HRW: Iran: Acquit HIV/AIDS Doctors Prosecuted in Unfair Trial

Iran: Acquit HIV/AIDS Doctors Prosecuted in Unfair Trial

January 13, 2009

(New York, January 13, 2009) - Drs Kamiar and Arash Alaei, Iranian brothers who are known worldwide for their work as HIV/AIDS physicians, are among the four Iranian citizens cited today by Iranian authorities as attempting to overthrow the state, Physicians for Human Rights, Human Rights Watch, and International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran have learned from reliable sources.

According to the Islamic Republic News Agency, Iranian Judiciary spokesperson Ali-Reza Jamshidi told a news conference today that four Iranian citizens had been arrested and brought to the court on charges of "communications with an enemy government" and seeking to overthrow the Iranian government under article 508 of Iran's Islamic Penal Code. Speaking at a press conference, Jamshidi claimed: "They were linked to the CIA, backed by the US government and State Department... They recruited and trained people to work with different espionage networks to launch a velvet overthrow of the Iranian government." Jamshidi added that further details of the case would be forthcoming in the next two days.

PHR, HRW, and ICHRI believe the charge of plotting a coup is being brought unfairly, without the brothers being given the chance to adequately defend themselves. Their trial was marked by clear violations of due process. The Alaeis' human rights have been violated and their commitment to public health worldwide has been misrepresented by the Iranian Government as a threat to their regime.

"To all appearances, the arrest and now the trial of these two prominent and widely-traveled AIDS doctors seem to be an effort to shut the door on medical and public health collaboration on global health crises - a policy that is dangerous for the well-being of the Iranian people and for global health," said Frank Donaghue, CEO of Physicians for Human Rights.

Physicians for Human Rights, Human Rights Watch, and International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran have spoken out repeatedly about their concern that these serious charges had been levied without due process. The verdict in the case of the Drs. Alaei is expected this week, following a one-day trial in Tehran's Revolutionary Court on December 31, 2008, on charges of communicating with an "enemy government." At the trial, the Iranian prosecutor also informed the court of additional, secret evidence which the brothers' attorney had no opportunity to refute, because the prosecutor did not disclose them.

"Their prosecution is truly a witch hunt, and it is completely unacceptable to bring such charges against the Alaei brothers," said Hadi Ghaemi, spokesperson for International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. "Everything they did was transparent with full knowledge and permission of the Iranian government, including participation in an exchange program on public health in November 2006 in the United States."

Over the last week, more than 2,000 people from around the globe contacted the Iranian Mission to the United Nations in New York City, demanding the Alaeis' release. In addition, 3,100 doctors, nurses, and public health workers from 85 countries have signed an online petition demanding their release, which can be viewed at IranFreeTheDocs.org. Leading physicians and public health specialists and numerous medical and scientific organizations have publicly called for the brothers' release, including HIV/AIDS and health experts, including: Global Fund Executive Director Professor Michel Kazatchkine; Partners in Health co-founder Dr. Paul Farmer; 2008 MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant recipient Wafaa El-Sadr, MD, MPH; Hossam E. Fadel, MD, of the Islamic Medical Association of North America; 1993 Nobel Laureate in Medicine Sir Richard Roberts PhD, FRS; and Ugandan AIDS pioneer Dr. Peter Mugyenyi.

"This case is just one more example of how under President Ahmadinejad's administration, Iran's human rights record has reached new lows," said Joe Amon, director of the HIV/AIDS and Human Rights Program at Human Rights Watch. "Ahmadinejad's presidency has created an intense atmosphere of fear and intimidation felt even by those working on the expansion of HIV/AIDS services."

Dr. Kamiar Alaei is a doctoral candidate at the SUNY Albany School of Public Health in Albany, New York and was expected to resume his studies there this fall. In 2007, he received a Master of Science degree in Population and International Health from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston.

Dr. Arash Alaei is the former director of the International Education and Research Cooperation of the Iranian National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease. Since 1998, the Drs. Alaei have been carrying out HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention programs, particularly focused on harm reduction for injecting drug users.

In addition to their work in Iran, the Alaei brothers have held training courses for Afghan and Tajik medical workers and have worked to encourage regional cooperation among 12 Middle Eastern and Central Asian countries. Their efforts expanded the expertise of doctors in the region, advanced the progress of medical science, and earned Iran recognition as a model of best practice by the World Health Organization.

For more information visit HRW's action alert on this case.

   January 14, 2009

Muslim woman, rabbis to pray at inaugural service

By RACHEL ZOLL

At past inaugurations, ceremonial prayers uttered on behalf of the incoming president drew about as much attention as the flags on the podium.

