Tavakoli’s brother Ali Tavakoli spoke with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran and said he was unaware of Majid’s situation. “Due to a personal problem, I have not been able to travel to Karaj to visit Majid for the last few months. I don’t know what his present situation is. My last telephone contact with him was a long time ago, and at that time he was doing well.  Unfortunately, my mother and father are both elderly and sick, and they don’t have the means to travel to Karaj to visit Majid. I used to go to visit Majid, but now because of my problem I cannot go, and I don’t even have good cell phone reception where I am,” he said.

Ali Tavakoli pointed out that he does not have any news from his brother and has only heard his brother’s Student Day message.  “Unfortunately, we live in a provincial city and Majid is inside a prison in Karaj. The long distance, which requires making travel plans, makes the task difficult. I have not seen my brother for a long time and have no news of him.”

Ali Tavakoli and his family must travel 15 hours in order to visit Majid Tavakoli in Rajaei Shahr prison in Karaj.

Majid Tavakoli is a student activists who was sentenced to an 8.5 years in prison, five years’ ban from political activities, and five years’ ban from leaving the country. He was tried in Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Courts for “gathering and collusion against the regime”, “propagating against the regime”, and “insulting the Supreme Leader and the President.”  He is currently serving his prison term in Ward 3, Hall 8 of Rajaei Shahr prison in Karaj.

Mother of Imprisoned Journalist Calls for Release of her Sick Daughter

(21 September 2010) – While Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has proclaimed Iran’s respect for human rights and freedoms during his current New York media blitz, several prominent young Iranian students, human rights defenders, and journalists received harsh jail sentences in recent days, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today.

In several cases, young Iranians have been jailed for “insulting the President,” the Campaign emphasized. Overall, at least 500 prisoners of conscience are held in Iranian jails.

“The hypocrisy and cynicism of Iran’s president on display in New York insults the dignity of all whom he claims to represent, and the integrity of the international human rights system,” said Aaron Rhodes, a spokesperson for the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.

Two internationally recognized human rights defenders, Emad Baghi and Shiva Nazar Ahari, were sentenced to six year prison terms as Ahmadinejad arrived in New York. An appeals court also confirmed an eight and a half year sentence for student leader Majid Tavakoli. Other prominent young activists, such as Bahareh Hedayat and Milad Asadi, languish in Iranian jails, serving lengthy prison sentences.

Since June 2009, hundreds of prominent students and activists have been unjustly detained and sentenced, deprived of their fundamental rights, education, careers, and in many cases without access to their lawyers and families. Many have fallen ill due to severe physical and psychological mistreatment inside prison, and need urgent medical care.

Shiva Nazar Ahari, a young human rights activist and journalist, received a sentence of six years in prison in exile in a remote area, and 76 lashes. She was convicted of the crime of moharebeh, or enmity against God, a charge her lawyer, Mohammad Sharif, says is not supported by any evidence in her case file. Nazar Ahari was arrested on 20 December 2009, and held until she was temporarily released on $500,000 bail on 12 September 2010. Her lawyer will request an appeal.

Majid Tavakoli, a young university student and activist, will spend eight and a half years in prison for a number of alleged offenses including “insulting the President,” a sentence that was upheld by an appeals court this week. Throughout his imprisonment and trial, which followed delivering a speech on his university campus, Tavakoli did not have access to his lawyer.

Emad Baghi, who received the 2009 Martin Ennals Award, was sentenced today to six years in prison for his human rights reporting and documentation. The Martin Ennals Award, awarded by major human rights organizations such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and FIDH, is one of the most prestigious international human rights recognitions. Baghi was previously sentenced to one and a half years in prison in another case, and is to serve a total of seven and a half years in prison.

An appeals court upheld the nine and a half year prison term of Bahareh Hedayat, a student activist and women’s rights campaigner, in July 2010. One of the charges for which she was convicted was insulting the authorities, including the President. Milad Asadi is another student activist who was arrested and sentenced to seven years in prison for charges that include insulting the Supreme Leader and President.

