Controversy Surrounds Death of Iranian Doctor

Controversy Surrounds Death of Iranian Doctor

By Bobby Rajabi
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran – Authorities in Iran will investigate the death of a young doctor who testified about prisoner abuses before the Iranian Parliament. Reformist web sites allege that Dr. Ramin Pourandarjani was killed in order to keep him quiet. Pourandarjani’s testimony came in the wake of Iran’s disputed presidential election. The websites claim that he was the only independent witness to be able to verify the torture charges.

Pourandarjani’s body was found November 10 in his room at a health center in Tehran’s police headquarters. Iran’s Chief of Police said on November 18 that the doctor had committed suicide as a result of depression caused by his facing five years in prison. It was not specified what crime he was being accused of.

The police chief’s statement regarding suicide contradicted earlier statements by authorities who said that the young doctor died in his sleep of a heart attack at the Tehran police medical center. Anti-government sites claim that the authorities are involved in a cover up. Additionally, Pourandarjani’s friends claim that he told them that he was a witness to alleged police misconduct at Kahrizak prison.

Pourandarjani attended to prisoners at Kahrizak, a prison that was shut down in July after several prisoners died there. He worked there as part of his military service. Pourandarjani, according to opposition websites was arrested and held for a week by authorities who were pressuring him to change his account of what happened at Kahrizak.

The twenty six year old doctor treated anti-government demonstrators at Kahrizak. The prisoners were rounded up in a crackdown on the opposition that followed Iran’s June presidential election. The opposition disputed the election result, contending that that the rigged election allowed Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad to prevail.

Iran formed a parliamentary committee to look into the post-election violence that is now planning on issuing a report on Kahrizak prison. Iranian media reports that at least three protesters died at Kahrizak under suspicious circumstances. Among the three was the son of a former senior Health Ministry official. The former official claims that his son was tortured to death. Iranian authorities attributed all three deaths to meningitis.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Suspicions Over Iran Doctor’s Death – 19 November 2009

New York Times – Iran: Doctor’s Death Raises Questions – 19 November 2009

Amnesty International USA – Iranian Authorities Must Investigate Death of Detention Centre Doctor – 18 November 2009

Washington Post – Mystery Surrounds Iranian Military Doctor’s Cause of Death – 18 November 2009

European Human Smuggling Operation Broken Up

By David Sophrin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

LONDON, United Kingdom – European Union and numerous national law enforcement agencies arrested 23 gang members on Tuesday suspected of transporting more than 2,000 illegal immigrants into Europe.

Suspects were arrested in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Italy.  Ocriest, French immigration enforcement agency, as well as law enforcement agencies from a number of other European nations, coordinated the investigation and arrests.  The investigation that led to these arrests began over eighteen months ago.  Eventually a smuggling operation, entering the continent in Turkey, then moving to Greece, Italy, Germany and eventually their final destination nations, was uncovered.

Arrests made by the UK’s Serious Organized Crime Agency also confiscated identity documents, cell phones, and cash.  Overall, 13 people were arrested in France, four in the UK, two in Greece, two in the Netherlands and one in Italy.

The immigrants that were smuggled into Europe by the gang members were largely from Iraq and Afghanistan.  Those that were smuggled in paid up to 15,000 euros for transportation from Iraq to Europe.  For additional payments, these immigrants were able to have a personal escort and transportation to their final destination.  During one of the arrests of suspects in the UK, seven illegal immigrants were detained.

The EU estimates that there are approximately 8 million illegal immigrants in Europe.  According to Mikael Jensen, deputy head of Europol’s Crimes Against Persons Unit, most individuals smuggled into Europe within the last three years have been Iraqi.  These arrests mark the third operation conducted by Europol since mid 2008 against illegal human smuggling networks.  This past June Europol arrested 75 in another smuggling network which brought in immigrants from Iraq.

These coordinated efforts by European government investigations come at a time when there is increased domestic political pressures to counter the increased illegal immigrant populations, and the impact they have in the areas of national security and employment, in their respective countries.

For more information, please see:

VOXY – 22 People Smugglers Arrested – 18 November 2009

TAIWAN NEWS – France: Illegal immigration network dismantled – 18 November 2009

AHN – Coalition of European Law Enforcement Groups Arrest 23 In Human Trafficking Ring – 17 November 2009

BBC – Traffickers targeted in EU raids – 17 November 2009

REUTERS – Police nab smugglers who brought 2,000 into EU – 17 November 2009

Lebanese Domestic Workers Face Deadly Month

By Brandon Kaufman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BEIRUT, Lebanon– On November 9, Human Rights Watch reported that eight women migrant workers died during October 2009, a rate that is believed to be disproportionately high given that an estimated two hundred thousand domestic workers are currently employed in Lebanon.  The migrant workers primarily come from Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Ethiopia.

Of the eight deaths, four were classified by police reports as suicides, while three were classified as work accidents and one cause of death was said to be from a heart attack.  The police reports noted that six of the eight deaths occurred when the workers either fell or jumped from high places.

Nadim Houry, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch said that “the death toll last month is clear evidence that the government isn’t doing enough to fix the difficult working conditions these women face.”  Houry further mentioned that “the government needs to explain why so many women who came to work in Lebanon end up leaving the country in coffins.”  As one diplomat at the consulate from the country where one of the dead women came told Human Rights Watch “these women are under pressure, with no means to go away.  Their passports are seized and they are often locked away in their employer’s house.  It is like they are living in a cage.  Human beings need to mingle with others; otherwise they lose their will to live.”

