PHA-Exch> AIDS Treatment & Care Pioneers Imprisoned in Iran-Petition

[Claudio Schuftan]

From: Maija Kagis maija.kagis at sympatico.ca
  ------------------------------
*From:* GTAG at yahoogroups.ca

*AIDS Treatment & Care Pioneers Imprisoned in Iran: brothers Dr Kamiar and
Arash Alaei held without charge in Iran

*Dear friends, please consider to sign the petition by Physicians for Human
Rights on these detained doctor's behalf, or to send a message to Iranian
Embassy in Canada or US on their behalf (email address at end of this
email).

http://actnow-phr.org/campaign/iran_free_the_docs

*Background: *At the end of June, 2008, two internationally respected
Iranian medical doctors, Drs. Arash Alaei and Kamiar Alaei were reportedly
arrested by Iranian authorities and appear to be held in
*incommunicado*detention in Tehran.  These physicians are
international experts on HIV/AIDS
and have worked for many years on HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment in the
Islamic Republic of Iran and internationally.

Several organization such as PHR, Human Rights Watch, the International AIDS
Society, medical and other professionals, individuals and NGOs are
advocating for due process for the Alaei brothers, and for respect for human
rights. Iran is a signatory to the International Covenant of Civil and
Political Rights.

I am also attaching a message written below by a colleague at Dignitas who
studied with Dr Kamiar at Harvard, and one from Human Rights Watch below on
the arrests without charge (Jul 22) of two important HIV/AIDs specialists
and innovators in Iran, brothers Dr Kamiar Alaei and Dr Arash Alaei. Two
doctors at Dignitas studied with Kamiar at Harvard and we and many others
are all very concerned about the brother's situation in incommunicado
detention.

Please consider to sign and pass on the petition. Any of you who will be in
Mexico City at the AIDS conference later this week I hope that we can help
raise their case at every opportunity. Thank you in advance, Carol

*More background:

**HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
**Iran**: Release Detained HIV/AIDS Experts

**Arrested Physicians Have Not Been Charged, Whereabouts Unknow*n

(New York, July 21, 2008) – Iranian authorities should immediately release
or charge two physicians who are internationally recognized for their work
on HIV/AIDS, Human Rights Watch said today. The men, Arash and Kamyar Alaei,
who are brothers, were detained without charge by Iranian security forces in
late June, and their whereabouts remain unknown.

On June 22, security forces detained Arash Alaei, holding him overnight at
an unknown location. The following morning, they accompanied him to his
home, where they arrested Kamyar Alaei and seized material and documents
belonging to the brothers. The authorities have not yet announced why the
brothers were detained or whether or not they intend to bring any charges
against them. Moreover, they have refused to disclose information about
where the Alaei brothers are being held and have not provided them access to
counsel.

"Iran's HIV/AIDS program has been acclaimed internationally for seriously
addressing the AIDS epidemic," said Joe Amon, HIV/AIDS program director at
Human Rights Watch. "To fight AIDS effectively, the government has realized
that it must engage in global efforts to combat the disease, work with civil
society, and confront taboo issues, including sex and drugs. The detention
without charges of the Alaei brothers has a chilling effect on all of those
efforts."

Arash and Kamyar are well known in Iran and internationally for their
contributions to HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programs. For more than
20 years, the Alaei brothers have been active in addressing problems
relating to drug use, with a focus on the spread of HIV/AIDS, and have
played a key role in putting these issues on the national health care
agenda. They have worked closely with government and religious leaders to
ensure support for education campaigns on HIV transmission, including those
targeting youth, and for HIV and harm reduction programs in prisons. They
have also worked to share their expertise with neighboring countries by
holding training workshops for Afghan and Tajik health care professionals.

Iran is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
and as such has strict legal obligations not to carry out arbitrary arrests
or detention and to afford due process rights – including the prompt
provision of reasons for an arrest and any charges which will be brought,
access to counsel, and the right to be brought before a judicial officer to
determine the legality of the detention – to anyone detained.

"The Iranian authorities have been holding the Alaei brothers for over three
weeks now," said Amon. "Unless they produce some evidence or charges, and
bring them before an independent tribunal so they an enjoy due process, they
should release the men immediately."

Arash and Kamyar Alaei have traveled to various countries, including the
United States, to participate in professional events and to share their
experiences regarding HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programs in Iran.
Kamyar Alaei is currently a doctoral candidate at the SUNY Albany School of
Public Health. Neither of the men is known to have any involvement in
political activities.

"In two weeks, more than 25,000 people from around the world will gather in
Mexico for an international AIDS conference, and Arash is supposed to make a
presentation on Iran's innovative HIV program," said Amon. "The focus of the
meeting will be on where we are making progress in the fight against AIDS
and where we are failing. Iran cannot be considered to be making progress if
it is blatantly violating the human rights of two if its most valuable
activists in this area."

