HIV Docs Detained in Iran: Press Conference in Mexico City
Posted on Wednesday, Aug 6, 2008 at 8:42 am by Kate Krauss
[Cross-posted on PHRfightsAIDS.org]
From left: Sarah Kalloch and Frank Donaghue of PHR and Joe Amon from Human Rights Watch.
Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) and Human Rights Watch organized an urgent press conference on Tuesday afternoon in Mexico City to call attention to the situation of two prominent Iranian AIDS physicians, Drs. Arash Alaei and Kamiar Alaei, frequent delegates and presenters at past IAS International AIDS Conferences, who were detained by Iranian security in late June, 2008.
The brothers remain incommunicado, their whereabouts unknown, without access to their attorney.
On Sunday, the Associated Press and Agence France-Presse cited Iranian news reports stating that the brothers have been charged with participating in “a velvet revolution,” partly due to their activities at international AIDS conferences, such as the one currently taking place in Mexico City. Dr. Arash Alaei had been slated to speak here on a panel on Thursday. Advocates will place a large color photo of him in his place and invite members of the press to join the discussion.
PHR, Human Rights Watch and other groups have launched an international web site and petition. Over two thousand people have already signed the petition calling for the doctors’ release.
“If international media reports are accurate, then the allegations made against the Drs. Alaei are illegitimate and politically motivated,” stated PHR’s CEO Frank Donaghue.
“The Iranian government must demonstrate that the current allegations are credible and ensure that the Alei brothers have access to legal counsel,” said Joe Amon, Director of the Health and Human Rights division at Human Rights Watch. “And they must recognize that these charges stifle the country’s efforts to effectively address AIDS and to serve as a model for the region.”
In conjunction with PHR and the HIV Medical Association, sixteen of the top infectious disease doctors in the world have written a letter to the Minister of Health and Medical Education in Iran on behalf of the doctors. This and other supporting documents are available at IranFreeTheDocs.org.
Physicians for Human Rights has a long history of intervening in cases of wrongful detention, and just released a major report on detention and torture sanctioned by the US government, Broken Laws, Broken Lives.
The case in Iran is receiving growing international attention; see, for example:
[...] [Cross-posted on IranFreeTheDocs.org.] [...]