The letter of HRW
about Hajariyan
To Khamenei
BY
FACSIMILE
H.E. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Leader of the Islamic Republic of
Iran
Tehran, Iran
Your Excellency:
Human Rights Watch is greatly
concerned about yesterday
morning's
attempt on the life of Dr. Saeid
Hajjarian, a publisher and
political
advisor to President Mohammad
Khatami, by an unidentified
gunman using
a silenced pistol. We understand
that the would-be assassin
escaped
from the scene on the back of a
1000cc motor-cycle of the type
normally available only to the
police or security services,
raising
suspicion that this was a
politically-motivated attack
carried out
with the involvement or
acquiescence of police or
security services.
We recall too that a series of
other killings of prominent
opposition
figures in late 1998 was
subsequently attributed to
"rogue elements"
in the intelligence ministry,
though to our knowledge those
responsible for these crimes have
not, as yet, been held to
account.
In light of these factors, Human
Rights Watch fears that the
attack on
Dr. Hajjarian may be part of a
wider backlash against
reformists,
following their convincing
victory in recent parliamentary
elections,
by elements within the security
services or police who believe
that
they can commit crimes with
impunity. Although not a
candidate
himself, Dr. Hajjarian was one of
the leading organizers of the
Islamic Participation Party whose
supporters are strongly
represented
in the new parliament. Dr.
Hajjarian's newspaper, Sobh-e
Emrouz gave
strong support to reformists
throughout the election campaign.
Your Excellency, as Leader of the
Islamic Republic you have a
special
responsibility to uphold the
constitution and to ensure that
the
wishes of the Iranian people, as
clearly expressed in the recent
parliamentary elections, are
fully respected and implemented,
and not
thwarted by acts of political
violence. To this end, we urge
you to
take all possible steps to ensure
that those responsible for the
attempted assassination of Dr.
Hajjarian and any similar such
attacks
are identified and brought to
justice without delay, and to
speak out
publicly to denounce the
perpetrators and make it clear
that any
security or other officials who
commit crimes will be held fully
to
account. It is incumbent on you,
particularly, to speak out and
act on
this issue, given your
responsibility under the
constitution for
overseeing the functioning of all
branches of government.
Unless the institutions under
your supervision comply with
their
obligations under Iranian and
international law, the executive
branch
of government will be unable to
fulfill its proper functions, so
undermining the constitution and
denying the will of the people as
it
was clearly expressed in the
elections.
Sincerely,
/S/
Kenneth Roth
Executive Director
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