Two years ago, Dr. Kamiar Alaei and Dr Arash Alaei were arrested in Iran, just as they were preparing to leave for Mexico to present on their innovative harm reduction work at the XVII International AIDS Conference.

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.

Margaret Salmon, MD, was a worked with Dr Kamiar Alaei while he studied at HArvard School of Public Health.  She was a co-presenter and co-author of the research Dr Kamiar Alaei was scheduled to present at the International AIDS Conference in Mexico in August of 2008.  At the time of the conference, Kamiar was believed to still be held in solitary confinement in the notorious section 209 of Evin Prison.

Clint Trout was a classmate of Dr Kamiar Alaei while a student at Harvard School of Public Health.  Clint describes Kamiar as a true cultural ambassador who shared his love of Iran and Persian culture with fellow students.

If you are a friend or colleague of Drs Kamiar or Arash Alaei and would like to post a video please contact us.

Iran’s high HIV/AIDS rate is not only a health and societal problem, it’s a political one as well. Official Iranian numbers estimate that over 18,000 of the country’s people are living with AIDS. But a Tehran journalist writing under the pseudonym Mina Rasheed reports that the figure might be a low estimate because of stigma surrounding the disease.

“According to a statement by the World Health Organisation, we have to multiply this figure four or five times to reach the real figure of those infected with AIDS in Iran,” warned Masoud Mardani, a member of the AIDS National Committee.

Unfortunately, Rasheed writes, HIV/AIDS has also been politicized through the detention of Drs. Kamiar and Arash Alaei.

AIDS, however, is not just a social taboo; it has also become a political and security issue. In June 2008, two brothers who were pioneers in the fight against AIDS in Iran were arrested and charged with having contacts with “hostile governments”.

The Alaeis’ detention has hampered Iran’s capacity to meet the needs of AIDS patients and fight the spread of the disease. The Alaeis’ groundbreaking work included harm-reduction programs, regional health worker training sessions and participation in international health conferences.

The brothers had also written a five-year plan for tackling AIDS on a national level – a first for Iran.

Physicians for Human Rights has led a coalition of activists calling for the Alaei doctors’ release. PHR members have called attention to the case through a vigil and at the August 2008 17th International AIDS Conference in Mexico City, where Dr. Arash Alaei was scheduled to speak. In addition, thousands of concerned citizens, as well as Nobel Laureates, MacArthur Genius Grant recipients and international medical leaders have written letters to Iranian officials on the Alaeis’ behalf. You can join the movement by signing our petition.

Doctors Kamiar and Arash Alaei are prisoners of conscience who have been unfairly tried and jailed for their global AIDS prevention work, according to World Medical Association president Dr. Yoram Blachar. The WMA sent letters today to President Ahmadinejad, the Iranian judiciary and the ministry of information petitioning them to release the two doctors.

Dr. Blachar expressed concern that the Alaeis’s secretive trial did not allow them to refute government charges that their international AIDS work amounted to communication with an enemy government.

Like Amnesty International, we consider them prisoners of conscience, as they appear to havebeen imprisoned solely in relation to their work with international and specifically US institutions in the field of HIV and AIDS prevention and treatment.

We are deeply concerned that Dr Arash Alaei and Dr Kamiar Alaei were tried on 31 December in proceedings that fell far short of international standards for fair trial, as the evidence against them was not fully disclosed to the two men and their defence, and they did not have the right to call and examine witnesses.

In addition, Dr. Blachar urges Iranian authorities to respect the human dignity of the doctors until their release is secured.

We are therefore asking for the immediate release of Arash and Kamiar Alaei, as their imprisonment appears to be politically motivated and related to their international contacts in the context of their work on HIV and AIDS prevention and treatment.

We are also calling on the authorities to ensure that Dr Arash Alaei and Dr Kamiar Alaei are not tortured or otherwise ill‐treated. WMA condemns strongly torture as a flagrant violation of human dignity and human rights that cannot be justified under any political, military, religious or other cause.

