On July 18, the world convenes again for the XVIII International AIDS Conference in Vienna, Austria — but will be short two shining stars. Arash and Kamiar remain in jail today. The Iranian government accused the brothers of using trips to AIDS and public health conferences around the world to “foment a velvet revolution” and sentenced them to years in prison. We say treating AIDS is not a crime.

Friends and colleagues of the Alaeis will be in Vienna spreading the word about their case and advocating for their release, and PHR will be supporting them all the way.

Will you be in Vienna at the AIDS conference? To volunteer with these efforts, email Clint Trout at clintworldwide [at] yahoo [dot] com.

Want to take action to support the Alaeis? Sign our new petition, calling on the government of Iran to free the Alaeis.

Throughout their careers, the Alaeis have promoted public health diplomacy and supported the quest for shared solutions to the world’s shared disease burden. It is an outrage to call this treason. Medical professionals should not be put in prison for doing their jobs. Take action today and stand in solidarity with the Alaeis.

See the Background page for more information on their case.

We encourage you to mail Nowruz greetings to Kamiar and Arash, carefully following Amnesty’s instructions:

We ask you to mail cards with simple Nowruz greetings such as “Nowruz mobarak”. You can add “thinking of you at Nowruz time” or “hoping you are well.” You may send a greeting in either English or Farsi (Persian), but please do not mention Amnesty International (or PHR or any other organization) or specifics of the recipient’s case. Please also refrain from mentioning the political situation, human rights or US-Iran relations.

We suggest sending cards with pictures of landscapes, spring flowers or the like, in keeping with the spirit of the holiday and the message of hope and renewal. Please do not choose cards that have pictures of people or depictions of bottles of wine or other alcoholic beverages.

Mail Nowruz greetings to Drs. Kamiar and Arash Alaei:

Velenjak St., 16
Yasaman 2 Blvd
Floor 5, Apartment 3
Alaei
Tehran
Islamic Republic of Iran

Read more about the Alaeis’ AIDS and human rights work and their unfair imprisonment.

Forum a chance to urge freedom

Supporters of doctors jailed in Iran seek to rally support for their release

By PAUL GRONDAHL, Staff writer

First published: Friday, February 12, 2010

ALBANY — Dr. Kamiar Alaei, a University at Albany public health doctoral student and an internationally recognized AIDS physician, remains confined after 18 months in an Iranian prison with his brother, Arash, also an AIDS doctor.

On Monday, supporters will have an opportunity to press for their release during a session at the United Nations, which coincides with an appeal from the brothers’ lawyer and a lobbying campaign.

The brothers, who ran AIDS clinics in Iran for several years that offered treatment to IV drug users, were sentenced last year to 3 to 6 years on charges of plotting to overthrow the government after a one-day secret trial in December 2008. They were sent to Tehran’s notorious Evin prison and placed in solitary confinement for months.

The group organizing efforts to win the freedom of the Alaei brothers, Physicians for Human Rights, called the charges trumped-up and politically motivated. The group’s slogan is ”Treating AIDS is not a crime.”

“The Alaeis’ lawyer is hopeful about the appeal, but it’s important that people keep up the campaign to free the doctors because the human rights situation has gotten worse since the elections in June,” said Sarah Kalloch, director of outreach for Physicians for Human Rights.

The group is urging people to contact Susan Rice, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, to press for the brothers’ release during the Monday session, at which she can question Iranian officials on the country’s human rights record as part of a U.N. review.

“We want Ambassador Rice to use that opportunity to question the Iranians on the status of the Alaeis because it’s very hard to get information on what’s happening to them,” Kalloch said.

Supporters of the AIDS doctors have been harnessing the power of social networking media such as Facebook and Twitter. They’re hoping to win their release through a large-scale, relentless public opinion campaign, which is credited with helping to win the freedom of journalists Roxana Saberi and Maziar Bahari, who were also held in prison in Tehran. Bahari is a Newsweek reporter and filmmaker from Montreal who made a documentary on the Alaei brothers. He was released from Evin prison last fall after four months, just in time to witness the birth of his first child.

“Maziar continues to be a strong advocate for the release of the Alaeis,” Kalloch said. “Social networking media was very important in his release and we hope use it to free the AIDS doctors.”

Paul Grondahl can be reached at 518-454-5623 or by e-mail at pgrondahl [at] timesunion [dot] com.

How to help

To urge Ambassador Susan Rice to press Iranian leaders for the release of the Alaei brothers during a Monday U.N. session, call her office at (212) 415-4062.

