CCS wrote a letter to Ayatollah Ali Khamene’i protesting the arrest and detention of Ramin Zibaei, a psychology scholar and dean at the Baha’i Institute of Higher Education in Tehran.
Read our letter:
September 3, 2011
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran
c/o H.E. Mr. Mohammad Khazaee
Ambassador of Iran to the United Nations
Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations
662 Third Avenue, 34th Floor
New York, NY 10017
Fax to: +1 (212) 867-7086
Your Excellency:
We are an independent organization of scientists, physicians, engineers and scholars devoted to the protection and advancement of human rights and scientific freedom for colleagues all over the world. We write now in concern for Mr. Ramin Zibaei.
Mr. Zibaei, a scholar of psychology and dean at the Baha’i Institute of Higher Education in Tehran, has been arrested and detained for several months. Mr. Zibaei completed a Master’s level program in psychology at the Baha’i Institute of Higher Education (BIHE) and has taught extensively at the institute over the past 8 years, holding positions as member of the psychology department and dean of the social science faculty. We understand that Mr. Ramin Zibaei was one of over a dozen staff and faculty members of the BIHE arrested in late May. He has been held since.
Since his arrest Mr. Zibaei has not been permitted to receive regular visits from his family and has not been granted access to legal counsel, in apparent disregard of international standards of due process, fair trial and detention as guaranteed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is signatory. The suddenness of Mr. Zibaei’s arrest and the lack of any clear basis for his detention raise grave concerns about the ability of Baha’i intellectuals and scholars to safely work in Iran. This suggestion is particularly distressing and unfortunate, given Iran’s rich intellectual history and traditional support for the values of scholarship and free inquiry.
We respectfully urge authorities to ensure that Iran’s obligations under international law are upheld with regard to Mr. Zibaei and his colleagues at the Baha’i Institute of Higher Education (BIHE), to reexamine Mr. Zibaei’s case and, pending his earliest release, to guarantee his well-being and to ensure that he is granted access to family, legal representation of his choosing, and medical treatment.
Sincerely,
Eugene ChudnovskyAlexander Greer
Joel Lebowitz
Walter Reich
Paul Plotz
Co-Chairs, Committee of Concerned Scientists
Copies to:
Head of the Judiciary
Ayatollah Sadeqh Larijani
Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh
(Office of the Head of the Judiciary)
Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave. (south of Serah-e Jomhouri)
Tehran 1316814737
Islamic Republic of Iran
Michael H. Posner
Assistant Secretary of State
Bureau of Democracy, Labor and Human Rights
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520 USA
Baha’i International Community
United Nations Office
866 United Nations Plaza, Suite 120
New York, NY 10017 USA
Fax: +1 212-803-2566
Email: nyc@bic.org