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Iran: Release Detained HIV/AIDS Experts
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Jul 21st, 2008 - 19:16:24 |
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HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
Iran: Release Detained HIV/AIDS Experts
Arrested Physicians Have Not Been Charged, Whereabouts Unknown
(New York, July 21, 2008) Iranian authorities should immediately
release or charge two physicians who are internationally recognized
for their work on HIV/AIDS, Human Rights Watch said today. The men,
Arash and Kamyar Alaei, who are brothers, were detained without charge
by Iranian security forces in late June, and their whereabouts remain
unknown.
On June 22, security forces detained Arash Alaei, holding him
overnight at an unknown location. The following morning, they
accompanied him to his home, where they arrested Kamyar Alaei and
seized material and documents belonging to the brothers. The
authorities have not yet announced why the brothers were detained or
whether or not they intend to bring any charges against them.
Moreover, they have refused to disclose information about where the
Alaei brothers are being held and have not provided them access to
counsel.
"Iran's HIV/AIDS program has been acclaimed internationally for
seriously addressing the AIDS epidemic," said Joe Amon, HIV/AIDS
program director at Human Rights Watch. "To fight AIDS effectively,
the government has realized that it must engage in global efforts to
combat the disease, work with civil society, and confront taboo
issues, including sex and drugs. The detention without charges of the
Alaei brothers has a chilling effect on all of those efforts."
Arash and Kamyar are well known in Iran and internationally for their
contributions to HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programs. For more
than 20 years, the Alaei brothers have been active in addressing
problems relating to drug use, with a focus on the spread of HIV/AIDS,
and have played a key role in putting these issues on the national
health care agenda. They have worked closely with government and
religious leaders to ensure support for education campaigns on HIV
transmission, including those targeting youth, and for HIV and harm
reduction programs in prisons. They have also worked to share their
expertise with neighboring countries by holding training workshops for
Afghan and Tajik health care professionals.
Iran is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights, and as such has strict legal obligations not to carry out
arbitrary arrests or detention and to afford due process rights
including the prompt provision of reasons for an arrest and any
charges which will be brought, access to counsel, and the right to be
brought before a judicial officer to determine the legality of the
detention to anyone detained.
"The Iranian authorities have been holding the Alaei brothers for over
three weeks now," said Amon. "Unless they produce some evidence or
charges, and bring them before an independent tribunal so they an
enjoy due process, they should release the men immediately."
Arash and Kamyar Alaei have traveled to various countries, including
the United States, to participate in professional events and to share
their experiences regarding HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programs
in Iran. Kamyar Alaei is currently a doctoral candidate at the SUNY
Albany School of Public Health. Neither of the men is known to have
any involvement in political activities.
"In two weeks, more than 25,000 people from around the world will
gather in Mexico for an international AIDS conference, and Arash is
supposed to make a presentation on Iran's innovative HIV program,"
said Amon. "The focus of the meeting will be on where we are making
progress in the fight against AIDS and where we are failing. Iran
cannot be considered to be making progress if it is blatantly
violating the human rights of two if its most valuable activists in
this area."
Related Material
More of Human Rights Watch's work on Iran
Country Page, August 3, 2006
More of Human Rights Watch's work on HIV/AIDS and human rights
Thematic Page
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