2.General Assembly, A/HRC/26/21, 2 June 2014 Messrs Pastor Behnam Irani, Pastor Saeed Abedini, Ayatollah Hossein, Ghazi Heidari, Houtan Kian and Mohammad Reza Pourshajari and Ayatollah Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi, all allegedly detained for their religious beliefs or for expressing their opinions, reportedly all face a high risk of dying in detention and are all in urgent need of medical attention.
A few were members of more newly formed spiritual groups, such as Inter-universalism, founded by Mohammad Ali Taheri. Additionally members of the official state religion Shia Islam, such as Ayatollah Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi, have at times been imprisoned for their expression of theological beliefs that challenge those endorsed by the Government.
A group of United Nations human rights experts today expressed alarm at the denial of medical care to two political prisoners in Iran who are at risk of dying in detention due to worsening health conditions.
The experts have made a number of urgent appeals to the Iranian Government about the denial of medical care and mistreatment of blogger Mohammad Reza Pourshajari and religious cleric Sayed Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi. However, a formal response from the Government to the most recent appeals is yet to be received.
5.General Assembly,A/HRC/25/60/Add.2,11 March 2013
The communication also refers to Ayatollah Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi who was sentenced to jail for acting against national security and not based on his beliefs in June 2007. Ayatollah Boroujerdi suffers from Parkinson�€™s disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, a heart issue, kidney stones, and breathing and walking problems. It is reported that Ayatollah Boroujerdi�€™s declining health is due to poor prison conditions, physical abuse, solitary confinement, and repeated torture and ill-treatment, and a lack of access to medical care.
Lastly, the Special Rapporteur wishes to highlight reports about Ayatollah Seyyed Hossein Kazemyani Boroujerdi, who remains in prison for his political opinions. Recent reports allege that Mr Boroujerdi�€�s health has continued to deteriorate and that he has insufficient access to medical treatment. In November 2011, his cellmate reportedly made an attempt on his life, an attack allegedly orchestrated by authorities; reports maintain that Mr Boroujerdi remains in danger. The Special Rapporteur reiterates his call for urgent adequate medical access for Mr Boroujerdi and for his immediate release.
The Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief sent a communication to the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran on 30 August 2007, 23
with regard to the trial of the Shi�€�a cleric Ayatollah Seyed Hossein Kazemeini Boroujerdi, allegedly in relation to his support for freedom of religion and the separation between religion and politics.
In its response dated 14 February 2008, the Government indicated that Mr. Boroujerdi had himself committed illegal acts of �€�incitement to violation�€�, including by openly stating that the Government of Iran was an oppressor and that judges were not competent to try him in court, repeating the claim that the Government had killed his father.
According to the information received:Ayatollah Sayed Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi was sentenced to 11 years imprisonment in 2007. There are reports that he has been subjected to torture and ill-treatment since his arrest and that he has been reportedly denied adequate treatment for Parkinson's Disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, kidney disease, asthma and a heart condition. He has been held in solitary confinement since 27 January 2009.
Ayatollah Sayed Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi is an advocate for democratic elections in Iran. On 1 May, he wrote a letter to the United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, requesting that international observers be sent to Iran, in an effort to assist the Iranian people in holding an open referendum. As a result, he was subjected to beatings on 5 May 2009 and began a hunger strike. Since that day, he has been deprived of family visits, phone calls and communication with his lawyer.
9. General Assembly, A/HRC/14/26/Add.1, June 18, 2010
After that, he began a hunger strike. Since that day, he has been deprived of family visits, phone calls and communication with his lawyer.
In view of his reported conditions of detention, including solitary confinement, the reported beatings he suffered from, and the denial of medical treatment, concern is expressed for Ayatollah Sayed Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi's physical and mental integrity. Further concerns are expressed that the reported beatings and denial of further family visits and access to legal counsel represent reprisals for addressing by letter the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
10.General Assembly, A/HRC/14/19/Add.1, 7 May 2010
Ayatollah Boroujerdi is an advocate for democratic elections in the Islamic Republic of Iran. According to information received, Ayatollah Boroujerdi wrote an open letter dated 29 April 2009 to the United Nations Secretary-General requesting that international experts hold a meeting on the Islamic Republic of Iran, in an effort to assist the Iranian people to hold an open referendum. On 5 May 2009 he was reportedly subjected to beatings.
11. General Assembly, A/HRC/13/39/Add.1, February 25, 2010
Ayatollah Sayed Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi (See A/HRC/7/3/Add.1, paras. 87and 105). Ayatollah Sayed Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi was sentenced to 11 years imprisonment in 2007. He has been reportedly subjected to torture and ill-treatment since his arrest and that denied adequate treatment for Parkinson's Disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, kidney disease, asthma and a heart condition. He has been held in solitary confinement since 27 January 2009.
