13 Iranian Jews imprisoned; How you can act.
IMRA 6/9/99: "Amnesty International Appeal on Behalf of 13 Imprisoned Iranian Jews
Amnesty International is concerned that the 13 people named below may be at risk of
unfair trial and could face the death penalty if convicted. News reports citing the
Iranian authorities state that they have been accused of spying for Israel and the US, and
are to be prosecuted in a Revolutionary Court on espionage charges.
Espionage carries the death penalty in Iran. Lawyers and observers are excluded from
trials at Revolutionary Courts, where trials often fall short of minimum international
fair trial standards.
All 13, who lived in the Jewish communities in the cities of Shiraz and Isfahan, were
arrested around 21 March 1999, and are detained in Shiraz. They are thought to include
rabbis, religious teachers and community activists.
Most have been denied family visits and legal representation, and no bail has been set.
There has also been no official explanation of their initial arrest in March.
The detainees are;
Navid Balazadeh, 16
Nejat Beroukhim, 35
Farhad Seleh, 30
Shahrokh Paknahad, 29
Ramin Farzam, 35
Farzad Kashi, 30
Faramarz Kashi, 34 (brother of above)
Aasher Zadmehr (aka Shekasteh Band), 48
Nasser Yaghoub Levy Haim (Leveeim), 45
Javeed Beit Yaghoub, 40
Ramin Nemati, possibly 22
Danny Tefileen, possibly 28
Omid Tefileen, possibly 25 (brother of above).
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Iran's Jewish population of 20,000 to 30,000 is one of the largest in the Middle East.
Certain religious minorities are officially recognized in Iran, including Jews, Christians
and Zoroastrians.
Espionage is punishable by death in Iran. In 1997, two people were hanged after they
were convicted on espionage charges.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Please send telegrams, faxes, express/airmail letters:
- seeking urgent clarification of the charges brought against all 13 people;
- seeking assurances that all 13 will be allowed access to family and to independent legal
representation of their choice;
- as all 13 have been held in pre-trial detention for approximately 70 days already,
seeking assurances that trial proceedings will commence within a reasonable time.
APPEALS TO:
Leader of the Islamic Republic:
His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei
The Presidency
Palestine Avenue
Azerbaijan Intersection
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Telegrams: Ayatollah Khamenei, Tehran, Iran
Faxes: 011 98 21 650 203
(via Interior Ministry, ask for fax to be forwarded)
Salutation: Your Excellency
President:
His Excellency
Hojjatoleslam val Moslemin Sayed Mohammad Khatami
The Presidency
Palestine Avenue
Azerbaijan Intersection
Tehran, The Islamic Republic of Iran
Telegrams: President Khatami, Tehran, Iran
Faxes: 011 98 21 674 790
(via Foreign Affairs, ask for fax to be forwarded)
Salutation: Your Excellency
Head of the Judiciary:
His Excellency Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi
Ministry of Justice
Park-e Shahr
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Telegrams: Head of the Judiciary, Tehran, Iran
Salutation: Your Excellency
Minister of the Interior:
His Excellency Moussavi Lari
Ministry of the Interior
Dr Fatemi Avenue
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Telegrams: Interior Minister, Tehran, Iran
Faxes: 011 98 21 899 547/650 203
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
Minister of Foreign Affairs:
His Excellency Kamal Kharrazi
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Sheikh Abdolmajid Keshk-e Mesri Avenue
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Faxes: 011 98 21 674 790
Mr Mohammad Hassan Zia'i-Far
Secretary, Islamic Human Rights Commission
PO Box 13165-137
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Faxes: 011 98 21 204 0541
In lieu of an embassy, please send to:
Iranian Interests Section
2209 Wisconsin Avenue NW
Washington DC 20007
This information is from Amnesty International's research headquarters in London, England.
A.I. is an independent worldwide movement working for the international protection of
human rights. It seeks the release of people detained because of their beliefs, color,
sex, ethnic origin, language or religious creed, provided they have not used nor advocated
violence. These are termed prisoners of conscience.
