Endangered Scholars Worldwide

Abstract

Endangered Scholars Worldwide IRAN fa r z a d k a m a n g e r , an Iranian teacher, has been brutally and repeatedly tortured since his arrest in 2006 and is now facing the im m inent possibility of execution. He was sentenced to death by the Iranian Revolutionary Court on February 25, 2008, charged w ith “endangering national security” and “enm ity against God.” According to his lawyer, Khalil Bahramian, who was not perm it­ ted to defend him, Farzad’s trial took place in secret, lasted only m inutes, and failed to m eet Iranian and international standards of fairness. Education International, which has featured his case, reports that Kamanger worked for 12 years as a teacher in the city of Kamyaran, Iran, before he was arrested and placed in detention. He also sat on the governing board of both a local environm entalist group and the local branch of the teachers association. Kamanger wrote actively for the m onthly journal Royan, a publication of the Departm ent of Education of Kamyaran. He was also a w riter w ith a local hum an rights organization that documents hum an rights abuses in Kurdistan and other provinces. e s h a m o m e n i, a US-Iranian student, was recently held for three weeks in an Iranian prison and is currently being prevented from leaving the country. Momeni, a m aster’s student at California State University at Northridge, was working in Iran on a docum entary about Iranian fem inists w hen she was pulled over and arrested for supposed traffic offenses on October 15, 2008. She was held in Iran’s Evin prison w here she was charged w ith “underm ining national security and spreading propaganda against the republic” Information current, to the best ofour knowledge, as ofDecember 11, 2008. Endangered Scholars Worldwide v as a result of her interviews w ith individuals involved in the One Million Signatures campaign for wom en’s rights. Now released on bail, Momeni has been told that she can return to the United States prior to her trial, but the Los Angeles Times has reported that she has been prevented from doing so by authorities who have continued to withhold her passport. Appeals for both Kamanger and Momeni to: His ExcellencyAyatollah Sayed ‘ Ali Khamenei Leader ofthe Islamic Republic The Office ofthe Supreme Leader Islamic Republic Street— Shahid Keshvar Doust Street Tehran Islamic Republic ofIran E-mail: info@leader.ir Salutation: Your Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi Head ofthe Judiciary Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh/Office ofthe Head ofthe Judiciary Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave., South of Serah-eJomhouri Tehran Islamic Republic ofIran E-mail: info@dadgostaiy-tehran.ir (In the subject line write: FAOAyatollah Shahroudi) Salutation: Your Excellency Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie Minister ofIntelligence Ministry ofIntelligence Second Negarestan Street, Pasdaran Avenue Tehran Islamic Republic ofIran Salutation: Your Excellency RUSSIA c a r in e c l ém en t, a French sociologist working at the Academy of Sciences in Russia, was attacked in Moscow on November 13, 2008. According to an article in the Le Monde, her attackers stabbed her w ith a syringe while she was on her way to a public m eeting of activ­ ists. This was the third tim e that Clément had been the victim of anonymous acts of aggression in the preceding three weeks. It coin­ cides w ith a spate of attacks on Russian activists and trade union­ ists in recent m onths. The same day th at Clement was attacked, vi social research a l e x e i e t m a n o v , leader of the trade union at the Ford-Vsevolozhsk plant, and m ik h a il b e k e t o v , leader of the movement to defend the Khimki Forest, were also attacked by unnam ed assailants. Beketov was severely beaten and is currently in a coma. The coincidence of these attacks indicates the existence of an organized campaign of intim idation against social activists in Russia, which has combined w ith a spate of attacks on foreigners (one of Clém ent’s attackers reportedly...