Hassan Zarezadeh Ardeshir - Rooz Online - December 23, 2006
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| Ali Rza Quluncu - ASMEK's spokesperson |
Amnesty International, in a statement regarding the conviction of Reza Abbasi, a student and human rights activist from Zanjan, for insulting the leadership and propaganda against the regime, expressed concern. Amnesty International believes that this conviction is due to Abbasi's peaceful activities and his human rights work. Amnesty also expressed concern over the threats to Abbasi's family by security forces.
Reza Abbasi was first arrested in May 2004 for founding the Committee for the Defense of Political Prisoners of Azerbaijan, along with other founding members, Alirza Quluncu, Saeed Naeimi, and Ilgar Marandli. In connection with his activities and the Committee for the Defense of Political Prisoners of Azerbaijan (ASMEK), we conducted an interview with Alirza Quluncu, the spokesperson of ASMEK.
Mr. Quluncu, could you explain the sentence issued for Reza Abbasi?
Reza Abbasi is a member of ASMEK and also a member of the Office for Strengthening Unity. He has been imprisoned multiple times due to his activities, and now they have created very difficult conditions for him again. He spent about two months in solitary confinement and has been sentenced to one year in prison, six months of which is for insulting the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, and the other six months for propaganda against the regime. Interestingly, the Zanjan Ministry of Intelligence has asked Abbasi's family not to provide any information about his situation in prison.
What is the background and working method of the Committee for the Defense of Political Prisoners of Azerbaijan?
In the last decade, with the expansion of the discourse of equality and recognition of identities in Azerbaijan, the government has also increased repression and oppression in the region. However, since unfortunately, these repressions and pressures on political and intellectual activists in Azerbaijan have been met with silence from the media and human rights organizations in Iran, the need for establishing a regional organization to confront this boycott and work towards bringing the voices of dozens of political and ideological prisoners to the forefront has become a primary goal for human rights activists in Azerbaijan. Based on this, the Committee for the Defense of Political Prisoners of Azerbaijan was established in December 2002 and has had a significant impact as a human rights organization in breaking the atmosphere of repression and silence. Although the arrest and trial of four of the founders of the committee in 2004 created a temporary disruption in ASMEK’s activities, the committee reorganized and resumed its work with the efforts of others. Our working principles are as follows:
- Defending the rights of political and ideological prisoners in any possible way, regardless of their political or intellectual orientation.
- Providing accurate and documented information about violations of prisoners' rights and avoiding sensationalism.
- Creating communication and cooperation with other human rights organizations.
You mentioned that Iranian human rights organizations remain silent in the face of repression against activists in Azerbaijan. What do you mean by this?
Some groups and organizations that claim to defend human rights behave in a completely political way and sometimes, because they do not agree with the thoughts and ideas of political activists in Azerbaijan or, in their view, consider them opposed to their own beliefs and political principles, they remain silent in the face of violations of the civil rights of Azerbaijanis. Some opposition groups and media outlets even align themselves with the Islamic Republic in matters of repressing dissenters in Azerbaijan and call on the government to adopt more repressive methods. You probably remember one of these claims in a letter to Khatami calling for the banning of Turkish-language publications and the repression of Azerbaijani Turkish civil activists. Such methods certainly deepen the divide and prevent collective action. However, I am happy to say that we are now seeing signs of a shift in this type of attitude towards Azerbaijan’s activists.
Well, there is also the accusation that you only support activists from one region or one particular viewpoint.
Let me clarify. The nature of these two is different. As our committee’s name indicates, our area of activity is solely Azerbaijan. However, we are not indifferent to other regions, and we cover news to the extent of our ability. In the context of Azerbaijan, our approach is impartial to all ideologies and currents, and as a human rights group, we defend all those whose freedom is taken from them due to their thoughts, beliefs, or lifestyle.
What are the most important human rights violations in Azerbaijan?
In general, in Iran and other countries with autocratic governments, human rights are either not recognized at all or are only superficially mentioned in legal books. All the people of Iran share this issue; however, in Azerbaijan, the problem is exacerbated. The issue of the prohibition of education in the Turkish language is a fundamental problem and an ongoing violation of the human rights of the people of Azerbaijan. Other issues include the prohibition of naming children and public places in Turkish, which is a form of cultural genocide. The changing of historical names of cities, mountains, rivers, etc., is another issue. People in this region are not allowed to have cultural and scientific exchanges with their fellow countrymen across the border. The security approach to the movement of people between neighboring countries has severed their connections. Extra-legal restrictions on investment in Azerbaijan have led to reduced economic growth, increased unemployment, and consequently, migration to central cities of Iran, which indirectly results in "cultural assimilation." Repression and oppression in this region are also much harsher, but the more important issue is that these violations of human rights are intentionally or unintentionally ignored by some media and groups, and many people and intellectuals remain unaware of them. We expect this issue to receive more attention.
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