During 2006, the labor ministry in Lebanon began an official steering committee aimed at remedying the treatment of domestic migrant workers.  Then, in January of this year, the labor ministry introduced a contract that clarifies terms and conditions for domestic workers.  The new contract puts limits on such things as the maximum number of daily working hours as well as new standards for oversight within the country.

Despite these standards though, the migrant workers are not covered under Lebanon’s labor law, and consequently, there is not much in the way of enforcement for newly adopted principles aimed at helping domestic migrant workers.

For more information, please see:

Los Angeles Times- Clear Pattern of Migrant Worker Deaths Alarms Rights Advocates– 10 November 2009

Human Rights Watch- Lebanon: Deadly Month for Domestic Workers– 9 November 2009

Human Rights Watch- Lebanon: Migrant Domestic Workers Dying Every Week – 24 August 2008

World Questions Freedom of Speech in Vietnam – Facebook Censored

By Michael E. Sanchez
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

HANOI, Vietnam– Vietnamese officials have denied allegations about the intentionally censoring of Facebook, the social networking site. The state owned internet service provider FTP announced that there are negotiations with foreign companies to solve existing faults in the network to ensure access to Facebook’s US servers.

Many of the one million users in Vietnam have been reporting problems for days in accessing the recently launched Vietnamese –language version of Facebook. In addition, employees at web-management firms have said that the government ordered them to block access to the social networking site. It remains unclear the nature of the malfunctions.

Facebook is a global social networking site where users can manage their personal profiles by adding videos, pictures, and other friends. Facebook is also renowned for the social groups, and forums of political nature where the users express their views in various issues.

Vietnamese authorities have requested internet users to restrict the online publishing of personal concerns, and political views. Many bloggers and online journalists have been arrested in the last few months.

Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights assures the right to freedom of opinion and expression. This right also includes the ability of individuals to express their personal opinions without interference, and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any means that the individuals wish.

This incident of internet censorship is not new to the country. Vietnam strictly regulates internet access through legal and technological means.  The government says that their major concern is the flow of obscene and sexually explicit material. However, according to Sr. Emily Nguyen, a resident of Vietnam, “most of the filtered sites contain politically or religiously sensitive materials that have been observed as undermining the Communist Party’s hold on power, while porn site can be accessed unrestrictedly.”

Earlier in the year, after Asia News published a story about persecution Catholic in the country, popular Catholic English-language sites were also blocked.

Other sites which have been blacklisted include websites for groups such as Human Rights Watch, Writers Without Borders, Amnesty International and other human rights groups.

For more information, please see:

Catholic News Agency- Vietnamese Government Expands Internet Censorship to Block Catholic Websites–  6 August 2009

Rocket News- Vietnam Denies Blocking Facebook – 20 November 2009

BBC News- Vietnam Government Denies Blocking Networking Site – 20 November 2009

United Nations- The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Beijing’s ‘Black Clinics’

By M.E. Dodge
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China –  Unlicensed clinics and illegitimate doctors are treating China’s ill citizens too poor to seek professional care. Beijing city government admits that the Chinese capital has a problem with illegal medical centers – known as black clinics. 

In 2008, Beijing city government closed down more than 3,300  unregulated, and sometimes dangerous, clinics. The facilities are set up to serve the capital’s poorest people, most of whom are migrant workers who have traveled to the city in search of work. They offer a cheaper alternative to the city’s government-backed clinics and hospitals. Though less expensive, the clinics are often dirty and lack the trained medical personnel to offer professional medical advice. It is also uncertain where these clinics obtain their medical treatment and equipment.

Most of these ‘black clinics’ are found on the outskirts of the city, often near large construction sites that can employ hundreds of migrant workers. The clinics are popular among migrant worker communities because most migrant workers are left out of the health care system in cities in China. According to one construction worker, Hu, he stated, “We never visit big hospitals. It costs at least 300 ($44) to 500 yuan ($73) to go there.” This figure is significant when laborers like Hu earn a monthly income of about 1,000 yuan ($146). As a result, a recent report issued by the Chinese government shows that unlicensed clinics and illegitimate doctors still rampant on 26 streets and compounds in seven districts, in Beijing, despite government attempts to rid the city of these illegal practices.

The problem persists even though China is currently in the middle of reforming its health care system and is trying to provide everyone with basic health insurance. Officials hope to persuade poorer people that they could be endangering their health by visiting black clinics.  According to one health authority, “As illegal medical practices are mainly concentrated in the hidden integration of urban and rural districts and rural areas, they are difficult to combat.”

Foreigners and many non-locals of Beijing have access to most of the public and private hospitals. It follows that, a number of foreign hospitals have become popular among expats and wealthy locals. Only by investing 20 million yuan ($2.9 million) can foreign-funded hospitals and clinics meet the government standards, in an attempt to ensure quality, and as a result, these foreign funded hospitals are more likely to accept private health insurance from abroad rather than their Chinese publicly funded counterparts – leaving poorer local citizens to fend for themselves.  

For more information, please see:

Global Times – Beijing outlines ills and cures for popular but bogus clinics – November 20, 2009

BBC News – Beijing’s poor visit illegal clinics  – November 20, 2009

China Daily – Illegal clinics put patients at risk – October 20, 2009