasha "publishing compony. She is also a translator. Her publishing company have been closed many time by the security agents and her business was attacked and the agents have taken with them many of her cultural products.

At the end, i would like to remind that, at present there are many political and human rights activists from Azarbayjan city's spending their time in the Islamic Republic prisons and no news has been reported about these people in print or non print farsi language media including online .

Link to this news in Farsi:
http://www.iran-emrooz.net/index.php?/politic/more/14020/

What is happening in Iran?
In recent months threat and intimidation again and again was the topic of the speech by the Minister of Information.

Minister of Information warned !
The Minister of Information has warned the students who have relation with outside of Iran and has said that, his ministry will deal with these students. The Minister said: We will deal with those who in the name of student have relation with outside of Iran . These people are not students and are trying to destroy the system of Islamic Republic.

Link to this news in Farsi:
http://www.roozna.com/Negaresh_site/FullStory/?Id=45273

Short nice piece of video on Iranian singer and musician Shahram Nazeri :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaNYL6VmnaM

Iranian writer and dissident Akbar Ganji wins Rights & Democracy's 2007 John Humphrey Freedom Award
فارسی
MONTREAL – Aug. 2, 2007 – Akbar Ganji, the celebrated Iranian journalist and dissident who spent six years in prison for exposing rights abuses committed by Iran’s Fundamentalist regime, is the winner of Rights & Democracy’s 2007 John Humphrey Freedom Award.
Mr. Ganji’s fearless commitment to human rights, democratic development and non-violence is an inspiration and source of hope to his fellow Iranians. A journalist by trade, Mr. Ganji’s work has appeared in pro-democracy newspapers across Iran, most of which the government has since shut down. He has also written 10 books, including the bestselling The Dungeon of Ghosts (1999) and The Red Eminence and The Grey Eminence (2000).
In April 2000, Mr Ganji was sentenced to six years in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison on charges of “propaganda against the regime and its institutions.” The charges stemmed from a series of investigative articles exposing the complicity of then President Rafsanjani and other leading members of the conservative clergy in the murders of political dissidents and intellectuals in 1998. During his time in jail, Mr. Ganji endured solitary confinement and finally a hunger strike that lasted from May to August 2005. He also continued to write, producing a series of influential political manifestos and open letters calling for Iran’s secularization and the establishment of democracy through mass civil disobedience. The works were smuggled out of Evin and published on the Internet. A collection of his writings in English will be published next year by the University of California Press.
“Mr Ganji’s commitment to free speech and democratic dissent has come at great personal risk,” said Janice Stein, Chair of Rights & Democracy’s Board of Directors. “His willingness to endure torture, hunger strikes and solitary confinement in the name of human rights and democracy in Iran speaks to the kind of courage the John Humphrey Freedom Award was established to celebrate.”
Rights & Democracy presents the John Humphrey Freedom Award each year to an organization or individual from any country or region of the world, including Canada, for exceptional achievement in the promotion of human rights and democratic development. Named in honour of John Peters Humphrey, the McGill University law professor who prepared the first draft of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the award includes a speaking tour of Canadian cities to help increase awareness of the recipient's human rights work.

***Rights & Democracy is a non-partisan, independent Canadian institution created by an Act of Parliament in 1988 to promote, advocate and defend the democratic and human rights set out in the International Bill of Human Rights. In cooperation with civil society and governments in Canada and abroad, Rights & Democracy initiates and supports programmes to strengthen laws and democratic institutions, principally in developing countries***

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 : http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=15054