>From Dr Adrienne Chan of Dignitas who studied with Dr. Kamiar Alaei at
Harvard in 06/07:
Dear Friends and Colleagues in HIV/AIDS care:

A schoolmate and friend of mine while I was at Harvard last year, Dr.
Kamiar Alaei, and his brother Dr. Arash Alaei, was recently arrested and
imprisoned without charge in Iran.  In addition to being my classmate,
Kamiar, along with my friend Dr. Margaret Salmon, coauthored a policy paper
on the scale up of HIV care in Iran that was accepted for presentation at
The International AIDS Conference 2008 in Mexico City in 2 weeks.

These physicians are pioneers in setting up treatment and care programs for
people living with HIV/AIDS in Iran and have been widely acclaimed
internationally for their program which targets both treatment and
prevention.  Their families have not been able to speak with them nor have
they been allowed legal representation.  We are extremely worried. I rarely
send on petitions such as this, but this is a person whom I know personally,
and it bothers me greatly that someone whose sole professional and personal
goal is to practice medicine can be detained in such a way.

Please take a moment to sign this online petition set up by Physicians for
Human Rights, who is currently taking the lead on advocating for their
release.  I think that there is some efficacy, if you are comfortable with
it, to sign on with your academic or medical affiliation (if you have one)
from an advocacy stand point since we want to demonstrate NGO and academic
support for them.

http://actnow-phr.org/campaign/iran_free_the_docs

My friend and colleague Clint Trout, who works for AIDS Healthcare
Foundation has posted more information about the Alaei's at these sites:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=20650248385&ref=mf
www.freethealaeis.com

Kamiar and Arash have worked tirelessly and at great personal risk for
treatment and care for persons with HIV/AIDS in Iran.  Please take a
moment to support them.

Adrienne
Adrienne K. Chan, MD, MPH, FRCPC
HIV Clinic Coordinator
Dignitas International
PO Box 1071, Zomba, Malawi


IAS CALLS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF IRANIAN CLINICIANS

29 July 2008 (Mexico City, Mexico) – The International AIDS Society (IAS)
today expressed grave concern over the detention without charges of Doctors
Kamiar Alaei and Arash Alaei, two internationally respected Iranian
physicians, since their arrest by security forces at the end of June 2008.

IAS President, Pedro Cahn, called on the Islamic Republic of Iran to
disclose the whereabouts of the two detained medical professionals, provide
them access to lawyers and family, and either charge or release them
immediately.

Dr. Kamiar Alaei is a doctoral candidate at the SUNY Albany School of Public
Health, and Dr. Arash Alaei is a former Director of the International
Education and Research Cooperation of the Iranian National Research
Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease.

Since 1986, the Alaei brothers have sought to integrate prevention and care
of HIV/AIDS, sexually-transmitted infections and drug-related harm reduction
into Iran's national health care system.

Their HIV/AIDS programs focused on harm reduction for injecting drug users
have been widely acclaimed internationally. In addition to their work in
Iran, the Alaei brothers have held training courses for Afghan and Tajik
medical workers and have encouraged regional cooperation among 12 Middle
Eastern and Central Asian countries.

In these activities, Iran's programs proved to be inspiring role models of
close work with government and religious leaders to ensure support for
education campaigns on HIV transmission and for HIV and harm reduction
programs in prisons. Neither of the men is known to have any involvement in
political activities.

They were to have presented a case study showcasing HIV/AIDS and harm
reduction in the Islamic Republic of Iran on Thursday, August 7, 2008, at
the 17th International AIDS Conference (AIDS2008) in Mexico City.  AIDS2008
is the paramount gathering of all disciplines in HIV/AIDS and the premier
global conference on any health/development issue held every two years.

As the world's leading independent association of HIV professionals, with
more than 10,000 members from 172 countries and an independent voice in the
global response to AIDS, the IAS joins global health professionals, HIV
advocates and concerned individuals in asking for their immediate release.



Ends

His Excellency, Iranian Ambassador to Canada

245 Metcalfe St.

Ottawa, Ontario

K2P 2K2, Canada

Tel: (613) 235-4726 / Fax: (613) 232-5712

Email: ambassador at iranembassy.org <http://ambassador@iranembassy.htm>;
iranemb at iranembassy.org <http://iranemb@iranembassy.htm>

Or

Mr. Khazaeei, Iranian Ambassador to the UN

622 Third Ave. New York, NY 10017

Tel: (212) 687-2020 / Fax: (212) 867-7086

E-mail: iran at un.int <http://iran@un.htm>





Interagency Coalition on AIDS and Development (ICAD)
Coalition interagence sida et développement (CISD)
1, rue Nicholas Street, Suite/Bureau 726
Ottawa ON K1N 7B7 CANADA
Tel/Télép (613) 233-7440 ex13  Fax/Téléc (613) 233-8361
Web www.icad-cisd.com


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