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Iran: A Letter by a Prisoner’s Family to UN Special Rapporteur

ramin-hosein-panahi

NCRI Staff

NCRI – The family of a Kurdish political prisoner, in a letter to Ms. Asma Jahangir, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, called for clarification of her son’s situation in the Iranian regime’s prison.

In their letter, the family refers to the torture and mistreatment and lack of any news about the fate of their son as well as regime prohibiting them from hiring a lawyer for him.

The political prisoner, Ramin Hossein Panahi, was arrested nearly four months (110 days) ago by the security forces and taken to an unknown location.

This letter addressed to Ms. Jahangir, writes: “Ramin Hossein Panahi, our youngest son, was shot by a Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC forces) when he came to visit his family in Sanandaj, and subsequently transferred to a hospital in the city but then transferred to an unknown location after half an hour.”

“Hours later, the IRGC intelligence forces raided our house and beat up the daughter and old father of the family and arrested another son of the family, Afshin Hossein Panahi, and transferred him to an unknown location. After two months suffering under most severe physical and psychological torture in the intelligence office, he was transferred to the Sanandaj prison and is now in limbo,” the letter adds.

“Based on reliable information, we believe that the Intelligence Ministry wants to convict him to long term imprisonment,” the family said.

The Panahi family have been informed by reliable sources that “Ramin Hossein Panahi is now in the detention center of the intelligence office in Sanandaj.”

They said: “During this time, our family has contacted the offices of this department 23 requesting information on the status of Ramin. Unfortunately, so far, the Sanandaj intelligence office has not given us any specific answers regarding our children’s fate and health condition.”

The letter also reads: “Informed and reliable sources believe that Ramin Hossein Panahi is now under a lot of physical and psychological torture, to the extent that he has been threatened to death several times in a completely inhumane and illegal manner, and that the brutality has come to a point where they have taken him to the gallows but did not hang him in order to obtain confessions.”

The Panahi family pointing out that more than 110 days passed since their son was arrested emphasized: “The regime officials do not grant us the right to meet our son or hire a lawyer and no government institution of organization is responsive and accountable to our family and our legal demands.”

The Intelligence Office told Ramin that “Your family does not have the financial capability to a hire lawyer, and no lawyer is willing to accept your case because everyone knows the fact that you will be executed without any tumult, so for that reason we have appointed a lawyer for you.”

In their letter, emphasizing that the regime ignores Ramin’s human rights, they write to the UN rapporteur: “Given the fact that the Iranian government is not willing to accept any of our family’s legal demands, and in order to protect Ramin life, we members of the Hossein Panahi family, once again call on all international institutions and, in particular, you as the UN Special rapporteur and urge you to seriously and effectively intervene in order to prevent another catastrophe for our family.”

Thank you and regards,

Family of Ramin Hossein Panahi, Iranian Kurdish political prisoner

Wednesday, 11 October 2017