It works for fair and prompt trials for all political prisoners and works on behalf of
such people detained without charge or trial. It opposes the death penalty, extra-judicial
executions (political killings), 'disappearances' and torture or other cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment of all prisoners without reservation.
Amnesty International promotes awareness of and adherence to the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights and other internationally recognized human rights instruments, the values
enshrined in them and the indivisibility and interdependence of all human rights and
freedoms."
Iranian Jews are not spies
ARUTZ7 6/9/99: "Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon declared today that none of the 13
Jews arrested in Iran was involved in espionage, and none of them has, or has had in the
past, any connection with any Israeli intelligence agency. In an official announcement,
the Foreign Ministry stated, "Israel is worried about these arrests which have
occurred only because the people are Jewish. Israel is deeply concerned about their fate
and demands their immediate release."
The Iranians are now relating to the arrested Jews as Israeli Mossad agents, although
Israel denies any such connection. An American State Department spokesman said yesterday,
"These arrests send a very disturbing signal. We call on the government of Iran to
ensure no harm comes to these individuals and to release them."
In the U.S. Congress, Representative Benjamin Gilman of New York, Chairman of the House
Foreign Relations Committee, said that he demands to know what steps the American
government is taking to bring about their release.
Government officials of other countries have also expressed concern over the arrests.
Chief Sephardic Rabbi Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron said that the arrest of the Jews - more than
13, according to him - is part of an all-out program of aggression against the Jewish
community there.
"It is not mere chance that all of those arrested are rabbis and teachers,"
he said. The Rabbi said that he has not yet received responses from the international
public figures that he has contacted on this matter - among them King Hassan of Morocco,
Sheikh Tintawi of Indonesia, and the Pope..."
Iranian political reasons?
HA'ARETZ 6/10/99: "Internal struggles within Iran's leadership appear to be behind
the recent "exposure" of an alleged Jewish spy ring working for Israel,
well-placed sources told Ha'aretz yesterday.
The sources said they believed followers of Iran's spiritual leader Ali Khamenei were
responsible for the arrests. The assessment in Israel is that Khamenei's men, of the
conservative branch of the Iranian regime, are using the affair to embarrass the
comparatively moderate President Mohammed Khatami.
According to the sources, harming the Jews of Iran will tarnish Khatami's image in the
eyes of the United States and Europe, and thereby undermine his efforts to tighten Iran's
ties with the West. The security sources reiterated that the detained Jews have no
connection to Israel and that any attempt to depict them as Israeli spies is
"ridiculous."
Teheran radio yesterday denied, through a local newspaper, that it had reported the
arrests - but it did not use the opportunity to deny the arrests themselves. The station
said it had quoted a report by Israeli radio, not its own report. Meanwhile, U.S.
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright yesterday condemned Iran for prosecuting the 13
Jews.
Albright called the detentions "unacceptable" - a sign that the incident
could dampen tentative efforts to improve U.S.-Iran relations. The State Department issued
a statement saying it was "aware that 13 members of the (Iranian) Jewish community
have been arrested and are expected to be charged with espionage for Israel and the United
States. These arrests send a very disturbing signal.
We call on the government of Iran to ensure no harm comes to these individuals and to
release them."
White House Press Secretary Joe Lockhart denied charges that the detained Iranians were
spying on behalf of Washington. "These charges are entirely without foundation,"
he said in a statement. He said the United States was "deeply troubled" by the
arrest of the group, which included several religious leaders.
"We call on the government of Iran to uphold its state commitment to protect the
rights of all religious and ethnic minorities by releasing these individuals and ensuring
that no harm comes to them," Lockhart said.
Representative Brad Sherman (D-California) yesterday submitted a bill calling for a
harsh condemnation of Teheran. The bill states that over the past five years five Iranian
Jews have been executed without proper legal procedure.
Sherman's office told Ha'aretz that this information had been received from the Jewish
community of Iran. German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, meanwhile, said yesterday that
Bonn was "gravely concerned" by the arrest of the 13 Jews.
