Internationally recognised Iranian refugee faces deportation. : Melbourne Indymedia

However, in a dramatic illustration of the harsh and arbitrary system administered by Australia’s Department of Immigration, the next week (on January 14th) Ardeshir received a letter from the Department telling him that his application for a humanitarian visa under section 417 of the Migration Act had been refused.

This letter of refusal is the same sort of letter shown to an Iranian man last Tuesday (11 Jan) immediately prior to his forcible deportation to Iran on an Emirates flight from Sydney.

Refugee advocates are now extremely worried for the fate of Ardeshir and other Iranians in Baxter Detention Centre who are no longer “in process”.

Prior to his escape from Iran in March 2000, Ardeshir spent two years in the notorious Evin prison, and worked on pro-democracy publications repressed by the Iranian authorities. A number of his fellow writers were jailed or killed by the Iranian regime.

This history was highlighted by the Writers in Prison Committee of PEN International, who adopted Ardeshir’s case earlier this month (see attached letter).

“Ardeshir’s case is one of many that show the obscenity of the Australian Government’s refugee policies”, said Jerome Small of the Victorian Refugee Action Collective today.

“It is outrageous that even someone like Ardeshir with a well documented history of repression, recognised by international bodies such as PEN, can have their application rejected – with no reason given – by some faceless bureaucrat in the Department of Immigration”, said Mr Small.

“We believe that Ardeshir, like the other asylum seekers locked away for years without charge or trial, should be released and given permanent protection”, said Mr Small.

“These people need freedom and help rebuilding their lives, not the prospect of return to one of the world’s most horrific regimes.”

For comment, please contact:
Jerome Small, phone 9347 6627 or 0437 197 871
Tanya McConvell, phone (02) 6297 8047 or 0402 555 007
Tim Petterson 0438 399 973

LETTER TO SENATOR VANSTONE FROM PEN INTERNATIONAL
Dear Senator Vanstone,

Re: Application for a 417 Humanitarian Visa for Iranian asylum seeker Ardeshir Gholipour

The Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN, the world association representing writers in 99 countries, has long been concerned about the state of freedom of expression in Iran, notably the large numbers of writers who are detained for the practice of their professions.

We understand that an Iranian writer, Ardeshir Gholipour, is currently detained in Baxter Immigration Detention Centre and that he is imminent danger of repatriation to Iran. International PEN is alarmed by the prospect of Gholipour’s forced return and calls on the Australian immigration authorities not to order his repatriation.

Mr Gholipour has been held in immigration detention since March 2000, having fled Iran earlier that year. International PEN’s Writers in Prison Committee based at the organisation’s headquarters in London has investigated Mr Gholipour’s story and we can confirm the legitimacy of his claims, and that he has real reason to fear persecution for his legitimate and peaceful political activism should he be returned to Iran. His involvement in the Iran Freedom Movement and the Left Union for Democracy in Iran makes him particularly vulnerable to repression.

As a writer, specifically for the Left Union for Democracy’s publication, the Payan peroz Research Bulletin, between 1994 and 1997, and for his work for the samizdat newspaper Khaber Nameh, Gholipour has been particularly courageous in his stance against suppression of dissent in Iran. Notably, Khaber Nameh provided reports and commentary on the murders of prominent writers in the late 1990s, for which a number of Iranian officials were later convicted.

One of those murdered was Pirooz Davani, also a writer, and with whom, until his murder in 1998, Gholipour worked closely. Both worked on articles for Khaber that were strongly critical of the Iranian government and called for constitutional change. Information they published included reports of mass graves containing the bodies of dissidents, and implicating the security services in the deaths and the torture of political activists.

This clandestine magazine also published letters from the well known writer, Faraj Sarkoohi, who at that time had been abducted by intelligence services then sentenced to death, subsequently released and now living in exile in Germany. To publish such articles in late 1990s was an extremely courageous and dangerous activity for which Davani paid with his life.

Five years after his flight, the situation for Iranian writers remains precarious. PEN has on its records at least 13 writers currently detained in Iran, serving lengthy sentences for reasons which have been condemned internationally as clear breaches of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights.

International PEN therefore calls on you as Minister of Immigration to exercise your right to offer Ardeshir Gholipour a humanitarian visa.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have further queries.

Yours sincerely,
Dr. Karin Clark
Chair
Writers in Prison Committee, PEN International.