International Education Federation: Iranian Officials Should Release Ismail Abdi

The International Education Federation, in a statement, called on Iranian authorities for the immediate release of Ismail Abdi, the imprisoned Secretary-General of the Iranian Teachers' Trade Association, and announced a call for global solidarity with this labor rights activist. The federation expressed concern over Mr. Abdi's health condition. The imprisoned Secretary-General of the Iranian Teachers' Trade Association has been on hunger strike since April 29 of this year in protest against "illegal and unjust treatment of civil activists in Iran and the lack of independence of the judiciary and the issuance of prison sentences for activists of teachers' and labor organizations." This labor rights activist also demanded that "the process of his case be shifted from a security to a normal status." According to the Teacher and Worker Rights website, close to the Iranian Teachers' Trade Association, Ismail Abdi criticized the government of Hassan Rouhani on April 21 for what he called the "continued repression of teachers." He wrote, "Now in the post-JCPOA atmosphere, where the cries for legality, democracy, human rights, and civil liberties from government officials have deafened the ears of the heavens, without regard to international covenants on civil-political and economic-social-cultural rights and the laws of the International Labor Organization and the International Education Federation, to which the Islamic Republic of Iran is committed; we are witnessing the arrest of board members of teachers' trade associations and independent labor organizations and the formation of minute-long courts where all individuals are tried and imprisoned on specific and identical charges such as 'conspiracy to commit crimes against national security and propaganda against the regime.'" Mr. Abdi added, "Arresting without notifying the execution of sentences and without showing identification cards, at home and amidst the fear and astonishment of family members, detention in prison without access to a lawyer until the day of the trial, and not extending detention for nearly a year, is a clear violation of citizens' rights and undoubtedly disrupts societal security." In this context, the International Human Rights Campaign in Iran reported on May 10 that the imprisoned Secretary-General of the Iranian Teachers' Trade Association has suffered from weight loss, low blood pressure, and dizziness. Additionally, the Teachers' Association's Telegram channel reported on May 14 that Ismail Abdi's family visited him on the sixteenth day of his hunger strike and noticed a 10-kilogram weight loss in this labor rights activist. Monireh Abdi, the wife of the Secretary-General of the Iranian Teachers' Trade Association, said regarding this visit that the deputy prosecutor of Evin prison had gone to meet her husband and asked him to end his hunger strike so that his leave could be approved, but Mr. Abdi stated that he would continue his hunger strike until his demands and leave were approved. According to the International Human Rights Campaign in Iran, Mr. Abdi has been sentenced to six years in prison, and his request for retrial has recently been registered in the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, the International Education Federation condemned the pressures on the Secretary-General of the Iranian Teachers' Trade Association by government officials due to "union activities, demands for free education, and accessible public education for all." This international teachers' federation urged the Iranian government to focus on teachers' demands, including the freedom to establish independent organizations, wages above the poverty line, adequate public health and medical care for all, appropriate retirement, free education, and stopping the privatization of education, rather than intensifying pressure on labor rights activists for teachers.