********************************************************************** I R A N D E M O C R A C Y W A T C H A periodical Newsletter by Democracy Network of Iran Democracy Network of Iran is an internet-based network of individuals with focus on social, economic and political developments in Iran, advocating creation of fully democratic processes in political and social realms. For more information, you can look at our web site: http://www.algonet.se/~farhad/dni/index.htm or send an email to dni@glue.umd.edu ************************************************************* Issue 10 Friday Nov-Dec issue: December 27, 1996 ************************************************************* In this issue: - Adineh editor missing - Hanging in Tehran - Nehzate Azadi & Presidential Elections - Open Letter from PEN regarding Faraj Sarkuhi - Dissident Kurd and a Sunni leader in Baluchestan assasinated - Amnesty International on Islam Kordlor - Protest in Germany (Mykonos Trial) - MirSalim and Censorship - Demonstrations in Kermanshah - US considering punative action against IRI - Pentagon's contingency plan against IRI - Sarkuhi to his wife: "I want you to take good care of yourself and teh children" - Mehdi Parham captured by IRI - UN General Assebly condemns IRI for violation of Human Rights - Society of Combatant Clerics calls the intellectuals "internal enemies" - Ayatoolah Jannati and Internet - Sarkuhi's reappearance - Mehdi Parham's reappearance - PEN American Center News on Sarkuhi ************************************************************* Date: Tue, 12 Nov 1996 Subject: Adineh Editor missing Source: Reuter Iranian journalist Faraj Sarkuhi disappeared this week en route to Germany and was believed arrested by secret police, exiled Iranian authors here said Saturday. *************************************************************** 2 ***************************************************************** Date: Thu, 14 Nov 1996 Subject: Hanging in Tehran Source: UPI Gholamreza Vahidjou, who hijacked an Iranian domestic airliner in 1984, has been hanged in Iran's capital, the official Iranian news agency reported Tuesday. ***************************************************************** 3 **************************************************************** Date: Wed, 20 Nov 1996 Subject: Nehzat-e Azadi & Presidential Elections Source: Iran News Nov 20 issue: Dr. Ebrahim Yazdi said, "If we could not succeed in fielding our own candidate, we will support someone else." "We will take part in the elections as a political party and invite the people to have full turnout," Yazdi said."The time is not ripe for us to nominate our candidate now," he said. ******************************************************************* 4 ******************************************************************** Date: Thu, 21 Nov 1996 Subject: open letter from PEN OPEN LETTER FROM PEN TO PRESIDENT RAFSANJANI We write to express our grave alarm at the increasingly perilous climate facing writers in Iran, as tragically demonstrated by the recent fates of two of our esteemed colleagues, the writer and editor Farraj Sarkoohi and the writer and poet Ghaffar Hosseini. [...] Edward Albee, Gunter Grass, Eric Hobsbawm, Arthur Miller Edward Said, Susan Sontag ********************************************************************** 5 ******************************************************************** Date: Fri, 22 Nov 1996 Source: Iran Zamin agency Monday, November 18, Mr. Mohammad Nanva, a dissident Iranian Kurd and member of Khebat Organization of Iranian Kurdistan, was assassinated near Sulaymania, Iraq. Fifty days ago, another Khebat member, Mr. Ali Garmaii was killed near the Iraqi town of Halabja in Kurdistan. Sunni Leader Assassinated in Baluchistan Abdol-Aziz Kazemi-Vajd, professor of Zahedan University and one of the leaders of the Sunni religious minority, was abducted on November 12 in Zahedan (southeastern Iran) and killed. His bullet riddled body was found two days later 15 kms away from the city. ***************************************************************************** 6 ********************************************************************* EXTERNAL :Amnesty International 22 November 1996 IRAN Eslam Kordlor Amnesty International has just learned that the Supreme Court has confirmed the death sentence against Eslam Kordlor. The organization is extremely concerned that he may face imminent execution. ********************************************************************** 7 *********************************************************************** Date: Wed, 27 Nov 1996 17:27:26 EST Subject: Protest in Germany Source:VOA Several members of the German Parliament joined more than one-thousand Iranian protesters in Bonn today (wednesday), to demand the German government break diplomatic relations with iran. Protesters cite recent testimony at an ongoing trial in Berlin, as evidence of iranian involvement in terrorism. ************************************************************************* 8 ************************************************************************ Date: Thu, 28 Nov 1996 17:48:51 EST Subject: Germany Trial Source: VOA Defense lawyers have begun their final arguments in the trial of five men accused of the 1992 killing of four kurdish Iranian dissidents in Berlin. Lawyers involved in the three-year-old case say the introduction of new evidence could further delay a verdict. ************************************************************************* 9 *********************************************************************** Date: Thu, 5 Dec 1996 14:34:38 -0800 (PST) Subject: Riots hit western Iran city, police colonel killed Source: Reuter An Iranian police colonel was killed and several others may have died in the western city of Kermanshah this week in riots triggered by the death of a Sunni Muslim cleric, residents said Thursday. ************************************************************************* 