With hopes for the expansion of peace and justice worldwide

Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs (Vahed) Bus Drivers

July 20, 2010

Read also ITF: Saeed Torabian released, now for the others

The ITF has invited imprisoned Iranian bus workers’ leader Mansour Osanloo to the federation’s congress in Mexico, in the wake of a statement by the Iranian government that he would be released.

ITF general secretary David Cockroft last week sent Osanloo the special invitation to attend the congress in Mexico City from 5-12 August; it was addressed to Rajaie-Shahr prison in Karaj, where Osanloo is currently being held for his trade union activities.

In the letter Cockroft states: “We are aware that the Iranian government recently communicated to the International Labour Organization its intention to release you from prison in the near future. We cannot be sure that they will keep their word, in the light of previous experiences, but if there is any possibility that you will be free and able to travel internationally, I know that the entire ITF family will be ready to give you a very warm welcome in Mexico City.”

He continued: “So although the syndicate, as an ITF affiliate, will already have received a formal invitation to attend the congress, I would like to extend to you my personal invitation to participate in our 42nd congress as an honoured guest.”

The ITF and the global trade union movement have long been campaigning for the release of Osanloo and of all other trade unionists detained by the Iranian authorities; several unions, including the UK union Unite, have given Osanloo and Ebrahim Madadi, the union’s vice-president, honorary membership.

Source: http://www.itfglobal.org/news-online/index.cfm/newsdetail/4710

In the meantime, on 9 of Tir, 1389 (Wed. 30 June 2010), Mr. Mansour Osanloo was charged with new crimes and transferred to Branch 6 of the Karaj Judiciary. In addition, an individual representing himself as a security agent has been telephoning Mr. Reza Shahabi’s wife and stating that she needs to report to a particular branch of the Security agency in order to answer questions that could potentially enable agents to release (!) Mr. Shahabi.  Another member of the Vahed Syndicate has also been contacted and summoned in a similar manner.

The Syndicate of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs (Vahed) Bus Drivers expresses grave concern for the physical condition of Mr. Torabian, and warns against efforts to pad his record and Mr. Torabian’s record with new false charges.  In addition, the Syndicate also warns against the opening of a new case or filing new charges against Mansour Osanloo, and vehemently condemns any extension of prison terms and increased pressure upon the members of the Syndicate’s Board of Directors and their family members.
The Syndicate further demands the immediate and unconditional release of Messrs. Torabian, Shahabi, Madadi, and Osanloo, and other imprisoned workers.

With hopes of the expansion of peace and justice throughout the world,
The Syndicate of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs (Vahed) Bus Drivers
14 Tir 1389 (5 July 2010)

Labour organisations have today welcomed an Iranian government promise to release Tehran bus unionist Mansour Osanloo – but pointed to the fact that 52 other innocent trade unionists should also be freed.

The ITF and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) issued a statement after it was revealed that the Iranian government had informed the International Labour Organization (ILO) that Osanloo was due for release. The assurance is contained in the ILO’s report on complaints made against the country by the ITF and the ITUC. It is understood from the report that the Iranian labour and social affairs minister had called for Osanloo to be pardoned and that the head of the judiciary had accepted the minister’s request. The ILO committee also anticipates that these developments will lead to Osanloo’s imminent release.

The ITF and ITUC were quick to welcome the news, but reminded the Iranian president that their complaints against Iran’s abuses against trade unionists would not be silenced by the long overdue release of one man. The general secretaries of the two organisations, David Cockroft and Sharan Burrow wrote to the Iranian president, stating:

“We welcome both the news of this commitment and the commitment itself. In the light of this promise, made by your officials to the ILO, we therefore request your immediate and unconditional intervention on this matter. The promised release of Mansour Osanloo will be an important first step by your government towards rebuilding the confidence of the international trade union community. We must, however, also strongly remind you of the need to address the other cases of those unjustly punished for undertaking legal trade union activities.”

The ITF also highlighted the fact that while it welcomed Osanloo’s release, it rejected the description of this as a “pardon” because he had committed no crime. In addition, the federation again condemned the continued imprisonment of other Tehran bus unionists, Ebrahim Madadi, Reza Shahbi and Saeed Torabian.

