Ahmad Batebi
Student committee of
human right reporters
Let Us Not Concentrate! In Defence of Ahmad Batebi and Other Targeted Iranian Students!
It is perhaps surprising that in the days when much of the world is waiting to hear of further reactions to the Islamic Republic’s nuclear stance and possible further sanctions that may result , when the Iranian people desire nothing more than peace and peace of mind from the increasing fear and risk of a military (nuclear or conventional) attack on the country, we should write to you to ask - again - for your aid , voice in defence of one student activist: one Ahmad Batebi .
Yet we do so, caring about the individual, despite our increasing and menacing collective concerns - because this one individual has become a symbol of the student movement that was crushed in 1999, but furthermore exactly to counteract one of the reasons some prefer international tension and conflict to dialogue and cooperation, in order to avoid the real internal issues that must be dealt with - and the demands of the people for justice and freedom.
We are greatly concerned about the possibility of a war with and against
Ahmad Batebi is one of these examples, and his life is in danger. And recalling the fact that Akbar Mohammadi was killed on a similar night, as we all were busy concentrating on the war in
Film students see life through scenes and pictures.
“In the summer of 1999, 21 year old film student Ahmad Batebi arrived at a peaceful student protest held in front of his school at
Batebi who was trained as an emergency paramedic by the Red Crescent Society of Iran was assisting the injured when he came across a severely injured friend and held his friend's bloody t-shirt above his head to show the cruelty of the attackers. Several journalists and photographers took pictures of his gesture and one ( http://bateby.cjb.net/ ) eventually found its way to the cover of
Batebi was arrested on that day and was later brought to trial in front of the special ‘revolutionary court’ in
Ahmad Batebi has been subjected to solitary confinement, physical and mental torture during his captivity so far and will be a 36 year old man when and if released at the end of his sentence. All for a bloody t-shirt and a picture.” * Because the Islamic Republic too knows the value of a “good” picture!
As a result of much he has faced in the last 8 years and due to the extreme treatment he has met in prison, Ahmad Batebi has now experienced a very serious nervous breakdown and convulsions , within the past days. Through this , he has received little medial treatment . Following his family’s endeavours to shed light on Batebi’s recent condition and the growing concern that his life is in danger , his wife was seized and imprisoned, and released only after growing international pressure was applied and Ahmad Batebi himself began a dry hunger strike in his condition to save his wife. Despite all this, which has been darkening our recent days, still and even more worrying is that some “news” of Batebi’s worsening condition has been spread in advance, so that we must recall Akbar Mohammadi’s murder , shudder, and act.
Those in power in the Islamic Republic have via their reactions proven that they know it matters what the world thinks! Your voice has in the last years and months saved a number of lives of Iranian activists, and it can save Batebi and many others now.
In fact in the last months, we have come to experience a new surge (some would grotesquely say a second “cultural revolution” ) in hindering, fighting, arresting , harassing and eventually killing student activists in
Yet, who is the enemy of any state? Students who question? Professors who teach? Men and women who write and try to live according to what they believe? Activists who struggle for some very basic rights? Or those, be they from whichever side, who play the war card, toying with national and international security?
Thus, in the interest of international security as well the right of young mind to develop and the duty of young citizens to act upon the responsibility they feel for their people , please raise your voice , your pens, your arms and the “computer mice” to support Ahmad Batebi and other Iranian political prisoners and activists, in all the ways that you can.
We thank you for accompanying us in this endeavour to not be tricked into concentrating, and losing sight of the fact that we struggle on many fronts.
And as always we welcome all actions calling upon the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to meet its - national, humane - and international obligations and free all political prisoners and others held based on their religious or ideological opinion and belief.
Student Committee of Human Rights Reporters