More about the campaign to win the AIDS doctors’ release can be found on the Background page, as well as earlier blog posts.

February 11, 2010

Amb. Susan Rice
U.S. Mission to the UN
via fax:  212-415-4053

Dear Ambassador Rice,

I am writing to you concerning the forthcoming seventh session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. In this session, the human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran will be reviewed under the UPR procedure on February 15.

I am hoping the US delegation in Geneva will be able to register early in the speaker’s list, to ask questions of the Iranian delegation regarding the massive crackdown on demonstrators protesting against unfair elections in June 2009, as well as the long list of cases of political prisoners, including many who were imprisoned even before the current unrest.

Physicians for Human Rights is gravely concerned about the case of Drs. Kamiar and Arash Alaei, two brothers in Iran who were known internationally for their work in the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS. In June 2008, on the eve of their departure to an international conference in Mexico on HIV/AIDS, the two physicians were arrested and charged with “communication with an enemy government” and “seeking to overthrow the government“ under Art. 508 of the Iran Islamic Penal Code. They were also tried on other, unspecified charges not made known to their lawyer or themselves and for which no evidence was produced.

Their only offense in fact had been traveling around the world and liaising with health workers to find solutions to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. At a closed, one-day trial in December 2008 where they were denied due process and adequate defense, the brothers were sentenced to three and six years, respectively, and incarcerated in prison in Tehran. We fear for their health and their lives in the abusive Iranian prison system.

We also fear for the state of public health innovation in Iran. Iran can not equate public health diplomacy and the quest for shared solutions to the world’s collective disease burden to treason. It is a serious fallacy and a danger to the people of Iran to keep science stifled and dedicated medical professions in prison for doing their job.

Drs. Kamiar and Arash Alaei had close ties to the US because they had studied in the US for a time. Dr. Kamiar Alaei was — at the time of his arrest — a doctoral candidate at SUNY Albany School of Public Health. He received his masters in public health from the Harvard School of Public Health in 2007, and was named a 2008 Asia 21 Fellow by the Asia Society in New York. Arash Alaei later joined his brother in New York for a study tour, during which time they worked with harm reduction and prison HIV groups across the state to share knowledge on HIV prevention innovations.

Since their arrest, the Alaeis’ colleagues and classmates have campaigned vigorously on their behalf, gaining the support of the American Medical Association.  Together with other doctors in dozens of countries around the world they have been organizing Global Days of Action and contacting Iranian embassies to press for the release of the Alaei brothers. The New York Academy of Sciences also gave the Alaei brothers the 2009 Heinz R. Pagels Human Rights of Scientists Award.

In recent weeks, there has been some indication that the Iranian government may be prepared to release some political prisoners. During this time when Tehran may be willing to make concessions, we urge you to use your good offices to ensure that the case of the Alaei brothers is included on the list of cases and ensure that their plight is remembered.

We hope that your delegation can find ways to mention the plight of the Alaei brothers in public questions and statements and in bilateral negotiations at the UN Human Rights Council. The case of these two doctors has been submitted to the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, as they defended the right of HIV/AIDS patients to obtain access to health care and remain free of discrimination and persecution.

If you would like further information on Drs. Kamiar and Aresh Alaei, visit http://iranfreethedocs.org

Sincerely,

A.  Frank Donahue, CEO
Physicians for Human Rights

We say: Treating AIDS is not a crime.

(For more on the Alaeis’ story, see Background)

Now, the UN is reviewing Iran’s human rights record — and we need the US and other governments to stand up for the rights of these two Iranian physicians. Join us TODAY for a National Call-In Day to free Arash and Kamiar Alaei.

The UN Universal Period Review is a new mechanism that reviews the human rights record of every country, once every four years. Iran is up for review during the 7^th Session on the UPR, which runs Feb 8- 19, 2010.

Member states can pose questions to the Iranian delegation on February 15^th. Ask UN Ambassador Susan Rice to ask about the Alaei brothers, and to urge Iran to grant their appeal and release them. If you are not from the US, please convey similar requests to your UN representatives.

Call Ambassador Rice today at 212-415-4062 and use the following script. You have just 16 seconds: make them count!

Ambassador Rice, my name is ______ and I am from city/state or country. During the Universal Periodic review, please urge Iran to free Drs. Kamiar and Arash Alaei, who have been imprisoned in Iran since 2008. Treating AIDS is not a crime: please urge their release during the UPR this month.