On 30 August 2007, the Special Rapporteur sent an urgent appeal together with the Chairperson-Rapporteur of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, the Special Rapporteur on the question of torture and Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, regarding Shi'a cleric Ayatollah Sayed Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi, Iranian citizen, aged 49, According to the information received, Mr. Boroujerdi's trial was held on 10 June 2007 before the Special Court for the Clergy. He was denied legal counsel. It is unclear whether he was sentenced to death or whether his case is still under consideration. Allegedly the trial is related to Mr. Boroujerdi's religious views since he supports freedom of religion and the separation between religion and politics. Mr. Boroujerdi is currently detained in Evin prison, where, on top of the severe conditions of detention, he has been beaten and had cold water spilled on him while he was sleeping. Although he suffers from Parkinsons disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and heart problems, Mr. Boroujerdi had reportedly been denied permission to seek treatment at the prisons medical facility until he started a hunger strike on 22 July 2007.
13. General Assembly - A/HRC/7/3/Add.1 - 19 February 2008
Shi'a cleric Ayatollah Ayatollah Sayed Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi was arrested at his home. Since 28 September 2006, approximately 300 of his followers have also been arrested, including the Ayatollah�€™s 80- year- old mother and his six-month- old grandson. Tear- gas and electroshock weapons were used while the arrests were carried out. The majority of those arrested are believed to have been released, some of them on bail. Their personal belongings, confiscated upon arrest, including mobile phones, have not yet been returned.
Ayatollah Seyyed Hossein Kazemeyni Borujerdi has been a vocal advocate of the separation of religion from politics. However, he's known only to a limited number of followers and people who follow developments in Iran and is not considered to be an influential ayatollah.
Unconfirmed reports on Iranian websites suggested that Iran's Special Court for the Clergy (SCC) in mid-June ordered the executions.
Borujerdi has been in jail for the past nine months, but his strident argument to secularize political leadership in Iran has long upset the country's ruling clerics.
Iranian and international concerns grew after the reports hinted that Borujerdi and sympathizers had been found guilty of serious charges including "waging war against God" and sentenced to die.
Semiofficial news agencies soon ran stories quoting at least one unnamed official from the special clerics' court rejecting the reports, saying no sentence has been issued and officials are still reviewing the case.
Borujerdi was arrested at his Tehran home on October 8 along with more than 100 of his sympathizers after violent clashes with police forces. Most of his followers were later released, many on bail.
But Borujerdi remains in jail, with little information available about his condition.
Days before Iran's President Hassan Rohani addresses United Nations General Assembly, Ayatollah Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi, the prominent dissident clergy was informed that he will be executed for "anti-government views" -- that is if Iran, by again withholding repeatedly-requested medical attention, does not passively execute him first.
According to reliable sources inside Iran, "Ayatollah Boroujerdi's health condition is worse than ever, and prison docors have said that if the prisoner does not receive immediate medical attention, he will die within days or even hours…." The authorities have been refusing medical intervention.
Sayed Boroujerdi may be in imminent risk of execution. The Iranian authorities may be planning to use the noise of nearby political upheaval to rid themselves of him. Significantly, they appear to have moved him to an isolation cell, a strong signal that they are planning to execute him.
The health of jailed Iranian cleric Sayed Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi, a prisoner of conscience held in Tehran’s Evin Prison, is worsening. He is in urgent need of medical treatment.
Political prisoners in Iran, including prisoners of conscience, are routinely subjected to inhuman and degrading prison conditions, including overcrowding, poor food and water, dirty and unsanitary facilities,and medical neglect. Many of them suffered severe injuries as a result of torture in custody that have never been properly treated while many others contract chronic and debilitating ailments including kidney and lung infections. Political prisoners who seek medical leave to enable them to receive urgent or specialized medical care, as permitted under Iranian law, often see their requests arbitrarily rejected and appear to be routinely discriminated against by the prison administration.
At least nine Iranian prisoners with serious health problems are being held in prison in Iran. Amnesty International is calling on the Iranian authorities to ensure adequate healthcare is provided to Mohammad Sadiq Kabudvand (m), Isa Saharkhiz (m), Ayatollah Boroujerdi (m), Zahra Jabbari (f), Kourosh Kohkan (m), Hossein Ronaghi-Maleki (m), Ahmad Zeidabadi (m), Sa’id Metinpour (m) and Heshmatollah Tabarzadi (m). Those prisoners held solely on account of their peaceful exercise of their rights to the freedom of expression, association, assembly or belief should be immediately and unconditionally released.
