[Deathpenalty] Further Information on Kurdish Cultural Activists at Risk of Execution in Iran (second update to UA 39/07)

Tue Jul 24 15:02:47 CDT 2007

URGENT ACTION APPEAL

Note: Please write on behalf of these persons even though
you may not have received the original UA when issued on
February 16, 2007. Thanks!

24 July 2007
Further Information on UA 39/07 (16 February 2007) and
follow-up (30 March 2007) - Fear of torture or ill-
treatment/Arbitrary arrest and new concern: Death penalty

IRAN
Adnan Hassanpour (m), Kurdish journalist and cultural rights activist
Mansour Tayfouri (m), Kurdish journalist and translator

New name:
Abdolwahed Butimar, known as Hiwa (m),
  Kurdish activist, Adnan Hassanpour's cousin

Adnan Hassanpour and his cousin Abdolwahed (known as Hiwa)
Butimar have been sentenced to death. Adnan Hassanpour, a
Kurdish journalist and advocate of cultural rights for
Iranian Kurds, was detained on 25 January and
environmentalist Hiwa Butimar on or around 23 December 2006,
both in Marivan, Kordestan province. They were reportedly
held incommunicado in a Ministry of Intelligence facility in
Marivan, and transferred to Marivan prison on 26 March.

Following his arrest Hiwa Butimar's home was searched by
members of the Intelligence Service, who are said to have
confiscated items including Kurdish flags, videos in Kurdish
and family pictures of a trip to Iraqi Kurdistan. The
confiscated items were also reportedly used as evidence
against the cousins, who reportedly appeared before a
Revolutionary Court in Sanandaj on 12 June, in the presence
of their lawyer.

Adnan Hassanpour and Hiwa Butimar were reportedly returned
from Marivan prison to an unconfirmed place of detention,
possibly the detention facility run by the Ministry of
Intelligence in Sanandaj, the capital of Kordestan province,
early in the morning of 15 July. On 17 July the men were
told that they had been sentenced to death on charges of
espionage and Moharebeh (being at enmity with God). If
confirmed on appeal, the sentences would then have to be
further confirmed by the Supreme Court.

In an interview carried by the online publication Rooz, the
two men's lawyer, Saleh Nikbakht, said that Adnan
Hassanpour's charges related to ''a phone conversation he
had with a staff member of Radio Voice of America''. He also
said that Hiwa Butimar had been charged with carrying lethal
weapons, although he denied his client had ever done so, and
stressed he had not been in contact with any armed group
(see: http://www.roozonline.com/english/archives/2007/07/006302.php).

In April, the Mehr News Agency, which is said to have close
links with Iran's judiciary, apparently alleged that Adnan
Hassanpour had been in contact with Kurdish opposition
groups and had helped two people from Khuzestan province,
who were wanted by the authorities, to flee from Iran.

Adnan Hassanpour is a former member of the editorial board
of the Kurdish-Persian weekly journal Aso (Horizon), which
the authorities closed down in August 2005 following
widespread unrest in Kurdish areas.  Adnan Hassanpour had
reportedly been tried for offences supposedly arising from
articles published in the journal. Hiwa Butimar heads an
environmental organization called The Green Mountain
Society.

Amnesty International has no information about Mansour
Tayfouri.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Proceedings before Revolutionary Courts in Iran do not meet
international standards for fair trial. The Penal Code
contains a number of vaguely-worded provisions relating to
association and ''national security'' which prohibit a range
of activities, including those connected with journalism or
public discourse which are permitted under international
human rights law.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly
as possible:
- expressing concern that Adnan Hassanpour and Abdolwahed
Botimar have been sentenced to death;
- urging the authorities to commute these death sentences
immediately;
- acknowledging that governments have a responsibility to
bring to justice those suspected of criminal offences, but
stating your unconditional opposition to the death penalty,
as the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment and
violation of the right to life;
- asking for full details of the charges and evidence
against Adnan Hassanpour and Abdolwahed Botimar and
expressing concern that their trial may not have met
international standards for fair trial, which are especially
important in capital cases;
- asking for details of why Mansour Tayfouri was arrested,
including any charges and evidence brought against him and
of any trial proceedings, and calling for him to be released
unless he is to be charged with a recognizably criminal
offence and given a prompt and fair trial;
- calling on the authorities to ensure that none of the
three men is tortured or ill-treated;
- calling for Adnan Hassanpour, Abdolwahed Botimar and
Mansour Tayfouri to be allowed immediate and regular access
to their families, lawyers of their own choosing and any
medical treatment they may require.

APPEALS TO:
Leader of the Islamic Republic:
His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Shahid Keshvar Doost St
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: info at leader.ir / istiftaa at wilayah.org
Fax:     011 98 251 774 2228 (mark FAO Office of His
Excellency Ayatollah al Udhma Khamenei)
Salutation:     Your Excellency

Head of the Judiciary:
His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Ministry of Justice, Park-e Shahr
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Salutation:     Your Excellency

COPIES TO:
President:
His Excellency Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
The Presidency, Palestine Avenue
Azerbaijan Intersection
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: 011 981 6 674 790 (Mark ''Please forward to
H.E. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad'')
Email: dr-ahmadinejad at president.ir OR
via website: www.president.ir/email
Salutation:     Your Excellency

Governor of Kurdistan:
Esmail Najjar
Email:
In Persian and Kurdish, send via feedback form on the website:
http://www.ostan-kd.ir/Default.aspx?tabId=150&cv=4@0_1
In English or other languages, use the feedback form on the website:
http://en.ostan-kd.ir/Default.aspx?TabID=59
Salutation:     Dear Governor

Iran does not presently have an embassy in this country.
Instead, please send copies to:
Iranian Interests Section
2209 Wisconsin Ave NW
Washington DC 20007
Phone: 202 965 4990
Fax: 202 965 1073
Email: requests at daftar.org

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the AIUSA Urgent
Action Office if sending appeals after 30 August 2007.

Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement
that promotes and defends human rights.

This Urgent Action may be reposted if kept intact, including
contact information and stop action date (if applicable).
Thank you for your help with this appeal.

Urgent Action Network
Amnesty International USA
600 Pennsylvania Ave SE 5th fl
Washington DC 20003
Email: uan at aiusa.org
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/
Phone: 202.544.0200
Fax:     202.675.8566

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END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
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