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Iran uses AIDS doctors’ imprisonment as first test of obama administration
Iran Uses ADS Doctors' In' risonncnt as First Test of Obama Adntñstration ltp://physiciansforhumanrights.org/library/news-2009- 1-20 ,hfll
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PHR CAMPAIGNS
January 20, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Iran Uses AIDS Doctors' Imprisonment as First Test of
Obama Administration
Media Contacts:
Jonathan Hutson
jhutson [ at] phrusa [ dot] org
Tel: (617) 301-4210
Cell: (857) 919-5130
(Cambridge, Mass.) - In the wake of
President Barack Obama's
inauguration, Iran has signaLed that
the espionage triaL of two worLd-
renowned AIDS doctors is a
beLLwether for the future of US-Iranian reLations.
The Washington Post reported on Jan. 19 that an unnamed Iranian
senior counter-inteLLigence officiaL warned the new Obama
administration that the case of Dr. Kamiar ALaei and Dr. Arash ALaei
exempLifies a “fuLL fLedged inteLLigence war” between Iran and the US.
“If Kamiar and Arash are engaged in any war, it's the battLe against
HIV/AIDS,” said Sarah KaLLoch, Director of Outreach for Physicians for
Human Rights (PHR). “They traveLed the worLd to share the Iranian
modeL of HIV prevention, and to Learn from other countries about
innovations in infectious disease treatment. Treating AIDS is not a
crime—it is good medicine.”
PHR has Learned that despite Leaks from Iranian officiaLs over the
weekend to the media, the doctors onLy Learned on Jan. 20 that they
had been convicted. Kamiar and Arash are sentenced to terms of
three and six years respectiveLy. They wiLL serve their sentences in
Tehran's notorious Evin Prison.
“The doctors' triaL did not meet standards of due process under
internationaL human rights Law or even under the Iranian penaL code,”
said Jonathan Hutson, JD, Chief Communications Officer at PHR. “The
brothers stiLL have not been fuLLy informed of aLL charges against them.
Their attorney did not have the opportunity to examine the accuracy
or reLevance of certain undiscLosed evidence and thus had no
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Iran Uses ADS Doctors' In ' risonncnt as First Test of Obama Adntñstration ltp://physiciansforhumanrights.org/library/news-2009- 1-20hfll
opportunity to rebut the case. PHR is concerned that the doctors may
have been subjected to coercion during their intensive, six-month
interrogation.”
Their attorney plans to fiLe an appeaL; he has 20 days to do so. The
brothers had been charged with communicating with an enemy
government - charges which PHR has LabeLed iLLegitimate and
politicaLLy motivated - as weLL as with secret charges which have not
yet been made pubLic.
Over the past two weeks, more than 2,000 peopLe around the worLd
contacted the Iranian Mission to the United Nations demanding the
Ataeis' reLease. In addition, more than 3,100 heaLth professionaLs from
85 countries have signed an onLine petition demanding their reLease,
which can be viewed at lranFreeTheDocs.org . Leading physicians and
pubLic heaLth speciaLists and numerous medical and scientific
organizations have pubLicLy caLLed for the brothers' reLease. These
incLude HIV/AIDS and heaLth experts Luminaries such as GLobaL Fund
Executive Director Professor Michet Kazatchkine; Partners in HeaLth
co-founder Dr. PauL Farmer; 2008 MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant
recipient Wafaa EL-Sadr, MD, MPH; Hossam E. FadeL, MD, of the IsLamic
MedicaL Association of North America; 1993 NobeL Laureate in
Medicine Sir Richard Roberts PhD, FRS; and Ugandan AIDS pioneer Dr.
Peter Mugyenyi.
“P HR and the thousands of medicaL and public heaLth practitioners
from across the gLobe who support Kamiar and Arash are devastated,
dismayed and disgusted by these sentences,” said KaLLoch.
“Persecuting these doctors for their exempLary pubLic heaLth outreach
wiLL put a chiLLing effect on medicaL research, science, and public
heaLth in Iran, which wiLL uLtimateLy harm the Iranian peopLe.”
Dr. Kamiar ALaei is a doctoraL candidate at the SUNY ALbany SchooL of
PubLic Health in ALbany, New York and was expected to resume his
studies there Last faLL. I n 2007, he received a Master's of Science
degree in Population and International HeaLth from the Harvard
School of PubLic HeaLth in Boston. Dr. Arash Alaei is the former
director of the InternationaL Education and Research Cooperation of
the Iranian National Research Institute of TubercuLosis and Lung
Disease.
Since 1998, the Drs. ALaei have been carrying out HIV/AIDS treatment
and prevention programs, particuLarLy focused on harm reduction for
injecting drug users. In addition to their work in Iran, the ALaei
brothers have heLd training courses for Afghan and Tajik medical
workers and have worked to encourage regionaL cooperation among 12
MiddLe Eastern and CentraL Asian countries. Their efforts expanded
the expertise of doctors in the region, advanced the progress of
medicaL science, and earned Iran recognition as a modeL of best
practice by the World HeaLth Organization.
Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) mobilizes the health professions to
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advance the health and dignity of all people by protecting human
rights. As a founding member of the International Campaign to Ban
Landmines, PHR shared the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize.
Date posted: January 20, 2009
Last updated: June 22, 2009
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