On 1 May, Ayatollah Boroujerdi wrote a letter to the United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, requesting that international observers be sent to Iran in order to pave the way and to assist Iranian people in an open referendum on the system of government (see letter athttp://help-for-borojerdi.org/un2.htm). Following this letter, Ayatollah Boroujerdi was beaten in prison on 5 May and in protest he began a hunger strike. The prison authorities reportedly told the Ayatollah's family that his telephone privileges of calling his family and lawyer were being suspended and that he was being punished for his latest statements about a referendum. There is no information available to Amnesty International as to his present condition with regard to his hunger strike. He was sentenced to 11 years imprisonment on 13 August 2007. According to the judgement he will serve one year in a prison in Tehran and the remaining ten years in a prison in another part of the country. He has been repeatedly denied adequate treatment for his medical concerns including Parkinson's Disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and heart problems. Ayatollah Boroujerdi is reported to have been repeatedly tortured and ill-treated since his arrest. His family have appointed lawyers for him but, the Special Court for the Clergy (SCC) has refused to allow them to defend him on the grounds that only clerics appointed by the Judiciary can make representations on his behalf. http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE13/045/2009/en/bcb58564-2217-4c4f-a47f-47bf000fb279/mde130452009en.html
7 . MDE 13/135/2008 11 September 2008
On 2 September, his doctor wrote to Iran's judicial authorities informing them of his patient's urgent, multiple and complex medical conditions that require immediate medical care outside of the prison. The doctor submitted a diagnosis of Ayatollah Kazemeyni Boroujerdi's heart condition, which is causing chest pains, suggesting that important arteries may be blocked. The Ayatollah also suffers from a kidney condition that causes considerable pain and he has lost around 40kg whilst in detention. He is also in a very poor psychological state.
On 30 June 2006 the Ayatollah conducted a large religious ceremony at the Shahid Keshvari stadium in Tehran. On 30 July, the security forces reportedly arrested several of his family and followers at their homes. The security forces also reportedly tried to arrest the Ayatollah himself, but were prevented from doing so by his followers.
On 3 August, the security forces reportedly tried to arrest the Ayatollah but were again repelled by his followers. They reportedly took up positions outside the house, where they have remained since. On 7 September, representatives of the Special Court for the Clergy visited the Ayatollah in his house and told him to appear before the Prosecutor for the Special Court for the Clergy, which he refused to do. Between 18 and 21 September, the Ayatollah sent appeals to Council of Europe Secretary General Javier Solana (which can be read in Persian at http://www.irancpi.net/pdf/kazemeiniBroujerdi-naderzahedi.pdf), the Pope and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. In his letter to Javier Solana, the Ayatollah described his history of persecution and the recent events and said he feared he would be killed if he went to the Special Court for the Clergy as instructed. Around the same time, another of his followers, Ms Nourbaksh, was reportedly arrested and taken to an unknown place of detention, possibly Section 209 of Evin Prison.
January 14, 2010 Should Ayatollah Boroujerdi become the symbolic leader of Irans opposition:
It is clear as day that Ayatollah Boroujerdi is the only true religious leader in Iran who represents all that is good in Islam and defends to the death, the human rights, dignity and the true will of the Iranian people
During the past several years, other political prisoners have died in Iran’s prisons as a result of abuse, torture, or medical neglect,” Whitson said. “Iranian authorities will have blood on their hands if Boroujerdi is attacked or his health deteriorates for lack of medical access.”
The Iranian authorities should ensure a prompt and thorough investigation into threats and attempted attacks against Ayatollah Hossein Kazemeini Boroujerdi’s life, and allow him to seek proper medical care outside prison, Human Rights Watch said today. Boroujerdi, a prominent 53-year-old Shia cleric who has criticized the religious system of government, suffers from several serious health conditions.
Iranian authorities should immediately grant three men detained on politically motivated charges access to proper medical care, Human Rights Watch said today. Cleric Ayatollah Kazemi Boroujerdi, journalist and activist Mohammad-Sadiq Kaboudvand, and prominent human rights defender Emad Baghi are in poor health and urgently require specialist medical attention.
Andrew Bennett, Canada’s Ambassador for Religious Freedom, today issued the following statement:
“Canada strongly condemns the continued imprisonment of Grand Ayatollah Hossein-Kazamani Boroujerdi, a leading Shiite Muslim cleric, by the Iranian regime. Ayatollah Boroujerdi has reportedly been subjected to torture during his seven-year imprisonment in the Evin Prison in Tehran. He has been a critic of the Iranian regime’s heinous human rights violations. Ayatollah Boroujerdi is one among a large, untold number of Iranians in prison on politically motivated charges.
