The Voice of Mirza Xazar

Civil and cultural activists of the Azerbaijani population in Iran continually suffer from arbitrary detentions by security and judiciary authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran. These activists only use peaceful ways in their demand for the eradication of discrimination or rebuild their national identity. During their detentions, they are usually tortured and are also denied of the right of access to a lawyer through the arbitrary charge of “undermining national security.”

Both Mr. Abbasi Javan, architect by profession and a lecturer in the University of Shahid Rajai, and Mr. Huseyn Huseyni, the former president of Students Union in the University of Razi, Erdebil (Ardebil), were arrested in Rey on Thursday 14 November 2008. The arrest took place when they were participating in the anniversary of Settar Khan (national hero of Azerbaijan leading the constitutional movements in 1906-14) together with 8 other Azerbaijani activists but these two were transferred to Section 209 of Evin prison, which is ruled by Iran Intelligence Service.

All the efforts of the family members of these two prisoners of conscience have been in vain to establish their whereabouts. Instead, they were intimidated by security agents and were asked to stop referring to courts of justice. Since 14 November the only communication between the victims and their family members has been a less-than 1 minute telephone call by Abdulla Abbasi Javan to his brother on the 10th day of the detention. According to the statement by two Azerbaijani prisoners of conscience recently released from Section 209 of Evin prison, Abdulla Abbasi Javan had informed them of entering to a hunger strike on his 23rd day of detention (12 December 2008) as the last resort to protesting to the illegal detention and for being deprived of his basic human rights as a prisoner.
The ADAPP is confident that the detentions are arbitrary. The signs are clear that the internal channels for restoring the human rights of these two prisoners of conscience have been exhausted as judicial authorities are failing to respond to their family members; owing to strict disinformation, they were most probably tortured physically and psychologically during interrogations; and now the hunger strike by Mr. Abbasi.

The ADAPP (Association for the Defense of Azerbaijani Political Prisoners in Iran) appeals to human rights organizations, governmental organizations and conscientious individuals to rally support to the particular cases of Mr. Abdulla Abbasi Javan and his nephew Mr. Huseyn Huseyni, two prisoners of conscience: In your campaign, please ask the Iranian authorities to end this practice of indefinite detentions and immediately release these two detainees.

Association for the Defense of Azerbaijani Political Prisoners in İran