This HIV/AIDS conference was missing something important: the passion, drive, and scientific minds of two tireless advocates and health care providers from Iran, Drs. Kamiar and Arash Alaei. They were not able to come to Vienna to share either their research or their passion for treatment and prevention because they have been in an Iranian prison since June, 2008. Their half day “trial” for “attempting to foment a velvet revolution” is widely considered by international organizations, such as Physicians for Human Rights and Amnesty International, as a grave miscarriage of justice.

Kamiar and Arash are inspirational young doctors who participated in designing and implementing Iran’s response to HIV/AIDS. A quick Google search of their names will show the kinds of project implementation as well as operational research they have conducted and published at previous conferences and in publications and documents. But it isn’t just data that draws people to Kamiar and Arash — it is the passion and commitment they bring to their work, and their great personal warmth. I became friends with Kamiar at the Harvard School of Public Health and with Arash during his frequent visits. Although I was impressed with their intellect and energy, it was their compassion for their patients which inspired me. However, it is Kamiar’s caring as a friend which I miss the most.

At the conference, their friends, including 5 of the plenary speakers, had the opportunity to call for their release. At the opening ceremony, Paula Akugizibwe, the Advocacy Coordinator at the AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa, asked “who are the criminals?” and said it was not doctors (Kamiar and Arash) who have “medical integrity” and the “courage and humanity to provide treatment to people.”

On Monday morning, right after President Bill Clinton spoke, Vuyiseka Dubula of South Africa, Secretary General of the Treatment Action Campaign, appealed to the Iranian government to release the Alaeis, saying “it’s not a crime to treat AIDS.” Anya Sarang of the Russian Federation, Program Director of the Russian Harm Reduction Network and President of the Andrey Rylkov Foundation for Health and Social Justice in Moscow, shared a picture of herself with the brothers. She discussed how important their early work in Iran was in showing that harm reduction programs actually work. She specifically asked the International AIDS Society to take a strong and public stance in calling for their release.

On Thursday morning, during the Jonathan Mann Memorial Lecture, Meena Seeshu of India, General Secretary of Sampada Grameen Mahila Sanstha in India, appealed to the conference attendees to show solidarity with the “wrongly imprisoned” Alaei brothers by signing the petition at iranfreethedocs.org. Finally, at the closing rapporteur’s session, Damon Barrett from the International Center on Human Rights and Drug Policy made his wish-list for what he hopes to see at the next International AIDS conference in 2012, in Washington, DC: the Alaei brothers long released and back to their work.

I share Damon Barrett’s hope that Kamiar and Arash will be able to return to their work and their lives, and that the same light will still be in their eyes.

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.

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.

“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.

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.

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.

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.

According to a press release issued today from the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, the mother of Arash and Kamiar Alaei recently broke her silence in an interview with Iranian news media. The press release stated that the mother told Rooz Online that her sons had been held for 63 days in solitary confinement and that she feared that they might be tortured to coerce false confessions on camera.

The brothers have been charged with communicating with an enemy government — charges which PHR has labeled illegitimate and politically motivated — as well as with secret charges which have not yet been made public. Kamiar and Arash have been sentenced to terms of three and six years respectively. They will serve their sentences in Evin prison. Their attorney plans to file an appeal; he has 20 days from January 20 to do so. According to their attorney, the brothers categorically deny the charges against them.

“If due process means anything, it means the right to know the charges, hear the evidence, and face the accuser,” said Hutson. “The Alaei brothers’ secret summary trial was marked by violations of due process rules outlined in the Iranian constitution and penal code, as well as those in international human rights law.”

Leading physicians, public health specialists and numerous medical and scientific organizations have publicly called for the brothers’ release. These include HIV/AIDS and health experts luminaries such as Global Fund Executive Director Professor Michel Kazatchkine; Partners in Health co-founder Dr. Paul Farmer; 2008 MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant recipient Wafaa El-Sadr, MD, MPH; Hossam E. Fadel, MD, of the Islamic Medical Association of North America; 1993 Nobel Laureate in Medicine Sir Richard Roberts PhD, FRS; and Ugandan AIDS pioneer Dr. Peter Mugyenyi.

“PHR and the thousands of medical and public health practitioners from across the globe who support Kamiar and Arash are devastated, dismayed and disgusted by these sentences,” said Sarah Kalloch, PHR’s Director of Outreach. “You cannot combat infectious disease without working in a global network. Iranian scientists need to be free to share ideas and best practices with colleagues around the world without fear of persecution, or the health of the Iranian people will suffer.”

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.

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.

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