Declaration, 25 May 2009 The European Union further expresses its concern at the plight of the Iranian Shiite ayatollah Seyed Hossein Kazemeini Boroujerdi, who has been imprisoned for his religious activities along with several of his followers. According to available reports, Boroujerdi is being denied hospitalization despite his serious health condition. http://europa-eu-un.com/articles/es/article_8750_es.htm
14 November, 2006 Expresses, equally, its concern for the safety of Ayatollah Sayad Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi, who has been advocating for years the separation of religion from the political bases of the state and who has been rearrested with reportedly more then 400 of his followers; urgently calls for their release. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=MOTION&reference=B6-2006-0614&language=DE
16 February, 2009 - Stockholm/Sweden The letter of the Swedish Parliament to UN High Commissioner of Human Rights, EU Human Rights Commission, International Committee of the Red Cross and Amnesty international http://help-for-borojerdi.org/swp.pdf
In October 2006, Ayatollah Mohammad Kazemeini Boroujerdi, who advocates the separation of religion and state and has spoken out on behalf of the rights of Iran’s religious minorities as well its Shi’i Muslim majority, was arrested and imprisoned without charge. He and 17 of his followers were sentenced to death on spurious charges, including “enmity against God” and spreading propaganda against the regime. After an appeal, the death sentence was withdrawn and Ayatollah Boroujerdi was sentenced to 11 years in prison. Ayatollah Boroujerdi remains in prison, and the government has banned him from practicing his clerical duties and confiscated his home and belongings. According to reports, Ayatollah Boroujerdi’s health continues to deteriorate and he has suffered physical and mental abuse while in prison.
Since the June 2009 elections, the government has stepped up its crackdown on Shi‘a clerics, prohibiting them from publicly questioning the election results and from criticizing the government‘s response to protests and demonstrations. Over the years, a number of senior Shi‘a religious leaders who have opposed various religious and political tenets and practices of the Iranian government also have been targets of state repression, including house arrest, detention without charge, trial without due process, torture, and other forms of ill treatment. For example, in October 2006, Ayatollah Mohammad Kazemeni Boroujerdi, who advocates the separation of religion and state and has spoken out on behalf of the rights of Iran‘s religious minorities as well as those of its Shi‘a Muslim majority, was arrested and imprisoned without charge.
He and 17 of his followers initially were tried by a special court with jurisdiction over Shi‘a clerics, and sentenced to death on spurious charges, including ―enmity against God‖ and spreading propaganda against the regime.
After an appeal, the death sentence was withdrawn and Ayatollah Boroujerdi was sentenced to 11 years in prison.
Ayatollah Boroujerdi currently is serving his prison term, and the government has banned him from practicing his clerical duties and confiscated his home and belongings.
Ayatollah Boroujerdi‘s supporters claim that he has suffered physical and mental abuse while in prison.
Since the June 2009 elections, the government has cracked down on Shi‘a clerics, prohibiting them from questioning the election results and from criticizing the government‘s response to protests and demonstrations. Over the years, a number of senior Shi‘a religious leaders who have opposed various religious and political tenets and practices of the Iranian government also have been targets of state repression, including house arrest, detention without charge, trial without due process, torture, and other forms of ill treatment. For example, Ayatollah Hossein Kazemeni Boroujerdi, a senior Shi‘a cleric who advocates the separation of religion and state, has been in prison since 2006. He and 17 of his followers were initially sentenced to death, but the death sentences later were withdrawn. He is serving an 11-year prison term and is reportedly in poor health. Ayatollah Boroujerdi has suffered physical abuse while in prison. In November and December 2010, seven of his followers –Tayebeh Hosseini, Narges Ghaffarzadeh, Forough Hematyar, Maryam Azimi, Roya Eraqi, Mohammad Reza Sadeghi, and Mohammad Mehmannavaz–were arrested by authorities at their homes in Tehran. Human rights groups report that the seven were arrested solely for their religious beliefs after their homes were ransacked and personal belongings confiscated. Their whereabouts are unknown.
In 2006, Ayatollah Mohammad Kazemeni Boroujerdi, a senior Shi’a cleric who advocates the separation of religion and state, was arrested and imprisoned.
He and 17 of his followers were initially sentenced to death for moharebeh, but the death sentences were later withdrawn on appeal. Ayatollah Boroujerdi is serving an 11-year prison term and is reportedly in poorhealth. Some of his supporters have claimed that Ayatollah Boroujerdi has suffered physical abuse while in prison. He remains in jail.
