۱۳۸۸ بهمن ۲۵, یکشنبه

PRESS RELEASE: CODIR is calling for urgent action to prevent the execution of Shirin Alam Hooli


9th February 2010

PRESS RELEASE

For immediate use

Urgent appeal against death sentence


The Committee for the Defence of the Iranian People's Rights (CODIR) is calling for urgent action to prevent the execution of a young woman imprisoned in Tehran since April 2008.

Shirin Alam Hooli is a twenty eight year old Kurdish woman who has been sentenced to death in Iran for her alleged support for PJAK, a militant opposition group. Convicted of ‘enmity against God’, since her arrest she has routinely and repeatedly been subjected to torture and degrading treatment to confess to supporting PJAK. She has had no access to legal representation during her long and gruelling interrogation period. Her rights as an accused were never observed.

CODIR has access to Hooli's account of her imprisonment smuggled out of Evin Prison. In describing the circumstances of her arrest she states,

"The arrest was made by uniformed and plain clothes members of Sepah who started beating me as soon as we arrived at their headquarters without even asking one question. In total I spent twenty five days at Sepah. I was on hunger strike for twenty two of those days during which time I endured all forms of physical and psychological torture. My interrogators were men and I was tied to the bed with handcuffs. They would hit and kick my face and head, my body and the soles of my feet and use electric batons and cables in their beatings. At the time I didn’t even speak or understand Farsi properly. When their questions were left unanswered they would hit me until I passed out."

Strenuous efforts were made by her interrogators to break her hunger strike including intravenous feeding. Regular beatings have been a feature of her prison term, often blindfold and handcuffed. One glimmer of hope was the prospect of hospital treatment for her injuries. However, as Hooli makes clear, her trip to hospital was for entirely different reasons,

"The next day they took me to hospital in handcuffs and blindfold. The doctor put me on a bed and injected me. I lost my will and answered everything they asked in the manner they wanted and they filmed the whole thing. When I came to I asked them where I was and realised I was still on a hospital bed and then they transferred me back to my cell."

Forced confessions and torture have been a regular feature of prison life in the Islamic Republic of Iran and CODIR has campaigned consistently to force Iran to observe its obligations under international conventions. CODIR Assistant General Secretary, Jamshid Ahmadi, said that the treatment of Shirin Alam Hooli was a shocking indictment of Iran's approach to human rights.

"It is ironic that we have received this news so close to the anniversary of the revolution", he said. "At a time when the Iranian Government will be urging people to celebrate its 'achievements' the reality of its approach to opposition is made clear. Shirin Alam Hooli has not even had access to the basic rights of defence counsel, surely the minimum expectation in any justice system?"

CODIR have launched an urgent appeal to prevent the execution of Shirin Alam Hooli and are urging letters and e mails to be sent to the leaders of the Islamic Republic


· demanding that all those detained, must be protected from torture or other ill treatment, allowed access to their families, lawyers and any necessary medical treatment and should be brought before a judge without delay so they may challenge the lawfulness of their detention.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS TO: Leader of the Islamic RepublicAyatollah Sayed ‘Ali KhameneiThe Office of the Supreme LeaderIslamic Republic Street – End of Shahid Keshvar Doust Street, Tehran, IslamicRepublic of IranEmail: https://webmail.blueyonder.co.uk/src/compose.php?send_to=info_leader%40leader.ir via website: http://www.leader.ir/langs/en/index.php?p=letter (English)Salutation: Your Excellency Head of the Judiciary Ayatollah Sadeqh LarijaniHowzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh (Office of the Head of the Judiciary) Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhouri, Tehran, 1316814737Islamic Republic of Iran Email: Via website: http://www.dadiran.ir/tabid/75/Default.aspxFirstSalutation: Your Excellency And copies to:Director, Human Rights Headquarters of IranHis Excellency Mohammad Javad LarijaniBureau of International Affairs, Office of the Head of the Judiciary, Pasteur St.,Vali Asr Ave. south of Serah-e Jomhouri, Tehran 1316814737, Islamic Republic of IranEmail: https://webmail.blueyonder.co.uk/src/compose.php?send_to=bia.judi%40yahoo.com Fax: + 98 21 5 537 8827 (please keep trying)Also send copies to diplomatic representatives of Iran accredited to your country.

ENDS

Contact Information:-

Postal Address:B.M.CODIRLondonWC1N 3XXUKWebsite: http://www.codir.net/www.codir.netE-mail: codir_info@btinternet.com

Further information for Editors

CODIR is the Committee for the Defence of the Iranian People’s Rights. It has been established since 1981 and has consistently campaigned to expose human rights abuses in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

CODIR has worked closely with the trades union movement internationally, the peace movement, all major political parties and Amnesty International to press the case for an end to torture in Iran’s prisons.

CODIR has published Iran Today, its quarterly journal, since 1981, explaining the latest developments in Iran and the most effective way that the international public opinion could demonstrate its solidarity with the people of Iran.

In recent years CODIR has worked closely with Stop the War Coalition and has been vocal against any form of foreign intervention in the internal affairs of the nation.

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