PHR is sending formal letters to Ambassador Rice and other key UN representatives about the UPR and the Alaeis, which will give these leaders more details about Kamiar and Arash and their case, but we need you to add your voice to the call for their release.

Take part in the National Call-in Day today–16 seconds can make a big difference for Kamiar and Arash. Call Ambassador Rice today at 212-415-4062 — and tell six friends to do the same. We must tell Iran: Free the Alaeis. Treating AIDS is NOT a Crime!

In the meantime, we are gearing up for action around the UN Universal Periodic Review, a mechanism that evaluates the human rights record of every country every four years. Iran will be reviewed February 15, 2010. We’ll need your help to make sure the Alaeis are on the agenda.

To highlight their case, we are organizing a National Call-in day next week — check back here for details on how you can contact UN Ambassador Susan Rice and urge her to ask the Iranian delegation about the Alaeis, and demand their release.

Lawyer says two Iranian doctors may soon be released on appeal

By Farah Stockman

Globe Staff / January 23, 2010

WASHINGTON – Two celebrated Iranian AIDS doctors with ties to Boston who were convicted in Iran of trying to overthrow the regime could soon be released from prison on appeal, according to their lawyer.

“Their case is very hopeful,’’ attorney Masoud Shafie said in a recent telephone interview from Iran.

Kamiar Alaei, who earned a master’s degree from the Harvard School of Public Health, and his brother, Arash Alaei, started a string of AIDS clinics in Iran and participated in the first State Department-funded exchange program with Revolutionary Iran in 2006, which included tours of medical facilities in Boston and meetings with Boston-area doctors.

Initially, the Iranian government appeared to support their work. But in June 2008, they were arrested and accused of “communications with an enemy government’’ and “seeking to overthrow the Iranian government.’’

In January 2009, after a one-day trial, Kamiar was sentenced to three years in prison and Arash was sentenced to six, according to Physicians for Human Rights, a Cambridge-based organization that has been petitioning for their release.

Thousands of people from around the world and hundreds from Boston’s medical community have organized events and written letters to push for their release, including former classmates at Harvard’s School of Public Health and the school’s dean, Barry R. Bloom.

“Their peers have kept their case in the news and on the front burner for human rights organizations, even though the human rights situation in Iran has gotten a lot more complex,’’ said Sarah Kalloch, director of outreach at Physicians for Human Rights.

Rumors of their release have been circulating for weeks.

In a recent telephone interview, Shafie, a prominent Iranian defense lawyer, said he launched an appeal “based upon the fact that America is not a hostile state and we are not at war with them.’’

The three-judge appeals panel accepted his request that the conviction be overturned, he said, and now he is waiting for final approval from the head of Iran’s judiciary, Sadeq Larijani.

It is unclear whether two others convicted with them – Silva Harotonian, a maternal health worker for an international organization, and Mohammad Ehsani, a filmmaker – will be released.

——————————————————————————–

(Cambridge, MA) – One year ago this week, Iranian authorities arrested Drs. Kamiar and Arash Alaei, internationally renowned Iranian HIV/AIDS physicians, for practicing medicine. On this somber anniversary for friends, family and colleagues of the Alaeis, Iran is witnessing increasing violence and a litany of alleged human rights abuses. As post-election violence in Iran continues, PHR urges the Iranian government to protect the human rights of everyone within its borders and to respect both international law and human rights provisions in Iran’s own constitution.

In the aftermath of Iran’s presidential elections, held June 12, 2009, hundreds of people have been detained, including Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari, a friend of the Alaeis, who directed a moving documentary in 2004 on their AIDS work, called Mohammad and the Matchmaker. Reports from Iran state that many demonstrators have been beaten, and some killed, while hundreds of others have been detained. The Iranian government has severely limited freedom of the press during this time, expelling foreign journalists and cutting off cell phone and internet access at various periods throughout the past two weeks. PHR is deeply concerned for the safety of everyone detained in Iran, including the Drs. Alaei.

On the one-year anniversary of their arrest, PHR renews our call to the Iranian government to release Arash and Kamiar Alaei so that they can continue their life-saving medical work in Iran and worldwide.

Background

After a perfunctory trial in December 2008, Kamiar and Arash were convicted of “communicating with an enemy government” and sentenced to three and six years, respectively, in Evin Prison in Tehran. The Alaeis’ crime: traveling the world and liaising with health workers across the globe to find solutions to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Said Sarah Kalloch, Director of Outreach at PHR:

Iran can not equate public health diplomacy and the quest for shared solutions to the world’s shared disease burden to treason. It is a dangerous and maddening fallacy and a danger to the people of Iran to keep science stifled and scientists in jail.

