Physicians for Human Rights calls “confessions” in trial of Iranian AIDS doctors tainted and unreliable

          
          P} . Calls “Confessions” in Trial of Irardan ADS Doctors Tainted ar U.. http://pliysiciansforhunEnrights ,org/library/news-2009-Ol-21 ,ltT ll
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          PHR Library
          January 21, 2009
          FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
          PHR Calls “Confessions” in Trial of Iranian AIDS
          Doctors Tainted and Unreliable
          Media Contacts:
          Jonathan Hutson
          jhutson [ at] phrusa [ dot] org
          Tel: (617) 301-4210
          Cell: (857) 919-5130
          (Cambridge, Mass.) — Physicians for
          Human Rights is deepLy concerned
          that purported confessions that
          I I
          have been used by Iranian
          authorities to convict and sentence
          Dr. Kamiar ALaei and Dr. Arash ALaei may have been forcibLy
          extracted.
          Sources cLose to the triaL have toLd PHR that one of the brothers had
          agreed under duress to make a videotaped statement prepared by
          Iranian authorities, who had promised that if he read the statement,
          both brothers wouLd be set free.
          PHR CAMPAIGNS
          Said Jonathan Hutson, J.D., Chief Communications Officer for PHR,
          “Given the isoLation, months without charge and perfunctory triaL, and
          the interrogation techniques and duress known to exist in other cases
          Like this one in Iran, any purported confession in the triaL of the ALaei
          brothers must be viewed as tainted and unreLiabLe. The brothers have
          been heLd in Evin prison since Late June 2008.
          According to a press reLease issued today from the InternationaL
          Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, the mother of Arash and Kamiar
          ALaei recentLy broke her siLence in an interview with Iranian news
          media. The press reLease stated that the mother toLd Rooz OnLine that
          her sons had been heLd for 63 days in soLitary confinement and that
          she feared that they might be tortured to coerce faLse confessions on
          camera.
          The brothers have 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
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          P} . Calls “Confessions” in Trial of Irardan ADS Doctors Tainted aixt U,., http://pliysiciansforhun'Enrigl ls.org/library/news-2009-Ol-21.lt'1l
          yet been made pubLic. Kamiar and Arash have been sentenced to
          terms of three and six years respectiveLy. They wiLL serve their
          sentences in Evin prison. Their attorney pLans to fiLe an appeaL; he has
          20 days from January 20 to do so. According to their attorney, the
          brothers categoricaLLy deny the charges against them.
          “If due process means anything, it means the right to know the
          charges, hear the evidence, and face the accuser,” said Hutson. “The
          Ataei brothers' secret summary triaL was marked by vioLations of due
          process ruLes outLined in the Iranian constitution and penaL code, as
          weLL as those in internationaL human rights Law.”
          Leading physicians, 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 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.
          “PHR 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 Sarah KaLLoch, PHR's
          Director of Outreach. “You cannot combat infectious disease without
          working in a gLobaL network. Iranian scientists need to be free to share
          ideas and best practices with coLLeagues around the worLd without
          fear of persecution, or the heaLth of the Iranian peopLe wiLL suffer.”
          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: January 21, 2009
          Last updated: June 22, 2009
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