News in brief-
IRAN WATCH CANADA monitoring the Daily News from Iran

Ahmadinejad's silent cultural revolution continues!
Mass expelling of outstanding professors of universities in Iran has been continued.
This action by Ahmadinejad's Government raises alot of eyebrew and concern among academic ,intellectual societies and human rights defenders in Iran and the world.
Many outstanding experienced professors from the University of Tehran and University of Alameh Tabatabaie are expelled or were forced to accept early retirement.
In the begining of classes season, many professors of universities are forcefully left staying at home instead of being in classes.
In the last two weeks more than 15 professors are expelled or forcefully retired .
Ahmadinejad's project expelling or forcefully early retiring professors started last year. At the time, more than 40 professors were forced to retire. These situation caused alot of stress not only among these professors family but also among students as well.
Here are some of the names of these professors.
Dr. Mir jalalodin Kezazi
Dr. Hossain Bashirieh
Dr. Behzad Shahandeh
Dr. Hadi Semati
Mohammad Mojtahed Shabestari
Alamzadeh
Aliabadi
Hasanali Dorodian
Ahmad Saei
Seyed Ali Azemayesh
Ashuri
SafaeiReza Reistusi
Eraghi
Mohsen Kadivar
Saeed Hajarian
Mohammad Taghi Ahmadi
Abolfazl Shekuri
Masud Ghafari
Hatam Ghaderi
Hashem Aghajeri

Link to this news:
http://www.roozna.com/Negaresh_site/FullStory/?Id=44927

News in brief-

The court must decide whether Haleh Esfandiary can leave the country !

First deputy of the judiciary power Mr. Seyed Ebrahim Raisi in response to a question whether Haleh Esfandiary can leave the country have said: The court must decide .This is the responsibility of the court.

Link to this news in Farsi:
http://www.roozna.com/Negaresh_site/FullStory/?Id=44831

News in brief-

Shireen Ebadi the Iranian Noble Peace Price Winner and lawyer of Haleh Esfandiary the Iranian -American researcher, in speaking about her client have said:

Haleh Esfandiary can't leave Iran!

After her release, her passport was confiscated by the judiciary authorities and they didn't return her passport.
Haleh Esfandiary is a 67 years old researcher in America .She spent 100 days in prison and was released last Tuseday on bail.

Read more about Press Freedom and Freedom of Expression from this organizations.

http://www.cjfe.org/
http://www.ifex.org/
http://www.rsf.org/

News in brief-
Two journalist on hunger strike in Islasmic Republic's prison!
According to Iran-emrooz online- news, two Kurdish journalists, Mr. Adnan Hassanpoor and Mr. Heywa Butimar have been on hunger strike for a month now.
Their lawyer Mr. Saleh Nikbakht confirmed that his clients are on hunger strike and he is worried about their health and situation.
In this regard, the Association in defense of Prisoners rights warned about the situation of this two journalists and in a press release have said: hunger strike in prison usually is forbiden in developed countries, however, if prisoners feel that no one is listening to them and to their requests they may find strike the only solution.
The two journalists have requested from the prison officials to transfer them to public cell and allow their lawyer and family to visit them.

Link to this news in Farsi:
http://www.iran-emrooz.net/index.php?/news2/13951/

News in Brief-

300 milion Toman bail for Haleh Esfandiary!

According to Fars News Agency Haleh Esfandiary is going to be releasd on bail.
A source from within judiciary system have told that Haleh Esfandiary is going to be released and the bail for her release is 300 milion Toman ( $1= 900 Toman).
The source did not say if Kian Tajbakhsh is also going to be released.
Haleh Esfandiary , Kian Tajbakhsh and Ali Shakery are three Iranian academic living in US and they have been arrested when visited Iran

News in brief:
Even the doctors of political prisoners have to go to jail !
After sentencing many lawyers to imprisonment, now division number six of the court of revolution has sentenced Ahmad Batebi's ( a political prisoner) doctor to one year jail term.
Doctor Hesam Firuzi is a human rights activist and he has been charged with " action against national security " , " propaganda against the system".
The court sentenced doctor based on his interview with different media.
Link to this news in Farsi:
http://www.iran-emrooz.net/index.php?/news2/13923/

News in brief-
Iran Emrooz- Aug.15,2007
http://www.iran-emrooz.net/index.php?/news2/13898/

Islamic Republic uses threat , intimidation, arrest, imprisonment against brave Iranian women !
The chief public security police in Gilan province has reported:
3,925 women have been arrested for violation of Islamic dress code.

