Statement signed by more than 100 civil and political activists to urge HR organizations to follow up the fate of detained teacher Arjang Davoudi
What has happened to Arjang?
Political prisoner Arjang Davoudi, who is detained in the notorious Zahedan Prison, has disappeared after he gave a message from prison 50 days ago about going on hunger strike in protest to being denied “fresh air and sun”. Neither his family nor his friends are aware of his whereabouts.
In his last phone call from prison, on March 3, 2018, he announced that he had gone on hunger strike and that he would continue his strike in protest to horrific prison conditions and the hardships he endures as prison officials have denied him his minimum rights.
Given that it is assumed that nothing has changed since his hunger strike, it can be concluded that Arjang is now in his third month of hunger strike.
As political and civil rights activists, we reiterate on the basic rights of a prisoner which is the right to health and security and we stress that no one has the right to deprive a person of his rights as a citizen only because of his beliefs. We express our grave concern over the health and safety of political prisoner Arjang Davoudi and urge everyone inside Iran and all international human rights bodies not to stay silent in the face of this horrible issue.
It is worth noting that Arjang Davoudi was arrested and convicted 15 years ago due to his peaceful political activities. We believe that the current measures against him are a kind of retribution for the issues he had disclosed from inside prison.
We urge all human rights activists to join us and sign this statement to take a step, though small, in shedding light on the fate of Arjang Davoudi.
The names of the signatories cannot be published due to concerns for their safety in Iran.
