 |
| From: |
Network of Concerned Historians |
| Re: |
Dr. Haleh Esfandiari's detention by Iranian authorities |
| Date: |
18 May 2007 |
Action Update
FACTS OF THE CASE:
The Committee of Concerned Scientists urges immediate action on behalf of
Dr. Haleh Esfandiari, the director of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow
Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC. Dr. Esfandiari,
a dual Iranian-American national, was detained in Tehran in December 2006
during a visit to her mother, interrogated repeatedly, and finally arrested
on May 8th and incarcerated in Evin Prison.
Dr. Esfandiari went to Tehran in late December to visit her 93-year old mother.
On December 30th, on her way to the airport to catch a flight back to Washington,
her taxi was stopped by three masked gunmen who took away her baggage, including
her Iranian and American passports. When she went to the passport office to
apply for new Iranian documents, Dr. Esfandiari was taken to Ministry of Intelligence
for a series of interrogations that stretched out over the next six weeks.
Dr. Esfandiari was questioned about the activities of the Wilson Center and
repeatedly pressured to make a false confession or to falsely implicate the
Wilson Center in activities in which it had no part.
On February 20th, Lee Hamilton, the President and Director of the Wilson
Center, wrote to the Iranian President about the dire situation in which Dr.
Esfandiari had been placed. He pointed out that there is no “agenda” behind
Wilson Center programs on the Middle East, including Iran, and asked President
Ahmadinejad to send Dr. Esfandiari back to the US. No reply was ever received.
Dr. Esfandiari has not been charged with any crime. Her arrest has been condemned
by the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and the International Herald
Tribune, and her case is being followed by Amnesty International and Human
Rights Watch. Her colleagues around the world have written to Iran's leaders
to express their concern for her safety. The attempts to coerce Dr. Esfandiari
to make a false statement are violations of Iran's constitution, which guarantees
freedom of belief (Article 23). Moreover, they are violations of the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantees freedom of thought
(Article 18) and expression (Article 19), and to which Iran is a signatory.Please
join scientists and other scholars and academics in calling on the Iranian
government to free Dr. Esfandiari at once. Read more about this case at: http://www.freehaleh.org/
TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION:
(page updated 09/03/2007)
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