Hundred days in forced solitude !
By: Mehr Angeez Kar , Roozonline
Haleh Esfandiary has past 100 days in forced solitude and she may see more to come. Mr. Kian Tajbakhsh has also spent 100 days in forced solitude and he may face more too.There is no news about Mr. Ali Shakeri. Forced solitude ( in detention) is a punishment for those Iranian who love their country dearly and this is the destiny and history which has been in place and those Iranian must tolerate. It has been said that , Haleh Esfandiary is on a wheel chair transfered by the prison guards from solitary confinement back and forth .
They are all prisoners of Islamic Republic .

Human Rights Watch film.
Watch this brave human rights defender Dr. Chee . This happens in many part of the world where there is no democracy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_DRoUOcupo

News in brief-

Mr. Eskandar Lotfi a teacher from the city of Marivan was sentenced to an internal exile by a court in Kurdistan province.

Mr. Lotfi who lives and teach in Marivan (a city in Kurdistan province ) was sentenced to three years internal exile to the city of Ardebil in Azarbayjan province.

Mr. Lotfi was charged with organizing the teachers for protest.

News in Brief-

112 MP in an official letter to Ayattollah Shahrudy the head of judiciary power demanded the filtering on "ILNA" ( Iran's Labour News Agency) be removed.

They have indicated that the article #24 of the constitution has guranteed the freedom of electronic and print media.

Watch this video clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQe1yrKtIRE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKQ0cZrtoGc

Pressure is building up inside and outside Iran against Islamic Republic.

Judge Said Mortazavi Started his new campaign hanging Many Iranian young men around the country as "Rascals and vilains " .

thursday August 9 , 2007 a day of solidarity with Osanlou!

Worldwide support for Osanlou.

Labor union around the world called Islamic Republic to release Osanlou from Iranian prison.

Human Rights Watch video clip on Malali Joya the brave Afghan human rights and particularly women's rights advocate:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yP0GjSq4D6E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqyLA7hDv-Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1Pxihn2js8

News in Brief-

New cultural revolution in Irans universitys.

According to the news from Iran , Ahmadinejad's government is puting pressure on university professors who are critic to his government policies and asking them to either take early retirement or they will be ousted and at the same time his government is hiring new 5400 university professor and by doing so , he is applying new cultural revolution in Iran's university's.

This was revealed in parliament by an MP.

News in brief-
Roozonline-Saman Rasulpoor

Mohammad Sadiq Kabudvand:There are pressure to disolve Kurdistan Human Rights Organization.
Mohammad Sadiq Kabudvand who has been in section number 209 of Evin prison since Sunday July 1, 2007 has contacted his family for the first time through phone and and said:

While in detention in Evin prison he has been under mental pressure to dissolve the Kurdistan Human Rights Organization.
According to his family in protest to all the pressure Mohammad was in hunger strike for eight days which deteriorated his lung illness.

Link to this news in Farsi:
http://www.roozonline.com/archives/2007/08/post_3506.php

A short video clip on human rights
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUnH20kawXI
On Freedom, Born Free:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ajk6DrDMej4

Pic: Shireen Ebadi and her cliet Haleh Eskandari.

News in brief-
Madame Shireen Ebadi the Noble Peace Price Winner and a lawyer send a complaint letter to the UN Human Rights Council against arbiterary arrest in Iran .
Madame Sireen Ebadi who is a lawyer and a human rights advocate has sent a complaint against arbitrary arrests in Iran to the UN Human Rights Council. She is also lawyer of Ms. Haleh Eskandari an Iranian- American researcher.
She demanded from UNHRC to put pressure on Islamic Republic for the immediate release of her client Ms. Haleh Escandari.
she said : Her client as a prisoner was deprived from all legal rights.
She also added that during the last three months she has written many letters to the officials but received no answer.Because of this situation she decided to write letter of complaint to UNHRC

Another threatening message by Mr. Mohseni Ezheei the Minister of Information!

On August 7 Mr. Ezheei said : The enemies of the Islamic system are " expanding their actions to overthrow the Islamic Republic" .
He said they developed three plan:
First plan is headed by Dick Cheini with colaboration of internal and external opposition and their aim is to intensify division among officials.
2nd plan is to defame personalities of the revolution
And 3rd plan which is the most important one is to show that this system does not work and therefore are planning for an orange revolution.