At a press conference in New York on 17 September, Nobel Peace Laureate and human rights lawyer Shirin Ebadi stated:

“The plight of prisoners, specifically in the areas of health and nutrition, has gotten worse. Whoever is bailed out from prison, and usually on very heavy bail, has to go to the hospital directly. The example I will give you is Ms. Narges Mohammadi who is under treatment for her periodic muscular paralysis after she was released from jail. Unfortunately, it is not just Ms. Mohammadi who has become sick. We have numerous political prisoners who are not being treated.”

“My proposal here is that if Mr. Ahmadinejad claims that Iran is a free country, that physicians from Doctors Without Borders go to Iran and visit the Iranian prisoners. Unfortunately, the situation of political prisoners is such that they have not only been unjustly convicted, but when they leave the prison, they are not healthy, either,” Ebadi added.

In an interview with the Campaign this week, an imprisoned journalist’s mother talked about her daughter Hengameh Shahidi’s mounting health problems and lack of proper medical care inside Evin prison. Hengameh Shahidi is a journalist who is serving a six-year prison sentence.

“Hengameh has developed rheumatic heart disease, kidney problems, stomach problems, and severe depression in prison. …The prison doctors have said that she needs outside medical attention in order to address her ailments. I don’t know why the American hiker would be released for her illness, but my child cannot go on a medical leave for treatment. After two months, eight days ago they asked for a $600,000 bail in order to release her on medical leave. They know that Hengameh’s parents who are retired teachers would not be able to post a $600,000 bail. …The worst thing for a mother is to see her child sick and be unable to help her. If I were to sell whatever I own in this world I could not come up with $600,000. After I get her out, I will still have to spend thousands of dollars on her treatment. My house is tied up as collateral for the first time she was arrested and released on bail. I have nothing else. They know all this. If they don’t want to grant her medical leave, they should just say it and treat her inside the prison,” said Shahidi’s mother.

The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran appealed for the immediate release of all prisoners of conscience in Iran, and for the Iranian authorities to allow independent medical professionals to visit the prisoners at Iranian prisons in order to ascertain their condition and provide medical attention where needed.

“This would demonstrate, in a meaningful way, Iran’s commitment to human rights, as opposed to denials, obfuscations, and evasions,” Rhodes said.

From left: Majid Tavakoli, Keyvan Samimi, and Bahman Ahmadi Amouie

(4 August 2010) The Iranian Judiciary should immediately release seventeen prisoners of conscience who have been on hunger strike for the past ten days and whose health is deteriorating daily, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today.

The seventeen prisoners include prominent student leaders, journalists, and human rights activists.

“These prisoners have committed no crimes and are in prison solely because of their opinions and beliefs. Iran should release them immediately,” said Hadi Ghaemi, the Campaign’s spokesperson.

According to information received by the Campaign, the seventeen prisoners are being held in solitary confinement in ward 350 of Evin prison and communications with their families have been suspended.

The Campaign is seriously concerned about the health and safety of the prisoners of conscience. Three of the prisoners, Bahman Ahmadi Amouie, Keyvan Samimi, and Majid Tavakoli, started a “dry” hunger strike as of today, refusing even drinking water.

The other fourteen are continuing their “wet” hunger strike, meaning they are taking in only liquids. They include: Abdollah Moemeni, Ali Malihi, Hossein Nouraninejad, Kouhyar Goudarzi, Zia Nabavi, Majid Darri, Babak Bordbar, Gholamhossein Arshi, Mohammad Hossein Sohrabi rad, Ali Parviz, Hamid Reza Mohammadi, Jaafar Eghdami, Peyman Karimi Azad, and Ebrahim Babaei.

A family member of one of the detainees told the Campaign that the health condition of the prisoners in ward 350 has worsened over the past two months and the guards systematically use techniques to humiliate and put pressure on prisoners and their families. Tehran’s Prosecutor has kept silent about the ill-treatment of prisoners and has not provided any accountability to family members who have repeatedly sought to bring the prisoners’ dire condition to his attention.

