Nov. 9, 1998

William J. Clinton

The White House

Washington, DC

Dear Mr. President,

We are concerned by reports that the Republic of France has imprisoned a member of an Iranian opposition group, on charges relating to his political activities.

The Iranian activist, Mr. Ahmad Fahimi (a/k/a/ Khosrow), was apprehended in Paris on September 18, 1998 by the French counter-intelligence service (DST), and was held incommunicado until October 6. He has been on hunger strike since his arrest. His life is now in danger.

As Mr. Fahimi enjoys political refugee status, this is a clear violation of France's commitment to the International Covenant on Human and Political Rights. We urge you to intervene vigorously with the French authorities to seek Mr. Fahimi's immediate release.

Background

Mr. Fahimi is the French representative of the Organization of the Iranian People's Fedayeen Guerrillas, a left-wing group which has renounced the use of violence and opposes the Tehran regime through political means. Several years ago the group infiltrated an Iranian government bank in Paris, and published documents from the bank's archives which exposed the embarrassing extent of government-to-government cooperation between Paris and Tehran, including French arms sales to Iran. It is our understanding that the Government of France acted on a request from the Tehran authorities to arrest Mr. Fahimi, following the official visit to Iran by French Foreign Minister Hubert Védrine this August.

The Foundation has sent official inquiries to the Government of France seeking to know what charges have been levied against Mr. Fahimi. Until now, these inquiries have remained without reply. While we expect that the French government will attempt to prosecute Mr. Fahimi for common criminal offenses, the fact that no charges have yet been announced is an indication of the French government's bad faith, which the Foundation deplores.

Your administration has been central to maintaining pressure on the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to prevent its sponsorship of international terrorism and its development of weapons of mass destruction. While you welcomed the election of Hojjat-ol eslam Mohammad Khatami last year - as we did - President Khatami has so far failed to deliver on his promises to reform the radical clerical system in Iran, and recently condemned the Wye River agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. Under these circumstances, we feel it would be imprudent and premature to consider opening a substantive dialogue with Tehran, and encourage you to stand firm in your current policy.

Given the total refusal of the French authorities to respond to queries from NGOs or to grant Mr. Fahimi due process of law, we request, Mr. President, that you instruct the Department of State to officially inquire into his status, and to demand his immediate release.

We also encourage you to instruct the appropriate administration officials to maintain pressure on the Islamic Republic in international fora for their failure to respect internationally-recognized standards of human rights and democratic freedoms.

Sincerely yours,

Kenneth R. Timmerman

Executive Director

Foundation for Democracy in Iran

The Foundation for Democracy in Iran is a private, non-profit corporation registered in the State of Maryland. Contact: Kenneth R. Timmerman, Executive Director. Tel: (301) 946-2918. Fax: (301) 942-5341. FDI materials, including the FDI Newswire, are available free-of-charge via the Internet at http://www.iran.org