The vigil in New York City yesterday was amazing and moving and powerful. More than 30 doctors, medical and public health students, harm reduction experts, and friends and colleagues of Drs. Kamiar and Arash Alaei gathered outside the Iranian mission to the UN. People held photos of their detained friends and spoke eloquently about their work and their life – and their ability to bridge cultural divides and move medicine to new places. We know President Ahmadinejad heard our message: at private events in New York this week, he was in fact handed the petition, translated into Farsi and listing the names of the more than 3200 people from 85 countries who have signed on so far.

Below are Ali Khan’s remarks from yesterday. Ali is a medical student at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical School, is getting his MPP at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, and is on PHR’s Board.

As a physician in training, I believe it is imperative for health professionals to speak out in defense of the human rights of our colleagues at risk.

As an American Muslim, I am morally compelled to battle social injustice and inequality wherever it exists.

As a human being, I know a raw deal when I see it.

We convene here today, in the shadow of the Iranian delegation to the UN, to honor the work of two courageous Iranian colleagues. Drs. Kamiar and Arash Alaei, Iranian physicians and international leaders in HIV/AIDS care, should be standing alongside us – as they have so often in the struggle against HIV/AIDS. Dr. Kamiar Alaei should be in Albany now, continuing his second year of doctoral studies at the SUNY-Albany School of Public Health. Dr. Arash Alaei should be preventing and treating HIV/AIDS at a clinic in his home region of Kermanshah in northwest Iran. For the past three months, however, the Alaei brothers have been detained by the Iranian government in the notorious Section 209 of its Evin prison – detained without formal charge and without regard to their basic human rights.

The reason for that detention? Suspicion that their work in the international AIDS arena could inspire a “velvet revolution” – that is, their work in advocating for improved HIV/AIDS care in Iran, in collaborating with international non-governmental organizations and in teaching and recruiting others to careers in public health.

That’s not a crime – that’s good medicine.

I urge the leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran to release the Drs. Alaei so that they can continue their vital medical and public health work for the betterment of the people of Iran and the world. During this holy month of Ramadan, each day that the Alaei brothers are detained is a mockery of the Islamic tenets of equality, social justice and law – and represents a violation of their basic human rights.

Dare to act on this critically important issue. Visit IranFreeTheDocs.org.

I will continue to post the speeches from yesterday so that everyone can read about Kamiar and Arash, and who they are, and what the world is missing while they are languishing in Evin Prison, so keep reading, and feel free to share your thoughts and stories about the brothers here.

Ali Khan speaks at the vigil.