Not this year.

Barack Obama's choice of clergy is under scrutiny like no other president-elect before him, alternately outraging Americans on the left and the right as he navigates the minefield of U.S. religion.

"I can't recall any prayers drawing so much attention," said Charles Haynes, senior scholar at the First Amendment Center who specializes in religion in public life.

Gay advocates assailed Obama, while many conservative Christians were heartened, when he invited the Rev. Rick Warren, a Southern Baptist who opposes gay marriage, to deliver the inaugural invocation on Tuesday.

The tables turned when Obama asked V. Gene Robinson, the first openly gay Episcopal bishop, to lead prayers at Sunday's kickoff for the inauguration at the Lincoln Memorial. Gay rights groups rejoiced, while some conservative Christians wrung their hands.

The Inauguration Committee has only released one clergy name so far for the Jan. 21 National Prayer Service that caps the inauguration. The Rev. Sharon Watkins, the first woman president of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), a Protestant group, will deliver the sermon.

The Associated Press has learned additional details.

A prayer will be offered at the National Cathedral by Ingrid Mattson, the first woman president of the Islamic Society of North America, according to an official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information. The Islamic Society, based in Indiana, is the nation's largest Muslim group.

Three rabbis, representing the three major branches of American Judaism, will also say a prayer at the service, according to officials familiar with the plans. The Jewish clergy are Reform Rabbi David Saperstein, Conservative Rabbi Jerome Epstein and Orthodox Rabbi Haskel Lookstein, sources said.

It is also traditional for the incoming administration to ask the Roman Catholic archbishop of Washington to lead a prayer. The Most Rev. Donald Wuerl leads the archdiocese.

And like many incoming presidents before him, Obama will attend a service at St. John's Church, dubbed the "Church of the Presidents," before his swearing-in.

Religion has been a lightning rod for Obama since the presidential campaign — from false rumors that he is Muslim to uproar over sermons by his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

And interest in the inauguration is higher overall, partly because of its historic nature, the swearing-in of the first African-American president. The Rev. Joseph Lowery, a Methodist considered the dean of the civil rights movement, will give the inaugural benediction.

But Obama's choice of clergy is also of greater interest because of the changing landscape of American religion.

The United States is more diverse than ever before, and members of minority faiths yearn to be recognized as fully American.

"In the past, minority groups within Christianity and minority religions on the American scene were not as vocal or as sure-footed and therefore didn't pay as much attention to the inauguration event itself or didn't feel the need to. That's no longer true," said Rabbi James Rudin, who spent three decades leading interreligious outreach for the American Jewish Committee.

Even atheists are newly energized, suing to prevent prayer and mention of God at the swearing-in.

An attorney for Chief Justice John Roberts, who will administer the oath, says the president-elect prefers to conclude with the phrase, "so help me God," as presidents before him have done.

Obama's preference was filed last week by Jeffrey Minear, an attorney and administrative assistant to Roberts, as part of a lawsuit by atheists and non-religious groups who sought for years to keep mention of God out of publicly administered oaths.

The Constitution mandates the exact language to be used in the oath: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of president of the United States and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." Some presidents have added "so help me God."

Most past presidents only had to choose from clergy of the American Protestant establishment. Eventually, inaugural organizers added a priest or bishop to the ceremonies as the Catholic Church in the U.S. grew stronger. Rabbis were sometimes included.

But Protestants are now losing their majority status in the country. The go-to Protestant for inaugural prayer, evangelist Billy Graham, is 90 and off the public stage. No one has, or likely could, take his place as "America's pastor."

The Obama campaign is also partly responsible for the religious focus.

The Democrat spoke openly of his faith during the election, more so than his opponent, Republican Sen. John McCain, and reached out to believers, hoping to counter the perception that the GOP had cornered the market on God.

"This inaugural is a coming-out party for the Democrats in terms of their religious voice," said Stephen Prothero, a religion professor at Boston University. "Democrats found their religious voice in the last election and I think there's interest in seeing how that voice is going to sound."

Haynes said Obama is also carrying the hopes of the many Americans frustrated by the prominence of the Christian right in recent decades, especially in the administration of President George W. Bush. That partly explains the backlash against Warren, he said.

"The sense is it's time to balance that out and to have other voices heard. He's supposed to represent change," Haynes said. "There are many people looking for a symbolic change in tone, especially when it comes to issues of religion and public life."