This is all to intimidate and threaten brave Iranian students, women , laborers , teachers , journalists, bloggers , human rights activists who are demandin for their basic human rights.

Despite of these threats the struggle in Iran seems had intensified and can't be stopped by the Islamic Republic.
Iranian people want freedom , democracy and Human Rights . That is at least what can be heard in the streets in Tehran and all over Iran .

Wednesday August 8 is the "Day of Journalists in Iran".

Many journalists have gathered in the office of Mr. Karubi the leader of the "Etemad Melli" party to discuss the problems they are facing .Mr. Karubi is also the president of Etemade Melli one of the semi reformist newspaper. Karubi like Khatami has more tolerance toward reformist newspapers .

On this day many journalists are still in prison and two Kurdish journalists are sentenced to death and Sharq a reformist newspaper was shut down again.

Pic.-Emad Baghi

The lawyer of Mr. Emad Baghi has appealed against the three years jail sentence for his client.

Mr. Mahmoud Aalam said : After receiving three years jail sentence against my client by division number six of Tehran revolution court , i protested to the sentence and we have appealed to Tehran Court of appeal.
He said : Mr.Emad Baghi is accused with " Gathering and planning to do criminal act against national security" and " propaganda against the system and in favor of the foreign and opposition groups".
He said: I have asked the court to drop the charges against my client.
Link to the news in Farsi:
http://www.roozna.com/Negaresh_site/FullStory/?Id=43616

REGIONAL NEWS
MIDDLE EAST
2. IRAN CRACKS DOWN ON JOURNALISTS WITH DEATH SENTENCES, PRISON TERMS
Iranian authorities have stepped up their efforts to persecute and jail
journalists, activists and human rights defenders, report human rights
groups worldwide. Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières,
RSF) wants you to sign a petition demanding the release of two of their
latest victims: Iranian Kurdish journalists whose death sentences were
confirmed by the authorities on 31 July.
Adnan Hassanpour and Abdolvahed "Hiva" Botimar both wrote for the weekly
magazine "Aso" until it was banned by the government in August 2005,
forcing it to halt reports on the widespread unrest that broke out in
Kurdish areas following the death of a 25-year old Kurd who was shot by
police in Mahabad. The riots were violently suppressed by the authorities.
RSF is appealing to the international community to ask Iran, one of the
world's leading practitioners of the death penalty, to reverse its decision
and refrain from executing the two men "who only exercised their right to
inform their fellow citizens." Sign RSF's petition here:
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=15054
The journalists are believed to have been given death sentences - in closed
trials - for being "mohareb" ("enemies of God") and "acting against
national security" - for expressing their views on the Kurdish issue.
Hassanpour, who also contributed to foreign media outlets including Voice
of America and the Prague-based Radio Farda, was detained in January and
was held incommunicado without charge. Botimar, an active member of the
environmental organisation Sabzchia, was arrested in December 2006. The
Kurdish Human Rights Project (KHRP) says both men experienced torture and
degrading treatment in prison.
KHRP is concerned that the judgment will be implemented within three weeks
if there is no international intervention. RSF reports that on 3 August,
the European Union stepped forward and reminded Iran that it is signatory
to international covenants that affirm the right to a fair trial.
International PEN's Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) and KHRP believe
that Botimar and Hassanpour were not only targeted for being journalists,
but also for being Kurdish. According to WiPC, an "apparent pattern of
repression against journalists and human rights activists in Iranian
Kurdistan" has been ongoing since unrest broke out in 2005. Several other
Iranian-Kurdish journalists are currently detained, and four Kurdish
intellectuals were arrested a week after the death sentences were handed
down for their activities in support of Hassanpour and Botimar, says WiPC.
Continuing the pattern of Iran's latest crackdown, RSF reports on a number
of cases of journalists being targeted. Journalist Soheil Assefi was
arrested when he presented himself to a Tehran court on 4 August in
response to a summons. Neither his family nor his lawyers know where he is
being held or what he is charged with. Officials from the prosecutor's
office searched his home on 31 July, taking personal documents and his
computer's hard disk.
Also on 31 July, editor Emadoldin Baghi was sentenced to three years in
prison for writing articles that defended persons who were sentenced to
death in southern Iran, while his wife and daughter received three-year
suspended sentences for participating in a series of human rights workshops
in Dubai. Emadoldin edited the "Jomhouriat" newspaper, until it was closed
down by the authorities in September 2004, while his wife was editor of the
now-defunct monthly "Jameh-e-no".
Journalist Farshad Gorbanpour, who works for the news website Roozonline,
was arrested and sent to Tehran's Evin prison, also on 31 July. The charges
against him have not been revealed.
"These developments confirm that the human rights situation in Iran is
getting worse by the day," says RSF.
IFEX members have recently reported on the increased harassment of women's
groups, students and U.S.-Iranian dual nationals. According to RSF, Iran
continues to be the Middle East's biggest prison for the press - 11
journalists and cyber-dissidents are currently in jail, in often
deteriorating conditions. Human Rights Watch reports that student editors
and activists who were arrested in May and June on "politically motivated
charges" have been subject to beatings, 24-hour interrogation sessions,
sleep deprivation and threats at the hands of the authorities who are
trying to extract confessions.

