Committee of Human Rights Reporters:
In the name of God
To: Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani The honourable Head of the Judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Greetings to your Excellency,
As you are aware, following the tenth presidential election many political activist, human rights defenders and journalists have been arrested and remain in detention which remains a source of great concern and worry for their families pursuing their cases. I, Mohamad Nazar Ahari, am one such parent and would like to respectfully offer the following information with the hope that with your kind intervention our problem would be resolved.
My daughter, Shiva Nazar Ahari - born in 1984, was arrested by intelligence agents from her place of work at around 13:30 on the afternoon of 14 June 2009. The intelligence agents had visited our home the previous night at one o’clock in the morning without any prior notice and took away her personal items. As Shiva was not present at the time her arrest was not possible and we were warned that she had to present herself immediately to the Ministry of Intelligence and Security.
My daughter is the website editor of the ‘Committee of Human Rights Defenders’ which was established in 2006. The site endeavours to improve the human rights conditions in Iran for all Iranians through dissemination of information. The Committee is independent of any political bias or ideology and its activities are based firmly upon the values declared in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The site reports on violations and abuse of the rights of the underprivileged or those discriminated against such as women, children, prisoners, labourers etc. The site also attempts to raise awareness and prevent further violations by inviting contributions from national and international human rights NGOs and offering solutions through their knowledge and experience. My daughter Shiva wrote articles and prepared such reports. Her work centred on the rights of women and children and endeavoured to provide an unbiased coverage of human rights issues in its many spheres.
Shiva also volunteered with a children’s rights charity, ‘Khaneh Koodak Shush’ an affiliate of the ‘Society for the Protecting of the Rights of the Child’ for many years. In the last year, again as a volunteer, she has taught immigrant or Iranian children deprived of state education at the site of the ‘People in Defence of Street and labour Children’. She also volunteered in their public relations efforts. This organisation is a non governmental organisation and its work focuses on providing protection and education to underprivileged children. It is an officially registered organisation with relevant permit from the Interior Ministry and it is financed solely through public donations from within Iran’s borders. Needless to say, as a volunteer, my daughter has never received any payment.
My daughter, Siva, is also a civil engineering graduate who was accepted for her post graduate studies in 2008. Unfortunately, the responsible authorities withheld degree documents from many candidates and consequently Shiva was unable to register. She is therefore among the marked students - commonly referred to as ‘starred students’ -who are prohibited from further education. She has been advised that without permission from the Ministry of Intelligence and Security she will not be able to engage in any further education in Iran.
Your Excellency,
It is now three months that my daughter has been in detention in Evin’s 209 Wing. She has spent thirty six of these days in solitary confinement. Her lawyers have been able to determine that Prosecutor Sobhani who is the head of the Special Investigative Unit of the Branch Two of the Islamic Revolutionary Court has set a bail amount of 5000 million Rials ($500,000); meanwhile the person in charge of her file has not presented his initial findings yet.
The value of my small home in the Nezam Abad district of Tehran is not nearly enough to be offered as surety; furthermore, by t heir actions the relevant Branch is insisting on continued detention of my daughter. I am sure you are familiar with bail amount in similar cases and in comparison this amount is disproportionately high. The disproportionality of the amount of bail and the actions of the officials have created doubts for my daughter’s lawyers that the amount has been set in the full knowledge of our inability to meet it thus legitimising the prolongmnet of my daughter’s detention.
The Honourable Head of the Judiciary,
My daughter’s deep love and respect for humankind is her only crime. Prison is set aside for those who endanger society not my daughter who has dedicated her entire adult life to serving the community. Since to date no responsible official or organisation has offered any reason or explanation for my daughter’s predicament and since respect for citizen’s rights and Islamic justice are among your declared objectives in this new era, I am humbly asking you to reassess my daughter’s file, to order the reduction of the bail amount and expedite her release.
Respectfully
Mohamad Nazar Ahari
Copies to:
• ‘Central Supervisory Committee’ for Article 15 of the Citizens’ Rights Charter
• Article 90 Commission of the Islamic Consultative Assembly
• Special Investigative Unit of the Branch Two of the Islamic Revolutionary Court
• The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
• Amnesty International
No comments:
Post a Comment