5. Annual Report, May 2009 A number of senior Shi'a religious leaders who have opposed various religious and/or political tenets and practices of the Iranian government have also been targets of state repression, including house arrest, detention without charge, trial without due process, torture, and other forms of ill treatment. In October 2006, Ayatollah Mohammad Kazemeni Boroujerdi,a senior Shi'a cleric who advocates the separation of religion and state, and a number of his followers were arrested and imprisoned after clashes with riot police.
A number of senior Shi'a religious leaders who oppose the tenets or practices of the Iranian government have also been targets of state repression, says the report. A case in point is Ayatollah Mohammad Kazemeni Boroujerdi, who opposes religious rule in Iran.
Shi'a clerics who stray from the official theology have also been severely sanctioned. Ayatollah Montazeri, in spite of his impeccable revolutionary credentials, has been under house arrest in Qom since the late 1980s. Most recently, Ayatollah Boroujerdi, a Shi'a cleric who openly promotes the separation of religion and state and claims to represent traditional Islam, has been imprisoned, reportedly tortured, and tried without access to an attorney. In June 2007, he was sentenced to death by the Special Court for Clergy. http://www.uscirf.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2096&Itemid=1
On December 19, an associate of dissident cleric and regime critic Ayatollah Hossein Kazemeini Boroujerdi reported that Boroujerdi continued to suffer from poor health and harsh prison conditions
while being denied medical care. The associate further reported that authorities subjected Boroujerdi to torture and threatened his family to compel him to write a letter saying he did not wish to meet with visiting European representatives. In October 2012 Boroujerdi was allegedly poisoned by unnamed fellow prisoners, leaving him in critical condition.
Boroujerdi, who advocated the separation of religion and government, was arrested in 2006.
In November Human Rights Watch (HRW) and other NGOs reported that an unnamed assailant attacked dissident Shia cleric Ayatollah Hossein Kazemeini Boroujerdi, currently serving an 11-year sentence on unspecified charges in Evin Prison.
Family members told HRW a cellmate tried to kill Boroujerdi, who has often been critical of the government, and that prison authorities had denied him proper medical care outside of prison. Boroujerdi, who was attacked twice previously in prison, also suffered from failing eyesight, diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, and high blood pressure.
On February 27, Evin Prison officials reportedly attacked and beat dissident cleric and regime critic Ayatollah Mohammad Kazemeini Boroujerdi and forcibly shaved his beard. Some reports suggested Boroujerdi may have lost vision in one eye and that authorities did not allow him to leave prison to receive medical treatment. On October 1, human rights groups reported Boroujerdi suffered a severe heart attack, which led to pulmonary edema. Intelligence authorities reportedly rejected demands by prison officials for him to be treated at a properly equipped medical facility.In addition, sources told the ICHRI in April that Boroujerdi’s relatives and followers reported abuse and arrests by security forces. Forces in civilian dress allegedly attacked Boroujerdi’s sister Sa’adat and broke her leg, and authorities placed their brother, Seyed Mohsen Boroujerdi, under house arrest.The government also arrested supporters of Boroujerdi, including Iman Khodadai, who reported he and others had been beaten and abused while in detention.The followers also reported that security forces put their homes under surveillance and harassed them with threatening phone calls.Boroujerdi is a cleric who advocated the separation of religion and government; he was arrested in 2006.At year’s end there were continued concerns over his health and lack of access to medical care.
authorities arrested six followers of imprisoned Ayatollah Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi, who called for separation of church and state, and on December 6, authorities reportedly detained Mohammad Mehman Navaz, a civil engineer and supporter of imprisoned Ayatollah Boroujerdi, in an unknown location after summoning Navaz to the special clerical court. At year's end there was no information about where the prisoners were held.
Ayatollah Mohammad Kazemeini Boroujerdi remained in Evin Prison despite appeals for his release on medical grounds. Human rights groups claimed he had been in solitary confinement without access to an independent lawyer since his 2006 arrest. Prior to Boroujerdi's arrest, the government had increased pressure on him for his belief that religion and the state should be separate.
The government carefully monitored the statements and views of senior Shi'a religious leaders. The Special Clerical Courts, established to investigate offenses and crimes committed by clerics, which the supreme leader oversees directly, were not provided for in the constitution and operated outside the judiciary. In particular critics alleged that the clerical courts were used to prosecute certain clerics for expressing controversial political ideas and for participating in nonreligious activities, including journalism.
