هيات اعزامي حقوق بشر سازمان ملل با همه زندانيان سياسي فهرست ويژه ملاقات كرد

Summary of the Iran Stories of Today&apos;s BroadcastsBehnam NateghiTuesday, February 25, 2003 <b>UN Human Rights Delegation Visits Prominent Political Prisoners</b> * In the last two days of their 12-day mission to Iran, the UN Human Rights Commission&apos;s fact-finding delegation eventually met with prominent political prisoners. Paris-based human rights lawyer Abdolkarim Lahiji, who is in daily contact with the delegation members, tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that the delegation has already seen all the prisoners on its list of 50 prominent political activists and journalists in prison. Among those seen by the UN delegation he names Hassan Yousefi-Eshkevari, Nasser Zarafshan and Ali Afshari. He adds that wife of the hospitalized political activist and critic of the Supreme Leader Mohsen Sazegara has requested a meeting for him with the delegation. Sazegara, who was arrested last Tuesday, went on hunger strike and was released on Saturday. Lahiji adds that during its trip to Shiraz, the UN delegation met with a few of the Jewish prisoners who had been accused of spying for Israel. He predicts that to complete its report, the delegation would need more fact-finding trips to Iran, including a trip to the Kurdistan province. (Amir-Mosaddegh Katouzian) * Police attacked young demonstrators, who, for a fourth-day in a row, gathered in front of Tehran&apos;s Hotel Laleh, where members of the UN Human Rights Commission&apos;s fact-finding delegation stay. Tehran-based journalist Shayan Jaberi tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that police and anti-riot squads have been stationed around Hotel Laleh. He adds that scattered demonstrations sprang up, with young people shouting "Political Prisoners Must Be Freed!" Relatives of prisoners, former prisoners and their lawyers, have been gathering in front of the hotel in order to request meetings with the UN delegation, who are on a 12-day mission to investigate prison conditions and the allegation of arbitrary arrests. (Mahmonir Rahimi) * Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Elham said the five Shirazi Jews have not been pardoned by the Supreme Leader. The five were released on furlough and would return to prison, he added. Representative of the Jewish minority in the Majles Morris Motamed said earlier reports that the five had received pardons were wrong. The five are members of the group of eight Jewish Shirazi merchants and shop workers who were accused of spying for Israel. The spying charges were later dropped but they received long jail sentences for their belief in "fundamentalist ideas." (Homayoun Majd) <b>Public Reaction to the Supreme Leader&apos;s Visit to Sistan-va-Baluchestan</b> * The Supreme Leader began an 8-day official visit to Zahedan and other towns in the Sistan and Baluchestan province. Mahmoud Barahoui-Nezhad, editor of Marz-e Por Gohar, a local Persian-language weekly, tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that Sunni religious leaders and Sunni intelligentsia have not been invited to official meetings with the Supreme Leader, even though discrimination against the Sunnis majority by the Shiite officials is the region&apos;s biggest problem. He adds that some of the people who were invited to the so-called meeting of the town&apos;s cultural elite with the Supreme Leader were illiterate. He adds that instead of the true cultural elite of the city, the Office of the Supreme Leader had invited people they personally knew. (Amir-Mosaddegh Katouzian) <b>Jailed Writer Shoaleh-Sa&apos;adei&apos;s Son Defends Father</b> * Writer Ghasem Shoaleh Sa&apos;adi, who was arrested yesterday at the Tehran airport after returning from a trip to Paris, has been taken to the cellblock 209 of the Evin prison, according to his son, Javad Shoaleh Sa&apos;adi. He tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that his father was arrested for writing the widely circulated letter to the Supreme Leader, in which he criticized the Islamic regime&apos;s policies and questioned the Supreme Leader&apos;s qualification as a source of religious emulation. He adds that says fame did not motivate his father&apos;s return. (Mahmonir Rahimi) * In an interview aired last month on <b>Radio Farda</b> Ghasem Shoaleh-Sa&apos;adi says the Islamic authorities use elections only as window dressing. He adds that the unelected institutions and organs, such as the Office of the Supreme Leader and the Guardians Council have turned democracy in Iran into a sad state. He criticized the Supreme Leader for threatening the elected President and blocking the Majles legislations. Shoaleh-Sa&apos;adi, along with (Ali Sajjadi) <b>Judiciary Chief Says Judges Quit to Become Laywers</b> * Low pay and hard work prompt judges to quit and start new careers as lawyers, according to Judiciary chief Ayatollah Mahmud Shahrudi. Tehran-based lawyer Mohammad-Ali Jedari-Foroughi tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that being a lawyer is not as easy as the Judiciary chief has characterized. He adds that he defends political activists, students and journalists pro bono. He says he is now defending jailed journalist Alireza Eshraqi in the special court for the clergy, even though neither he nor Eshraqi is a cleric. Eshraqi was arrested two months ago for his involvement in the publishing of a cartoon in the daily <i>Hayat-e Now</i>, which the judiciary ordered closed. (Alireza Taheri) <b>Reformists