Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development

          
          UNITED NATIONS 
          General Assembly 

          Distr. GENERAL

          A/HRC/1 0/NGO/1 20
          6 March 2009
          ENGLISH ONLY
          HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL
          Tenth session
          Agenda item 3
          PROMOTION AND PROTECTION OF ALL HUMAN RIGHTS, CIVIL, POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS, INCLUDING THE RIGHT TO DEVELOPMENT

          
          
          Written statement* submitted by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR),
          a non-governmental organization in special consultative status
          The Secretary-General has received the following written statement which is circulated in
          accordance with Economic and Social Council resolution 1996/31.
          [ 19 February 2009]
          * This written statement is issued, unedited, in the language(s) received from the submitting non-
          governmental organization(s).
          GE.09-l 2043
        

          
          A/HRC/l 0/NGO/120
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          The Arrest and Trial of Two Iranian Human Rights Defenders,
          Dr. Kamiar Alaei and Dr. Arash Alaei
          Physicians for Human Rights would like to address the situation of human rights in Iran by
          drawing attention to the case of two health and human rights defenders. Dr. Kamiar Alaei and
          Dr. Arash Alaei, two Iranian physicians known worldwide for their work on HIV/AIDS
          treatment and prevention, were arrested at their parents' home in Tehran on 22 June 2008 and
          have since been held in Tehran's Evin prison. The brothers were tried in December 2008 and
          convicted in January 2009, in a process that has been condemned by human rights groups as
          unfair, with illegitimate charges apparently aimed at preventing international exchange and
          communication between Iranians and the outside world.
          The brothers were held incommunicado for approximately two months before they were given
          access to a lawyer and family in late August 2008. They were indicted in late December 2008 on
          charges of communicating with an “enemy government”. According to Iranian news sources,
          Iranian officials have based these charges in part on the extensive travel Kamiar and Arash made
          to various public health conferences in the United States and around the globe. Physicians for
          Human Rights believes that treating AIDS is not a crime; rather, it is good medicine. The
          brothers traveled the world to share Iran's model of HIV prevention and treatment, not to recruit
          people to foment a “velvet revolution”, as alleged by the Iranian government.
          According to human rights groups, due process has been violated numerous times in this case. At
          the time of their indictment, the brothers had been detained two months longer than Iranian penal
          code allows. Articles 30-34 of the Code of Penal Procedure of the Islamic Republic of Iran
          allow for detentions, but require that the investigating judge issue such detention orders for one
          month at a time and for no longer than four months. In addition, the brothers were legally
          eligible for bail during those six months, but the judge did not hold a bail hearing or issue bail.
          On 31 December 2008, the Iranian prosecutor tried the brothers in Tehran's Revolutionary Court
          on these charges. He also informed the court of additional, secret, charges, which the brothers'
          attorney had no opportunity to refute because the prosecutor did not disclose either the charges
          or the evidence on which they are based.
          The doctors learned on 20 January 2009 that they had been convicted and sentenced to terms of
          three and six years respectively, to be served at Evin prison. Their lawyer has filed an appeal.
          According to their attorney, the brothers categorically deny the charges against them.
          Sources close to the trial have told Physicians for Human Rights 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. Given the isolation,
          months without charge and perftmnctory trial, and the interrogation techniques and duress known
          to have occurred in similar cases in Iran, PHR believes that any purported confession in the trial
          of the Alaei brothers must be viewed as tainted and unreliable.
          Through their harm-reduction work, the Alaei brothers have defended the right to health of
          people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWAs). Their AIDS work has expanded access to care and
          prevention for injecting-drug users, ensured health care for PLWAs in prisons in fran, educated
          health professionals and communities, and has helped combat stigma and human rights
        

          
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          violations against people living with AIDS. It is against this background of human rights
          defense that PHR believes they were arrested, and why they must be released.
          Request to the TIN Human Rights Council
          PHR commends the work of the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights
          Defenders, Ms. Margaret Sekaggya, and respectfully requests that she liaise with the
          Government of Iran with a view to resolving this case of two health and human rights defenders.
          PHR also requests the Chairman of the Human Rights Council to use his good offices to ensure
          the protection of these two Iranian physicians.
          About Dr. Kamiar Alaei and Dr. Arash Alaei
          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 in Fall 2008. In 2007, he received a
          Master 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. Alaci have been carrying out HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention programs in Iran,
          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 the arrest of the two doctors, thousands of health professionals in more than 85 countries
          have called on the Iranian government to release the brothers, and leading medical and public
          health experts and associations have issued appeals for their release. For more information on
          this case, see www.iranfreethedocs.org.