10 ********************************************************************* Date: Wed, 11 Dec 1996 18:09:07 -0500 (EST) From: Iran Zamin, December 9 In an interview with reporters in the city of Tabriz, Mir Saleem, Iran's Minister of Guidance, said that: "The censorship committees are dutiful to complete the books' censorship and supervision prior to publication of the books," the daily Salaam reported. "While currently the censorship is conducted in a centralized fashion, but upon recruiting sufficient forces qualified in appraisal of various books, the authority can be given to other cities and cultural sources," Salaam quoted Mir Saleem as saying. He said that: "In our talks with all of our friends who are sensitive about these issues, it was decided for them to contact the Ministry [of Guidance] and obtain necessary information before they directly act." ******************************************************************* 11 ****************************************************************** Date: Thu, 12 Dec 1996 12:09:11 +0000 (GMT) Subject: U.S. considers punitive action against Iran -report Source: Reuter The United States is planning possible punitive action against Iran if it is proven to be behind a bomb attack that killed 19 U.S. airmen in Saudi Arabia, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday. The newspaper said U.S. law enforcement and Pentagon officials have tentatively concluded that Saudi Shiites were responsible for the June 20 attack on a military housing complex in Dhahran. But the Los Angeles Times said that the U.S. government lacked sufficient proof to support Saudi Arabia's contention that Shiites trained and armed by Iran carried out the truck bombing. ``A lot of people would like to bash Iran and the Saudi case fuels their desire to do it,'' a senior U.S. law enforcement official told the paper.``But any conclusion, not to mention any action, is very premature,'' he added. ******************************************************************* 12 *************************************************************** Date: Thu, 12 Dec 1996 09:44:38 -0800 (PST Source: UPI The White House says that any possible retaliation against Iran for the June bombing in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 Americans will await the outcome of an investigation currently under way. Press secretary Mike McCurry says contingency planning at the Pentagon is under way, as is always the case, but that any plan at this point would be ``hypothetical'' pending conclusion of the investigation and President Clinton's decision. Clinton has vowed the United States would respond accordingly to such a ``grievous act.'' McCurry says the investigation will conclude ``in due course.'' He spoke amid reports the United States was planning possible retaliation against Iran, including strikes on military targets. But administration officials caution the United States is ``a long way'' from being convinced Iran knew about the bombing in advance or ordered it. ********************************************************************** 13 ********************************************************************* Source: Associated Press Friday, December 13, 1996 8:32 pm EST ``Everything points to him having been imprisoned by the Iranian secret service,'' Sarkuhi's wife, Farideh Zerbajad, told reporters. She presented a letter asking Chancellor Helmut Kohl to use his contacts with Iran to press for information about her husband's fate. ``I hope the government exhausts all its possibilities to rescue my husband,'' she said. Sarkuhi, a magazine editor and critic of the Iranian government, was among six Iranian writers arrested during a raid in July at the Tehran apartment of the German cultural attache, who had invited them for dinner. ``They (the six) were interrogated, threatened and insulted'' and released the following day, Sarkuhi's wife said. In a letter to Zerbajad in September, Sarkuhi said he suspected he would be used by the Tehran government to influence a trial in Berlin. He told his wife that Iranian authorities had accused him of spying for Germany but he said in the letter that ``this is a lie. The whole thing has to do with the Mykonos trial.'' Sarkuhi ended his letter with the words: ``I may become a victim. If that happens, I want you take good care of yourself and the children.'' **************************************************************** 14 **************************************************************** Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 16:19:27 -0800 (PST) Subject: Another Iranian writer has been captured by IRI Source: Radio Pezhvak, Sweden Acording to Radio Pejvak in Sweden (Sat. Dec. 14) another Iranian Writer, Dr. Mehdi Parham has been captured by IRI's officials. He was in jail in 1360 (1982) for 1-2 years and according to Ne'mate Mirzazade member of "Kanoone nevisandegane dar tabe'id" is a "Azadixah, ArmAn xah va kam shenas". *********************************************************************** 15 ************************************************************************* Date: Tue, 17 Dec 1996 20:12:46 EST Source: VOA 12/13/96 Once again, The united Nations General Assembly has denounced HR violations in Iran. A resolution (adopted Thursday) mentions executions, torture and restrictions on the freedom of expression, thought and opinion in Iran. The general assembly resolution speaks of discrimination against Iranian womne and religious minorities and the harrassment and persecution of writers and members of the press. Seventy nine countries voted in favor of the resolution, while 30 voted against. Fifty nine countries abstained. *************************************************************************** 16 ************************************************************************* Date: Thu, 19 Dec 1996 12:42:04 -0500 (EST) Source: Radio Israel, December 