The Assembly of Delegates of International PEN, meeting at its
73rd International Congress in
Extremely concerned about the lack of progress in identifying
and prosecuting those responsible for the torture and subsequent
murder of Iranian-Canadian photojournalist Zahra
Kazemi; and the failure to bring to
justice those who ordered the serial murders in the late 1990s
of Iranian writers and intellectuals;
Shocked by the conviction for spying of freelance business
journalist Ali Farahbakhsh on 26
March 2007, who was sentenced to three years in prison; and
the two year prison sentence handed down to Iranian
Kurdish journalist Kaveh
Javanmard on 17 May 2007, as well as
the continued detention of the Iranian Kurdish journalists and
cultural activists Adnan
Hassanpour and Mohammad
Sadiq Kabudvand
and Iranian Azerbaijani journalists and cultural activists Said
Matinpour and
Abbas Lissani; as well as the
prison sentences of three years and two years and a half years
handed down by the court of first instance to Kurdish
journalists Ejlal
Qavami and Said
Sa’edi respectively on 9 June 2007;
Concerned that the security organisations
have prevented the Iranian Writers Association from holding its
General Assembly to elect its board of directors for the past
five years;
Deeply concerned that
the authorities have banned the publishing of hundreds of books
including those that have already appeared once or several times
in print, and have used this policy to pressure independent
publishers; prohibited some films and shut down several cultural
and artistic organisations;
Further concerned that writers, journalists and others detained
in violation of their right to freedom of expression have been
tortured in the presence of judges, held for weeks in solitary
confinement and denied basic due process rights;
Noting that Iran imprisons the highest number of journalists in
the Middle East, violating their rights to freedom of expression
and to a fair trial, and often with long periods of
incommunicado detention and lack of access to adequate medical
care;
Dismayed that the judicial authorities have banned an increasing
number of writers and journalists from visiting other countries;
and have harassed and persecuted a sizable number of journalists
on returning to
Troubled by the state crackdown on women’s activists and women
writers and journalists, which has resulted in dozens being
arbitrarily detained, at least eight of whom are facing charges,
including prominent women writers and journalists
Shadi Sadr,
Mahbubeh
Abbasgholizadeh, Jila
Baniyaghoub and
Nahid Keshavarz; and the
prison sentences handed down to journalists
Nusheen Ahmadi
Khorasani,
Parvin Ardalan,
Sussan
Tahmassebi
and Fariba
Davoodi Mohajer.
Noting that Iran’s judiciary has shut down a number of
independent newspapers, more than 30 weeklies and other
periodicals, mostly in the provinces, and tens of student
newsletters in the course of the past year; dozens of
journalists and intellectuals have been summoned by authorities
and many of them have been prosecuted under the restrictive
provisions of the Press Law and Penal Code;
Worried by resolutions that the government adopted in November
2006 to facilitate control of the Internet in Iran, which have
been used since that time to ban access to countless Web sites;
as a result of which thousands of Web sites are censored,
on-line journalists harassed and privately-owned Internet
service providers (ISPs) ordered to shut down or put themselves
under government control; and including the crackdown on several
Iranian “bloggers” who write and
post information on the Internet, amongst them prominent
Internet writer Arash
Sigarchi who was sentenced to 14
years in prison, reduced to three years on appeal, in February
2005;
Deploring the climate of self-censorship induced by the
systematic repression of those expressing critical or opposing
views against the authorized political and religious doctrines;
Noting with distress that the International
Bookfair (TIBF) held in Tehran 1 – 12 March 2007 only
gave access to publishers approved by the Iranian government,
and that international publishers were separated from domestic
publishers, thus diminishing the possibility of a real cultural
dialogue between Iranian and foreign writers and publishers;
Alarmed that the Iranian ethnic groups, including Kurds,
Azerbaijanis, Arabs and Baluchis,
are prohibited from teaching and studying in their own
languages;
Further alarmed by the systematic suppression of public and
intellectual dissent in
Urges the government of
Release and drop all charges against all political prisoners
targeted for the legal exercise of their right to free
expression, association and assembly, including
Siamak Pourzand
and Ali Farahbakhsh; as well as all
prisoners detained in violation of Article 19 of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which
Iran is a signatory;
Review the Press Law, Penal Code and censorship of book
publishing with the aim of the repeal all criminal provisions
hindering the peaceful expression of opinion;
Require and maintain the full cooperation of judicial bodies and
security forces in ensuring that trials are conducted in
accordance with international standards of fairness and that
torture is abolished; and to bring to justice those who ordered
the murder of Zahra Kazemi and the
victims of serial murders of the late 1990s;
Lift the ban on newspapers and periodicals, and to retract
resolutions that allow for censorship of the Internet in its
many forms and ensure the free flow of information on the Web;
Conduct a thorough investigation of its secret prisons, granting
full access to international observers;
Take measures to allow writers and journalists to freely
practice their right to freedom of assembly and association;
Take concrete steps to ensure the full and unhindered access to
the right to freedom of expression in |