"This is indeed a very grave incident, and the charges of espionage that have been
leveled against the Jews, well we see these charges with great skepticism," Fischer
said…
Israel has also asked Pope John Paul II and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to contact
Iran on behalf of the detainees.
U.S. officials said they had learned of the arrests in April, but kept quiet at the
request of those seeking the prisoners' release. In 1997, Iran hanged two people convicted
of spying for Israel and the United States."
ARUTZ7 6/10/99: "IDF officials suspect that both Egypt and the Palestinian
Authority knew of the existence of the large tunnel uncovered yesterday in Rafiah, Gaza.
The tunnel enabled the PA to smuggle into the autonomous areas anti-tank missiles,
terrorist suspects and people whom Israel has forbidden to enter the PA autonomy. An IDF
official declared that Israel has discovered 23 such tunnels in the past two years."
Soldier killed in air raid
ARUTZ7 6/10/99: "Israel Air Force jets attacked terrorist strongholds in the Biet
Yahon region in Lebanon this morning. The attacks follow the death last night of Lt. Ro'eh
Keller, 21, whose Egoz reconnaissance mission encountered a terrorist cell in the in the
eastern section of the southern Lebanese security zone.
Another soldier was lightly injured in the incident. Keller's funeral will be held at
5:30 PM this afternoon in the Kiryat Sha'ul military cemetery. The army will attempt to
rescue this morning an IAF Cobra helicopter that - due to technical problems - was forced
to land close to the scene of the battle last night. Two of the helicopter pilots were
lightly injured in the incident and were rescued by another helicopter."
Drought and crop failure!
ARUTZ7 6/10/99: "98% of Israel's wheat crop was ruined this year because of the
lack of rain. At an emergency meeting of agriculturalists and water experts last night in
Tel Aviv, it was announced that some 150,000 extra tons of flour will have to be imported
from the U.S. Kineret Administration head Tzvi Ortenberg warns of "public
apathy" regarding the water shortage. "Some 50 million cubic meters of water -
30 centimeters of Kineret height - could have been saved this year if every home would
have carried out water conservation measures," he said."
Barak analysis, in depth
MA'ARIV 6/4/99: "Ehud Baraq hates feeling pressured. He likes to take his time, to
think things over quietly, to consult (but not always listen), and then to decide. He
abhors predetermined timetables, and presenting him with a deadline in the form of an
ultimatum is pointless. He will reject it. He only slipped up on one thing: He will have
to get the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] out of Lebanon within one year.
This is an ultimatum that he gave himself. Most regrettably, he did this on television.
True, it happened before the elections and marked the start of his takeoff in the polls.
Now, however, the elections are behind him and the clock is ticking. Baraq, who has built
a reputation as someone who keeps his word, will have to uphold this pledge.
All the in-depth surveys indicate that Lebanon is the top priority of the Israeli
public. Dr. Ya'aqov Katz, Binyamin Netanyahu's pollster, showed the outgoing prime
minister regular, periodic surveys, conducted throughout Netanyahu's three years in
office.
In all of these surveys, including those held during periods of relative quiet in south
Lebanon, between 80 and 90 percent of the respondents noted that Lebanon was the problem
that bothered them most. More than Palestinian terrorism, more than religious-secular
relations, more than unemployment. Unless Baraq keeps his promise, he may find himself in
the same unfortunate predicament as former US President George Bush who said: "No new
taxes. Read my lips." Bush didn't bother to keep his promise and was sent packing.
Ehud Baraq knows the Syrian issue from close up. When Israel and Syria held hectic
negotiations at Wye Plantation, during the time of the Peres government, Baraq was foreign
minister. Uri Savir handled the negotiations at the time but made sure to update Baraq
(and today he is happy that he did so).
Already back then, Baraq formulated a carefully thought out position on any future
arrangement with Syria. The following article is based on discussions held during the Wye
Plantation talks and on documents that Baraq compiled at the time, as well as discussions
and consultations he has held with his associates since then.
