On World ADS Day, PHR Urges Iran To Free Doctors Arash and ICamiar... http://pliysiciansforhun'Enrights.org/library/news-12-Ol-2008.ltT ll
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December 1, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
On World AIDS Day, PHR Urges Iran To Free Doctors
Arash and KamiarAlaei
Media Contacts:
Jonathan Hutson
jhutson [ at] phrusa [ dot] org
Cell: 857-919-5130
On December 1, 2008—the 20th
anniversary of WorLd AIDS
Day—Physicians for Human Rights
and internationaL medicaL Leaders
caLL on the Iranian government (pdf)
to reLease detained Iranian HIV/AIDS Leaders Drs. Arash and Kamiar
ALaei.
Some of the worLd's most accompLished HIV/AIDS and heaLth experts
—incLuding Luminaries such as GLobaL Fund Executive Director
Professor MicheL 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, have signed a Letter (pdf) urging the ALaei brothers' reLease:
“We are writing out of deep concern for the weLL-being of two
internationaLLy respected Iranian physicians, Drs. Arash ALaei and
Kamiar ALaei, who have been detained without charge foLLowing their
arrest by Iranian authorities in June. The ALaei doctors work on
HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment has saved Lives and has earned
Iran internationaL recognition as a modeL of best-practice.
“As internationaL medicaL Leaders and poLicy makers, we appeaL to
your government to reLease these doctors immediateLy. As the gLobe
ceLebrates WorLd AIDS Day, it is cruciaL that these two pioneers from
the fieLd of HIV/AIDS prevention be free to practice Life saving
medicine in Iran.”
Drs. Kamiar ALaei and Arash ALaei—two brothers known throughout the
worLd for their work on HIV/AIDS—were detained without charge by
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03/08 2010 13:39
On World ADS Day, PHR Urges Iran To Free Doctors Arash and ICamiar , http://pliysiciansforhunEnrigl lsorg/library/news-12-Ol-2008ltT ll
Iranian security forces in Late June 2008. They are being heLd in
Tehrans Evin Prison. To date, no formaL charges have been fiLed.
News reports have quoted deputy Tehran prosecutor Hassan Haddad as
saying the two used conferences on AIDS to recruit individuaLs to
toppLe Irans government through a veLvet revoLution.
Said PHR CEO A. Frank Donaghue, Sharing knowLedge across borders
for better treatment of AIDS is not a crime, it is good medicine. The
Iranian government must reLease the ALaeis so they can continue their
Life-saving pubLic heaLth work. ReLeasing the ALaeis on WorLd AIDS Day
wouLd send an important message to the worLd that Iran cares about
the fight against AIDS and the heaLth and weLL-being of its 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 this faLL. In 2007, he received Master of Science 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.
Since its founding in 1986, PHRs CoLLeagues at Risk Program has
defended the rights of our coLLeagues whose rights are threatened due
to their medicaL, humanitarian and human rights work.
Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) mobilizes the health professions to
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: December 1, 2008
Last updated: June 22, 2009
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