Call for the Unconditional Release of All Teachers in Iran Ahead of the New School Year

The Teachers' Trade Association of Tehran Province has protested the detention of Mahmoud Beheshti Langaroudi, the spokesperson for this association, demanding the "unconditional" release of all teachers "in prison, in exile, or under sentence." The website "Voice of the People" published the statement from the Iranian Teachers' Trade Association on Wednesday (September 13). In this statement, while protesting against "security and unlawful actions" against trade activists, it is stated that "a teacher does not belong in prison." This association has called for the release of Mahmoud Beheshti Langaroudi, Ismail Abdi, and Mohsen Omrani, and the cancellation of the exile sentence of Ali Akbar Baghaei. The authors of this statement have written that it was expected that ahead of the new school year, "a suitable and tension-free environment would be provided by the government for the trade and educational activities of the teaching community." The statement notes that the news of Mahmoud Beheshti Langaroudi's detention has "shocked the country's teachers." The Teachers' Trade Association of Tehran Province added in its statement that "we have repeatedly stated... that our concern is nothing but improving the livelihoods of educators and enhancing the education of the country's children, and we protest against these security and unlawful actions." This statement calls for an end to "fabricating cases against trade activists" and adds: "Only in this way can we hope for a bright start to the new school year." The Teachers' Trade Association of Gilan also described the detention of Mr. Beheshti Langaroudi ahead of the reopening of schools as "an insult to the teaching community of Iran." This association also condemned "the security and military actions against the cultural assets of representatives of cultural organizations." Mahmoud Beheshti Langaroudi has been detained several times and has gone on hunger strikes in protest against his heavy prison sentences. He was first detained for one day following the controversial results of the 2009 presidential elections in Iran, and his detentions have been repeated since then. In Iran, security and law enforcement forces severely confront activists and trade gatherings, and many trade activists from various professions have been repeatedly detained and imprisoned in the country. For this reason, on September 3 of this year, two international labor and teachers' unions jointly criticized the treatment of trade activists in Iran. The International Transport Workers' Federation and Education International stated that "the union rights of activists in Iran are denied," announcing that union leaders in Iran are arrested in connection with "their trade activities and defense of their colleagues." The Teachers' Trade Association has also criticized the security-judicial actions against trade activists such as Ismail Abdi, Mohsen Omrani, Mahmoud Beheshti Langaroudi, Ali Akbar Baghaei, Reza Moslemi, Taher Ghaderzadeh, and Aziz Qasemzadeh. The statement from this association mentions that "despite the promises made and contrary to the explicit text of the constitution, which emphasizes the freedom of civil and trade organizations, the security culture has affected all activities of trade activists contrary to the promises of the President." The Teachers' Trade Association also stated that "the attribution of baseless accusations to trade activists cannot stop the demand-driven process of the majority of the hardworking community."