متن انگليسي
درخواست ديدبان حقوق بشر ازمسئولين ايران براي آزادي 7معلم زنداني
SEPTEMBER 23, 2015
Iran: Release Teachers as School Year Begins
Apparently
Jailed for Peaceful Union Activities
(Beirut) –
The Iranian authorities
should immediately release seven teachers apparently detained for peaceful
union activities. By stepping up the arrests and sentencing of outspoken
teachers in the weeks prior to the start of the school year on September 23,
2015, the authorities appear to be sending a message to other educators not to
speak out about their concerns.
Since April 2015, security forces have
detained five prominent members of Iran’s Teachers’ Association, as well as the
secretary general of the Teachers Organization of Iran. Authorities have
brought new charges against another educator who had recently completed a
six-year sentence in connection with his union activities. In all of the cases,
the authorities have cited “security concerns” to justify the detentions.
“Iran has a clear pattern of arresting
and harassing teachers for speaking out about the problems that they and their
students face,” said Eric Goldstein, deputy
Middle East director. “The government should encourage those who seek to
improve education rather than arresting them on apparently spurious security
charges.”
Sources knowledgeable about the arrests
told Human Rights Watch that the educators had been detained for their
activities on behalf of students’ and teachers’ rights. Two of the sources who
are active with teachers’ groups shared their own experiences of being called
in by authorities to answer for their union activities.
The semi-official Iranian Labor News
Agency (ILNA) reported that security forces arrested Alireza Hashemi, the secretary
general of the Teachers Organization of Iran, at his home on April 19 and
transferred him to Evin prison. In 2011, Hashemi was convicted of “gathering
and colluding to disrupt national security” and “propaganda against the Islamic
Republic” and was given a suspended five-year sentence.
In May 2015, authorities summoned Ali
Akbar Baghani to serve a suspended six-year sentence issued in 2006. A
Teachers’ Association member told Human Rights Watch that the authorities
provided no information about why the sentence was being carried out at this
time. Baghani is in Gohardasht prison, outside of Tehran.
On June 27, 2015, authorities at Branch
Two of Evin Court detained Esmail Abdi, the secretary general of the Teachers’
Association, when he went to the court to ask why authorities had prevented him
from traveling to Armenia the
previous week. A source close to his case told Human Rights Watch that the
court authorities told him he was being detained to answer questions about his
union activities. He is accused of engaging in “propaganda against the Islamic
Republic,” under article 500 of the penal code, and conspiring “against the
national or foreign security of the country,” under article 610.
The authorities had previously detained
Abdi in 2011 on similar grounds. The source told Human Rights Watch that in
2011 authorities held Abdi in Evin prison for 44 days, 33 of them in solitary
confinement, and the remainder in Ward 209, a section of the prison where Human
Rights Watch has previously documented abuses. On June 29, 2011, Branch 26 of
the Revolutionary Court convicted Abdi of “propaganda against the Islamic
Republic” and “disrupting national security,” under article 505 of the penal
code, and issued a suspended 10-year sentence.
Reports published on the Teachers’
Association’s website said that authorities with orders from Branch Two of Evin
Court detained Mohammad Reza Niknejad, an active union member, and Mehdi
Behloli, a previous member of the association’s governing board, on August 31,
2015. Another member told Human Rights Watch that security forces confiscated
Niknejad’s computer and mobile phone and accused him of having contact with
foreign organizations and the foreign press. The source told Human Rights Watch
Behloli and Niknejad are being held in Wards 7 and 8 of Evin prison, units
housing prisoners for petty financial crimes. Niknejad and Behloli had spoken
with Education Minister Ali Asghar Fani about problems teachers face shortly before
their arrests, the source and the Teachers’ Association website said.
On September 6, security forces with a
warrant dated July 27 from Branch Two of Evin Court searched the Tehran home of
Mahmoud Beheshti, the Teachers’ Association spokesman, and took him into
custody. The day before his arrest, Beheshti had participated in a meeting
between the association and Vice President Mohammad Baqer Nowbakht, during
which he also had spoken about the problems teachers face.
In an interview published by the website
of the Teachers’ Association, Peyman Attar, the attorney for Rasoul Bodaghi,
said that his client should have been released after the completion of his
sentence on August 4. Instead, authorities transferred Bodaghi from Rajaii
Shahr prison to Cell Block Aleph of Evin prison, which is run by the Iranian
Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Two members of the Teachers’ Association told
Human Rights Watch that Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran
sentenced Bodaghi to a new three-year term.
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حقوق #کارمندان #آموزش و پرورش