Compete with Conservatives in Chamber of Commerce Elections</b> * More than 190, many of them reformists, have put their names on the ballots in the fifth election of the board of directors of the Tehran chamber of commerce, industries and mines. During the past four terms, Tehran&apos;s and other chambers were under the control of hard-line conservatives from the Jam&apos;iat Motalefeh party. Head of chamber of industries Hadi Ghanimifar and economist Ali Rashidi, both members of the national coalition of economists, have vowed to end the conservative&apos;s monopoly in the Chambers. (Alireza Taheri) <b>29 Disabled Young Adults Die in Government Care</b> * The daily <i>Hambastegi</i> reported that during the past 50 days, 29 disabled young adults have died in institutions. The report does not give the name of the institutions or the causes of deaths. (Shireen Famili) <b>Culture Minister Says New Bill Protects Copyright</b> * In a two-day Tehran conference on protecting legal and financial rights of creators of literary and artistic properties, culture minister Ahmad Masjed Jom&apos;ei said a copyright bill has been drafted and will soon be submitted to the Majles that would make a definite change in the life of those who live off the proceeds of their literary or artistic creations. (Fereydoun Khavand, Paris) <b>China Increases Trade Volume with Iran</b> * The new Chinese ambassador to Tehran said the annual trade between the two countries grew to $3.7 billion, making China Iran&apos;s top trade partner. (Fereydoun Khavand) <b>Impact of the Iraq Crisis on Oil Prices</b> * Crude prices jumped to near $37 per barrel today. Oil minister Bijan Namdar-Zangeneh said OPEC should not increase production levels in its upcoming meeting on March 11. Paris-based oil market expert Parviz Mina tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that oil prices may increase after the start of the possible war with Iraq, but will fall down later, depending the condition of Iraqi and Kuwaiti fields after the war. He says soon after the war, however, the prices would drop to below $25 per barrel, because Iraq&apos;s production will be back to normal, Venezuela will resume normal productions and demand for oil would drop, due to change of season. (Bahman Bastani) <b>Majles Approves Sales of 16 Modern Art Paintings</b> * The Majles approved a bill submitted by President Khatami&apos;s government to sell 16 paintings from the collection of the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art. The paintings, the government argued, are impossible to display in Iran. Former Empress Farah Pahlavi, whose Private Cabinet built the TMCA and many other museums, tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that the Islamic regime&apos;s own constitution prevents selling "unique" works of art. Some of the paintings of major European and American artists in the Tehran museum&apos;s collection have increased in value since the 1970&apos;s. (Jean Khakzad) . اعضاي اعزامي هيات كارشناسي حقوق بشر سازمان ملل متحد كه دو روز آخر سفرشان در ايران را مي گذرانند، سرانجام توانستند با شماري از زندانيان سرشناس ملاقات كنند. دكتر عبدالكريم لاهيجي، نايب رييس فدراسيون جوامع جهاني دفاع از حقوق بشر كه با اين هيات در تماس است، در مصاحبه با راديو فردا مي گويد: تا جايي كه ما خبر داريم ديروز بازديد طولاني از زندان اوين صورت گرفته با تمام زنداني هايي كه صورتش را داده بوديم ملاقات شده، از جمله با حجت الاسلام يوسفي اشكوري، دكتر ناصر زرافشان و آقاي علي افشاري و ديگران. از طرف خانم سازگارا اعلام شده كه شوهرش در بيمارستان بستري است و تقاضاي ملاقات كرده. ما تعداد 55 زنداني را صورت داده بوديم البته تعدادي از اين ها در شهرستان هايي هستند كه اين هيات به آنجا ها نرفته. با تمام زندانيان مشهور كه ما صورت داده بوديم ملاقات انجام گرفته. به ما از طريق دفتر هيات در ژنو گفتند كه با آنها ملاقات كرده اند. امروز بعد از ظهر به ملاقات با اشخاص و گروه هايي كه در خواست ملاقات كرده بودند، اختصاص داشت و ما فكر مي كنيم الان اين ملاقات در دفتر سازمان ملل در تهران در جريان باشد. سفر هيات به شيراز در رابطه با پرونده يهوديان ايراني بود كه سال پيش بازداشت شده بودند. هيات توانست با برخي از اين ها در خارج از زندان ملاقات كند. در يزد هم دو بهايي كه به اعدام محكوم شده بودند و حكمشان به حبس ابد تقليل يافته بود، قرار بود با اين هيات ملاقات كنند، ولي خبرش را نداريم. من فكر مي كنم در مجموع اين بازديد در ارتباط با بازداشت هاي خودسرانه از موفقيت نسبي برخوردار بود و ظاهرا مانعي براي ملاقات با زندانيان پيش نيامد. متاسفانه هيات نتوانست به شهرهاي كردستان برود با توجه به اينكه تعداد اعدامي ها در كردستان بالا بود. پيش بيني مي كنيم كه هيات در كنفرانس مطبوعاتي اعلام كند كه براي ارائه گزارش نهايي به كميسيون حقوق بشر سازمان ملل ضرورت دارد كه يك يا دوسفر ديگر انجام شود. اعضاي اعزامي هيات كارشناسي حقوق بشر سازمان ملل متحد كه دو روز آخر سفرشان در ايران را مي گذرانند، سرانجام توانستند با شماري از زندانيان سرشناس ملاقات كنند. دكتر عبدالكريم لاهيجي، نايب رييس فدراسيون جوامع جهاني دفاع از حقوق بشر كه با اين هيات در تماس است، در مصاحبه با راديو فردا مي گويد: تا جايي كه ما خبر داريم با تمام زنداني هايي كه صورتش را داده بوديم ملاقات شده، از جمله با حجت الاسلام يوسفي اشكوري، دكتر ناصر زرافشان و آقاي علي افشاري و ديگران. از طرف خانم سازگارا اعلام شده كه شوهرش در بيمارستان بستري است و تقاضاي ملاقات كرده. سفر هيات به شيراز در رابطه با پرونده يهوديان ايراني بود و توانست با برخي از اين ها در خارج از زندان ملاقات كند. فكر مي كنم در مجموع اين بازديد در ارتباط با بازداشت هاي خودسرانه از موفقيت نسبي برخوردار بود. متاسفانه هيات نتوانست به شهرهاي كردستان برود. پيش بيني مي كنيم كه براي ارائه گزارش نهايي به كميسيون حقوق بشر سازمان ملل ضرورت دارد كه يك يا دوسفر ديگر انجام شود.