The Campaign urged the Iranian Judiciary to release all prisoners of conscience who are held solely for their beliefs and opinions. The Campaign holds Iranian authorities responsible for the health and safety of prisoners of conscience on hunger strike.

Campaign believes false confessions were extracted under torture

(29 April 2009) The Deputy of the Security Prosecution Court, Judge Haddad, announced in a 28 April 2009 interview with the Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA) that eight detained students have been charged with cooperating with the Mojahedin-e Khalgh (MEK), which is considered to be a terrorist group by Iran and numerous Western governments. The eight students, all from Amir Kabir University, include Majid Tavakoli, Hossein Torkashvand, Esmael Salmanpour and Koursh Daneshyar, who were detained on 5 February, and Ahmad Ghasaban, Nariman Mostafavi, Mehdi Mashayekhi, and Abbas Hakimzadeh who were detained on 24 February.

Judge Haddad said the charges were based on confessions, “which helped us extract new information,” indicating the students were planning actions in connection with the upcoming Iranian presidential elections on 12 June 2009. Haddad added that the arrests have “ended the student radical movement.”

The detained students have been held in incommunicado detention and the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran believes that the new charges against them are based on false confessions extracted under torture in the past ten days. The Campaign previously expressed concern that the detained students are at risk of torture to extract false confessions.

“The form and substance of these remarks suggest that no distinction exists between domestic intelligence agencies and the courts, ” said Hadi Ghaemi, spokesperson for the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.  “The judge is showing a total disregard for the obligations of independent justice, and in effect revealing to the media that the students have no chance of a fair trial, and are instead being smeared with bogus, politically-motivated charges on the basis of alleged confessions, charges that will ruin their careers and could end their lives.”

Haddad also alleged that the students would have full access to legal counsel, and that there would be “no problem” to be visited by their families.  He also stated: “We don’t have any problem with the students’ activities.”

According to information received by the Campaign, the students were arrested without charge.  They have been held in solitary confinement, without access to their families or any lawyers.

Haddad’s public remarks have been forcefully refuted by student leaders with whom the Campaign has interviewed. According to Milad Asadi, a member of the Central Committee of the Student Union to Foster Unity (Dafter Tahkim Vahdat), “Everything that Judge Haddad claimed in his interview was completely false. There is absolutely no contact or relationship directly or indirectly with Mojahedin. Our concerns are students’ collective rights issues, our right to study, our right to free expression, the freedom of association and assembly, which all the students all around the world are enjoying. It is a new accusation to eliminate student activists. They are not able to accuse the students to spying because the students have no relationship with the high level authorities. So, they fabricated this new accusation recently. We always condemned any terrorism actions by any groups including Mojahedin.”

The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran is appealing to the Judiciary to investigate the arrest, detention, and interrogation of the eight students in order to safeguard their human rights and the integrity of the judicial system.

UPDATE: (3 June 2009) Majid Tavakoli has been released from prison.

UPDATE: (18 March 2009) Majid Tavakoli, a student activist, was detained on 5 February 2009, at a ceremony to honor Mehdi Bazargan, the first Iranian prime minister after the revolution of 1979. He is reportedly being held in Evin Prison and is under interrogation.

UPDATE: (September 4, 2008) Majid Tavakoli was conditionally released from Evin Prison on 13 August 2008.

Majid Tavakoli, arrested on May 9, 2007, is a student at Tehran’s Amir Kabir University and a member of the central council of the university’s Islamic Association.

Security forces arrested Tavakoli, Ehsan Mansouri, and Ahmad Ghasaban along with five other students following a week of unrest at Amir Kabir University in May 2007. Although a court acquitted them of charges brought against them and ordered their immediate release on December 24, 2007, prison authorities have refused to free them.

