Lawmaker Blames Government Discrimination for Ethnic Strife
Hasan Zarezadeh Ardeshir - 2007.06.20
http://www.roozonline.com/english/archives/2007/06/005272.php

The efforts of Iranian and international human rights activists and lawmaker Akbar Alami culminated in the release of dozens of political prisoners in various cities throughout Azerbaijan. The prisoners were released ahead of the first anniversary of last year’s uprising in several provinces in Northwest Iran. Still, a significant number of political and civil activists, human rights defenders and Turkish-speaking journalists, who are among the region’s prominent figures, remain in jail.

Saeed Matinpour, law student Ghafour Habibpour, Mehdi Mohammadpour, Hossein Nasiri, Oromiyyeh University student Akbar Pashai, Saleh Molaabassi, Jalil Ghanilou, Esmail Javadi, Abolfazl Alilou, Ramin Sadeghi, Ghahreman Ghahremanpour, Adel Allahverdipour, Safar Ali Khoini, Jafar Haghnazari and Hossein Nasiri are among the detained individuals whose fate remains unclear.

These individuals do not have access to lawyers and are unable to contact their families. In many cases, their arrests were accompanied with police brutality and violence. Several families also complain that courts and the intelligence ministry do not provide accurate information about the fate or whereabouts of their loved ones.

Reports from Tabriz indicate that the number of arrested individuals during last year’s uprising is much higher than previous estimates based on released data.

Akbar Alami, who represents Tabriz in the Majlis [“Parliament”], was among the first individuals to protest last year’s crackdown on activists. Alami met in person with the head of the judiciary and published an open letter calling for the release of the detained activists. In his letter, Alami wrote, “The arrested individuals were responding to their unending love and passion for the language, culture, history and local identity by participating in demonstrations and peaceful gatherings. They were calling for the implementation of Articles 15 and 19 of the Constitution and the removal of certain cultural and economic discriminatory practices. Perhaps there were a few individuals among them who voiced their preferences in an extreme manner, but I think that the number of these extreme individuals was much less than the total number of those arrested. Furthermore, the roots of extremism must be found in the beliefs and actions of those who aim to prove their superiority by belittling and putting down local and ethnic minorities.”

During the past recent days, various political organizations and human rights groups have criticized the imprisonment of Turkish-speaking activists. Among them were Jebhe Mosharekat [“Islamic Iran Participation Front”] Zanjan branch, Sazman Advar Tahkim Vahdat [ an offshoot of “Office for Fostering Student Unity”], Student Committee for the Defense of Political Prisoners, and the Committee for the Defense of Azerbaijan’s Political Prisoners.