These pictures are very graphic.

Recent public execution in Iran. Islamic Republic regime in Iran making a big mistake. Iranian people want freedom, democratic system and respect for their human rights , thats all they want.

News in brief-
Thursday August 9, 2007 is the International solidarity with Mr. Mansur Osanlou and Mr. Mahmoud Salehi, the two labour union leader.
The syndicate bus drivers union released a communique and said that on this day in support and solidarity with ( ITF and ITUC) for the freedom of Osanlou and Salehi , they will stage a gathering in Osanlou's home from 10:00am to 7:00pm . The syndicate once again demanded for the release of all workers.
Mr. Mahmoud Salehi is a member of the baker syndicate from the city of Saghez ( a city in Kurdistan of Iran). He is currently in a prison in the city of Saghez.
http://news.gooya.eu/politics/archives/2007/08/062050.php

News in brief-
The family of Soheil Asefi ( journalist) have no information on his whereabout.
On Saturday August four he attended to a court in Tehran based on a summon letter he received, and he was arrested and detained and no one in his immediate family knew anything about him. According to Ms. Nahid Kheirabi , Soheil's mother who has attended in prosecutors office on Sunday, she heard nothing about her son. But she heard that after the arrest her son was transfered to Evin prison.Since his arrest Soheil did not make any phone call to his family. His family are worried on his whereabout.
http://news.gooya.eu/

News in brief-
Sharq newspaper is closed again !
Mr. Mehdi Rahmanian who is in charge of the newspaper in speaking with ISNA while agreeing with the news have said:Sharq newspaper has been closed by the order of press jury ( Media Watchdog).
He said the reason behind closure was because Sharq newspaper had an interview with an exile writer. He said we didn't find any problems with the interview but it has been said the reason for the closure is because of this interview.Mr. Rahmanian was talking about the interview with Ms. Saghi Ghahreman which was published on last Saturday in Sharq's literature pages.
It has also been said that; an official from Ministry of Guidance in speaking with Fars news have said: On Saturday August 4 an interview was published in the literature pages of Sharq newspaper with a title " From women language " ( Womens' point of view), this interview was conducted with a person who has published about homosexuality in other countries newspapers and this interview was in this direction.
http://news.gooya.eu/

The problem of " Hejab" ( dress code ) in Iran is becoming a street resistance between Iranian brave women and government police force.
This video clip shows the brutality of government police force.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PGw2sfwiTo

Families of Kurdish Prisoners Plea for Public Support
Saman Rasoulpour - 2007.08.01

