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Sunday, September 11, 2005

Four Political Prisoners on Hunger Strike in Iran

September 11, 2005
Iran Focus
iranfocus.com



Tehran, Iran -- Two more political prisoners have joined fellow prisoners in a hunger strike inside one of Iran’s most notorious jails. Valliollah Feiz-Mohammadi and Hojjat Zamani started a hunger strike on Thursday, joining fellow prisoners Bina Darabzand and Behrooz Javid Tehrani. Together they have formed the “Hunger Strike in Raja’i-Shahr Prison Committee”.

Two of the political prisoners, Zamani and Tehrani, had previously been transferred to and continue to be held at the dangerous and violent criminals’ ward of Raja’i-Shahr Prison, where convicted murderers and rapists are held.

Hojjat Zamani, 29, has been imprisoned in Tehran since the year 2000 and was sentenced to death for being a member of the main Iranian opposition group, the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MeK).

Darabzand, 46, was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison for “demonstrating illegally” outside the United Nations building in Tehran in August 2004. He had taken part in a protest by relatives of political prisoners, who were demanding UN intervention to stop torture of their loved ones in prison.

The hunger-strikers’ demands include the transfer of Zamani and Tehrani back to the political prisoners’ ward and for the human rights of all political prisoners to be respected.

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A group of Iranian political prisoners on a hunger strike in Karaj prison, have written a letter to Kofi Anon of the UN.

http://web.peykeiran.com/new/iran/iran_news_body.aspx?ID=26150

After formal greetings, the prisoners remind the UN that the Islamic Republic of Iran has been repeatedly cited for human righrs violations by majority votes at the UN for the last 26 years. While the UN condems these violations, its member nations proceed to trade with Iran and by so doing they support the religious dictatorship that is strangling the people in Iran. This mixed signal shows that the UN is not taking the human rights violations in Iran seriously.

The letter reminds the UN that Ahmadinejad is coming to the UN as part of a greater campaign to further oppress the people of Iran. The hunger strikers, speaking on behalf of all political prisoners in Iran, remind the UN that the new president's introduction at the UN and subsequent international legitimacy are endagering the lives of all political prisoners and activists in Iran. The regime is increasing its oppressive religious rule against the suffering people of Iran.

The letter concludes that the Supreme Leaders handpicked president is not supported by the political priosners or the majority of the people in Iran.

Signed by:

1. Bina Darab Zand (writer, political analyst and member of the Iran Democracy Party)

2. Behruz Javid Tehrani (political and democratic activist, member of the Iran Democracy Party)

3. Hojat Zamani (political activist)

4. Vali Feyz Mahdudi (political activist)

5. Khaled Hardani (political activist)

6. Ja'afar Eghdami (political activist)

7. Hassan Zare Zadeh Ardeshir (spokesperson for the Hunger Strike Committee of the prisoners of Rajai prison)