“To obtain their basic rights, the Iranian workers have no other recourse but to seek for international working class solidarity” – Alex Gordon, President, National Union of Rail Maritime and Transport Workers, UK at the annual general meeting, 27 – 30 July 2010, Aberdeen.

Copyright - Amnesty

Delegates at ITUC Congress in Vancouver take part in Amnesty Canada and Amnesty UK action in defense of jailed Iranian trade unionists, 25 June 2010.

Pressure on activists belonging to the Iranian Teachers’ Trade Associations (ITTA), who are affiliated to EI’s member organisation, the Coordinating Council of ITTAs, has intensified over recent months and the group has been prevented from holding meetings.

EI has written to the Iranian authorities calling on the government to stop state pressure on trade unions and to release detained teacher activists immediately, as well as to formally acknowledge the legitimacy of the Coordinating Council of ITTAs.

EI has also raised particular concern about the death penalty that has been pronounced against Abdolreza Ghanbari, and the continuing detention of several other teacher unionists.

Abdolreza Ghanbari, a school teacher in Pakdasht Varamin and online professor of Payam e Nour University, was arrested at his home in Pakdasht on 4 January, 2010. He was charged with Moharebeh (enmity towards God) for receiving unsolicited emails from an armed opposition group to which he does not belong. In detention at the notorious Evin Prison, Ghanbari has been interrogated for 25 days in a row under duress. In 2007, Abdolreza was detained for 120 days and sentenced to a six-month suspension from teaching and exiled from Sari to Pakdasht. His recent death sentence has been confirmed by Tehran’s Appeal Court, Branch 36.

Esmael Abdi, a school teacher member of the Iranian Teachers’ Association of Tehran, was arrested on 19 May, 2010. Four officials from the Ministry of Intelligence searched his house and took his computer, notebook and some literature. They cut the wire of his landline phone and told Esmael’s partner to keep his detention a secret. He remains in detention in an unknown location.
According to his relatives, his arrest is the consequence of an interview he gave to foreign media on National Teachers’ Day.

Rasoul Bodaghi is another member of the Iranian Teachers’ Trade Association of Tehran who is in detention. He was transferred from the Evin Prison to Rajaieshahr Prison in Karaj on 10 May, 2010, and was reportedly beaten very severely by two prison officers on 26 May, 2010. This experience has provoked a dramatic deterioration in his health, and there is still no report of when his trial might take place.

Hashem Khastar is a retired teacher suffering from kidney disease, who has already served more than a third of his prison sentence, but he is still not allowed to go on leave and visit his family. This alone is against the governing rules for prisoners in Iran.

EI and its member organisations are also outraged at the way in which the Iranian judiciary managed the case of the late Iranian teacher unionist, Farzad Kamangar, who was summarily executed on May 9, 2010, without a fair trial and before the Supreme Court had even begun to review his case. Farzad’s execution also took place without his family or lawyer being informed. EI continues to demand that Farzad’s body is returned to his family and that an independent investigation is carried out into the procedural irregularities and allegations of torture that were inflicted upon Farzad during his detention. [2010-06-14] 17:50:07

Source: http://www.ei-ie.org/en/news/show.php?id=1279&theme=rights&country=iran

Friends, we are extremely distressed that no representative of the Iranian labour movement is present among you to demonstrate the solidarity of Iranian workers with your General Assembly, and to inform you of the day-to-day issues of today*s Iranian labour movement.

Nevertheless, know that despite the distance between us, we see ourselves by your side and wish for a most productive and victorious week for you and for the global labour movement.

Comrades and colleagues, for nearly a decade now, you have come to our aid with your strong support, and have been intimately involved in our problems and struggles.  We nevertheless wish to inform you that the Iranian labour movement is enduring one of its darkest times ever.

Throughout its lifespan, the Iranian government has not only completely disregarded its commitments to international labour conventions and basic workers rights, but in light of the political situation in Iran during the past year, the government has paved the way for fiercely attacking even the most basic workers rights, and to strike against the few existing Iranian labor organizations with ever increasing intensity.

