Amnesty International Canada: Iran Update
The General Criminal Court has convicted 52 individuals from the Nematollahi Sufi community. One of the penalties is flogging.PUBLIC
AI Index: MDE 13/052/2006
UPDATE
17 May 2006
Further Information on UA 43/06 (MDE 13/018/2006, 22 February 2006) Incommunicado detention / Fear of torture and New concern: Fear of flogging
IRAN
At least 173 members of the Nematollahi Sufi community
Fifty-two members of the Nematollahi Sufi community and two lawyers who represent the group have been sentenced to one year's imprisonment, a fine, and are to be flogged. They were among the 173 members of the community arrested on 13 February 2006 after police and organized pro-government groups broke up their peaceful protest.
On 3 May, the General Criminal Court in Qom convicted 52 members of the Nematollahi Sufi community and their lawyers Farshad Yadollahi and Omid Behroozi, on the charges of 'disobeying the orders of government officials' and 'disturbing public order'. For the first charge, 25 individuals deemed to have a more "active" role in the incident were fined 10 million Iranian Rials (equivalent to US$547), and the remaining individuals were fined 5 million Iranian Rials (equivalent to US$1,093). For conviction on the second charge they were sentenced to one year's imprisonment and to 74 lashes. After their release from prison they will be required to present themselves to local security officials every month for two years. In addition, lawyers Farshad Yadollahi and Omid Behroozi were disqualified from the legal profession for 5 years.
According to the court verdict, some of those detained 'confessed' to the charges against them. It is not known under what circumstances these confessions were made. All were given 20 days to appeal the judgement and are currently free on bail.
By the beginning of March, almost all of the other members of the group who were arrested at the protest had been released. It is not known whether any of these will face formal charges at a later stage. It is believed that many have had cases opened against them.
In April, the main preacher for the Nematollahi Sufi group in Qom, Seyed Ahmadi Shariat, was detained and charged with 'disobeying the orders of government officials' and 'disturbing public order'. He was released on bail pending trial.
Amnesty International considers the punishment of flogging to constitute cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment amounting to torture, in contravention of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to which Iran is a state party.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
On 13 February 2006, hundreds of demonstrators were injured and around 1,200 were arrested when police and the Hojatieh and Fatemiyon groups (organized pro-government groups) violently suppressed a peaceful demonstration held by the Nematollahi Sufi to protest against an order to evacuate the community's place of worship- known as a Hosseiniye. The Hosseiniye was later demolished. According to reports, those arrested were then detained at Fajr prison in Qom, where some were tortured in an attempt to force them to sign pre-prepared false confessions claiming that the protest held by the Sufi group had political motivations and links to anti-government groups (for further information please see Iran: urgent investigation required into security forces violence against Sufi Muslims in Qom (AI Index MDE 13/016/2006, 17 February 2006).
There appears to be increasing "demonization" of Sufi Muslims in Iran. In September 2005, an Islamic scholar in Qom, Ayatollah Hossein Nouri-Hamedani, reportedly called for a crackdown on Sufi groups, labelling them a "danger to Islam". Articles attacking the Sufis have appeared in national newspapers, notably Jomhouri-ye Eslami and Kayhan. On 4 February 2006, Channel 5 of Iranian television ran a video clip of the Nematollahi Sufi order, showed pictures of some of the order's spiritual leaders, and made statements about the group's connections to foreign countries, calling them the "instruments of foreign powers".
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send fresh appeals in Persian, Arabic, English or French:
- expressing concern that 52 members of the Nematollahi Sufi community and their two lawyers Farshad Yadollahi and Omid Behroozi, have been sentenced to flogging, one year's imprisonment, and a fine, on charges apparently solely related to their participation in a peaceful demonstration;
- stating that their conviction on these charges may be in contravention of their intentionally recognised right to peaceful freedom of assembly. If this is the case, they should be released and unconditionally;
- stating that you consider the punishment of flogging to be a cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment amounting to torture, contrary to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Article 7 of which states that "No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment";
- calling for the flogging sentence to be commuted;
- expressing concern that some detainees were reportedly tortured during interrogation at Fajr prison in Qom, and calling for the authorities to conduct an urgent and impartial investigation into these allegations, with those found responsible brought to justice in fair trials;
- urging the judicial authorities to implement a moratorium on the use of flogging, which is a cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment, with a view to its eventual abolition.
APPEALS TO:
Leader of the Islamic Republic:
His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Shoahada Street
Qom, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: 011 98 251 774 2228 (Mark it "FAO the Office of His Excellency, Ayatollah al Udhma Khamenei".)
Email: info@leader.ir or istiftaa@wilayah.org
Salutation: Your Excellency
Head of the Judiciary:
His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Ministry of Justice
Park-e Shahr
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: Please send emails via the feedback form on the Persian site of the website
http://www.iranjudiciary.org/contactus-feedback-fa.html
The text of the feedback form translates as:
1st line: name / 2nd line: email address / 3rd line: subject heading
then enter your email into the text box
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
Mr Abbas Assemi
Chargé d'Affaires, Embassy for the Islamic Republic of Iran
245 Metcalfe Street
Ottawa, Ontario K2P 2K2
Fax: (613) 232-5712
Email: iranemb@salamiran.org
Thank you for standing by, ready to respond urgently again.
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Phone: 416-363-9933 Fax: 416-363-3103
http://www.amnesty.ca/urgentaction
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