 

HRW: Senegal: Free AIDS Activists

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From Human Rights Watch - http://www.hrw.org

For Immediate Release  

Senegal: Free AIDS Activists

Eight-Year Sentences in Threatening Conditions for 9 Accused of 'Indecent and Unnatural Acts' 

(New York, January 9, 2009) – The sentencing in Dakar on January 6, 2009 of nine men who were involved in HIV-prevention work, on charges of "indecent and unnatural acts" and "forming associations of criminals," shows how laws against homosexual conduct damage HIV- and AIDS-prevention efforts as well as the work of human rights defenders, Human Rights Watch said today. 

"These charges will have a chilling effect on AIDS programs," said Scott Long, director of Human Rights Watch's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights program. "Outreach workers and people seeking HIV prevention or treatment should not have to worry about police persecution. Senegal should drop these charges and repeal its sodomy law." 

HIV and AIDS advocates in Senegal report that the ruling has produced widespread panic among organizations addressing HIV and AIDS, particularly those working with men who have sex with men and other marginalized populations.  

These nine men apparently were arrested merely on suspicion of engaging in homosexual conduct. In that case, international human rights provisions mandate their immediate release. So long as they remain detained – given the general climate of hostility against men perceived to engage in homosexual conduct and the risk of violence against them – Senegalese authorities should ensure their safety by separating them from other prisoners, if necessary. The authorities must also ensure that the men receive any necessary medical care, including antiretroviral therapy.   

The men were detained on December 19, 2008, after several police officers burst into the private residence of an HIV outreach worker some miles outside Dakar at 11 p.m. and arrested all nine men in the house. The police confiscated condoms and lubricants – tools used for HIV-prevention work. The police forced several of the men to disclose family members' phone numbers and threatened to inform their families. Sources told Human Rights Watch that the men were beaten in detention, which would constitute a significant violation of Senegal's international human rights obligations.  

The men were charged with violating article 319.3 of Senegal's penal code, which provides that "whoever commits an improper or unnatural act with a person of the same sex will be punished by imprisonment of between one and five years." Reports received by Human Rights Watch indicate that the men were not engaged in any activity considered criminal under Senegalese law.  

At the  trial, prosecutors apparently used the materials found in the house that are standard HIV-prevention tools used in outreach work as evidence of homosexual conduct, for which the men received the maximum five-year sentence. They were also found guilty of "criminal association" in violation of article 238 of the penal code, permitting  the judge to add three years to their five-year term.   

"Senegal's sodomy law invades privacy, criminalizes health work, justifies brutality, and feeds fear," said Long. "This case shows why it is time for the sodomy law to go." 

The men's arrest and  detention violates article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which guarantees the right to liberty and security of person and rights against arbitrary detention. Senegal ratified the ICCPR in 1978, without reservations. Criminal trials under article 319.3 of the penal code violate Senegal's treaty commitments. Senegal should repeal article 319.3, which also severely hampers HIV/AIDS-prevention and education efforts, barring large populations from access to treatment and care. 

The men were arrested only days after Senegal served as the host for the 15^th International Conference on AIDS and STIs (sexually transmitted infections) in Africa (ICASA). Presentations at this conference pointed out the apparent contradiction in some countries, such as Senegal, which target HIV/AIDS-prevention efforts at populations of men of who have sex with men but continue to criminalize same-sex relations. Advocates working in HIV and AIDS prevention point out that such an approach necessarily drives the targeted populations underground and mitigates the efficacy of HIV intervention efforts. 

Article 7 of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders specifically provides that "everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to develop and discuss new human rights ideas and principles and to advocate their acceptance." The report of the special representative of the secretary-general on human rights defenders to the UN General Assembly specifically identifies human rights defenders from lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex communities as being at particular risk and has called for greater state vigilance in protecting their rights.  

The United Nations Human Rights Committee, which authoritatively interprets the ICCPR and evaluates compliance with its provisions, found in the 1994 case of Toonen v. Australia that laws criminalizing consensual homosexual conduct among adults violate the ICCPR's protections. According to UNAIDS data, at least 5 to 10 percent  of HIV infections worldwide occur through sex between men, though this figure varies considerably by region. Laws criminalizing consensual sexual conduct drive these vulnerable populations underground and permit gross violations of the fundamental rights to life, freedom of expression and association, and health.  

For more of Human Rights Watch's work on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights, please visit:

http://www.hrw.org/en/category/topic/lgbt-rights  

For more of Human Rights Watch's work on HIV/AIDS and human rights, please visit:

http://www.hrw.org/en/topic/health/hiv/tb  

For more information, please contact:

In New York, Scott Long (English): +1-212-216-1297; or +1-646-641-5655 (mobile)

In New York, Joseph Amon (English): +1-917-519-8930 (mobile)

In Brussels, Reed Brody (English, French, Spanish, Portuguese): +32-2-737-1489; or +32 -498-625786 (mobile)