Sedigh Karimi was Freed on Heavy Bail!

Sheys Amani’s Release Has Been put on Hold!

Mahmoud Salehi’s has vowed to go on hunger strike!

June 11, 2007- According to the latest news, Mr. Sedigh Karimi, a member of the board of directors of the Dismissed and Unemployed Workers’ Union, who had been incarcerated since May Day 2007, was released on June 9, 2007 from the Sanandaj’s Central Prison and was welcomed by many of his relatives, friends and colleagues.  He is released on a heavy 50 million Toman bail {(US$54,000) (monthly minimum wage for a full-time worker in Iran is about US$197.00)}.  Mr. Sheys Amani, the president of the Dismissed and Unemployed Workers’ Union, was also supposed to be freed on bail but his release has been put on hold without any justifiable reasons.

Mahmoud Salehi continues to be in Sanandaj’s prison and his request and the request of his family, lawyer and colleagues regarding transferring him to a hospital for a specialist treatment or to be seen by a kidney specialist have been denied by the prison and judicial authorities. In the last contact that Mahmoud had with his wife, Najibeh Salehzadeh, he informed her that he has made a decision to go on a hunger strike because he has been very sick (he can’t eat and vomits constantly) and the authorities have been denying him the right to proper medical treatment. He also told Najibeh that he is protesting his transfer to Sanandaj, which means he is condemned to exile; his family has to drive for 400 kilometers without being able to visit him.

This is the total violation of Salehi’s human rights as well as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights’ Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (22-2), which states that “Sick prisoners who require specialist treatment shall be transferred to specialized institutions or to civil hospitals. Where hospital facilities are provided in an institution, their equipment, furnishings and pharmaceutical supplies shall be proper for the medical care and treatment of sick prisoners, and there shall be a staff of suitable trained officers”. There aren’t any of such facilities in Sanandaj’s prison and despite that the jail authorities deny transferring Salehi to a specialized medical institution or a public hospital.  

Please send all protest letters in Support of the imprisoned labour activists to the following:

Sign the LabourStart’s Urgent Action:

http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=231

OR:

Send Protest Letters to:

Leader of the Islamic Republic:
Ayatollah Sayed *Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Shoahada Street
Qom, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: [email protected] OR [email protected]
Fax:   011 98 251 7774 2228

Mr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,

President of the Republic

The Presidency,

Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection,

Tehran

Islamic Republic of Iran

Fax: + 98 21 649 58 80

Email: [email protected]

Head of the Judiciary:
Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Justice Building
Panzdah-Khordad Square
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax:   011 98 21 3390 4986 (may be difficult to reach)
Email: [email protected]

Ambassador Mohammad Reza Alborzi

Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations Institutions in Geneva, Chemin du Petit-Saconnex 28, 1209 Geneva, Switzerland, Fax: +41 22 733 02 03, E-mail: [email protected]

For more information, contact [email protected] or [email protected].

International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran

Background Information: www.workers-iran.org

http://www.etehadbinalmelali.com/INDEXI.htm