Background Information on Mansour Ossanlu
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Mansour Ossanlu was arrested and beaten by men who pushed him into a car on July 10, 2007. He has suffered from serious medical problems, including retinal damage resulting from beatings he received during a previous detention.
Although he was permitted to undergo emergency eye surgery in October 2007, his health condition is still a concern. He has not been allowed to receive the medical care he needs.
Amnesty International considers him a prisoner of conscience who is being detained on vaguely worded charges in order to halt his efforts to build strong trades unions capable of defending the human rights of workers.
On February 24, 2007, Mansour Ossanlu was tried for 'acts against national security' (eqdam 'aliye amniyat-e melli) and 'propagating against the regime' (tabligh 'aliye nezam) in Branch 14 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court. Around 80 people came to support him but were denied access to the court room. His contacts with international organizations such as the International Transport Workers Federation appeared to be the key reasons behind the indictment.
On October 30, 2007 the five- year prison sentence against Mansour Ossanlu, for 'acts against national security' and 'propaganda against the system' was confirmed by an Branch 36 of the appellate court in Tehran. He had originally been held in Tehran’s Evin Prison but in August 2008 he was transferred to Rajaei prison in the city of Karaj which houses criminals convicted of violent crimes. Rajaei prison is far from his wife and family who have not been able to visit him very often. Independent unions in Iran are banned, workers have few legal rights or protections, and union activists are regularly beaten, arrested, jailed and tortured.
The Union of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company is said to have been founded in 1979 and resumed activities in 2004 after a 25-year ban. It is still not legally recognized.
Mansour Ossanlu has already spent time in prison without trial for his peaceful trade union activities. He was beaten and detained from December 2005 to August 2006 and again between November and December 2006. In December 2005 bus drivers unions went on strike to call for better pay.
Many union leaders, in addition to Mr. Ossanlu, were arrested during this time. In January bus workers planned to go on strike to protest the continued detention of Ossanlu but were met with a severe crackdown by police and security forces who arrested 500 strikers.
The detention of Mr. Ossanlu is part of the Iranian authorities' recent wide-spread crackdown on civil society in Iran, targeting students, journalists, labor activists, women’s activists and academics who have been exercising their rights to peacefully express their opinions.
This right is recognized in international human rights treaties, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. An international day of solidarity for Mansour Ossanlu and another trade unionist Mahmud Salehi took place 6 March 2008.
Amnesty International joined the International Transport Workers Federation and other organizations for a Global Action Day in solidarity for detained Iranian labor activists on June 26, 2009.
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