Iranian Shiite Ayatollah Seyed Hossein Kazemeini Boroujerdi, along with 17 of his followers, has been imprisoned for espousing religious views that are incongruent with the official religious views of the government. He is serving an 11-year prison term and is reportedly in poor health. According to available reports, Boroujerdi is being denied hospitalization despite his serious health condition.
Boroujerdi has been arrested and imprisoned several times since 1992 and claimed he was tortured and threatened with execution. The government carefully monitored the statements and views of all religious leaders, including the country's senior Muslim religious leaders. It restricted the movement of several Muslim religious leaders who had been under house arrest for years and continued to detain at least one dissident cleric, Ayatollah Boroujerdi, during the year. The government pressured all ranking clerics to ensure their teachings conformed to (or at least did not contradict) government policy and positions.
The government carefully monitored the statements and views of the country's senior Muslim religious leaders. It restricted the movement of several religious leaders who had been under house arrest for years, and continued to detain at least one dissident cleric, Ayatollah Boroujerdi, during the year. The government pressured all ranking clerics to ensure their teachings confirmed (or at least did not contradict) government policy and positions. During the year, there were at least three assassinations or assassination attempts against Shi'a clerics by unknown assailants in Khuzestan and Sistan va Baluchestan provinces.
Among others, I am deeply concerned about the situation of Reza Shahabi, Reza Pourshajareh, Amanollah Mostaghim, Mohammad Banazadeh Amirkhizi, Saleh Kohandel, and Hossein Kazemeini-Boroujerdi. All are political prisoners in urgent need of medical care and have only been released for medical treatment temporarily.
Furthermore I would like to raise the case of Ayatollah Kazemini Boroujerdi who was arrested on 8 October 2006, prosecuted by the Special Court for Clergy, and sentenced to 11 years in prison. Since 27 January 2009 Boroujerdi was moved to solitary confinement in Yazd Prison despite the fact that he suffers from serious health problems. I consider Ayatollah Boroujerdi as a prisoner of conscience as his detention is based solely on his beliefs about the freedom of religion and expression.
On October 9, Member of the European Parliament Marietje Schaake (D66/ALDE) submitted questions to High Representative Ashton on the case of Ayatollah Boroujerdi in Iran. Please find a plain text version and the official document below.
Like Mandela he has a large following, making him a threat to authorities currently in power…This man has repeatedly condemned the gender apartheid that exists in Iran as well as the persecution of ethnic and religious minorities. His name is Ayatollah Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi. He’s [an] Iranian Shia Muslim critic who like his father and grandfather before him has long advocated for the separation of religion and state http://www.embassynews.ca/on-the-record/2014/12/04/different-stripes-same-sense-of-injustice/46481#.VIOaRbyD6vg.facebook
12/16/2011 The most prominent Shi’a victim of such repression is Ayatollah Kazemeini Boroujerdi, a 53-year old Shi’a cleric renowned for his outspoken support for the separation of religion from politics and for his advocacy of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In 2006, he was brutally arrested along with dozens of supporters and members of his family by the Iranian regime’s feared Law Enforcement Forces, the LEF. Taken to Evin prison, he was tried in a special court whose procedures fell far short of international standards, and eventually sentenced to 11 years for crimes against national security. http://editorials.voa.gov/content/the-persecution-of-ayatollah--135864843/1482886.html
In addition to the Pope, Borujerdi addressed his appeal to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, the president of the European Parliament and to international human rights organizations, asking them to intervene with the Iranian authorities to prevent his execution.
15-Dec-2008 Ayatollah Sayed Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi is a Shi'a Muslim cleric who supports the freedom of speech and the free exercise of religion in Iran. He believes that the government should not be controlled by religion. Thus, he supports the separation of government from the dominance of Islam. Ayatollah Boroujerdi believes that the repressive government of Iran, which purports to exist under the rules of Islam, is not true Islam at all. According to Ayatollah Boroujerdi true Islam is a religion of tolerance, mercy and compassion which is the opposite of the religion of the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran. http://iranian.com/main/blog/dw-duke/tragic-story-ayatollah-boroujerdi.html
Bourojerdi was first incarcerated in 2006. At the time, hundreds of the ayatollah’s supporters valiantly attemped to stop him from being dragged out of his south Tehran home by the police. Since then, reports of Bourojerdi’s failing health have regularly surfaced. Now, Iranian human-rights activists have passed on the news that Bourojerdi, who is languishing in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison, began experiencing heart failure last Sunday. http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/03/irans-imprisoned-ayatollah-suffers-heart-attack/
07.23.2013 The Plight of Ayatollah BourojerdiWith the election of Hassan Rouhani as Iran’s new president, the international debate about reaching out to the “moderates” inside the Iranian regime has been reignited. But before we get overly excited at the prospect of a kinder, gentler breed of mullah, it’s worth revisiting one of the most heinous examples of human rights abuse in Iran, a case that involves a man who carries the honorific Shi’a Muslim title of “ayatollah.” http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/07/23/the-plight-of-ayatollah-bourojerdi/
October 11, 2014 Caroline Glick and Michael Ledeen on a Golden Opportunity Regarding Iranhh
Boroujerdi is serving his eighth year of an 11-year prison sentence for rejecting the religious legitimacy of the regime and demanding, in keeping with Shi’ite jurisprudence, its overthrow and replacement with a democracy in which mosque is separated from state.Boroujerdi enjoys massive support in Iran. His bravery in the face of regime repression is breathtaking. Since his arrest, Boroujerdi has been subjected to barbaric torture. And yet, rather than repent his ways, as the regime demands, he has smuggled letters to the world outside his prison exposing the dismal state of human rights in . . . Iran, and the heresy at the heart of the regime.
