On
the eve of World Teacher’s Day [October 5th, 2012], as countries across the
globe prepare for ceremonies in appreciation of our honorable and dedicated
teachers, a large number of innocent teachers with an extensive history of
service in Iran’s education sector remain behind bars because they had the
courage to demand that their civil rights be upheld. Honorable Iranian teachers who have dedicated
their lives to servicing the educational needs of remote and deprived regions
in Iran have now been banned from the teaching profession and deprived of all
their benefits and rights.
“Abdollah
has fifteen years of experience serving the education sector. He has taught in
remote areas of Iran such as the Kouhdasht villages and high schools in the
province of Lorestan. His salary and
benefits were cut off right after he was arrested. Our children no longer have insurance
coverage and we have been deprived of all benefits afforded teachers. When he was granted furlough two years ago,
he visited the region where he used to teach and he was told that he is no
longer needed. As simple as that… ” says
Fatemeh Adinehvand the wife of Abollah Momeni, incarcerated teacher, student
activist and spokesperson for the Alumni Association Advar Tahkim-e-Vahdat.
While
expressing regret over the continued detention of innocent teachers Fatemeh
Adinehvand continues: “Abdollah loves teaching and speaks fondly of the days
when he was allowed to teach his students. Alas, it is a pity that a human
being so in love with teaching, his students and the learning environment has
been deprived from participating in the educational system for the past three
years and instead is spending his days
behind bars.”
Rasoul
Badaghi is a member of the Board of Directors of the Iran’s Teacher’s
Union. Badaghi is currently serving a 6
year prison sentence and has been deprived of all civil activities for a period
of 5 years. Despite posting bail,
Badaghi’s family insists that he continues to be deprived of furlough.
Mahmoud
Bagheri sentenced to 9 1/2 years prison, Mohammad Ali Agoushi a retired teacher
sentenced to 10 years prison and exile to Zahedan prison are two other teachers
currently behind bars because they dared to expressed their civic demands.
Abdolreza
Ghanbari, middle school teacher, Hashem Shabani Nejadand Hadi Rashedi all three
with a long history of service in the education sector and teaching in remote
areas of Iran are facing the death penalty while behind bars.
Mohammad
Davari began his teaching career servicing schools in remote regions in Iran in
1990 while completing his MA in Educational Administration. While studying for
his MA, Davari began to teach and commenced his journalism career by publishing
a variety of newspapers, magazines and website.
Davari was also active in the establishment of teacher’s trade associations
and was arrested and sentenced while attending the teacher’s demonstrations
that took place in February 2007.
Following the controversial presidential elections in 2009, Davari was
once again arrested enduring more than 11 months of physical and psychological
pressures at Evin prison’s ward under the supervision of Iran’s intelligence
ministry. Davari was eventually
transferred from Evin’s security ward to the general ward in August 2010 and
sentenced by the illegal Revolutionary Courts to 5 years prison and a $5000
dollar fine for participating in the post election demonstrations.
While
mindful of her son’s 33 year service to the education sector in Iran, Zoleykhah
Biyabani, Davari’s mother says: ” Mohammad began teaching in 1990. He has been
deprived of his salary and all the benefits afforded a teacher since his arrest
and incarceration. He taught for four or
five years in the villages bordering Russia and the villages in Northern
Khorasan.While teaching he also became involved in teacher’s trade
associations. Mohammad is also a war
veteran. In addition to his passion for teaching, he was always been very
interested in journalism. He began his
journalism career while writing for the Northern Khorasan news paper. Interestingly enough, I heard the authorities
claiming on the radio the other day that we don’t have any journalists behind
bars in Iran! Tell me then, why is our
Mohammad at Evin prison? Why must he
unjustly spend his days behind bars? Why must he endure so much hardship when
he has a history of serving his people and his country as a war veteran, a
teacher and a journalist? “
“Ever
since Mohammad has been in prison he has developed a number of ailments. We managed to get him a doctor’s appointment
to treat his heart condition and other physical ailments. The authorities
however decided to take him to another doctor without coordinating with us and
later informed us that after spending a few hours at the doctor’s office, the
doctor did not show up and Mohammad was returned to prison. How is it possible for them to take a
political prisoner to a doctor without coordinating with his family? Mohammad
continues to suffer from the same ailments and we have obtained yet another
doctor’s appointment for him. We’ll see
if the authorities give him permission this time around. So far they have not even granted him medical
furlough.” adds Biyabani while pointing to her son’s physical ailments.
The
pressures on Iranians serving the educational sector is not limited to prison
sentences, death sentences and being banned from the teaching profession. Many
teachers have open cases filed against them. Their every move is being watched
and the slightest civic activities can lead to their arrest and incarceration.
According
to the Campaign for the Support of ImprisonedTeachers the following teachers
have open cases filed against them:
Shahou
Hosseini, Abdolvahed Maroufzadeh, Ali Beshararti, Mozafar Sharifi , Razgar
Sharifi, Ali Akbar Baghani, Mohmoud Beheshti Langeroudi, Mokhtar Asadi, Amir
yaghinlou, Mohammad Jamal Heyki, Ali Reza Hashemi, Ahmad Medadi, Bagher Fathali
Beygi, Zahra Hatami, Ali Najafi, Asghar Mohammad Khani, Saeed Jahan Ara, Alyas Talebi, Mohsen
Jeldyani, Javar Ebrahimi Azandaryani, Tofigh Mortezahpour, Mohammad Farjiyan,
Mohammad Ali Shirazi, Masoumeh Dehghan retired teacher and her husband
Abdolfatah Soltani, Hossein Taraghi Jafari, Mohammad Reza Rezaii Gorgani.
