09/30/2016

Gabriel should advocate for the release of political prisoners

Sigmar Gabriel, German Minister of Economics Affairs (SPD) visits Iran (October 02) (Press Release)

“Our human rights organization would like to take Mr. Gabriel by his word, so we appeal to him to advocate for the release of the political prisoners and prisoners of conscience in Iran,” said Sido. Photo: SPD Schleswig-Holsteinvia Flickr

The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) has appealed to Sigmar Gabriel, German Minister of Economic Affairs (SPD) to advocate for the release of political prisoners in Iran. Primarily, Gabriel – who will be visiting the country together with a delegation of entrepreneurs from Sunday onwards – should demand the release of seven imprisoned members of the informal leadership of the religious community of the Baha'is and for the nonviolent Kurdish human rights activist Mohammad Sadiq Kabudvand.

“In Iranian prisons, these prisoners of conscience are living in unspeakable conditions. The seven Baha’is were sentenced to 20 years imprisonment merely because of their religious affiliation,” said Kamal Sido, the STP’s Middle East consultant, in Göttingen on Friday. “We sent the Minister Gabriel a written appeal, asking him to use any opportunity to demand the release of Mahvash Sabet, Fariba Kamalabadi, Mr. Khanjani, Afif Naeimi, Saeid Rezaie, Behrouz Tavakkoli and Vahid Tizfahm.” The two women and five men have been imprisoned since May 14, 2008. Based on the new Islamic Penal Code, their sentence was reduced to 10 years imprisonment in December 2015.

In an interview for SPIEGEL ONLINE, which was published prior to the visit, Gabriel emphasized: “We must enter a dialogue about economic relations – but also about moral questions, about human rights, disarmament, and topics like that. We have to talk about what unites us, but also about what divides us.”

“Our human rights organization would like to take Mr. Gabriel by his word, so we appeal to him to advocate for the release of the political prisoners and prisoners of conscience in Iran,” said Sido.

The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) and other human rights organizations are accusing the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran of an increasing number of death sentences and harsh prison sentences against members of the opposition, as a means to create a climate of fear in the country. Every Iranian citizen – Persian, Kurd, Ahwazi, Baloch, Turkmen or Christian – is to become aware of the power of the regime in Tehran. The approximately 300,000 Baha’is, the largest non-Muslim minority in Iran, are affected as well. In the Islamic Republic, they are virtually without rights.

Hundreds of executions take place in Iran every year. In 2015, a total number of 977 people were sentenced to death, and there are many reports about cruel torture in prisons and police stations.


Header photo: SPD Schleswig-Holstein via Flickr