According to the family of Ayatollah Hossein Kazamani Boroujerdi, he was moved to a new solitary-confinement cell, with his hands and feet shackled to the wall so he can not move. This is the cell to which the authorities usually take prisoners the day before their execution. Boroujerdi has been told that he will be hanged tomorrow, but he could be executed at any time. His crime was to recommend separating religion from state.
Iran's Prosecutor of the Special Clerical Court, Mohammad Mohavadi, stated that the punishment for these crimes of "anti-government views" is execution, and said that all those who had a hand in publishing Boroujerdi's book will also be killed. When Boroujerdi suggested an open, public debate, Mohavadi announced that his office did not participate in debates, just trials and punishments [executions]. The regime has been trying to kill Ayatollah Boroujerdi for the past 8 years of his 11-year prison sentence.
It is with a great sense of urgency that I appeal to the international community to prevent the execution of Ayatollah Seyed Hossein Kazemeiny Boroujerdi, a well-respected clergy and a long time vocal advocate of secularism, and to demand his immediate release from the Iranian prison. This latest appeal follows in person threats of execution and harassment by the special prosecutor, Mohammad Movahedi, during a visit to the Special Clerical Ward at the notorious Evin prison. My compatriots and I have many reasons to take these threats seriously and remain concerned about the life of Ayatollah Boroujerdi who since the beginning of his unjustified prison term in October 2006 has endured various forms of physical and psychological torture and has been denied adequate medical treatment despite his deteriorating conditions at an advanced age.
December 17, 2010 Ayatollah Seyed Hossein Kazemeiny Boroujerdi, a holy man, a long time vocal advocate of the separation of church and state and an opponent of the current regime in Tehran, is in dire circumstances as a result of long term imprisonment and physical and psychological torture. Reports indicate enduring the torture has caused Ayatollah Boroujerdi to lose much of his sight to the point that he is no longer able to even recognize objects and people around him. http://www.rezapahlavi.org/details_article.php?english&article=479
A popular Shiite Muslim cleric who opposes mixing religion and politics was detained Sunday after his supporters clashed with police outside his home in the capital Tehran, news reports said. Hossein Kazemeini Boroujerdi, receives hundreds of visitors at home every day asking for his blessing but he is not favored among Iran's hardline clerics under Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei because he does not support politicizing Islam.
1. February 9, 2009 Iran in Orbit: The Obama administration wants to talk to the Iranians, and some reports suggest they have been talking for months. American negotiators should take every opportunity to call for respect for human rights -- on behalf of the labor leaders demanding that salaries be paid, women demanding equal rights, students asserting their freedom to criticize, and even dissident ayatollahs, such as Montazeri and Boroujedi, who have branded the regime as heretical. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would seem an ideal champion for these victims. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123414344863961949.html?mod=djemEditorialPage
2. June 12, 2010 Meanwhile, Iranian human-rights organizations tirelessly report on the dreadful treatment of political prisoners, and Green movement leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi ceaselessly demand their release. In the past year, the Greens have rapidly expanded their movement, reaching out to workers' organizations, women's groups, ethnic and religious minorities, veterans of the Iran-Iraq War, and a plethora of brave clerics including the Ayatollah Sayed Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi, who continues to denounce the Islamic Republic from a cell in Evin prison where he's been confined since October 2006.
