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<P>Iran: Journalists Receive Death Threats After Testifying </P>
<P>Presidential Commission Heard Their Testimony of Torture During </P>
<P>Detention </P>
<P>(New York, January 6, 2005) -- After testifying to a presidential </P>
<P>commission about their torture during detention, a group of Iranian </P>
<P>journalists have received death threats from judicial officials under </P>
<P>Tehran chief prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi, Human Rights Watch said today. </P>
<P>Human Rights Watch is extremely concerned about the safety of the </P>
<P>journalists, whose testimony to a presidential commission, tasked with </P>
<P>investigating mistreatment of detainees, provided detailed information on
</P>
<P>their torture and mistreatment while they were detained, without being </P>
<P>charged, by secret squads operating under the authority of the judiciary.
</P>
<P>"We want the Iranian government to know that the world is watching what </P>
<P>happens to these young journalists. The Iranian government is responsible
</P>
<P>for their safety," said Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of Middle </P>
<P>East and North Africa Division at Human Rights Watch. "The Iranian </P>
<P>authorities should be protecting citizens who testify before presidential
</P>
<P>commissions instead of sending them death threats." </P>
<P>On December 25, Hanif Mazroi, Massoud Ghoreishi, Fereshteh Ghazi, </P>
<P>Arash Naderpour and Mahbobeh Abasgholizadeh—all of whom are journalists </P>
<P>detained by the government—testified about their detention before the </P>
<P>presidential commission. Fereshteh Ghazi provided details of her </P>
<P>treatment by interrogators, including severe beatings that resulted </P>
<P>in a broken nose during one interrogation session. The detainees were </P>
<P>kept under lengthy solitary confinement in a secret detention center </P>
<P>and were repeatedly subjected to psychological and physical torture. </P>
<P>On January 1 two other former detainees, Omid Memarian and Ruzbeh </P>
<P>Mir Ebrahimi, also appeared in front of the commission. In their </P>
<P>testimonies, as made public by commission member Mohammad Ali </P>
<P>Abtahi, they confirmed details of their torture. </P>
<P>Since their appearances before the commission, Saeed Mortazavi, chief </P>
<P>prosecutor of Tehran, has threatened each of these former detainees with </P>
<P>lengthy prison sentences and harm to their family members, as punishment </P>
<P>for their testimony. Mortazavi continues to issue numerous subpoenas for </P>
<P>the journalists without specifying charges. His operatives also harass the
</P>
<P>journalists by phone on a daily basis. </P>
<P>On January 3, Mortazavi held a press conference denying any mistreatment </P>
<P>of detainees and threatening to prosecute the former detainees for </P>
<P>"allegations against security forces and prison officials that </P>
<P>are politically motivated." </P>
<P>The journalists’ testimonies exposed Mortazavi’s role in authorizing </P>
<P>their torture to extract confessions and in compelling them to appear on </P>
<P>television to deny their mistreatment while under detention. </P>
<P>"The brave testimony of these young journalists has reaffirmed evidence </P>
<P>of Mortazavi’s leading role in the torture of detainees," said Whitson. </P>
<P>"It’s high time for the Iranian government to investigate Mortazavi’s abuses
</P>
<P>and bring him to justice." </P>
<P>Saeed Mortazavi has spearheaded the judiciary’s attack on press freedoms </P>
<P>since the current crackdown began in 2000. He is responsible for the </P>
<P>closure of numerous newspapers, as well as the arrests and prosecution of
</P>
<P>journalists, which is detailed in the recent Human Right Watch report on </P>
<P>Iran, "Like the Dead in their Coffins." The report can be found at: </P>
<P>http://www.hrw.org/reports/2004/iran0604/ </P>
<P>-----------</P>
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