Roxana Saberi, a journalist formerly imprisoned in Iran, along with experts from the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International-USA, will discuss violations of human rights that have taken place in the context of Iran’s recent presidential election. Join us for the news conference at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, June 30.
New Wave of Detainees Joins Numerous Political Prisoners; Civil Society Activists and Journalists Under Unprecedented Pressure
 |
|
Roxana Saberi after being released from prison. She was charged with espionage in Iran. The BBC, ABC, Fox News and National Public Radio worked behind the scenes to secure her release. She was freed in May. |
The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International-USA, and the Overseas Press Club are pleased to invite you to a news conference to be held in New York at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, June 30, 2009. Roxana Saberi, a journalist formerly imprisoned in Iran, will also participate.
At least 200 human rights activists, intellectuals, civil society leaders, opposition political activists, students, and journalists have been arbitrarily detained in Iran since the disputed June 12, 2009 presidential elections. In addition, many ordinary citizens have also been detained in the course of protests. An unknown but substantial number of Iranian citizens have been killed and injured. Many fear that more violent confrontations, and more grave human rights violations, may lie ahead.
Under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s previous administration, intelligence and security forces detained numerous innocent citizens who have been charged with threatening national security, for example AIDS doctors Arash and Kamiar Alaei and educational exchange administrative worker Silva Harotonian. While cases like that of Iranian-American journalist Saberi have drawn international attention and protest, these individuals lack the international political leverage to convince the authorities to re-examine their unfair detentions and convictions.
Saberi, along with experts from the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International-USA, will discuss violations of human rights that have taken place in the context of Iran’s recent presidential election, in the light of ongoing practices that have populated Iran’s prisons with many charged with security crimes for their opinions and civil society activism.
Who: Roxana Saberi, journalist formerly imprisoned in Iran
Hadi Ghaemi, International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran
Sarah Leah Whitson, Human Rights Watch
Elise Auerbach, Amnesty International-USA
Welcome by Allan Dodds Frank, President of the Overseas Press Club
When: Tuesday, June 30, 200911:00 a.m.
Where: Overseas Press Club, 40 West 45 Street, New York, NY 10036
For more reporting on the human rights situation in Iran, please visit the following:
Human Rights Watch: www.hrw.org/en/middle-eastn-africa/iran
International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran: www.iranhumanrights.org
Amnesty International-USA: www.amnestyusa.org
For more information and to schedule interviews, please contact:
In New York, Hadi Ghaemi (English, Persian): +1-917-669-5996 (mobile); or hadighaemi@iranhumanrights.org
In New York, Sarah Leah Whitson (English): +1-212-216-1230; or whitsos@hrw.org
In New York, Minky Worden (English): +1-212-216-1250; or wordenm@hrw.org
In New York, Sonya Fry, Overseas Press Club office: +1-212-626-9220, or sonya@opcofamerica.org