Our colleagues Mr. Saeed Torabian and Mr. Reza Shahabi were captured at home and at their workplace, in front of their families, in broad daylight and without presentation of any warrants, on completely fallacious charges.  It has been two weeks that their families and colleagues have absolutely no information about their fate or condition.

Also within the past two weeks, two other labor activists, Mr. Alireza Akhavan and Mr. Behnam Ibrahim, were captured and transported to an unknown location.  Messrs. Mansour Osanloo and Ibrahim Madadi have spent the last three years in prison because they organized a labour union.

Not only have they had no respite or liberty throughout these past three years, but they have also been denied medical attention while being detained in the most dangerous and deplorable prisons.

Members of the Haft Tapeh Sugarcane Factory Syndicate have not only been thrown in prison for labour related activity, but have also been fired from their jobs.  The execution of Mr. Farzad Kamangar, and the other baseless detainments, sentences of prison time and whip lashing for the very few Iranian labour union activists, has created extremely troublesome conditions for them, and for any potential basic labour union activities.  Not only educators themselves, but their relatives and loved ones have suffered as a result of these problems.  Many of them are in prison or on their way to prison.

Friends and colleagues, this year we witnessed in the ILO*s annual meeting that Iran*s government was not only not reproached more than previous years, but actually received a *bonus* by being removed from the ILO violators list.  We know very well that you make every possible effort at your disposal to see that the Iranian labour movement is not sacrificed to governmental political and economic turbulence.

We hereby recognize your current efforts in support of the Iranian labour movement with utmost gratitude, but respectfully request and expect that you continue your support with redoubled intensity and effort.  We wish for you to take greater steps towards driving back the horrendous conditions imposed upon Iranian workers.

To obtain their basic rights, workers have no other recourse but the expression of class solidarity.  More so than ever before, we reaffirm our reliance on international workers solidarity.  We hereby shake your hand in concordance, and send our warmest regards and our greatest solidarity to you.

Iran,

Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (Vahed)

Syndicate of Workers of Haft Tapeh Sugarcane Company

Union of Free Workers of Iran Committee for Re-Certification of the Mechanics and Steelworkers

Syndicate Association of Electrical and Steel Workers Kermanshah

Protest in Oslo - 12 June

On 11 June, national secretary of the ITF-affiliated Maritime Union of Australia Paddy Crumlin also wrote to Ahmadinejad, stating: “In Australia we have visited some of your maritime fleet trading as the ‘Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL Group)’.

“Our members along with the Australian trade union movement find it increasingly difficult to justify any level of cooperation with these ships or with trade to Iran in general.”

Unions have carried out protest actions in response to this latest attack on workers’ rights in Iran, among them a joint demonstration in Jakarta, Indonesia, by the seafarers’ and teachers’ unions as well as a rally in Oslo, Norway.

Read the full text: http://www.itfglobal.org/news-online/index.cfm/newsdetail/4619

Saeed Torabian and Reza Shahabi, leading members of a trade union which is not recognized by the authorities in Iran, have been arrested and are held at unknown locations. Their arrests may be connected to the anniversary of the disputed 2009 presidential election, which fell on 12 June. The two detained men are at risk of torture or other ill-treatment.

Saeed Torabian, the Public Relations Officer for the Board of the Union of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (Sherkat-e Vahed), was arrested at his home on 9 June, by security officials who also confiscated his computer and mobile phone. Reza Shahabi, the Treasurer of the Union, was arrested on 12 June. When he arrived at work he was summoned to the headquarters of the Bus Company, where he was arrested by security officials. They took him to his house, which they searched, and confiscated his computer.

Amnesty International believes that both men are very likely to be prisoners of conscience, held solely on account of their peaceful trade union activities and is concerned that they are held in conditions amounting to enforced disappearance, which facilitates the use of torture or other ill-treatment.

Iran is a State Party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 22 (1) of which states: “Everyone shall have the right to freedom of association with others, including the right to form and join trade unions for the protection of his interests,” and to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Article 8 of which guarantees the “right of everyone to form trade unions and join the trade union of his choice”.

