Date: 26/09/2015
Call on: European Union, International Labour Organisation ( ILO), UN Special Rapporteur on Iran, human rights organisations and labour unions
URGENT : Islamic Regime in Iran is accountable for the death of jailed labour activist Mr Shahrokh Zamani
We would like to appeal for your urgent action to request a thorough investigation by UN Special Rapporteur on Iran into the death of Mr Shahrokh Zamani, a jailed labour activist, in Rajaee Shahr prison on 13 September 2015.
The prison authorities in Iran have claimed that Shahrokh has died as a result of stroke. This claim is highly suspicious! This claim is suspicious because the Islamic regime’s authorities have long been adopting a well-publicised strategy to kill political prisoners instead of executing them. This is done through depriving them of any medical attention and medication and wait for them to die and then announce they have died of illnesses or natural causes. By adopting this strategy, Rouhani’s regime avoids making negative international headlines.
Who was Shahrokh Zamani?
Shahrokh Zamani was a labour activist serving 11-years sentence in Rajai Shahr prison in the city of Karaj in Iran. Shahrokh was four years into his prison sentence. Shahrokh’s cellmate found his cold body, with blood in his mouth and nose, when he tried to wake him up in the morning of 13 September 2015. According to Shahrokh’s daughter, he had no prior illnesses. The authorities in Iran have refused a request for autopsy by Shahrokh’s family.
Shahrokh Zamani was a member of Committee of the Tehran Painters’ Union, and a member of the Committee to Pursue the Establishment of Workers’ Organisations. He was arrested in the city of Tabriz in June 2011. During his imprisonment, he was never given a leave from prison and in the last 3 years of his sentence, he was deprived of having regular visits with his family. While in prison, Zamani was physically and psychologically tortured and was transferred to several different prisons in order to exert more pressure on him. The prison authorities put Shahrokh’s life to even more danger by keeping him, in some prisons, among non-political prisoners. Zamani described his treatment in one of his many letters by stating that: “Lastly I want to emphasize that the offices of the intelligence services have threatened my life both directly and indirectly: by poisoning, exposure to prisoners with Aids, unleashing the mentally ill, violent and dangerous inmates on me..” Letter is attached.
Zamani was well-known for being outspoken critics of the Islamic regime and exposed the inhuman treatment of prisoners. He went on hunger strike several times to show his protest.
Shahrokh Zamani’s death reminds us of the death of several other prisoners including the jjailed labour activist, Afshin Osanloo, who died in June 2013 in Rajaee Shahr prison. The authorities in Iran did not provide any explanation into the circumstances of Osanloo’s death and only claim that he suffered a heart attack. There are several other political prisoners who were murdered in the hand of prison authorities through deprivation of medical attention.
The U.N. Special Rapporteur, Ahmed Shaheed, in his report to UN in March 2015 has written about the deprivation of medical attention in prisons in Iran. Prior to Mr Shaheed’s report, in October 2013 Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI) has initiated a campaign called “Don’t let their heartbeats stop!” to raise awareness regarding those political prisoners in Iran who are deprived of medical attention. Amnesty International has recently issued a pressrelease on the death of Shahrokh Zamani and at has emphesised on the lack of medical attention in prisons.
We have continuously warned the international community about this strategy and have forwarded numerous reports on the treatment of political prisoners in Iran. We have continuously stated that the regime in Iran has devised a new method, silently and away from the watchful eye of human right organisation, for executing its political prisoners. This strategy is devised to avoid international condemnation and media attention when the regime executes political prisoners.
The Islamic regime’s authorities are deliberately withholding urgently needed medical care in order for them to die. They also put the prisoners under the immense physical and psychological pressures so they die under the disguise of ‘death by natural cause.’
We call on all international communities, human rights organisations and labour unions:
- To write a protest letter to the regime in Iran condemning the ill-treatment of political prisoners and demand an immediate and unconditional thorough investigation into the death of labour activist Sharokh Zamani.
Shiva Mahbobi
Spokesperson, Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI)
Please send your protest letter to the authorities in Iran :
TO: Hassan Rouhani
Email: media@rouhani.ir
Twitter: @HassanRouhani
TO: Ali Khamenei
Email: info_leader@leader.ir
Twitter: @khamenei_ir