Protect the Rights of All

PHR also urges Iranian authorities to protect the human rights of all people in Iran during this post-election crisis. The Iranian authorities must respect the right to free assembly that is articulated in both International Human Rights Law and in the Iranian Constitution.

PHR is also concerned about reports of alleged violations of Medical Neutrality by the Iranian government. The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran has reported that people seeking medical attention for injuries suffered during demonstrations are being arrested in hospitals, and that doctors are being forced to report to state security any injuries that appear to be related to protests.

This puts doctors in Iran in a desperate position: obey the state or care for their patients. Ms Kalloch continued:

The Iranian Government must allow health professionals to treat patients regardless of their political leanings. Doctors have an ethical duty to prevent and limit suffering of patients in their care and a duty to practice medicine in a neutral way without fear or favor.

The need for human rights protection for the Alaeis, for our colleague Mazier Bahari, and for all Iranians, has never been greater. The Iranian Government must respect the universal freedoms and rights of its people as recognized by the international community and the laws of Iran.

But what you might not have seen is this amazing 2004 documentary Maziar Bahari directed for the BBC, Mohammad and the Matchmaker.

This 3-part film describes the innovative approach Drs Arash and Kamiar Alaei brought to their HIV/AIDS patients; moving beyond the traditional role of medical provider, providing social services to their patients and even helping them find love.

Please sign the petition and ask Iran to release the Drs Alaei so they can again take up their important work against HIV/AIDS.

The anniversary of Arash’s and Kamiar’s initial arrests and detention is coming up next week and it will be important for us to gain some attention on this unfortunate milepost. To do that we are in the process of collecting signatures from Muslim health professionals and organizations, as well as health professionals in predominantly Muslim countries, on a letter to the Head of the Iranian Judiciary. We will send a copy of this letter translated into Farsi on the Anniversary of Kamiar’s and Arash’s arrests next week. You can download a copy of the letter including signers to date in Arabic and English.

To make a powerful statement, we need many signatures on the letter, and I could use your help getting them.

Can you reach out to your network to contact Muslim health professionals and organizations and/or health professionals and organizations in predominantly Muslim countries?

I’ve written an email you can feel free to adapt to send to folks asking for their signatures. (English or Arabic) Ask your contacts to sign by emailing me at alikhan [at] phrusa [dot] org. You can sign the letter yourself by doing the same.

If you are on Facebook, please put a link to this post on your page to help us get the word out.

With your help, Drs Kamiar and Arash Alaei will soon be able to resume their lifesaving HIV/AIDS work.

Hello,

It’s painful to watch what’s happening.

I don’t want anything to do with what has been said this far, as I neither have the strength nor the resilience to face all these unfathomable events.

I only want to speak about what I have witnessed. I am a medical student. There was chaos last night at the trauma section in one of our main hospitals. Although by decree, all riot-related injuries were supposed to be sent to military hospitals, all other hospitals were filled to the rim. Last night, nine people died at our hospital and another 28 had gunshot wounds. All hospital employees were crying till dawn. They (government) removed the dead bodies on back of trucks, before we were even able to get their names or other information. What can you even say to the people who don’t even respect the dead. No one was allowed to speak to the wounded or get any information from them. This morning the faculty and the students protested by gathering at the lobby of the hospital where they were confronted by plain cloths anti-riot militia, who in turn closed off the hospital and imprisoned the staff. The extent of injuries are so grave, that despite being one of the most staffed emergency rooms, they’ve asked everyone to stay and help–I’m sure it will even be worst tonight.

What can anyone say in face of all these atrocities? What can you say to the family of the 13 year old boy who died from gunshots and whose dead body then disappeared?

The Iranian Government must allow health professionals to treat patients regardless of their political leanings. Doctors have an ethical duty to prevent and limit suffering of patients in their care and a duty to practice medicine in a neutral way without fear or favor.  Over the years PHR has helped develop the legal and medical frameworks for this principle of medical neutrality.

Of course, this is not the first time the Iranian Government has interfered with the treatment and care of patients. The Drs. Alaei are victims of the present regime’s crackdown on public health diplomacy.  As Iran confronts horrific post-election violence and an upswing in arrests, we hope that all those unfairly detained, including the Alaeis, will be released and find justice.