On May 1, 2007, copies of four student publications, Rivar, Sarkhat, Atieh, and Yeksan were distributed throughout Amir Kabir University, containing articles and caricatures deemed insulting to government officials. The appearance of the controversial publications coincided with student elections for the Islamic Association. The editors of the four publications immediately disavowed any involvement in printing and disseminating them. They expressed their shock and said their publications’ logos were faked to produce these counterfeit issues. In a letter to the head of the Judiciary, Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, on May 2, 2007, the editors strongly condemned the content of the fake publications and asked Shahroudi to investigate and prosecute those responsible.

However, the authorities arrested the editors of the publications along with four other students, accusing them of responsibility for their publication.On May 3, 2007, plain-cloths security agents arrested Ahmad Ghasaban, editor of Sahar, as he was planning to file a complaint with judicial authorities. On May 9, Majid Tavakoli, member of the central council of Amir Kabir’s Islamic Association was summoned to the Revolutionary Court in Tehran and subsequently arrested. Ehsan Mansouri, political secretary of the Islamic Association at Amir Kabir University, was arrested after security agents raided his parent’s house on May 29, 2007. The authorities also arrested five other students during the same period who were subsequently released. The prosecutor brought charges of “propaganda against the state,””insulting the Supreme Leader,” and “insulting sacred beliefs” against Ghasaban, Ehsani, and Tavokoli.

During their detention, interrogators have subjected the three students to severe physical and psychological abuses, according to letters sent out of the prison by the detainees as well as public statements by their families.

After sending three letters to the head of the Judiciary, Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, the families of the three detained students wrote a fourth letter to him detailing ill-treatment and torture of the detainees on July 24, 2007. These included: simultaneous physical assault by seven interrogators resulting in loss of consciousness and transfer to the medical ward; continuous interrogation session lasting 24 hours; threats to kill detainees and their family members;, beatings using electric cables;withholding meals for up to 48 hours; and other ill-treatment aimed at obtaining coerced confessions.

On August 13, the three detainees, in letters written inside prison, reiterated that they had no role in printing and disseminating the fake publications, and that under sever ill-treatment they have been forced to make false confessions.

Tehran’s prosecutor general, Saeed Mortazavi, summoned the detainees families to his office on August 19, telling them: “I have warned you many times not to speak publicly about the case and not to give interviews to the media. But you continue to do so. I have ordered [prison authorities] to transfer your children to solitary confinement and to bar any phone calls or personal visits.” He also referred to accusations that the detainees have been tortured, by telling their families: “Who says they have been tortured? I must determine if it is torture and I say it is not. We have not implemented torture yet, so you know what torture means!” He also insisted that the three detainees had confessed to their role in issuing the fake student publications.

The Sixth Branch of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran commenced hearings against Ghasaban, Tavakoli, and Mansouri on September 22. The students’ lawyer, Mohammad Dadkhah told reporters that the prosecution did not present any incriminating evidence except for the confessions obtained after torture in detention. During their testimony to the court on September 29, the students confirmed that their confessions were obtained under duress and are false. Nevertheless, the presiding Judge Babaii found the students guilty of charges and sentenced them to lengthy prison terms on October 15.

For the crime of “propaganda against the state,” Judge Babaii sentence Tavakoli and Ghasaban to one year in prison. He sentenced Mansouri to six months imprisonment on a similar charge.

For the crime of “insulting the leader,” Judge Babaii sentenced Tavakoli to two years imprisonment and Ghasaban and Mansouri to one and a half years.

The judge also disqualified his court from considering the charge of “insulting sacred beliefs” and referred the case to a public court. On November 11, 2007, Tehran’s public court convened a trial for the students. After the trail, the student’s lawyer said the charges discussed in court included “insulting the sacred beliefs,” as well as “insulting the president.” After holding three sessions, the public court announced its decision on December 18. It dropped charges against the three detainees and acquitted them. In addition the court set bail in amount of 800 million Rial ($88,000) for each of the detainees.

Although the families of detainees posted bail shortly after the public court’s decision, prison authorities have refused to release the students. Officials in the judiciary insist that both cases are referred to appeals court and they will not release the students, regardless of the fact that one of their own judges has ordered their release by issuing and collecting bail.