The imprisonment of a family member puts pressure on the entire family. To learn of the conditions of family members of imprisoned individuals, we have conducted an interviews with the families of three Kurdish prisoners: Tonia Kaboudvand daughter of Mohammad Sadegh Kaboudvand, Shahou Aghvami brother of Ajlal Aghvami, and Leili Hassanpour sister of Adnan Hassanpour.
Tonia Kaboudvand is Mohammad Sadegh Kaboudvand’s only daughter. Her father is the director of Kurdistan’s Center for Defense of Human Rights. He was arrested on July 1, 2007, at his office and has been kept in Evin prison’s infamous ward 209 for nearly a month.
Tonia Kaboudvand told Rooz, “My father’s imprisonment has put serious psychological and financial pressure on us. We were unaware of his condition for a long time. We are really concerned now too, especially since he has lung disease. In the past month my mother has gone to court almost everyday to get some information about my father’s condition, or at least get permission to visit him. So far she has been unable to do either. We are also under financial pressure. They have confiscated a lot of my father’s belongings. We can’t even receive his salary. That is why my brother and I are forced to work. We work all day long, from morning until night, and see each other only late at night. When we arrive home late at night we are all tired. The situation is very tough on us. What is harder is that I miss my father so much.”
Shahou Aghvami is Ajlal Aghvami’s younger brother. Ajlal was convicted to 3.5 years imprisonment for conspiracy against Iran’s national security.
Shahou Aghvami had this to say about his brother’s imprisonment: “After my brother’s arrest, we spend most days of the week either in court or in prison. Most of our daily activities are somehow related to my brother’s imprisonment. His arrest has seriously affected my father’s and mother’s health. My mother has heart disease. My brother’s imprisonment hurts us everyday. Even during Ajlal’s previous imprisonment which lasted for 67 days, the last day of his detention was as bad as the first one. Other than that, we have been unable to visit my brother since his arrest on July 9. We have to spend a lot of time and energy just to get permission to speak with him on the phone…. Ajlal has serious medical ailments, his eyes have been infected, and they still haven’t given him the medicine that we took to prison for him. In addition, my brother is being kept in Sanandaj prison’s ward 4 with serious and violent criminals.”
Leili Hassanpour is the sister of Adnan Hassanpour, a Kurdish activist who has been sentenced to death for “Moharebeh,” a charge often applied to those accused of armed resistance to the state. Leili told Rooz, “Unfortunately, my brother’s arrest and the subsequent death sentence for him has affected me so much that I have been unable to care for my 19-month old child. My child is now sick and mostly cared for by my neighbors. This is even harder for my mother, because she suffers from heart and bone disease. Also, Adnan was the person who financially provided for my mother, and now she is under a lot of pressure.
Leili continues, “Until the day my brother is freed we will be worried. Right now most of our worries stem from the fact that we are not aware of Adnan’s condition and whereabouts. Even though our house is always full of guests, it still feels dead. We can hear only my mother’s prayers and crying in the house.”
Leili adds in the end, “The only thing that consoles us is widespread domestic and international support for my brother. We hope that until this verdict is overturned, the public and human rights organization’s won’t leave us alone.”

Reporters Without BordersPress Release
1st August 2007IRAN
A journalist arrested and sent to Evin prison, another gets three-year sentence