September 26 2008 Iran's jailed Ayatollah Sayyid Hossein Kazemeini Boroujerdi has written a letter to Pope Benedict XVI and other religious leaders asking them to help secure his release. The ayatollah asked the pontiff to "...defend the divine credibility and spiritual sacredness" by asking the Iranian authorities to respect human rights. The letter was reportedly smuggled out of jail and distributed by the ayatollah's representative in Europe. It was also addressed to Israel's chief rabbi, the grand mufti of al-Azhar and the Saudi ulema of Dar al-Fatwa. Addressing the Muslim leaders, Kazemeini says that "Political Islam is erasing the word of God and his prophet, Mohammed", while he asks rabbis to "make the world hear the cry of the Muslims in Iran, in the name of the same God that (we) jointly worship."(...) http://europenews.dk/en/node/14452
Guardian Newspaper
1. 3 May 2008 The advent of new media created new opportunities for Iranian society and independent media outside the country to work together to inform Iranians and the world community of the plight of Iran. In 2006, I received a call from Iran from the followers of Ayatollah Seyyed Hossein Kazemeini Boroujerdi, who has publicly preached the separation of religion from state since 1994. Despite his huge following among the religious community, he was unknown to secular Iranians and audiences abroad. At the time of the call, the ayatollah and his followers had been under a month-long siege. They wanted their story to be told. I was sent videos, secret recordings, sermons and pictures through the internet. Within a few days and after a bloody battle, the security forces arrested the ayatollah and many of his followers. He was tried without legal counsel and sentenced to death on June 10, 2007. He remains in prison. His videos can be seen on Youtube and a multitude of blogs carry his news. Yet his followers are desperate for his story to be told in newspapers and broadcast media. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/may/03/thrivingdespiterepression
2. 17 October 2007 A man like Boroujerdi - like many Muslim traditionalists - is a libertarian. He wants his mosque and his flock without the state interfering with either. This makes him a theist who favours separation of mosque and state - ie, a Muslim secularist. He should be viewed as a Muslim equivalent of someone like Reverend Jim Wallis in the states. Secular humanists in Europe often cry that a person cannot be religious and committed to separation of religion and state; yet the US contains many such people, and increasingly, so does the Muslim world. In fact, it will be theist Muslim secularists who will help atheist and agnostic secular humanists exist safely among Muslims. So, the goal of the Muslim left (and people in the west who are sympathetic to its goal), is to scan the Muslim world and find all the committed Muslims who favoor liberal democracy over the illiberal version that Islamists peddle. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2007/oct/17/muslimsecularismanditsallies
July 14, 2008 Since 1979 under the Islamic Republic, more than 200 Bahais have been executed. This campaign of terror and intimidation is not limited to the so-called "non-recognized" religious minorities such as Bahais. Ayatollah Borujerdi - a Shi'ite cleric who preaches a traditional nonpolitical version of Shi'ism - has also joined that list. Last year, Ayatollah Borujerdi, dared to question the Islamic regime's interpretation of political Shi'ite Islam. He was arrested during a violent clash involving his followers and was later severely tortured along with his entire family and many of his followers. There are reports that his condition is worsening. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/jul/14/irans-blood-drenched-mullahs/
Caspian Weekly
March 6, 2010 The Bahs believers are not alone in daring to be different. Take the case of Ayatollah Seyed Hossein Kazemeyni Borujerdi for example. He is the only courageous Ayatollah in Iran who has dared to publicly challenge the official interpretation of Shiite Islam by the Islamic regime and publicly call for a return to a system of government that separates religion and politics. He along with many of his followers was arrested in 2006. From his prison cell in Yazd, Ayatollah Borujerdi continues to issue statements and send letters to UN officials asking for help. According to Amnesty international, on May 1, Ayatollah Boroujerdi wrote a letter to the United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, requesting that international observers be sent to Iran in order to pave the way and assist Iranian people in an open referendum on the system of government. http://www.caspianweekly.org/main-subjects/gg/middle-east/999-dare-to-be-different-.html
The Jerusalem Post
Nov. 10, 2008 Religious intolerance is not new to the Islamic republic. Since the establishment of the republic in 1979, all of Iran's religious minorities have suffered varying degrees of pressure and persecution. Even Shi'ite groups are not immune from persecution if they do not adhere to the Khomeini's radical interpretations. One case in point is Ayatollah Kazemaini Borujerdiand. He was imprisoned and tortured together with many of his followers. His crime was to call for a non-political interpretation of Shi'ite Islam and for the separation of religion and state. A few days ago, he published an open letter to the supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and dared him to agree to a free referendum under international supervision. http://www.jpost.com/Home/Article.aspx?id=120042
Voice of America
1. VOA, June18, 2007
His father was a prominent cleric who refused to accept the principle of velayat-e faqih (rule of the Islamic law), on which the Islamic Republic of Iran is based
