URGENT ACTION
BLOGGER ON SICK LEAVE CALLED BACK TO PRISON
Blogger Hossein Ronaghi Maleki has been told he must return to prison, to resume serving his 13-year sentence. He has been on medical leave since mid-June, for urgent specialized medical care. If he returns to jail, he would be a prisoner of conscience.
Hossein Ronaghi Maleki was allowed out of Tehran’s Evin Prison on 17 June 2015, on medical leave, to receive urgent specialized medical care. He was told on 29 June, however, by the authorities that he “must return [to prison]”. Since then, the authorities have repeated this message by phone almost every day. He has told Amnesty International that he does not intend to do so, because he wants to “protest against this illegal behavior” by the authorities. He told the Prosecutor General of Tehran that he would either go to the hospital for the medical care he needs, or sit opposite the prison so that they “do not think he is running away”. If he does not report to prison as instructed, the authorities may take him back to prison by force.
Hossein Ronaghi Maleki has only one functioning kidney and needs constant specialized medical care, which he cannot get in prison. He has told Amnesty International that he and his family are not doing well because of psychological pressure from the authorities, as well as anxiety about his serious health problems.
He was arrested on 13 December 2009 and sentenced to 15 years in prison for offenses including “membership of the [illegal] internet group ‘Iran Proxy’ ”, “spreading propaganda against the system” and “insulting the Supreme Leader”, apparently in connection with articles he posted on his blog. After his arrest, Hossein Ronaghi Maleki was held in solitary confinement for over a year, during which he has said he was tortured and otherwise ill-treated, which possibly contributed to his poor health.
Please write immediately in English, Persian, Spanish or your own language:
n Calling on the Iranian authorities to allow Hossein Ronaghi Maleki to remain free and have urgent specialized medical care in hospital outside prison;
n Reminding them that his conviction and sentence must be quashed as they stem from peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression and association.
n Calling on them to ensure that his allegations of torture and other ill-treatment while in solitary confinement are independently and impartially investigated.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 14 AUGUST 2015 TO:
UA Network Office AIUSA │600 Pennsylvania Ave SE, Washington DC 20003
T. 202.509.8193 │ F. 202.675.8566 │E. │ amnestyusa.org/urgent
Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei
The office of the Supreme Leader
Islamic Republic Street – End of Shahid
Keshvar Doust Street
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: (via website http://www.leader.ir/langs/en/index.php?
p=letter
Twitter: @khamenei_ir (English),
@Khamenei_ar (Arabic),
@Khamenei_es (Spanish).
Salutation: Your Excellency
Head of the Judiciary
Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani
c/o Public Relations Office
Number 4, 2 Azizi Street intersection
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email:
Salutation: Your Excellency
And copies to:
Abbas Ja'fari Dolat Abadi
Prosecutor General of Tehran
Tehran General and Revolutionary Prosecution Office
Corner (Nabsh-e) of 15 Khordad Square
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
UA Network Office AIUSA │600 Pennsylvania Ave SE, Washington DC 20003
T. 202.509.8193 │ F. 202.675.8566 │E. │ amnestyusa.org/urgent
Also send copies to:
Iran does not presently have an embassy in the United States. Instead, please send copies to:
Iranian Interests Section
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Please let us know if you took action so that we can track our impact! EITHER send a short email to with “UA 236/13” in the subject line, and include in the body of the email the number of letters and/or emails you sent, OR fill out this short online form to let us know how you took action. Thank you for taking action! Please check with the AIUSA Urgent Action Office if taking action after the appeals date.
This is the second update of UA 236/13. Further information: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde13/036/2013/en/
URGENT ACTION
BLOGGER ON SICK LEAVE CALLED BACK TO PRISON
ADditional Information
Hossein Ronaghi Maleki has been granted medical leave from prison several times. Before he began his most recent medical leave, on 17 June 2015, he had been held in Section 7 of Evin Prison, where he had been taken shortly after he was ordered to return from his previous medical leave. While he was on that medical leave, Hossein Ronaghi Maleki was told to submit his medical records to the Prosecutor’s office for inspection. When he went to do so, on 28 February 2015, he was arrested to resume serving his sentence. From then until June 2015, Hossein Ronaghi Maleki’s health deteriorated rapidly. Though the prison authorities transferred him to the hospital at least four times, he was never given any medical attention and was never given the specialized care for his kidney that he requires continually to maintain his health.
When he was put on trial in 2010, Hossein Ronaghi Maleki was denied access to his lawyer and has said he told the judge he had been tortured, but the judge answered that he “deserved it”. He was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment by a Revolutionary Court. In June 2015, Hossein Ronaghi Maleki was informed that his sentenced had been reduced to 13 years.
The Iranian authorities frequently transfer prisoners in need of medical care to hospital, but Amnesty International understands that prisoners are not always provided actual medical care and instead are simply returned to prison. Whether done on purpose or by neglect, failing to provide adequate medical care to vulnerable prisoners is a breach of Iran’s international human rights obligations. The denial of medical treatment may amount to a violation of the absolute prohibition against torture and other ill-treatment, provided in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a party. Article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, to which Iran is also a state party, recognizes the right of all persons to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.
The UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners also state that prisoners who require specialized treatment must be transferred to specialized institutions or to civil hospitals. Prison medical facilities must be adequately equipped and staffed to provide appropriate medical care and treatment to prisoners.
Iran’s own prison regulations are also routinely flouted by prison and judicial officials. The regulations governing the administration of Iranian prisons stipulate that a prisoner suffering from a serious medical condition that cannot be treated inside prison, or whose condition will worsen if they stay in prison, should be granted medical leave in order to receive treatment.
Name: Hossein Ronaghi Maleki (m)
Issues: Prisoner of conscience, Health concern, Torture/ill-treatment
UA Network Office AIUSA │600 Pennsylvania Ave SE, Washington DC 20003
T. 202.509.8193 │ F. 202.675.8566 │E. │ amnestyusa.org/urgent
Further information on UA: 236/13 (29 August 2013) and update (6 September 2013)
Issue Date: 3 July 2015
Country: Iran
UA Network Office AIUSA │600 Pennsylvania Ave SE, Washington DC 20003
T. 202.509.8193 │ F. 202.675.8566 │E. │ amnestyusa.org/urgent