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Middle
East Economic Digest (MEED) - Editorial 24 May 1996
Human
Rights Watch is a nongovernmental organization established in 1978 to
monitor and promote the observance of internationally recognized human
rights in Africa,
the Americas,
Asia,
the Middle
East
and among the signatories of the Helsinki
accords. It is supported by contributions from private individuals
and foundations worldwide. It accepts no government funds,
directly or indirectly. Kenneth Roth is the executive director and
Robert L. Bernstein is the chair of the board.
485 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10017
Telephone: (212) 972-8400
Facsimile: (212) 972-0905
E-mail: hrwnyc@hrw.org
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July 22, 1997
His Excellency Hojatoleslam Ali Akbar
Hashemi-Rafsanjani President, Islamic
Republic of Iran Tehran, Iran
Your Excellency:
We are writing this open letter to protest continuing harassment
and assaults on the basic civil and politicalrights of prominent Iranian
scholar Dr. Abdol Karim Soroush. For the
past two years, Dr. Soroush, an internationally reknowned philosopher and
a leading proponent of religiousreform in
Iran,
has been the subject of physical attacks by Hezbollahi mobs, with the
apparent acquiescence of government authorities. Instead of coming
to his aid, government authorities themselves have threatened him,
censored his speech, and have now confiscated his passport.
In May 1995, Dr. Soroush was attacked
by Hezbollahi mobs as he gave a lecture, prompting more than one hundred
of his academic colleagues to sign an open letter in July 1995 calling on
Your Excellency to uphold the Iranian constitution by taking affirmative
steps to prevent such threats to the free exchange of ideas. As the
attacks continued in the following months, however, government security
personnel repeatedly refused to intervene to protect Dr. Soroush,
rendering it all but impossible for him to continue to teach or give
public lectures. Dr. Soroush subsequently received harassing phone
calls and threats from officials at the Ministry of Information who warned
him not to write or speak on matters pertaining to the government
orclergy. In May 1996, unable to pursue a livelihood and unprotected
from continuing mob attacks, Dr. Soroush left
Iran
fearing for his safety. In an open letter to Your Excellency, dated
May
9, 1996,
Dr. Soroush called on the government for protection of the right of
academics and students to engage in open intellectual discussion.
Shortly after returning to
Iran
in April 1997, Dr. Soroush, still unable to resume his teaching duties,
reportedly was dismissed from his remaining post at a research institute.
Although he has since been allowed on occasion to make public speeches,
such as a lecture in Tehran
in June of this year reportedly attended by over 3,000 people, his
passport has been confiscated by officials at the Ministry of
Information. As a result, Dr. Soroush has been prevented from
attending academic seminars to which he was invited in
Germany,
Malaysia,
and, most recently, England,
where the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies had invited him to
give a plenary address at a conference held July
6-9,1997.
In an open letter to Your
Excellency, dated July 6, 1997, Dr. Soroush recounts these unfortunate
events as well as a recent incident in which an official at the Ministry
of Information threatened that he would not be able to resume teaching and
could face imprisonment if he did not stop calling for systematic reform
of government in the Islamic Republic.
As academic leaders, scientists
and scholars dedicated to human rights, we deplore the continuing
arbitrary restrictions on Dr. Soroush's freedom to pursue his academic
work. These restrictions violate fundamental provisions of the the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ratified by Iran on
June 24, 1975, including the right to leave his country, guaranteed by
article 12, and the right to freedom of opinion and expression, guaranteed
by article 19. Violation of these freedoms has direct and
deleterious effects on scholarship and academic freedom. Members of the
academic community cannot fulfilltheir paramount role in fostering free
inquiry, rational discourse and open exchange of ideas where they must
live in fear that, if they express their views, they will be subjected to
intimidation and deprivation of basic rights.
We respectfully urge you to use your
good offices to ensure that all harassment of Dr. Soroush cease and that
his right to teach and right to travel freely be restored immediately.
Thank you for your
consideration of this important matter.
We look forward to your reply.
Sincerely,
Jonathan Fanton
Co-Chair, Human Rights Watch
Acting Executive Director Academic
Freedom Committee Human
Rights Watch/Middle East
cc: Hojatoleslam Muhammad Khatami,
President-elect
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