60 University Professors from the U.S.: We Are Concerned About the Health of Political Prisoners in Iran

Dozens of university professors from the U.S., Mexico, and Canada expressed their concern in a letter to Hassan Rouhani regarding the health of some sick political prisoners, demanding their immediate hospitalization. The open letter to the Iranian president was published on May 8 on the Guardian's website. The signatory professors state that despite promises made in Iran regarding the hospitalization of sick prisoners, such events have not occurred, and 'it seems that Iranian prison authorities are deliberately preventing or limiting patients' access to hospitals.' These 60 professors mentioned names such as Omid Kokabi, a physicist, Hossein Ronaghi, a human rights activist, Eisa Saharkhiz, and Alireza Rajai, who are active political and media figures, or Hossein Rafiei, a political activist, all of whom were diagnosed with cancer either during their imprisonment or shortly after their release. According to the signatories, these individuals are 'just a few examples of political prisoners who are suffering and still alive.' The professors from North American universities also referenced other prisoners like Mohsen Dokmechi and Ahmad Qabel, both of whom lost their lives after being diagnosed with cancer while in prison. The authors of the letter told Mr. Rouhani that judicial authorities in Iran 'show no respect for the fundamental principles of human rights, the Constitution of the Islamic Republic, or even their own regulations and rules.' They wrote, 'Mr. President, although you do not have judicial responsibility, you remain the highest elected official in Iran. This obliges you to support the basic rights of the people of Iran and the political prisoners of this country.' The North American university professors suggested that if the immediate release of sick political prisoners is not possible, a group of independent doctors from within Iran or from international organizations such as 'Doctors Without Borders,' 'Red Crescent/Red Cross,' and the United Nations should attend to their conditions. Notable signatories include Noam Chomsky, Ervand Abrahamian, Janet Afary, and other professors from universities such as Columbia, New York, Texas, Boston, the National Autonomous University of Mexico, Victoria, Alberta, or Calgary in Canada. This letter was published simultaneously with requests from thousands of Iranian and foreign political and civil activists to Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, to work for the release of Omid Kokabi. Omid Kokabi, a distinguished Iranian physicist born in 1982, was imprisoned on charges of 'conspiracy.' Mr. Kokabi developed kidney cancer while in prison. For several years, despite repeated requests from research organizations, human rights advocates, scientists, university professors, and Nobel laureates, he has remained in prison.