16 The Society of Combatant Clerics published a declaration today, attacking Iran's intellectuals and free-thinkers, calling them people "who sharpen the enemy's sword against the Islamic regime." The Society of Combatant Clerics called Iranian intellectuals "internal enemies" who are collaborating with the new ploys of the "Global Arrogance". **************************************************************************** 17 ************************************************************************* Date: Fri, 20 Dec 1996 09:21:48 -0800 (PST) Subject: Ayatoolah Jannati and Internet Source: Reuter A senior Iranian cleric called on Friday for restricting Internet access because the global computer network fed ``poison'' to the masses. ``Internet should be restricted to research and scientific centres,'' Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati said in a sermon to Moslem worshippers at Tehran University. ``Beyond that, it is poison fed to people,'' he said in a speech broadcast live on Tehran radio. Jannati criticised ``unalert and uncalculating'' officials who allowed unrestricted access to the information super highway. He said the Internet ``poisoned thought, morale and attitude'' and ``was much worse than food poisoning since 100 doctors put together could not cure such a case in a short time.'' ******************************************************************** 18 ******************************************************************** Source: DNI December 23, 1996 Faraj Sarkuhi appeared at MehAbad Airport after dispapearing over a month. He alleged that he was in Germany for two weeks (denied by German officials) and then on to Holland and Turkmanestan. He said that he left his passport in Turkmanestan (can not travel). He said that he wanted to divource his wife which he later denied in an interview with radio France. DNI analysts view this as a major victory for HR/Democracy groups. 500 people had signed a letter to Boutros Ghali inquiring about Faraj Sarkuhi. 55 people signed the same letter in Internet. 11 democratic groups had staged demonstrations in 11 cities on December 7, 1996 in support of Sarkuhi. *************************************************************************** 19 *************************************************************************** December 26, 1996 Source: DNI Dr. Mehdi Parham has reappeared in Tehran. He has called Ettela'at and said that he was never arrested. There is still no news on TahmasbPour Shahrak. ******************************************************************* 20 ******************************************************************* Date: Fri, 27 Dec 1996 Subject: PEN American Center News On Sarkuhi P E N AMERICAN CENTER N E W S --Disappeared Iranian author Faraj Sarkuhi reappears in Tehran --PEN calls on Iranian government to respect Sarkuhi's right to leave Iran, and calls for the safety of all Iranian writers, and for the respect of their right to unimpeded freedom of travel to and from Iran. December 24, 1996--PEN American Center today learned that Faraj Sarkuhi, the Iranian author who disappeared on November 3, reappeared on December 20. He is now at his mother's home, but he is not allowed to leave Iran. Faraj Sarkuhi was signatory to the "1994 Declaration of 134 Iranian Writers," a document that circulated around the globe and called for an end to all censorship of literary endeavor in Iran. In August, 1996, Sarkuhi attended a dinner at the home of the cultural attache of the German embassy in Iran, and was among six writers who were arrested and interrogated at the meeting. On September 8, 1996, Sarkuhi was also among twelve writers briefly arrested while meeting to sign on to a newly drawn-up mandate for a writer' association. Then, on November 3, Sarkuhi disappeared while attempting to leave Iran to visit relatives in Germany. On November 12, the official press insisted that he had indeed left the country--in the face of the undeniable fact that he never arrived in Germany. PEN has since learned that prior to his attempted trip, Sarkuhi was offered help obtaining an exit visa from an Iranian security agent in charge of "intellectuals" in Iran, known to PEN only as Mr. Hashemi, who had been Sarkuhi's interrogator on September 12. Mr. Hashemi told Sarkuhi to but him a ticket and notify him of the date of departure, and to meet him at four a.m.. on the departure date so that Hashemi could personally escort Sarkuhi through airport security. Sarkuhi met Hashemi at the money exchange booth of the Tehran airport at the specified time, but never arrived in Germany. In a letter PEN has obtained written to his wife before his disappearance but after his most recent interrogations, Sarkuhi stated, "I have no knowledge of the charged (that will be made) against (myself and other Iranian writers), but whatever they will be, and whatever may happen, I want you to know that I have been an innocent victim... In case...I am made a victim... I expect you to provide for the children and take good care of yourself. I give my love to you and the children..." PEN is pleased to discover that Faraj Sarkuhi is alive in Tehran, and calls on the government of Iran to respect his right to leave Iran if he wishes. PEN furthermore calls on the government of Iran to ensure the safety of all other writers in Iran, and to respect their right to unimpeded freedom of travel to and from Iran. For further information, contact PEN at (212) 334-1600. Before January 2, representatives can be reached at these numbers: December 24- December 27: (617) 876-6143 December 28- January 1 : (212) 598-9147 ******************************************************************* Democracy Network of Iran http://www.algonet.se/~farhad/dni/index.htm dni@glue.umd.edu to subscribe, send a message to majordomo@glue.umd.edu, include in the body: subscribe spi ********************************************************************