[The following appeal was issued April 23 by thirty-two political prisoners in Tabriz, Iran. The translation has been provided by the Committee for Artistic and Intellectual Freedom in Iran,* which is circulating the appeal internationally.]
To the Honorable Head of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights:
We, a group of political prisoners in Tabriz, respectfully request to inform you that we have been arrested by agents of SAVAK [the Iranian secret police] because of reading a leaflet, a book, or participating in university demonstrations.
We have been interrogated under physical and psychological torture. Based on dossiers prepared under these conditions, we were sentenced to long prison terms in secret military tribunals held in Tabriz and Tehran.
In violation of Article 131 of the Iranian General Penal Code, which explicitly condemns all acts of torture and violence against a defendant and considers as invalid all self-incriminating confessions, as well as those incriminating others, extracted under torture;
In violation of Article 72 of the Supplement to the Constitutional Law of Iran, which states that "all political disputes must be referred to civilian courts, unless otherwise indicated by law";
In violation of Article 76 of the Supplement to the Constitutional Law of Iran, which states that all trials must be public, unless their proceedings are considered to be disruptive or contrary to public morality;
And in violation of Article 39 of the Supplement to the Constitutional Law of Iran, which maintains that "in relation to political offenses, members of the press and jury must be present at a trial," our trials were held before secret military tribunals and in the absence of a jury.
In view of the recent statements by governmental authorities to the press and official international organizations, denying any knowledge of the use of torture in the past in Iran, we political prisoners of Tabriz request to be put on trial again, in open civilian courts and in the presence of a jury.
We have repeatedly conveyed to the authorities-both verbally and in written form-our demands for civil rights. They have responded that the fulfillment of our demands exceeds the limits of the authority vested in them. We therefore appeal to you to take prompt action to ensure the fulfillment of the following:
1. Delivery to us of all legal Iranian and foreign books and newspapers brought to us by our families.
2. Provision for us of personal shortwave radios and cassette players.
3. Permission to visit our families and relatives.
4. Increase in our food rations.
5. Reduction of the high prices at the prison commissary and management of the commissary as a cooperative.
6. Access to the prison doctor and the right to send patients to city hospitals whenever necessary.
7. Provision of adequate space for the prisoners.
8. Establishment of trade workshops for prisoners.
9. Improvement of the prison dental clinic and repair of its equipment.
Because there has been no response to the above requests, which were brought to the attention of all responsible authorities on April 15, 1978, we are declaring a strike on receiving visits, beginning April 23, 1978.
1. Behrooz Haghi Mani'e, life imprisonment
2. Ebrahim Dinkhah, life imprisonment
3. Mohammad Azadghar, life imprisonment
4. Sa'eed Kardan Haivaie, 15 years
5. Mashallah Saleemi, 7 years
6. Hematali Norouzpour, 10 years
7. Massoud Kamali, 5 years
8. Firooz Zalzadeh Milani, 10 years
9. Ebrahim Mazhabi, 5 years
10. Jafar Nadjafi, 10 years
11. Seyed Sadegh Seyed Nourani, 5 years
12. Majid Jamil Azar, 5 years
13. Gholam-Reza Partovi Nedjad, 5 years
14. Jebreal Zamani, 5 years
15. Akbar Sadeghi, 4 years
16. Ghafour Bahari, 5 years
17. Rahmat-Allah Elhami, 5 years
18. Hojat-Allah Elhami, 4 years
19. Ali Athari, 5 years
20. Bagher Zinali, 3 years
21. Rahim Saraj Rezaie, 3 years
22. Ahmad Lotfi-Nejad, 2 years
23. Majid Irvani, 4 years
24. Ahad Sorkhi, 7 years
25. Majid Jafari, 4 years
26. Ali Azadfar, 6 years
27. Mostafa Rezaie, 6 years
28. Mohamad-Taher Adami, 11 years
29. Ata Alizadeh, 4 years
30. Habib Kazemzadeh Mehdi, 4 years
31. Mohamad Bagher Farhadian, 2 years
32. Reza Piltan, 4 years
Notes
*853 Broadway, Suite 414, New York, New York 10003.