Drs. Kamiar and Arash Alaei have been detained since June 2008 in Tehran’s Evin prison. On Dec. 31, they were sentenced to six and three years’ imprisonment respectively, for “cooperating with an enemy government.” Prior to their arrest, they orchestrated Iran’s first harm reduction programs,  spoke at health conferences globally and trained doctors in their region.

The jailing of Drs. Kamiar and Arash Alaei is likely to have a chilling impact on the progress of HIV/AIDS treatment. The two doctors were sentenced this month for their ties to the United States, which consisted of participating in international medical exchange programs. What’s more, the doctors’ detention is likely to deter other Iranian global health researchers from looking to the West for collaboration and innovation.

PHR’s Sarah Kalloch speaks both on the false accusations against the Alaeis and their important harm reduction work in a recent interview with Public Radio International:

The world needs the expertise coming out of Iran in terms of harm reduction programs.  Iran has the best programs on this in the world.  The United States needs information on this, Russia, all over the world we need their expertise.  And to imprison Kamiar and Arash for sharing their expertise, for sharing scientific knowledge coming out of Iran is really tragic.

There are certainly a great number of Iranian physicians and nurses and medical personnel who are doing great work.  And the Alaeis’ are part of a wonderful system; however what we are afraid of is that this arrest will put a chilling effect on every kind of public health exchange coming out of Iran.  And in fact, some of the most renowned world leaders on HIV/AIDS have spoken out in support of the Alaeis and have encouraged Iran to release them.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact:

Jonathan Hutson
jhutson [at] phrusa [dot] org
Tel: (617) 301-4210
Cell: (857) 919-5130

(Cambridge, Mass.) — Physicians for Human Rights is deeply concerned that purported ‘confessions’ that have been used by Iranian authorities to convict and sentence Dr. Kamiar Alaei and Dr. Arash Alaei may have been forcibly extracted.

Sources close to the trial have told PHR that one of the brothers had agreed under duress to make a videotaped statement prepared by Iranian authorities, who had promised that if he read the statement, both brothers would be set free.

Said Jonathan Hutson, J.D., Chief Communications Officer for PHR, “Given the isolation, months without charge and perfunctory trial, and the interrogation techniques and duress known to exist in other cases like this one in Iran, any purported ‘confession’ in the trial of the Alaei brothers must be viewed as tainted and unreliable.” The brothers have been held in Evin prison since late June 2008.

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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.

amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, has issued a statement in support of Kamiar and Aresh Alaei.

NEW YORK, August 5, 2008—Kevin Robert Frost, CEO of amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, expressed deep concern today over the reported detention by the Iranian government of two Iranian doctors known for their pioneering work on HIV/AIDS.

Frost called the detainment of the two brothers Arash and Kamiar Alaei, “extremely troubling,” and called for the release of the two men, who were apparently arrested at the end of June.

“What we are talking about here are two prominent, apolitical HIV/AIDS physicians who are internationally recognized for their humanitarian efforts and work to improve public health,” Frost said. “It is of special concern that these two doctors, whose whereabouts remain unknown, disappeared prior to the International AIDS Conference (IAC) in Mexico City, where they were scheduled to speak about Iran’s HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programs.”

Frost said he is appealing to the Iranian government to disclose the whereabouts of Arash and Kamiar Alaei and to release them immediately so they can return to their lifesaving work. “Arash and Kamiar were sorely missed at the International AIDS Conference, and their absence is a striking reminder of the ongoing difficulties faced by people who are actively fighting HIV/AIDS in many parts of the world,” Frost said.

Dr. Adeeba Kamarulzaman, chair of the steering committee for amfAR’s TREAT Asia initiative, who established the Infectious Diseases Unit at the University of Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC), also called for the release of the two doctors while speaking this morning at the IAC.

“As a Muslim woman, I call on the Iranian government to release these brothers and allow them to continue their vital work,” Dr. Kamarulzaman said.

The International AIDS Conference, held every two years, is considered by many to be the most valuable opportunity for the presentation of important new scientific research and for productive, structured dialogue on the major challenges facing the global response to AIDS.

[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:

• Voice of America and
• Agence France Presse