PLEASE WRITE IMMEDIATELY in Persian, Arabic, English, French or your own language:

*Calling on the Iranian authorities to disclose the whereabouts of Saeed Torabian and Reza Shahabi immediately;

*Urging the authorities to release them if they are held solely for their peaceful trade union activities;

*Calling on the authorities to ensure that the two men are protected from torture or other ill-treatment while in custody, and are granted immediate access to their families, to lawyers of their choice, and to adequate medical care.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 26 JULY 2010 TO:

Head of the Judiciary

Ayatollah Sadeqh Larijani

Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh (Office of the Head of the Judiciary)

Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhouri

Tehran 1316814737

Islamic Republic of Iran

Email: Via website: http://www.dadiran.ir/tabid/75/Default.aspxFirst starred box: your given name; second starred box: your family name; third: your email address

Salutation: Your Excellency

Head of the Provincial Judiciary in Tehran

Ali Reza Avaei

Karimkhan Zand Avenue

Sana’i Avenue, Corner of Alley 17, No. 152

Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran

Email: avaei@Dadgostary-tehran.ir

Salutation: Dear Mr Avaei

And copies to:

Secretary General, High Council for Human Rights

Mohammad Javad Larijani

Howzeh Riassat-e Ghoveh Ghazaiyeh

Pasteur St, Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhuri

Tehran 1316814737

Islamic Republic of Iran

Fax: +98 21 3390 4986

Email: bia.judi@yahoo.com (In subject line: FAO Mohammad Javad Larijani

Also send copies to diplomatic representatives of Iran accredited to your country. Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date.

URGENT ACTION

IRANIAN TRADE UNIONISTS HELD INCOMMUNICADO

Additional Information

The Union (or Syndicate) of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (Sherkat-e Vahed) was banned after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Workers resumed the Union’s activities in 2004, although it is not legally recognized. On 22 December 2005, police arrested 12 of the Union’s leaders at their homes but quickly released four of them. Other members were arrested on 25 December 2005 after they went on strike to call for the release of their colleagues. Saeed Torabian was among those arrested, and spent one month in custody. Hundreds more were arrested during a further strike in January 2006 (see UA 08/06, MDE 13/002/2006, and UA 26/06, MDE 13/008/2006, and updates)

Two other members of the Union’s board, Mansour Ossanlu and Ebrahim Maddadi, the Head and Deputy Head of the Union respectively, are currently serving prison sentences for their peaceful trade union activities. Mansour Ossanlu is serving a five-year prison sentence and is currently held in poor conditions in Reja’i Shahr Prison, in Karaj near Tehran. Ebrahim Maddadi is held in Evin Prison, Tehran, serving a three-year prison term imposed in 2007. Both are prisoners of conscience.

Saeed Torabian and Reza Shahabi had been suspended from work, without pay, for about four years following the strikes in 2005. They were eventually reinstated after the Court of Administrative Justice investigated their case. This Court is empowered to investigate complaints against government employees.

Other trade unionists have been arrested or harassed recently, including members of local Teachers’ Trade Associations, particularly in the run-up to International Labour Day on 1 May and National Teachers’ day on 2 May 2010. Some of them were summoned by security officials, and some were detained for several hours, while the houses of others were searched, and some union meetings were broken up by the authorities.

The Iranian authorities refused permission for demonstrations to be held on the anniversary of the presidential election, and arrests of political activists, human rights defenders, students, trade unionists and others increased in the days and weeks before the anniversary. Some people defied a heavy security presence to demonstrate on the streets of Tehran. At least 91 people were arrested in connection with demonstrations, according to the Tehran Police Commander.

Protests at the disputed outcome of the 2009 election were violently repressed, with scores killed. Thousands were arrested, many of whom were tortured or otherwise ill-treated, often to obtain forced “confessions”. Hundreds have been tried unfairly, including in mass “show trials”, many of whom are serving long-prison terms, often as prisoners of conscience. Some have been sentenced to death, and two executed.

For further information please see, From Protest to Prison: Iran One Year after the Election, (Index MDE 13/062/2010), June 2010, http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/062/2010/en and Iran: Election Contested, Repression Compounded (Index MDE 13/123/2009), December 2009, http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/123/2009/en.

UA: 130/10 Index: MDE 13/063/2010 Issue Date: 14 June 2010

Source: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE13/063/2010/en/ed7c649f-ba4e-46e6-821b-aae9bc1d6921/mde130632010en.html