(SBU) DEMARCHE: RECENT ARRESTS IN IRAN

UNCLAS STATE 154557 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PGOV IR UK SZ PREL KDEM SUBJECT: (SBU) DEMARCHE: RECENT ARRESTS IN IRAN ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The Department is concerned about the growing number of political prisoners in Iran, and a recent series of arrests specifically targeting human rights defenders. Department requests posts ask that host government,s embassy personnel in Tehran inquire about the arrest of political prisoner Abbas Khorsandi and others arrested on the same day. END SUMMARY. -------------- OBJECTIVES -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Begin Objectives. -- Note that we value the host government,s cooperation in assisting human rights activists and defenders in Iran. -- Note that the USG continues to be concerned about the plight of political prisoners in Iran, as reflected in Ambassador Khalilzad,s speech before the UN General Assembly in NY on Wednesday, October 31. -- Request that host country,s embassy personnel in Tehran inquire with their contacts in Iran to seek more information about Abbas Khorsandi, a political activist and the five others who were arrested on the same day. Post may leave information in paragraph 3 as a non-paper with host governments. -------------- BACKGROUND -------------- ¶3. Begin Background. (U) Abbas Khorsandi is reportedly a political activist who was arrested on September 9, 2007, in his home in Firuzkuh, Tehran province. He was previously arrested in early 2005 and held for several weeks. He may be/have been a member of the Democratic Party of Iran; the USG cannot confirm membership. In February 2005, Human Rights Watch issued a press release noting his arrest. Khorsandi has a history of heart attacks and suffers from diabetes. (U) Amnesty International has confirmed that five others were arrested on the same day in Tehran and Sanandaj: Meisam Roudaki, Bahram Rasekhifar, Mansour Faraji, Ghasem Shirzadian and Sepideh Puragha,i. Amnesty International noted that Puragha,i is active with the Student Committee for the Defence of Political Prisoners, but it is unclear if the rest of the group, including Khorsandi were as well. (U) End Background. -------------- POINT OF CONTACT -------------- ¶4. (SBU) The POC for this request is Kate Lurie in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (202-647-4753). RICE