Kurdish-Iranian Journalist Incommunnicado

URGENT ACTION
Iran: Fear of torture or ill treatment/ arbitrary arrest: Adnan Hassanpour (m)
PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 13/017/2007 16 February 2007UA 39/07 Fear of torture or ill treatment/ arbitrary arrest

IRAN Adnan Hassanpour (m), journalist Adnan Hassanpour, journalist and advocate of cultural rights for Iranian Kurds, was reportedly detained on 25 January in Marivan, a small city in the northwestern province of Kurdistan. He is believed to be held incommunicado in the provincial capital Sanandaj, where he is at risk of torture or ill-treatment.

Up to six people, reportedly from the Ministry of Intelligence, are said to have telephoned Adnan Hassanpour’s mobile telephone on 25 January and told him to go to a certain place. When he followed their instructions, he was arrested. Security forces personnel reportedly took him back to his home where they removed his computer, notebooks and other personal effects prior to detaining him. It is believed that he was transferred the same day to a detention centre in the provincial capital, Sanandaj, around two hours away, where he is believed to be held incommunicado.

Adnan Hassanpour has reportedly been denied access to his family and his lawyer. His mother is said to have made several requests to Ministry of Intelligence officials to visit him, after travelling for more than two hours in cold winter weather to reach Sanandaj, which have all been denied. The officials have reportedly indicated that he will be detained for several more weeks, although he is not known to have been charged with any offence.Adnan Hassanpour is a former member of the editorial board of the Kurdish-Persian weekly journal, Aso (Horizon), which was closed by the Iranian authorities in August 2005. Adnan Hassanpour had previously reportedly been tried in connection with articles published in the journal.On 13 February 2007, over 20 Kurdish writers, journalists and artists issued a petition against the manner of his arrest.Kurdish human rights defender and journalist Sherko Jihani, who was arrested on 27 November 2006, is believed to have been tortured, including by being beaten severely, while held incommunicado at an unknown location, believed to be a detention facility belonging to the Ministry of Intelligence in Iranian Kurdistan. (See further information on UA 331/06, MDE 13/009/2007, 26 January 2007: http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGMDE130092007?open&of=ENG-IRN).