Iran – Saqez

Date: June 03, 2007

To: Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)/Doctors Without Borders

International Office
Rue de Lausanne 78
CP 116
1211 Geneva 21
SWITZERLAND

Dear Sir/Madame,

            My name is Najibeh Salehzadeh, Mahmoud Salehi’s wife. Mahmoud is a well-known labour movement activist. The ministry of justice in Iran has imprisoned him unjustly and against all acknowledged international laws and regulations. Mahmoud is severely sick. One of his kidneys does not function at all and the other one is almost failing. His medical condition makes him quiet vulnerable to the prison environment and as a result his life is highly at risk. I am writing this letter hoping that you may do something to resolve this matter.

Mahmoud was arrested on May 1st 2004, in the city of Saqez, in Kurdistan province, while he was going to begin a rally in celebration of the International Workers’ Day. In fact, a few days earlier, he had a meeting with the ICFTU mission and had discussed the realities of Iranian workers’ life and work conditions with the members of this committee. Judicial authorities and the Intelligent Service accused Mahmoud and six other labour activists – who were arrested along with him – of “illegal gathering” and “anti-national security activism”. This was obviously a fabricated accusation.

            Subsequently, labour/political activists in Iran and abroad launched a widespread campaign to protest against these unjustified arrests. The cases of Mahmoud and his 6 other colleagues went through numerous trials for three years. Finally, it was resumed with an unfair verdict. My husband was sentenced to one year imprisonment and three years suspended sentence. Presently, my husband is incarcerated for defending Iranian workers’ struggle and for meeting with the ICFTU. I would also like to point out that Mahmoud was deliberately sent to a prison in Sanandaj, that is far away from his home town Saqez, in order to deprive him from his family and friends whom are his immediate support circle.

            However, my husband is an activist and right now there are several pervasive campaigns both in the country and abroad that are working for his freedom. Still, my family and I have a very limited access to him. A large group of human rights and Labour movement activists along with his family are continuously working together to provide a convenient condition in prison and suitable treatments for my husband’s illness. Yet, we are faced with stonewalling by authorities and fail to make changes. For example, on Thursday, May 30^th 2007, I took a letter from Mahmoud’s specialist stating the urgent treatment he requires, to the prison prosecutors. They refused the specialist’s request. I asked them to let me see him. They refused it too. I reminded them that I had come a long way to visit my unjustly jailed husband. Finally, due to my insistence, they allowed me to talk to him on the phone. Mahmoud told me that he is living in unbearable conditions. He said that he cannot eat at all and if he does try, he’ll vomit the food instantly. Doctors say that it is the sign of complete failure of his second kidney.

            Finally, I want to stress that Mahmoud is not only a beloved husband and a wonderful father to my children, but, he is also a man who has actively struggled for Iranian worker’s rights for many years. So I ask you as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)/Doctors Without Borders, that have always served victims and oppressed individuals, to remind the Iranian juridical authorities of sick prisoners’ rights and if it’s possible for your organization to make an effort to give him the medical treatment he rightfully deserves. We cannot leave him to be tortured to death in prison.

Sincerely,

 Najibeh Salehzadeh.

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