Baraq's position on Syria and Lebanon can be summed up as follows: He opposes a
unilateral Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon. Baraq will be ready to descend from the
Golan Heights. He will not allow the Syrians to dip their feet in Lake Tiberias. Baraq has
a prepared package of security arrangements with timetables to fit.
According to Baraq's plan, the withdrawal from Lebanon will come in the wake of a
Syrian-Israeli declaration of principles and the start of negotiations on a peace
arrangement. It will look like this: In the first stage, Israel will recognize in
principle Syria's sovereignty over the Golan Heights.
Afterwards, the negotiations themselves will be resumed. At the same time, the IDF will
begin pulling out of south Lebanon with Syria's agreement and with the cooperation of the
Lebanese Army and international forces that will assume responsibility for the evacuated
areas. Meanwhile, Israel and Syria will reach an agreement in principle.
This agreement will stipulate that Israel will withdraw from the Golan Heights and
return it to Syria, conditional on rigorous and strict security arrangements. The United
States will play a crucial role at this stage.
The evacuation of the Golan Heights will take place in two stages: The lion's share of
the Golan Heights will be restored in the first stage. The promontory ridge area will only
be returned in the second stage (after five years, for example). Until then, relations
between the two countries will be more firmly established.
The problem: How does one prevent the Syrians from dipping their feet in Lake Tiberias?
One possible solution is to create a narrow strip of land, 2-3 km wide, along the
shoreline of Lake Tiberias' eastern bank. This strip will be completely demilitarized for
a long time (50 years, for example).
The intention is that it will not only be free of any weapons whatsoever but will also
be completely uninhabited. Syria will have sovereignty over the area, but to all intents
and purposes it will be empty.
The second possibility: As the droughts have caused Lake Tiberias to recede along its
eastern bank, the Syrians will still be far from the shoreline even if they return to the
4 June 1967 borders. At the same time, engineering work will be carried out to divert the
water westward and prevent Lake Tiberias from flowing back to its previous shoreline even
in rainy seasons.
That will enable us, in essence, to square the circle. The principle itself is very
important to Baraq: "Yes" to withdrawal from the Golan Heights; "no"
to Syria reaching Lake Tiberias.
Security arrangements: Now it can already be disclosed that while Binyamin Netanyahu
was busy denying the contacts he held with Syria throughout his entire term in office, the
defense establishment (on the instructions of former Defense Minister Mordekhay) prepared
an orderly file with the package of security arrangements that are necessary in any
arrangement with Syria that includes an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights.
The package includes the (astronomical) costs that the United States will have to bear.
Baraq is familiar with this package of security arrangements. He has his own ideas.
The prime minister-elect will aspire to retain Israeli teams at two or three early
warning stations on the Golan Heights (on Mount Hermon, Avital, and Bantal). At the same
time, Baraq will coin the term "transparency": the demilitarized zone on the
Syrian side will be totally transparent to Israeli eyes.
There will be joint jeep patrols by Syrian and Israeli officers, unscheduled
inspections, other surprises, and observers. The principle will be to prevent a situation
in which the Syrians will be able to secretly operate on the Golan Heights (or behind it).
The Syrian Army will be limited in the scope of armored forces it will be permitted to
deploy between Damascus and the Golan. Baraq is talking about only one division. Syria's
tanks will be parked in hangars, and their ammunition will be kept in bunkers at least 300
km away.
The demilitarization key will work in Israel's favor. The ratio discussed at Wye
Plantation was 6:4, and Baraq will seek to increase it to 2:1 (for every demilitarized km
on Syria's side, there will be 500 meters in Israel).
Israel will get a hefty compensation package from the United States. In addition to the
massive economic aid (we are talking about billions of dollars) needed in order to
relocate bases from the Golan to other locations and to build advanced early warning
stations on the hilltops in the Galilee, Israel will also receive J-Stars spy planes,
real-time access to satellite information, and other means.
