The Foundation for Democracy has written to the Government of Iran, requesting information on the reported arrest of Javad Rouhani, a 26-year old student in biochemistry, and 25 others, whom it fears are being held incommunicado as prisoners of conscience.
The Foundation has written to the leader of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamene'i, President Ali Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani, the Ministries of Justice, Interior, and Foreign Affairs, and has sent an inquiry to Iran's Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York, to express concern and request clarification about this case.
Javad Rouhani, the son of Grand Ayatollah Sadegh Rouhani, was reportedly arrested on 17 July 1995 when members of the Iranian security forces raided his house in Qom. Since then, his family has been unable to discover his whereabouts. On August 1, 1995, at least 25 supporters of Grand Ayatollah Rouhani were reportedly arrested when they gathered outside his house to protest the reported persecution of him and his family. The Foundation is concerned that Javad Rouhani and perhaps those arrested during this incident may be held incommunicado and that those detained may have been arrested solely for the non-violent expression of beliefs and as such would be prisoners of conscience.
In June 1985, Grand Ayatollah Rouhani wrote an open letter to President Ali Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani in which he criticized restrictions on religious rites, arbitrary arrests and imprisonment, forcible exile, beatings, and reported killings. He alleged that he had been held under house arrest in Qom for more than ten years, and complained of insults which he said had been directed against him by high-ranking religious figures and which had been broadcast by the state-controlled media. In an earlier open letter, dated Jan. 7, 1995, Grand Ayatollah Rouhani requested permission to leave Iran because of threats on his life.
The Foundation joins Amnesty International in seeking clarification from the government of Iran on this case and to explain the reason for the alleged restrictions on Grand Ayatollah Rouhani's his freedom of movement, expression, and belief.
The Foundation for Democracy in Iran is a private, non-profit corporation registered in the State of Maryland. Contact: Kenneth R. Timmerman, Executive Director (exec@iran.org). FDI materials, including the FDI Newswire, are available free-of-charge via the Internet at http://www.iran.org/.