هیات ویژه برای رسیدگی به وضعیت زندانیان اعزام نمایید

“Mothers of Laleh Park” (Mourning Mothers of Iran)

http://www.madaraneparklale.com/
Open letter to:
His Excellency Ban Ki-Moon

Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General
United Nations, S-378
New York, NY 10017
USA

Cc: Ms. Navi Pillay
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
Palais des Nations
CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland

General inquiry: +41 22 917 9220

Dear Secretary General:

By now, through numerous complains and reports documenting countless instances of human rights violations in Iran, you are certainly aware of the depth of the tragedy inflicted on Iranian people by the despotic regime of The Islamic Republic.

Since the ruling establishment in Iran neither observes its own domestic laws nor respects the international conventions it has signed, we are appealing to you, as the head of a body which the people of the world look up to for helping the oppressed.


The Mothers of Laleh Park (Mourning Mothers of Iran) and their supporters, their hearts filled with sadness, yet unfalterd with resolve, have lost all hope to expect fair and impartial investigation and response to their legitimate and humane demands from The Islamic Republic rulers and seek the assistance of yours and that of international human rights bodies.

Mothers of Laleh Park (Mourning Mothers of Iran) are the mothers of those who lost their lives during the rule of The Islamic Republic of Iran because of torture, imprisonment and execution or were killed during street protests by the regime’s agents for their political beliefs. The Mothers, despite having to carry the burden of grief, have become one of the most active human rights institutions in Iran. They ask not only for investigation and fair trial of those who ordered and carried out the torture, murder, and execution of their children, but also strongly condemn religious and ethnic massacres, Qesas, stoning, torture, rape in prisons and forced false confessions. The Mothers demand immediate and unconditional release of all prisoners of conscience and abolishment of the death penalty in Iran.

Given the stifling of any dissent in Iran by the ruling establishment, the supporters of The Mothers in Diaspora take it upon themselves to become the voice of the justice-seeking Mothers and echo it throughout the world.

These Mothers’ peaceful gatherings in parks, in front of prisons, and at the gravesite of their fallen children, while consoling each other, have been repeatedly attacked by the regime’s forces and they have been arrested and imprisoned. This is while they are under severe pressure and continuous intimidation as not to give interviews, hold protests or follow up with any of their cases; should they not heed the warnings, they could face another one of their family members being victimized. An example would be the imprisonment of the brother of Sane Jaleh, who lost his life after being shot by the regime’s forces in the peaceful protests of February 14th. Sane’s brother was detained after he disclosed that the Iranian regime was spreading lies when it was alleging that Sane Jaleh was a member of the Basij militia and was killed by the opposition. Thus, the authoritarian rulers have left a mother bereaved by the loss of two children, one dead, and another imprisoned.

Many of these mothers are even deprived from receiving the bodies of their dead children and holding a burial ceremony for them.

Currently, the prisons of The Islamic Republic is filled with hundreds of students, human rights activists, journalists, artists, writers and even lawyers who have been sentenced to long term prison sentences and banned from their professions for defending freedom and human rights. Imprisonment in solitary confinement cells for long periods of time, ban on prison visitation, ending the right to make phone calls to family members, exiling the prisoners to remote provinces, lack of medical attention, etc. are only small fraction of the inhuman treatment to which these prisoners are subject to. Such maltreatments fade in the face of brutal physical and psychological tortures they endure. Many of the prisoners suffer from psychological problems after being released which is an indication of the severity of the abuses they have suffered while in detention.

You are also aware that Iran currently has the highest rate of death penalty per capita in the world. We also thank you for emphasizing the unjust, inhumane and humiliating nature of mass public executions.

Ms. Navi Pillay, The United Nation High Commissioner for Human Rights, has also expressed grave concern about the growing number of executions in Iran , particularly in recent weeks. She has expressed dismay that the Iranian authorities are not heeding the international community’s calls to stop executions.

Building bogus judicial cases against the civil and political dissidents, and executing them as common criminals is another ploy and trick employed extensively by the Iranian ruling establishment. Their goal is to maintain a hypocritical façade and to eliminate their opponents under the pretext of the protection of the social security and order. Many of these death sentences are issued in trials that last only a few minutes without the defendant’s lawyer being present. Even the death sentences are often carried out without prior notice to the families or the lawyer of the defendants.

Based on Amnesty International’s report, in January of 2011, at least 86 prisoners were executed in Iran. Once the executions that are not officially announced are taken into account, this figure would be much higher. Shirin Ebadi, the Peace Nobel laureate, along with six other human rights organizations - Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, International Federation for Human Rights and its affiliates, the Iranian League for the Defense of Human Rights and Reporters without Borders - issued a joint statement asking the international community and the United Nations to take steps to stop the waves of executions in Iran. In the statement, Ms. Ebadi points out that the Iranian authorities “are using the familiar tactic of carrying out political executions at the same time as mass executions of prisoners convicted of criminal offences. These executions may increase if the world is silent”.

Moreover, despite the ban on execution of individuals for crimes committed while under the age of 18, Human Rights Watch reports that 140 of those executed in Iran in the past years were under the age of 18 at the time of alleged offences.

These are certainly a small fraction of what our nation and children endure. Without doubt, these instances fade in the face of the detailed reports you frequently receive in this regard.

Now, on the eve of the International Women’s Day, which is a call for equality and justice, the women and mothers of Iran, as the vanguards of this justice-seeking movement, appeal to all human rights organization and you, as the highest authority in the United Nations, for assistance. They are standing strong and firm and are looking to receive an answer to their call for justice against the injustices that have been inflicted on their loved ones and some of the best children of this land. On this struggle, they call on all the contentious people of the world to help them.

The Mothers of Laleh Park and their supporters ask you to send a special delegation to investigate the human rights situation in The Islamic Republic of Iran, to meet with prisoners of conscience, the dissidents and their families as well as the families of those who have been executed by the regime and to investigate the conditions of the prisons. By this, the international pressure could oblige the rulers of The Islamic Republic to be accountable before the international conventions that require protection of and respect for civil and political rights of the citizens.

March 2011
Sincerely,

Mourning Mothers of Iran (The mothers of Laleh Park)
Supporters of The Mothers of Laleh Park - Oslo
Supporters of The Mothers of Laleh Park - Italy
Supporters of The Mothers of Laleh Park - Dortmund
Supporters of The Mothers of Laleh Park - Frankfurt
Supporters of The Mothers of Laleh Park - Colon
Supporters of The Mothers of Laleh Park - London
Supporters of The Mothers of Laleh Park – Los Angeles/ San Fernando Valley
Supporters of The Mothers of Laleh Park - Vienna
Supporters of The Mothers of Laleh Park - Hamburg