On the occasion of the anniversary of the 12 June 2009 presidential elections, Fédération Internationale des Ligues des Droits de l’Homme and Reporters Sans Frontières launch a petition urging the Iranian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all prisoners of conscience. Chairwoman Hautala is among those who have signed the petition.[:]

PETITION:

Several hundred prisoners of conscience are detained in Iranian jails. Some of them have been in prison for several years, many others were arrested more recently, after the popular demonstrations following the 12 June 2009 elections, which involved massive fraud. They are all in prison because of their opinions – they denounce human rights violations perpetrated in their country; they mobilize against gender-based discrimination; they defend the rights of ethnic and religious minorities; they do not share the regime’s interpretation of Islam; they claim their right to vote…

By maintaining these people in detention, by subjecting them to torture, by coercing them to confess so-called « crimes », by condemning them  after blatantly unfair trials, the Iranian authorities seriously violate their international human rights commitments, and they are accountable for these acts.

We therefore call upon the Iranian authorities to liberate immediately and unconditionally all prisoners of conscience detained in Iran.