Baraq has still not reached a decision on the toughest issue of them all: the
deployment of US soldiers on the Golan Heights. Neither is his position on a defense pact
between Israel and the United States clear yet.
This is Baraq's plan for an accord with Syria. It is still open to changes. The goal:
To resume the negotiations within a short time, reach a declaration of principles within
less than a year, and to begin, in parallel, withdrawing from Lebanon...
It is already clear that Baraq will also serve as defense minister. It now transpires
that he will also be foreign minister to all intents and purposes and will also be in
charge of the negotiations. He will direct, guide, determine, consult, think, and decide.
He doesn't think he will encounter any problems.
As far as he is concerned, running such a tight ship is preferable to an anarchic
situation in which the prime minister expends all his energy trying to restore some order
to the mess. Baraq intends to recruit the best people. He will also have a plethora of
secret envoys. Keep your eyes on Itamar Rabinovich, for example.
And also Attorney Gil'ad Sher. Baraq told some of his close associates this week that
Sher is designated for a senior position on the negotiating team with Syria. Apparently,
Sher could turn into Ehud Baraq's Yitzhaq Molkho.
Baraq and Sher go back 25 years...Sher, who also worked as a journalist and editor,
owns a successful law firm in Ramat Gan and Jerusalem. He specializes in international
law. His expertise in this field has been exploited by the IDF and the defense
establishment. In the negotiations on the Oslo B agreement, Sher's special project was to
formulate the security addendum.
He was later temporarily assigned to the IDF's Planning Branch, where he served as
Major General 'Uzi Dayan's special adviser. Recently, he and Ehud Baraq have drawn closer.
During the election campaign, Sher's office provided various services to One Israel,
including registering it with the Party Registrar.
Ehud Baraq intends to bring in other people like Sher. All the criticism to the effect
that he is forming a 'General Staff' at the prime minister's bureau is rejected with cool
derision. He has no problem with entrusting Uri Sagi, Yosi Peled, Ori Or with special
tasks. These are the people who grew up with him. They are all part of the brotherhood of
generals and, most important, he believes in them..."
Day of Wrath apathy
Amman's AL DUSTUR 6/7/99: "The Palestinian Day of Wrath ended in almost nothing.
Barring some televised reports and dreary Arabic press coverage, there was no real wrath.
The Israeli excavators continued to etch the Israeli facts on Palestinian territory, and
NATO attacks on Yugoslavia smothered the roaring of these excavators.
The Palestinian anger did not stop the routine life in the greater Arab homeland. There
were no perceptible reactions even within the Palestinians in the diaspora. Moreover, the
Day of Wrath was viewed with bitter irony by the Palestinians inside Palestine.
The indignant masses looked around them and did not find a single Palestinian Authority
[PA] official sharing their indignation. The Palestinian newspaper Al-Ayyam exploited this
occasion to speak of a different kind of anger engendered by the participation of
thousands of Palestinian laborers in the building of these same settlements which caused
the anger of both the people and the PA.
These laborers probably cannot find any other job to provide them with subsistence.
Perhaps nobody likes to broach this painful subject. Nevertheless it is a fact which has
prompted a nationalist paper, such as Al-Ayyam, to raise this shameful subject on the Day
of Wrath, accusing the PA of failure to act and questioning the PA's "inability to
provide work for the 71,000-82,000 laborers who work in the settlements to make ends meet
and survive instead of helping in constructing settlements on their own land and burying
their dream of establishing their free and sovereign state."
The paper lashes out at the white-collar employees, those who arrange symposia,
conferences, and speeches which seek to convey a weak, insufficient message.
The paper asks: When will this stop? Do we have to rely on the crumbs that Baraq might
provide? The paper also asks: Where is the opposition? Do we have to await permission to
resist?
The Palestinian paper dared to say what many others failed to say. Facing the painful
facts is a hundred times better than inventing days of disconcerted anger, now that the
genuine anger created by the intifadah has been emptied of any content and that the hands
of the resistance have been tied by arrests, harassment, and "security
cooperation" with the enemy."
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