IRAN: Crackdown on Dissent after the Elections
International PEN Writers in Prison Committee Comment
19 June 2009
The following is being sent to International PEN Writers in Prison Committees as an advisory on current events in Iran and to assist Centres with any enquiries they may have from their members and media.
Following the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmedinejad in the presidential elections announced on 13 June, widespread peaceful protests by supporters of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi who dispute the election result have been suppressed by the authorities. As the protests continue in Iran’s major cities, reports suggest that some two hundred people have been arrested – mostly in Tehran. Those targeted include reformist leaders and journalists, and although most have since been released the whereabouts of some remain unknown, including journalist and PEN main case Taghi Rahmani. There have also been serious restrictions on foreign reporting and increased censorship of the internet, local media and blocking of access to communications.
Iran has long been a major concern for International PEN as a country that has consistently held a large number of writers and journalists in prison. Detainees are commonly held in poor conditions, without access to family, medical care and legal representation, and widespread reports of the use of torture against political prisoners add to PEN’s concerns for the welfare of those detained. Trials commonly fall short of international standards of fairness.
International PEN Writers in Prison Committee takes no position on the election outcome, but calls upon the Iranian authorities to ensure that freedom of expression is protected throughout the election process. International PEN WiPC calls for an end to abuses of free expression and for the release of all those currently detained in Iran for the peaceful exercise of their right to free expression, in accordance with Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Iran is a signatory.
For further information on PEN’s work on Iran please go to:
http://www.internationalpen.org.uk/index.cfm?objectid=59B2D87C-3048-676E-2669D970C8E9F806
For further information please contact Cathy McCann at International PEN Writers in Prison Committee, Brownlow House, 50/51 High Holborn, London WC1V 6ER, Tel.+ 44 (0) 20 7405 0338, Fax: +44 (0) 20 7405 0339, email:
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