Increasing Concern About Five Azari Prisoners of Conscience

Iran Human Rights, July 26: Iran Human Rights is strongly concerned about the health of the five Azarbaijani prisoners of conscience who have entered the third week of their hunger strike.

Five Azerbaijani civil rights activists Latif Hasani (43), Mahmud Fezli (45), Shahram Radmehr (38), Ayat Mehr-Ali-Beyli (Yürüş) (35) and Behbud Quluzade (48) started their hunger strike on July13 in protest to the 9 years sentence each of them were sentenced to in May 2013.

The prisoners belong to a group known as the Reawakening National Movement for Southern Azerbaijan (Yenigamoh) and were charges with "formation of an illegal group" and "propaganda against the establishment".

The prisoners started their hungers strike in the prison of Tabriz and earlier last week (probably on Tuesday July 23 ) were transferred to Tehran.

According to the website of the group Yenigamoh, after one day of being kept at the quarantine section of the Evin prison the prisoners were transferred to the Rajai Shahr Prison of Karaj where they are being kept now.

Based on information from their families the Yenigamoh website reported that the prisoners had been subjected to physical torture during their detention and under their transfer to Tehran.

Iran Human Rights (IHR) strongly condemns the inhumane treatment of the Azarbaijani prisoners of conscience and asks for their immediate release. Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the spokesperson of IHR, said: "These prisoners are sentenced to heavy prison terms solely for starting an NGO and for their civil activities. They have been subjected to unfair judicial process and their sentence is a violation of the UN convention of civil and political rights which Iran has ratifies. We ask for their immediate release" Amiry-Moghaddam added: " We are strongly concerned about the health of the prisoners after more than two weeks of hunger strike and urge the UN to send a team to visit the prisoners and investigate the reports of physical torture".