Amnesty International Statement for Immediate Action for the Release of Victims of Arbitrary Detention in Iran.

 Amnesty International Statement for Immediate Action for the Release of Victims of Arbitrary Detention in Iran.

We, the 37 human rights organizations and civil society organizations that signed this letter, call on the international community to pay immediate attention to the continuing wave of arbitrary arrests, detachments of detainees from the outside world, and forced disappearances by Iranian authorities of dozens of oppressed Kurdish minorities in West Azerbaijan provinces. Alborz, Tehran, Kurdistan and Kermanshah have been targeted.

 To date, the Iranian authorities have not provided any information on the reason for the detentions, but according to credible information gathered from informed sources, there are serious concerns that the reason for these detentions is the peaceful exercise of their rights to freedom of opinion, expression and association, including Through their participation in peaceful civic activities, or their supposed support for the political aspirations of Kurdish opposition parties for the realization of the human rights of Iran's Kurdish minority.

 Based on documented patterns of human rights abuses by Iranian authorities in the past, the organizations that signed the letter are deeply concerned that detainees are at risk of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Can be invoked by the courts in unfair trials for fictitious crimes related to national security.

 According to information gathered from informed sources, as of December 8, 2016, at least 96 people (88 men and 8 women) from the Kurdish minority in Iran, including civil society activists, labor rights activists, environmentalists, writers, students, and former political prisoners Also, individuals with no known record of activity have been arrested by the IRGC's intelligence unit or the Ministry of Intelligence, and in some cases these arrests have been violent.

 As of February 5, 2017, seven detainees had been released (in three cases on bail and in four cases unconditionally), but the rest were detained without access to their families and lawyers, and there were widespread concerns that they would continue. There is still a wave of arbitrary detentions.

 Of the 89 detainees, at least 40 have been forcibly disappeared and authorities have refused to disclose any information about their fate or whereabouts to their families.

 Revolutionary Guards and Ministry of Intelligence agents have insulted and threatened the families of detainees as they tried to obtain information about their loved ones, warning them not to contact the media or UN human rights bodies.

 Due to the violation of the principles of fair trial, the arrests and detentions that have taken place are, in virtually all cases, arbitrary in nature and, as a result, illegal.

 We note that the right to freedom of opinion and expression includes the right to criticize the social and political system supported by the authorities and the right to propagate and promote any political idea or ideal peacefully, as long as the ideas in question do not incite hatred, discrimination or violence. . Prosecution and punishment of individuals for beliefs they may believe in is a serious violation of the right to freedom of opinion and expression. This right is guaranteed in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a party.

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