A Labor Federation Calls for Khamenei's Intervention to Close the Case of Davood Razavi

The International Transport Workers' Federation has sent a letter to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, requesting his immediate intervention to close the case of Davood Razavi, a labor activist in Iran. Previously, the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company reported that Mr. Razavi, a board member of this labor organization, has been summoned to the Revolutionary Court. The report did not mention the reason for this labor activist's summons to the Revolutionary Court. He was previously tried on November 4 for security charges and is awaiting the court's verdict. Steve Cotton, the General Secretary of the International Transport Workers' Federation, in his letter on Wednesday, February 4, pointed out that the summons of Davood Razavi is a serious violation of his legal right to peaceful labor activity, adding that Iran, as one of the founders of the International Labour Organization and a current member of this global body, is obligated to respect workers' rights. Mr. Cotton's reference is to the freedom of association and the right of workers to form labor organizations and join them. The General Secretary of the International Transport Workers' Federation noted in his letter that the unconditional and immediate release of Davood Razavi would not only be seen as a positive action but would also improve the image of the Islamic Republic of Iran on the global stage. This request comes at a time when, according to the website of the International Transport Workers' Federation, another letter regarding Reza Shahabi, another member of the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company, was sent to the leader of the Islamic Republic two weeks ago. Steve Cotton had called for Mr. Shahabi's release from prison in his letter, referring to the poor health condition of this imprisoned labor activist. Meanwhile, the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company reported that the appeal court for Davood Razavi, which was scheduled for Wednesday, did not take place. According to this report, the new date for Mr. Razavi's court session has been postponed to Tuesday, February 10. Mr. Razavi and Ebrahim Madadi, the Vice President of the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company, were arrested two days before International Workers' Day in 2015 at their homes and were released after 22 days of temporary detention on a bail of 100 million tomans. Davood Razavi was later sentenced to five years in prison in Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran, while Mr. Madadi received a sentence of five years and four months. In this context, the Telegram channel of the Workers' Rights Defense Association reported that five members of the Coordination Committee to Help Establish Labor Organizations and the Free Workers' Union of Iran must appear in the Revolutionary Court of Sanandaj on March 2. The charges against Ghaleb Hosseini, Khaled Hosseini, Mozaffar Saleh-Nia, Sharif Saeed-Panah, and Habibollah Karimi were stated as 'participating in the Nowruz ceremony of 2017.' According to the Workers' Rights Defense Association, about 80 individuals have been summoned and interrogated in recent days regarding the Nowruz 2017 ceremony in Sanandaj. Additionally, Mahmoud Salehi, a labor activist in Kurdistan, announced on his Facebook page that Najibe Salehzadeh, his wife, has been summoned to the Sanandaj prosecutor's office due to what he called 'a complaint from the Information Office of Saqez.' Mr. Salehi wrote that the third branch of the judiciary in Saqez contacted Ms. Salehzadeh by phone on January 21, instructing her to report to that branch by January 26. The reason for Najibe Salehzadeh's summons was cited as 'a report from the Information Office of Saqez County' against her. In recent years, many reports have been published regarding security and judicial actions against workers and labor activists in various regions of Iran. Among the widely reported incidents were the prohibition of gatherings and strikes by workers in the special region of Imam Khomeini Port by the judiciary of Khuzestan province in December 2013, the loss of Mahmoud Salehi's kidneys at the Information Office of Sanandaj in May 2015, and the implementation of flogging sentences for 17 dismissed workers from the Agh Dareh gold mine in West Azerbaijan province in May 2016. Meanwhile, several labor and syndical activists such as Reza Shahabi, Ismail Abdi, Mokhtar Asadi, and Mohsen Omrani are imprisoned on security charges. The security and judicial actions against labor and syndical activists have drawn criticism from human rights organizations and labor unions worldwide. This is while officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran claim to support labor organization and syndical activities. This claim has been rejected by human rights organizations and labor unions globally.