Irene Khan,

General Secretary, Amnesty International,

1 Easton Street
London
WC1X 0DW , UK

Fax number: +44-20-79561157

Re: Request for Urgent Action to save Mahmoud Salehi’s life

Dear Ms. Irene Khan,

As you are well aware of, the one-year prison sentence for Mahmoud Salehi, a prominent labour activist in Iran and a representative of bakery workers in city of Saqez, who was arrested following a May Day in event in 2004 and after numerous trials was finally sentenced to one year imprisonment and a three year suspended prison sentence, was going to end on Farvardin 4^th, 1387 (March 23, 2008).  However, Mahmoud Salehi was taken from Sanandaj Prison to branch 4 of the department of justice in Sanandaj on March 17, 2008. After making Mahmoud waiting for hours, they ordered a temporary arrest against him. They charged Mahmoud with communication and contacts with outside prison and issuing solidarity messages such as one to those on hunger strike on Tir 27^th 1386 (July 18, 2007) and also in support of freedom and equality seeking university students. Immediately after this unjust order of arrest, Mahmoud went on dry hunger-strike to protest the violation of his rights. He has refused taking his vital prescribed medications and has announced that he will continue his total strike until he is freed from prison.

According to the latest reports, Mahmoud’s blood pressure has been at maximum 16 and minimum 12. If his minimum and maximum blood pressures get closers or evens, his remaining kidney would fail completely and his life would be seriously endangered.

We, members of the Committee in Defense of Mahmoud Salehi, who are activists in Iran , are asking Amnesty International as well as Doctors without Border and labour unions and human rights organizations to increase pressures on Iranian authorities to immediately release Salehi and facilitate his treatment effectively and urgently. As the Committee in Defense of Mahmud Salehi, we hold the authorities of the Iranian government responsible for Salehi’s life. They must be hold accountable and liable for anything that might happen to Mahmoud.

Sincerely,

Committee in Defense of Mahmoud Salehi

March 20, 2008 (Farvardin 1^st, 1387)

cc: International Trade Union Confederation

Doctors without Border [Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)]

International Transport Workers’ Federation

Labour and human rights organizations