Petition for the release of two journalists sentenced to death

Reporters Without Borders called today for the release of Farshad Gorbanpour, who was arrested yesterday along with fellow journalist Masoud Bastani on the orders of Tehran prosecutor Said Mortazavi. Bastani was freed after several hours but Gorbanpour was transferred to Evin prison. This brings the number of journalists and cyber-dissidents detained in Iran to 11. Also yesterday, a Tehran revolutionary court sentenced journalist Emadoldin Baghi to three years in prison and passed suspended sentences on his wife, Fatemeh Kamali Ahmad Sarahi, editor of the now-closed monthly Jameh-e-no, and his daughter.“How can critical journalists survive this cold, compliant judicial machinery that hounds them relentlessly in order to force them into exile and thereby silence them?” the press freedom organisation asked. “They have to face wild and baseless charges for which they can be given prison sentences.”Reporters Without Borders added: “Coming just two weeks after the death sentences imposed on two journalists in the northwest, yesterday’s developments confirm that the human rights situation in Iran is getting worse by the day. Like members of the feminist and student movements, journalists are being subjected to more and more harassment.”The former editor of Jomhouriat, a daily newspaper that was closed in July 2004, Baghi received a three-year sentence yesterday for writing articles defending persons who were sentenced to death in the southern Khozestan region. The charges were “activities against national security” and “publicity in favour of the regime’s opponents.”His wife and his daughter, Maryam Baghi, were given three-year suspended prison sentences and five years of probation for taking part in a series of human rights workshops in Dubai in 2004. The charges were “meeting and colluding with the aim of disrupting national security.”Aged 45, Baghi and his wife have been subjected to repeated summonses for questioning by intelligence ministry officials. He was released on 6 February 2004 after serving a three-year prison sentence for “attacking national security” that he received in 2000. On leaving prison, he set up an organisation to defend the rights of prisoners of conscience. It is still functioning. He has been banned from leaving the country since 5 October 2004.Bastani and Gorbanpour, the two journalists arrested yesterday, work for several publications including the online newspaper Roozonline. Bastani was freed after several hours but was ordered to appear in court in Tehran today. Gorbanpour was transferred to security section 209 in Tehran’s Evin prison.The charges against Bastani and Gorbanpour were not revealed. Bastani was sentenced in 2003 to six months in prison, 70 lashes and a five-year ban on working as a journalist. He was again imprisoned in 2005 for covering a demonstration for the release of journalist Akbar Ganji. A third Roozonline contributor, Soheil Assefi, received a summons to appear before a Tehran court today after prosecutor’s office agents searched his home, taking personal documents and the hard disk of this computer.Meanwhile, Reporters Without Borders launched a petition for the release of journalists Adnan Hassanpour and Abdolvahed “Hiva” Botimar today after judicial spokesman Alireza Jamshidi yesterday confirmed that a court in Marivan, in Iran’s Kurdish northwest region, sentenced the two men to hang for being “mohareb,” which means “enemies of God.” Sign the petition : http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=15054

UPDATE - IRAN
1 August 2007
Four Kurdish journalists and writers arrested for expressing support for
two colleagues sentenced to death
SOURCE: Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC), International PEN, London
**Updates IFEX alerts of 23 July, 15 March and 30 January 2007**
(WiPC/IFEX) - WiPC is alarmed by the death sentence handed down to Iranian
Kurdish journalist, writer and human rights activist Adnan Hassanpour on 16
July 2007. Hassanpour, who was arrested on 25 January 2007, is believed to
have been convicted of being a mohareb ("enemy of God") and "acting against
national security", apparently for expressing his views on the Kurdish
issue. International 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 in accordance with Article 19 of
the United Nations International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights
(ICCPR), to which Iran is a signatory.
According to PEN's information, Hassanpour, journalist and advocate of
cultural rights for Iranian Kurds, was detained on 25 January 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. He appeared before
the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Sanandaj on 12 June, in the presence of
his lawyer.
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. On 16 July 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 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 (see:
http://www.roozonline.com/english/archives/2007/07/006302.php ).
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, 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, but Ako Kurdnasab
and Bakhtiyar Rehimi will reportedly remain in jail for at least two
months, and are feared to be held incommunicado.
International PEN is deeply concerned about an apparent 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.
RECOMMENDED ACTION
Please send appeals to the Iranian authorities:
- 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 ICCPR
- 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
APPEALS TO:
Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic
His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei,
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Shoahada Street, Qom, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: info@leader.ir or istiftaa@wilayah.org
Head of the Judiciary
His Excellency
Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Ministry of Justice, Park-e Shahr,
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: via Judiciary website: Iranjudiciary.org/feedback_en.html
Salutation: Your Excellency
Minister of Intelligence
Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie
Ministry of Intelligence,
Second Negarestan Street, Pasdaran Avenue,
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran.
Email: iranprobe@iranprobe.com
If possible please send a copy of your appeal to the diplomatic
representative for Iran in your country.
For further information, contact Cathy McCann at the WiPC, International
PEN, Brownlow House, 50/51 High Holborn, London, WC1V 6ER, U.K., tel: +44
207 405 0338, fax: +44 207 405 0339, e-mail:
cathy.mccann@internationalpen.org.uk, wipc@internationalpen.org.uk,
Internet: http://www.internationalpen.org.uk
The information contained in this update is the sole responsibility of
WiPC. In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit
WiPC.
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