Detained Students Should be Immediately and Unconditionally Released

(21 February 2009) The lives of four Amirkabir University students, Majid Tavakoli, Hossein Torkashvand, Esmaiel Salmanpour and Kourosh Daneshyar, who went on hunger strike to protest their arbitrary detention, are at risk. The students should be released immediately and unconditionally, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today.

The four students are among a group of around twenty people arrested on 5 February 2009, at a ceremony to honor Mehdi Bazargan, the first Iranian prime minister after the revolution of 1979. The annual event had been announced publicly and formally by his family and Nehzat e Azadi, the political party founded by Bazargan. Two weeks before this formal announcement, intelligence forces had prevented the ceremony. However, after negotiation with parliamentarians and other authorities, the organizers were given verbal permission to hold the ceremony.

According to Ebrahim Yazdi and Ezatolah Sahabi, prominent politicians and Bazargan’s colleagues who issued invitations to the ceremony, in the last 14 years there were never any official obstacles to holding the ceremony. Although memorial ceremonies do not require any official permission according to the Constitution, the organizers sent formal letters to the Governor at Tehran and local police and informed them, receiving no denials in response. Yet on 5 February 2009, as guests were arriving to attend the ceremony, they were obstructed by police and security forces, and about 20 people were arrested violently, including the four Amirkabir students.

”We are calling upon the Judiciary to investigate these arbitrary and illegal arrests, and to release them immediately,” stated Hadi Ghaemi, spokesperson for the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.

Activists on behalf of the detained students at Amirkabir University reported to the Campaign that the four students are being kept in solitary confinement in ward 240 of Evin Prison, which is managed by prison authorities. However, since they began their hunger strike they have been threatened with transfer to ward 209, which is run by the Intelligence Ministry. Families of the students were not informed of their whereabouts for five days, after which Branch 2 of the Revolutionary Court informed the families that their children had been placed in detention. Reliable sources have informed the Campaign that when the students were arrested, they were accused of “disobeying police orders,” which was subsequently changed to “acting against national security by attending an illegal ceremony.”

In protest against the arbitrary detention order, the four students and three other detainees, whose names have not been published, went on hunger strike. The health of the students has reportedly deteriorated seriously; Majid Tavakoli was taken to the health unit in Evin Prison several times to receive serum while he was unconscious.

“The authorities have a positive obligation to protect the detainees’ health and safety, and they should release all who have been arbitrarily detained immediately and unconditionally,” Hadi Ghaemi stated.

The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran appealed to the Judiciary to identify and prosecute those who ordered and implemented the detentions, which were in violation of national and international human rights laws.

“This miscarriage of justice case is a disgrace to Iran because the appeal process violated Iranian law and international standards. The case needs to be reviewed at the highest level by a committee of independent judges,” the Campaign stated.On 15 April 2008, an appeals court sentenced the three students from Teheran’s elite Amir Kabir University to prison terms of about two years each on charges of having spread anti-Islamic images and propaganda against the state. The charges against the students were initially dropped by the lower court in the absence of the presentation of sufficient factual evidence supporting the charges by the prosecutors.

Confessions, which had been extracted under severe torture, were subsequently retracted by the three young men. The appeals court decision was not based on the presentation of any evidence. The lawyer for the students stated, “These students were sentenced without any reason.”

The case has been a matter of serious concern for the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, which included the accused students among the Prisoners of Conscience it has tried to support (www.iranhumanrights.org/en/themes/profiles/). The sentence deserves to be condemned in the strongest terms by all governments, intergovernmental organizations, and civil society groups that uphold international human rights standards and standards for fair and responsible trials.

“Indeed, what transpired was not a legitimate trial at all, but rather an officially sanctioned attempt to destroy the reputations and future of three promising young people by crudely manipulating the courts. The judicial system itself is a victim in this case. It has been ruthlessly exploited to accommodate blatantly political and subjective motives; rules of procedure, facts, evidence, logic, and the law itself have been ignored,” the Campaign stated.