Unionist in danger of death in Iran
Your excellence
Paris, 14 November 2017
French trade unions CFDT, CGT, FSU, Solidaires and UNSA, draw your attention to the situation of Mahmoud Shalehi, a trade union leader in danger of dying in an Iranian prison.
Mahmoud Salehi was sentenced in September 2015 to 9-year imprisonment. On Saturday, October 28, 2017, he was arrested by four plainclothes officers while he was leaving the hospital where he goes twice a week for dialysis. The unionist was taken to the Saqqez court in Iran's Kurdistan province, where the prosecutor said the initial sentence had been commuted to one year, with immediate effect.
Mahmoud Salehi was transferred to Saqqez Central Prison for execution of his sentence. Mahmoud Salehi suffers from several heart and kidney diseases, the consequences of the medical negligence during his 2015 imprisonment.
He was transferred to Khomeini Hospital in Saqqez City after a heart attack in prison on November 3rd of this year. Prison medical authorities believe that Salehi must receive appropriate treatments out of prison. He is currently without proper care and his health is becoming critical. He must therefore be immediately transferred to a hospital outside the prison environment.
Mr. Shalehi's detention, like that of other jailed workers, is in violation of basic human and trade union rights. The Islamic Republic of Iran is failing to honor its commitments under international labor conventions, as a member of the ILO, including recognition of the right of Iranian workers to establish their independent organizations.
We, the French trade unions, call for the annulment of these unjust and unfair condemnations of international rights and the immediate and unconditional release of all activists imprisoned for their trade union activities, in particular Reza Shahabi and Esmail Abdi.
We call on your government to provide appropriate and dignified care to Mahmoud Shalehi and his immediate and unconditional freedom.
CFDT : preau@cfdt.fr
CGT : fabienne.cru@orange.fr
FSU : michelle.olivier@snuipp.fr
Solidaires : contact@solidaires.org
UNSA : emilie.trigo@unsa.org
Copies to:
President of the Islamic Republic of Iran : Hassan Rouhani
The Judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran : High Council of Human Rights
Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations