| Mehrangiz
Kar, journalist and Iranian women's rights activist, who
was jailed in April 2000 for her writings and speeches
on women's rights, was allowed to leave Iran for medical
treatment for breast cancer in fall 2001. After she arrived in the United
States, her husband, journalist Siamak Pourzand, was
disappeared. He was brought to the phone a number of
times to call Mehrangiz and their daughters Leila and
Azadeh to pass on the message that they must refrain
from speaking on his behalf and must avoid contact with
the media.
Realizing the more profound
danger in submitting to censorship, Mehrangiz and her
daughters decided to expose the situation and spoke
freely with representatives of the media. Mehrangiz has
appeared on PBS television, and has spoken on VOA, BBC,
NPR, and numerous European radio networks in the hope
that international pressure will help save her husband.
Their many attempts to get information concerning
Siamak's condition and the status of his case from
various government entities and several human rights
organizations in Iran has met with failure.
Siamak, who is being held
hostage to silence his wife and daughters, is in danger
of losing his life. We urge our friends and colleagues
to pass on this information to their networks and to use
their advocacy vehicles to bring attention to this case.
Appeal from Mehrangiz Kar
and the family of Siamak Pourzand
We wish to inform all human
rights organizations and individual activists and all
those striving for justice and freedom of expression
that Siamak Pourzand, a seventy-one-year-old
journalist, was disappeared on November 24, 2001. Six
months after his disappearance we are still not told
where he is being held. Because of the pressures
exerted upon him by his captors he does not dare
accept the lawyer chosen by his family. The court
assigned lawyer is reluctant to gather information
about the case or defend the rights of his client. Up
to this point no one outside of the authorities has
had access to his file. There is no information
regarding the actual charges against him nor about the
circumstances under which confessions have been
extracted from him.
On Saturday, May 4, 2002 the
newspaper "Iran" stated that Siamak has been
sentenced to eight years in prison. Last Friday, his
eighty-year-old sister, who was last permitted to meet
with him two months ago, called to tell us that
finally she had been allowed to visit with him once
more and that she had found Siamak totally devastated
physically and psychologically. It was obvious to her
that Siamak, who has suffered two heart attacks within
a week, was denied the simplest means of healthcare
and personal hygiene.
We, the family of Siamak
Pourzand, cognizant of his deteriorating mental and
physical condition are appealing to all people of
conscience and all organizations dealing with justice
and human rights to help pressure the Iranian
government to allow him to be hospitalized at the
family's expense and to receive the medical care that
he desperately needs. It is obvious to us that the
authorities-- in order to avoid any investigation into
the abuses of Siamak's rights, and the illegal and
inhuman treatment he has received-- refuse to provide
him with medical treatment in the expectation that,
given his deteriorating condition, the abuse and
violence they inflict on him will allow them before
long to release news of his death. We hope that human
rights organizations across the world will take note
of the urgent nature of this case and support us in
our effort to bring Siamak Pourzand the medical
attention he desperately needs.
The family of Siamak Pourzand
Please send your letters of concern to the following
officials:
1. Your Country's Ambassador to
Iran
2. Your Country's Ministry of
Foreign Affairs
3. Hojjatoleslam Mohammad
Khatami
President of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Office of the President
Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection
Tehran, The Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: 98-21-646-4443
Email:khatami@president.ir
or president@khatami.com
4. Mary Robinson
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human
Rights
CH 1211, Geneva 10, Switzerland
Tel: 41-22-917-9000
Email: webadmin.hchr@unog.ch
BACKGROUND
On April 30, 2000, the Islamic
Republic of Iran imprisoned Mehrangiz Kar and other
activists and intellectuals because they had
participated in a conference on the future of Iran held
in Berlin, Germany a week before. She was denied access
to her lawyer and was not allowed to receive medicines
during her nearly two months in solitary confinement.
She was charged with "acting against the internal
security of the state and disparaging the sacred order
of the Islamic Republic." Two charges were filed
against her in the Islamic Revolutionary Court-- acting
against national security and disseminating propaganda
against the Islamic Republic of Iran-- and three
additional charges in Iran's Public Court-- violating
the observance of hejab, denying the Islamic
instructions stated in the Qu'ran, and insulting Islam.
Such spurious charges are often used to silence and
imprison political dissidents. Accusations relating to
the observance of hejab are particularly common against
women whom the courts wish to intimidate and harass.
There was therefore grave international concern about
the safety of Ms. Kar who has frequently been singled
out by the regime as a foremost proponent of women's
human rights in Iran.
On June 21, 2000 Mehrangiz Kar
was freed on bail. She had to post the equivalent of
US$60,000 for her release. Having been diagnosed with
breast cancer, Ms. Kar appealed to authorities to be
allowed to seek medical care in the Netherlands and the
United States. Denied this humanitarian relief, Ms. Kar
underwent a mastectomy and a regimen of chemotherapy of
Iran. Almost concurrent with her medical treatment, her
case went to trial.
In January 2001, the Islamic
Revolutionary Court sentenced Mehrangiz Kar to four
year's imprisonment. It was considered completed in
exchange for money. The three charges against her in
Iran's Public Court are still open, for which she may
again be arrested upon her return.
For more information, see previous
alerts issued by WLP.)
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