From: Free Them Now
To: The Swedish delegation visiting Iran
Stefan Löfvén, the Swedish prime minister, is set to travel to Iran on 11th of February for a two-day visit. This travel is being done in response to invitation by Hassan Rouhani. Anders Ferbe, president of metal union, will accompany him. The official Swedish delegation and Metall unions president are visiting a brutal state that has intensified executions and repressions in whole society to push back people;s and workers’ demands and protests. They are appeasing a state that arrests and puts worker activists childrens activists in jail and torture them. At the moment tens of workers, teachers, and students and other people who dare to protest have gotten prison sentences under the charge of “disturbing national security”, or are under pressure and prosecution.One example for your information is the Islamic regimes security forces raid to Jafar Azim Zadeh;s home on 25th of January to arrest him. Azimzadeh who is the head of the Free Union of the Workers of Iran (FUWI) was not at home but his family and his young son were threatened. Jafar Azimzadeh has been convicted to 17 years jail because of union activities.
The question of Iranian workers’ and their leaders to Anders Ferbe the leader of Metal Union in Sweden and as One of the panel’s members of this deligation is these: why don’t you condemn Islamic Republic because of securitization of righteous workers’, teachers’, and people’s struggles? Why don’t you protest against 17 year sentence for a worker activist such as Jaffar Azimzadeh and against raid on his house in order to arrest him? Why don’t you demand the release and freedom of people like Behnam Ebrahimzadeh, Esmail Abdi, Atena Daemi, and a large number of political prisoners who have received jail sentences because of their struggle?
The Swedish delegation’s visit to Iran is a part of a regular and consistent compromising policy of this government and other Western governments with Islamic Republic and is an anti-human and anti-people act. The Campaign for Freedom of Jailed Workers strongly condemns this compromise and silence and any other secret and anti-people diplomacy.
We are very happy to hear that a group of left and radical labor activists in the General Union of Sweden (L. O.) have put emphasis on the same demands as we have here in a letter they have published. And many labor clubs in Sweden have signed this letter of solidarity with workers in Iran. We appreciate this solidarity with and support for workers in Iran by worker activists in L.O. which has manifested itself in this letter written to the Swedish delegation, and try to expose this sort of compromising policies and gather the support of worker and humanitarian institutions all over the world.
The Islamic Republic is a member of the International Labor Organization (ILO). It has signed the international conventions of this organization, but, not only it has violated these conventions, but also imprisons workers, tortures them, flogs them, and conducts criminal acts against them just because of their protests and struggles and forming their own labor organizations.
Why have you kept silent?
The Islamic Republic must be expelled from all international institutions, including ILO, because of its repression and crimes.
Campaign to Free Jailed Workers
https://free-them-now.com
1 February 2017